Preparedness for when

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep....weather and more weather. There has been even more rain than usual (well...the Welsh usual = rather more than "my usual").

I had a friend from home area staying recently and she was helping me with a minor task amending my waterbutts and carefully saving the water in them. I did tell her "Water is one thing they have in abundance in Wales and there will be some more rain along shortly....so I don't know why you're bothering with saving it". I don't think she believed me...:rotfl:

On the power front...just checked out yesterday's junk mail total and ...yep....I got one too...a leaflet from the power supplier "Power cut?" and enclosing a glow in the dark fridge magnet. Confesses my own reaction to that one is I shall read the leaflet, then throw it in the bin (magnet and all) and think "I have sorted out enough community messes in my time, ie my own share and lots of other peoples share as well and someone else can darn well deal with it next time and make sure the power comes back asap" if it happens.

Must check my own personal supplies though. I've got loads of candles and thank goodness being in a detached house means I don't have to worry about neighbours possibly not being careful with things. Time to check out I've got a battery in a radio and can actually use my "alternative cooking methods". My main "if the power goes off temporarily" thoughts back in home area boiled down largely to "Theres plenty of other places open at all times - I can just go to a restaurant/leisure centre/library/etc if need be whilst I wait it out". In this much smaller area I'm in now the library isn't open as long/there aren't hospital lounges to go and sit in/a much smaller and not quite "open all hours" leisure centre and many fewer places to eat out.

Whoops....thrown back much more on own resources. Will have to work out with friends in outlying villages that we have an agreement set up with each other of going to whichever of our houses is functioning as normal and waiting it out if need be.

mardatha

MrsL.... can i please have a good recipe for elephant pie? What would the hostess with the mostest serve as a side with that??

Frugalsod

jk0 wrote: »

Make sure you have a corded phone connected then guys. You'll have a job finding it in the dark.

It is also more likely to work during power cuts as BT used to have their own power supply so if there is a power cut the mobile masts might lose power effectively cutting everyone off but the land line might still work.

nuatha

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I'm with 3, but it's not regular BB.

I use a Dongle.

Its a dongle service I'm looking for as a backup, unfortunately its 3's (lack of) customer service that means I'm looking for a new supplier.
Thank you.

alfsmum

We too have had the Western Power card and fridge magnet.

Will be adding extra batteries to shopping list today, also would like more solar lighting for path edges etc. in garden and by front door.

When we had to replace our cooker recently we stuck with gas so at least we can always heat water and food to eat by candlelight. Plenty of warm throws ready if we need to wrap up. Will be checking easy-to-cook supplies before I go out as we're having a drive to use up last year's purchases of porridge pots, rice sachets etc. sometimes hard to find a balance between having enough to tide you over and having too much to store easily. I think I need to start a new thread along the lines of 'prepping in an old style way while decluttering and living out of the freezer and cupboards' as I'm trying to do all those.....

Fascinating info on the longbows GQ, am reading historical faction from wars of the roses era, astounding how much the French feared and hated English archers and even how English nobles despised the use of bows, thinking it ungentlemanly.

RAS

GreyQueen wrote: »

There were a few water main bursts in this city this week, this I know because the public ring the council instead of the water company. Seems to be the cast iron water mains rupturing, once I've spoken to the water company's call centre peeps. Dunno if they're all elderly and breaking at the same time, but it's interesting.

If you are on clay, then the acidity renders iron pipes porous; small factoid from discovering gas leaks.

GreyQueen

alfsmum wrote: »

Fascinating info on the longbows GQ, am reading historical faction from wars of the roses era, astounding how much the French feared and hated English archers and even how English nobles despised the use of bows, thinking it ungentlemanly.

Yeah, it wasn't that the nobility couldn't use longbows, they were happy enough to use for hunting. The form of hunting where the archer is stationery and the prey is driven towards them by beaters. But archery was definately considered to be for the lower orders, such as yeoman and peasants, although the poorest of the poor wouldn't have been able to afford bows. Warfare was something the cream of society did from horseback, swords and armour, with pikemen and archers to soften up the foe before His Nibs entered the fray.

I'm reading a history book about the role of the military archer in the Hundred Years War, and it was pretty shocking how the developments in the range of the longbow and the skill of the archers swung the battles in France (and also England's battles with what are now the northern and western parts of the UK) in our favour. At the battle of Crecy, the flower of French chivalry all armoured on horseback was lined up behind a vanguard of crossbowmen, expecting to thunder past them once they'd sliced the English ranks to pieces.

Only the crossbowmen didn't understand how powerful the English longbows had become and that they thought they were outside the range, but had the longbowmen inside their own range. They were wrong about that, and suffered enormous losses until they broke and ran, then the knights were getting skewered.

There are credible reconstructions of ancient longbows with pulls well north of 100 lb, even 170 lb, over 7 ft tall and they can shoot 350 yards in skilled hands. My modern American flatbow isn't a true longbow in the classic sense, it's a modern variant made possible by lamination of various woods and fibreglass, but it has a pull of 36 lb, and is 5.5 ft tall. Some of my friends can't draw the string back, because they're not used to putting their muscles to such a use.

It's no exaggeration to say that longbows have shaped this country's history. That insulting guesture with the two raised fingers is a throwback to the wars with France, the archers taunting the enemy that they still had their fingers - you draw the bowstring with your index, middle and ring fingers only, no thumbs or pinkies, and the enemy would maim captured archers' hands so they couldn't shoot again.

I would just like to let you all know that, if called upon, I do have 12 arrows to deploy in the defense of my ancient and noble English city, and do know what the correct livery colours are, should I be called upon to serve. Our predecessors mustered for all the big battles, history even records their names and pay rates.

Can see myself on the castle battlements preparing to repel the zombies. Manning the city walls will no longer be feasible, although I live inside the area enclosed by them, as they are mostly no more than knee-high. We may, given the fullness of time, regret the decision not to maintain them and just hide behind the one-way system.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

JUMBO CHIPS!!! and the pies would also be suitable for a pachyderm lunch box!!!

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

JUMBO CHIPS!!! and the pies would also be suitable for a pachyderm lunch box!!!

I always serve roasted elephant with a side of cranberry sauce, myself.

[Deleted User]

Half a cranberry isn't much to go with a whole elephant GQ! couldn't you have a whole one and not just one side?