Preparedness for when

2tonsils

We pay 25 euros to get the chimney swept...its hard work here as the olive wood gives off a kind of tar that sets solid on the inside of the chimney. We get a packet to put on the fire (3 euros each) that coats the chimney with some kind of fire retardent and stops it catching alight. It is non toxic and burns pretty colours like a roman candle. You put it on when the ashes are still red but low. We use one every few weeks.

Things are not looking good in Athens there is a lot of rioting going on by the look of the live tv feed. The government are voting in the new budget at midnight...God help us all....

VJsmum

Vanoonoo - my mum's pastry was amazing after she got arthritis. I think it was also because she had really cold fingers too.

Cheapskate

Hi everyone

I bought candles and tealights from !kea today - 20 household type (about 7" or 8" long) for £4.50 but they do burn slowly, unscented tealights 100 for £1.75, flavoured tealights 36 for £1.75, also some nice hurricane-style lanterns £3 each; with the few I've still got that's me sorted.

DH and I were talking today about the lack of skills of most people we know, of any age, and then listing things we'd learned to do from childhood - with or without electricity. We can build and maintain fires, make bread, forage for simple foods, grow food, sew by hand, upholster and do dressmaking, and lots of other things simple or not. DH could wire a plug at 6, completely dismantled and re-built a motorbike at 15 or 16, decorated his own bedroom at 13 - which he took for granted then, but so few people could do now, even as adults! We've taught our older children basic skills, and are doing the same with the littlies; I'd hate for them to be helpless, esp if the SHTF and things are tougher when they're adults.

A xo

2tonsils

To make shortcrust pastry shorter...use a bit of soda water instead of ordinary water. Most hard pastry is caused through using too much water or over handling it.

craigywv

evening all, bored tonight, son in bed and so is oh , starts work @ 5.30 so me and deafdog sittin here feeling lonley! 2t i love the sound of your fire i imagine it smells gorgeous hope its all quiet over there xxxvanoonoo when i making pastry i run the cold water over my hands until i cant stick it any more to make them freezing deffo better pastry at the end. no heating on here tonight its so mild put water pump on for an hr to get bath water, im rambling here .....so i shall go and sniff about on another thread for a while take care allxxxx

2tonsils

Deathly quiet here in the village on the mountain...but according to the live tv there is nasty rioting going on in Athens. The vote takes place tonight but the arguments between the politicians continue right up to it. The EU and IMF can't reach agreement either. They are delaying the bailout that should have been paid in August and I heard a rumour today they may delay till after the German elections in early 2013....by that time we will have all gone down the drain here...

GreyQueen

Scary times in Greece and some other places.

You definately get the sense that the so called TPTB are clueless, don't you?

Noo, I keep my eyes peeled for candles esp at boot fairs where I have regularly lucked-onto pillar or square candles at 20-50p.

My absolute top whack for a large unburned pillar candle is £1 but I prefer cheaper. As would we all.;)

Not all candles are created equally and there are some you can buy which are guaranteed to have a burn-time of 9 hours for a smallish pillar candle. Check out your camping places. I guess if weight and volume were very much an issue such as in a BOB, this would be a factor.

I was reading a book by James Wesley Rawles (American survivalist author and blogger) who pointed out that over there you can get large devotional candles for the religious market, which burn a very long time and are sold in glass vessels. I have been keeping my eyes peeled for something similar.

I try to avoid scented candles as they give me splitting headaches.

Am now stocked with water to my comfort zone, each bottle has a label attached to its neck with a twisty tie and they will be drunk and refilled from the tap, rinse and repeat.

ETA Ooops, forgot to mention the distant rellie who lives on Long Island has been in touch. Tiny amount of wind damage to the house, all repaied, no flooding or any other trauma. Big whew!

Dippypud

http://www.examiner.com/article/15-states-including-texas-have-filed-a-petition-to-secede-from-the-united-states-1


and Tennessee have voted to petition ...

strange times ahead ...

GreyQueen

Dippypud wrote: »

http://www.examiner.com/article/15-states-including-texas-have-filed-a-petition-to-secede-from-the-united-states-1


and Tennessee have voted to petition ...

strange times ahead ...

Dippypud, try this blog (very fascinating) and look at the post for 31st October. It's the 5th weekly installment of a speculative fiction (he's a factual writer normally) about the very same subject.

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.uk/

Angel_Jenny

Dippypud wrote: »

http://www.examiner.com/article/15-states-including-texas-have-filed-a-petition-to-secede-from-the-united-states-1


and Tennessee have voted to petition ...

strange times ahead ...

Now that is scary!

Can't imagine something like that happening in real life.