Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

Hi ANIMAL TRIBE I think that horse chestnut leaves and conkers like saponaria and other things containing saponins are better made into soft (liquid) soap rather than trying for anything harder, certainly I've never come across instructions for making a bar of soap from them. I don't see why dried leaves shouldn't work just as well as fresh ones, I'd be inclined to use a linen bag with a tie top, like a mini shoe bag, to put dry or fresh leaves in, or grated conkers and tie the top tightly and hang it on a tap so the hot water runs over and through the bag until the basin is full enough then pop the whole bag in for a soak, give it a squeeze now and then and that should keep any debris (and bugs) out of the finished soft soap, hope that's useful, Lyn xxx.

I've just watched a youtube clip of a man making use of horse chestnut leaves. He took one large 5 petal leaf and took the green parts of it off the central ribs, then he scrunched the leaves up in his hand and twisted them round and round in his palm to scrunch then a little. He added a small amount of cold water and twisted the leaves some more then added a palmful of water to the leaves and squeezed out green soapy water into his other hand. He lathered both hands with the soap quite vigorously, rinsed off a couple of times with a little more cold water and his previously very grubby hands were totally clean at the end of it. He dried them on the sleeves of his fleece and his hands were as clean as if he's used a bar of soap. It's a revelation!!!

You live and you learn....apparently you can also make saponin soap from bracken roots and our british native campions, well well and bracken fronds are used to line baskets for keeping fruit in as they both keep insects away and help keep the fruit from rotting, Oh my word and dried bracken is a very good source of tinder for firelighting, not bad for a weed eh?

maryb

bracken is one of the best sources of ashes for making lye for soap, apparently - it's really alkaline

THIRZAH

I think I might just stock up on soap. Making it sounds too complicated for me!

mardatha

There's plenty of bracken here it grows on the hills beside the heather, but I agree with Thirzah that it sounds a bit of a faff.

Living_proof

AnimalTribe wrote: »

I've not made this apple cider vinegar yet, but it's on my list of things to try.

http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2014/10/diy-homemade-apple-cider-vinegar-using-peels-and-cores/

It can be used for cleaning and I'm sure there are UK based recipes but this is the first one I came across.

Apple peels and cores can be frozen until you have sufficient quantity to make it.

I regularly make this and this autumn I have had loads of apples to peel and core due to a huge harvest. I didn't manage to utilise all the trimmings because of time available, but have certainly a couple of gallons on the go and they smell very authentic. You can't use the vinegar to pickle though as you can't rely on a high enough percentage of alcohol. Great for cooking and cleaning though. Also made some pair vinegar which is finished, but as yet untried.

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

There's plenty of bracken here it grows on the hills beside the heather, but I agree with Thirzah that it sounds a bit of a faff.

Before you plan on getting close up and personal with bracken, you might want to put bracken+carcinogen into your search engine and have a wee bit of a read-around.

I have ceremoniously welcomed in the new season; the duvet cover is now changed over to the brushed cotton one and the computer's desktop pic is now seasonably appropriate autumn trees.

Wild Thing has also started to sleep indoors at nights - it must be getting chilly.:rotfl:

miss_corerupted

Just reading about the apple cider vinegar, do you think I could use the leftover apple smash from OH's cider making

GQ is right be careful with bracken. When we have fires on the common the Fire brigade now turn up with all the respirators and equipment on because of the dangers

Frugalsod

miss_corerupted wrote: »

Just reading about the apple cider vinegar, do you think I could use the leftover apple smash from OH's cider making

I think you can. I have seen other recipes that use apple peel and cores, and whatever would otherwise be thrown away.

grandma247

Another method for ACV

Alloneword

Frugalsod wrote: »

I think your biggest risk would probably be the river overflowing after a heavy rain and flash floods. If you are below river level home insurance might be a problem but there are solutions.

http://www.ukfloodbarriers.co.uk/property-level-protection

http://www.floodark.com

http://stormguardfloodplan.com/flood-barrier/

It's not just heavy rain i have to worry about there is something called storm surge, which if my understanding is right is a mass of water coming down the east coast and being forced up the river and as the crow flies i'm very close to the barrier.

Frugalsod wrote: »

Also these might also lower your home insurance.

Right now i don't have ANY insurance, I'm social housing (scum of the earth i know) so no point in buildings insurance, contents is something to look at, the way i am setup here is a small block of flat's (4) and i'm on the top floor however that still leaves me under river level, I do have a loft but no point in putting anything up there as it would be under water anyway

Frugalsod wrote: »

Photograph and video the downstairs possessions to assist any insurance claim and probably best to keep off site if you can.

Done that along with photocopies of bigger items like TV, white goods etc, insurance quotes were not that bad IMO so it is something i will get before the end of the year.

Frugalsod wrote: »

Work out a route to higher ground should any floods occur, then at least if forced to abandon your home you will be safe doing so. In fact a bicycle would be a good option here as well as motorcycles could have their engines flooded if the water is too deep whereas a bicycle will be able to cope with even deeper water, though it will be harder to cycle through. Panniers might be able to carry a lot but loading them in a panic would be dangerous and inefficient. Just use a back pack instead, and if you have it prepared as a bug out bag already then it would be ready straight away saving seconds or minutes which could be enough to save your lives.

Get wellies.

The bike in question has panniers and they are already packed and in the loft, so if the SHTF then it's just a case of whip them down and instal and go, still loads more to do like source tent/sleeping bags/some kind of stove etc but i have spent a shed loads so trying to stop spending for a month or so if i can.

GreyQueen wrote: »

Alloneword, if you haven't read it, may I recommend Flood, by Richard Doyle? It's a fiction which is very well researched, and deals with what will happen in London should the Thames Barrier be overtopped, in incredible detail, borough by borough. I have re-read it in the past few weeks and believe there will be much in there of interest and relevance to your planning.

It details how emergency services and telecoms went offline as the water penetrated exchanges and took down electrics. And how the Underground flooded. It's unputdownable.

OK I'll pop into the library and check if they have it, i'm not much of a reader but if something is of intrest to me i'll keep going

GreyQueen wrote: »

What I can see from personal observations is that you will not be able to drive out of a wide-spreading crisis unless you have a long clear start over the rest of the populace. Mine is essentially a medieval city with subsequent developments; the middle where I live is pretty small. The whole city is prone to gridlocking at short notice. Daily traffic is heavy, rush hour traffic is horrendous, and any hiccup such as a broken down car or bus, a road accident, tree down, can cause a crisis in minutes.

Well living in London it's crazy 80% of the time hence a bike and not car or van, my whole local area is very low level in about a 30 minute walk we only have 2 natural locations above water, sure i could make my way to a tower block and live in the hallway but no thanks.

GreyQueen wrote: »

Let's think about water in telephone exchanges taking down landlines and the internet. And has anyone ever received a Happy New Year!!! text from a drunken pal, sent near midnight, and got it several hours later? Yup, every single time. I can see mobile telephony being overwhelmed with a lot of frantic people trying to get through to loved ones, and TPTB might even decide to shut systems down to prevent panic and misinformation (or even true information) spreading.

Sure i have first hand experience of this when 7/7 took place i was indoors and the Mrs was on a bus coming home from work, as it turned out she was miles from the locations that kicked off but we didn't know that at the time and trying to get through to her was a nightmare but it worked which is why she has a phone with 2 sims on differnt networks and i have 3 sims here on 3 differnt networks, but they will all go down for some time that is for sure, but i'm not too worried about that as so long as she and i are together were not worried about family or anything.

GreyQueen wrote: »

you need to have done some research beforehand, especially about where the contour lines are, the whereabouts of floodplains, the nearest high ground, and numerous other things. Because it is extremely likely that for the first several hours of an unfolding crisis, the only resources available will be your own, and that of other ordinary people. And there may well be no one 'official' around to tell you what to do, and they might not even have the right answers.

Yea for sure i have lived round here for about 30 years and know South London fairly well (used to be bike courier) accourding the my local council and Enviroment Agency I need to be at least2.5 miles away from my home to be safe but i do intent to move to higher ground which would take me about 20 mins using rat runs and through estates and stuff like that

Sod it bought the book 2nd hand of ebay for less then £3

Still catching up :rotfl: and off to bed now

All1