Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

my next door neighbour (been here longer than me, but originally from the surrey stockbroker belt) complained about me hanging my washing in the front garden. THere's nowhere else to hang it if I want it to get dry... but apparently I should hang it where people won't see it.

In many places in the States, it's against neighbourhood ordinances to hang your washing out! When we stayed in Oklahoma, our host's tumble dryer broke down. My suggestion that we should hang the washing (needed for the wedding the next day) out in the sunny garden met with horrified silence. It's an actual taboo, about on a par with suggesting roasting Granny for Sunday lunch... in the end, he reluctantly allowed me to string a line up in the garage, as long as I kept the door & windows closed & didn't allow any fresh air in!

Our house also came with "expectations", MTSTM, having belonged for many years to the landlady for the street. I quite enjoyed this to start with. But as our lives got more & more chaotic, not to mention expensive, with 5 teens/young people to chase around after, the "duties" have gradually devolved to those up the road with more time on their hands. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when someone else volunteered to organise the last few street parties!

fuddle

Karmacat wrote: »

Yes, I have - my "next season" rhubarb is now more than six inches tall - I think I'm going to get some frost protection fleeces, I don't see how it can survive otherwise.

Its winter/climate change/strong El Nino all rolled into one

My rhubarb is unfurling too. :cool:

There's several areas of our county flooded. We've seen it all before and many a time. It's just dreadful for our Northern neighbours. I doubt those who have been extensively effected are thinking about their pretty towns and villages. It's so very sad at a basic level, not least the anxiety that will bestow for the most vulnerable of those communities.

For us it's been little more than turning round at points in roads where run off has accumulated in dips. We thank our lucky stars that disrupted journeys is all we have to contend with.

pineapple

Greenbee looks like this village could take lessons from yours. Just on the subject of flooding someone told me today that his son flooded near Appleby. He lives on a hill and the water came up though the flooboards :eek:
As for hanging out washing I know someone who moved to Skipton and was told in no uncertain terms that 'we don't hang out washing on a Sunday'.

moneyistooshorttomention

pineapple wrote: »

As for hanging out washing I know someone who moved to Skipton and was told in no uncertain terms that 'we don't hang out washing on a Sunday'.

I trust she turned a blind eye and deaf ear to that:rotfl:

I got told at one point "We do things differently here" as a way to make me "obey orders" and do what they wanted.

My reply in response was pretty short and sharp - to effect of "You personally might. I personally don't. End of...." if not quite in that language:). That would have been at around the time I realised that "give and take" is the motto for the very immediate vicinity I live in and that translated into "I do all the giving and they do all the taking". I'd tried "giving" to start with and waited to see what they would "give" me in response - and the answer boiled down to Nowt and it was One Way Traffic Only on that one.

Homeownertobe

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

There's no reason I can see why there shouldn't be a website in place that Joe/Jane Public can put up notice of any road closure etc they notice and other J. Public can subsequently update. That way - it would be the online equivalent of stopping passing cars and asking them/telling them. Anyone wanting to travel along a particular road could check out to see what roads had been notified in their vicinity as currently flooded or even put up a request asking people nearby what the situation was.

Beats my idea of ring the nearest local pub/garage/etc.
and asking them I think:rotfl:

It would be easily possible for the website to have a search facility for particular postcode for instance. Alternatively, people could input the postcode they wish to find out about (if they know it) and up comes a little map with blue circles on to indicate "Cant pass here - its flooded at the moment".

Now how difficult would that be for a computer whizz to set up?

I know I don't have the computer knowledge to do so - but I bet it aint that hard to do.

EDIT: In fact I'm starting to quite fancy the idea of helping to set up my 3rd "Idea I've Had in this Lifetime" - so if anyone fancies the thought of being the computer whizz half of the equation - I could "cross t's and dot i's" to fill in any gaps I spot.

You would need someone on every single road to reliably enter and update information as it happens. The website could be easily created, but the upkeep would be impossible.

katkin

Is there not something like Transport Scotland and Traffic Scotland in England, Ireland and Wales?

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/plan-your-journey

I'm an avid ferry reader in this weather.


The local radio stations have travel / weather warnings etc too and live call in's such as school closures, herds of cows on roads etc

pineapple

Homeownertobe wrote: »

You would need someone on every single road to reliably enter and update information as it happens. The website could be easily created, but the upkeep would be impossible.

You need a site like 'downrightnow' but can't see how it would work on a minor road level as it would rely on people logging in 24/7 to keep it up to date. Roads round here can change from hour to hour as they are liable to gather water and become impassable at points during periods of heavy rain and the situation can change from hour to hour.
Nor do all of us carry round smartphones.

greenbee

pineapple wrote: »

Nor do all of us carry round smartphones.

... or have mobile phone reception out in the sticks... or even reliable landlines and broadband...

jk0

A few years ago I acquired a spin dryer that was left in one of my BTL flats. Up to now, I only use it very rarely if I want to hand wash something, but today I did a little experiment:

My washer dryer spins up to about 1400 rpm, but this spin dryer goes up to 2800 rpm. I finished half my washing in the spin dryer, and hung it all out at 10am.

I got the washing in at 4pm. The items that had the extra spinning were virtually dry, but the other items were noticeably still slightly damp.

I guess I just discovered what people did before tumble dryers were invented: Use a spin dryer, and hang out all year round?

thriftwizard

jk0, I have a spin-dryer and use it more often than my tumble-dryer, which lives out in the garage so that it can only be used in times of desperation - generally when an Offspring is going out in 20 minutes and has just discovered that their shirt/footy kit/dance costume is still wet, due to them only having washed it two hours ago. I bought the spin-dryer for £25 off Gumtree a couple of years ago to see us through a washing machine breakdown; ours is a giant machine that is worth its considerable weight in gold to me (large household plus a small business that runs on old clothes & fabrics) but can't be mended quickly & easily. I can wash stuff by hand, I can dry it outside or on an assortment of hangers inside, but the extremely-soggy stage in between is impossible without a spin-dryer or a mangle. I've never managed to capture a mangle, and would love one in case of total SHTF, but the spin-dryer soon proved its worth.

It's also very useful for getting water out of sheep's fleeces, which are otherwise a bit of a nightmare to dry when washed before spinning, as some of them have to be. There's no agitation before the spinning starts, so the fleece doesn't felt. And for things like sheets & towels in wet weather, when the house would otherwise resemble a Chinese laundry; I can spin them, hang them over the banisters at the top of the stairs & they'll be dry in a couple of hours. Well worth giving up a bit of house-room for.