Preparedness for when

ginnyknit

thats terrible, Mardatha, thank you for posting it, it brings it home to you doesnt it. I know that sounds daft, but its important that people see whats really going on however painful it is to watch.

mardatha

Yes, absolutely

[Deleted User]

for those who want to try the os way of veg preserving ie fermenting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9681309/How-to-ferment-autumn-vegetables.html

you don`t need electricity, just a pot and a bit of salt.

2tonsils

Recession style living sounds good to me for a thread......it seems to cover a broader audience than Old style...which may make people think of old fashioned things....such as tripe and onions...


mmm tripe and onions.....unfortunately the tripe here is nowhere near as nice as it is in the UK

Things are looking very dodgy with Gaza/Israel etc...its scarily close to us here in Greece.

westlothianlass

Hi all
Ive been looking at seeds for next year and wondered if anyone saved their own seeds?
Every now and again i've considered it, I buy a lot of my seeds from Real Seeds which can be saved, so have been thinking the sensible thing would be to start trying so we can be a bit more self sufficient in the veg plot:D.
Was also wondering if anyone has a hand sized water purifyer bottle thingie (you can tell i'm feeling particularly technical today:rotfl:). We go walking in the highlands a lot so i was thinking it might be handy, rather than carrying a lot of water with us, and if water was in short supply it might be handy to have anyway? I was loooking at the drinksafe stuff, so if anyone has any info i would love to hear what you think.
It's a freezing day today so lots of layers needed if stepping out the house, mind you lots of layers are needed in the house too:o.
Hope you all have a lovely Saturday
WLL x

ALIBOBSY

craigywv wrote: »

ALIBOBSY it sounds like a good laugh, i like traditional things and think the best things in life are deffo free i suppose that sounds a bit cheesy but i like it. you sound like a fun family.

Cheesy? Yep probably, and certainly a loud family-OH was a bit overawed at first, but is used to it now. Mum and Dad ALWAYS have a row over Christmas, but they are always so silly-like a couple of kids really. So the rest of us sit laughing away at them, like a crimbo live entertainment and they always joke about it later on.
Still remember them falling out as Dad hadn't cut down a big bush she had asked to to so meaning she kept getting wet when she walked past it. At one point Dad brought up deforestation as a reason not to cut it back-I kid you not! Or the year she asked him to peel some potatos whilst she did something else and came back to 3 peeled and uncut in a pan of water-for 7 of us :rotfl:. In the midst of the fallout she asked how hard it was to work out how much potato one person ie yourself can eat and times by 7, his response? I don't cook, could you bl**dy design a safety system for a nuclear power plant!!! LOL He was an engineer. This in fact has become a family saying if someone gets something wrong ie. well its not a nuclear power station, well Dad can sort nuclear power stations, I can't do that, but I bet I could sort a nuclear power station etc etc.

Families eh.

Ali x

ALIBOBSY

manchestermargo wrote: »

Carrying on from the musical theme. I was fortunate enough to sing at the Bridgewater Hall on Sunday accompanied by none other than The Black Dyke Brass Band. They were suberb and were wern't half bad!!
P.S. We sang The Armed Man by Carl Jenkins. Very appropriate for Rememberence Sunday.

Margo

Sounds lovely Margo, wish I was a better singer as I love it, but I can just about hold a tune so have sung in choirs when younger, but I am not good enough to be a pro!

Ali x

manchestermargo

Hi ALIBOBSY. You certainly don't have to be a fantastic singer to be in my choir. Just a love of music. pm me if you want more details. We are singing in Manchester Cathedral on the 7th December if you fancy coming and having a listen.

Does anyone know why my "thanks" button sometimes disappears!

GreyQueen

westlothianlass wrote: »

Hi all
Ive been looking at seeds for next year and wondered if anyone saved their own seeds?
Every now and again i've considered it, I buy a lot of my seeds from Real Seeds which can be saved, so have been thinking the sensible thing would be to start trying so we can be a bit more self sufficient in the veg plot:D.
Was also wondering if anyone has a hand sized water purifyer bottle thingie (you can tell i'm feeling particularly technical today:rotfl:). We go walking in the highlands a lot so i was thinking it might be handy, rather than carrying a lot of water with us, and if water was in short supply it might be handy to have anyway? I was loooking at the drinksafe stuff, so if anyone has any info i would love to hear what you think.
It's a freezing day today so lots of layers needed if stepping out the house, mind you lots of layers are needed in the house too:o.
Hope you all have a lovely Saturday
WLL x

I save big seeds on the allotment; peas, runner beans, broad beans, and flower seeds.

The trick is to let them dry out on the stem, and then pick and shell them (if they have pods of course) and let them dry in the air and bag them up in paper bags.

Those bags from the bakery counter at Mr M's with the cellophane windows are superb, btw.

You want to be sure to save intact seeds and not anything which has been drilled by insects or gone mouldy.

I have no idea what variety of broad beans I grow as they are Nan's Beans, saved off Grandad's garden for donkey's years. We suspect there might be 2 different kinds jumbled together as some are 4-bean pods and some 6-bean pods. They're indestructible. The runners from Nan's are saved again and again and our best guess is that they're Scarlet Emperor but no one knows for sure. Good eating, though.

I keep them in the shed in paper bags in an old meat safe in case the mice were to get in and get ideas. They wouldn't be able to eat thru the metal and it has pin holes for ventilation.

:)I've seen individual water bottles with built-in filters at the army surplus (new at them) and the camping stores. They're not cheap (£40+ for a 500ml). But I've not owned or used one.

If you wanted to have a hot brew on your highlands ramblings, how about taking a ghillie kettle/ kelly kettle and filling it from a spring or a burn and boiling it for tea? HTH.

craigywv

ALIBOBSY lol sounds like my family without the nuclear connection! me and oh dont ever fight dont have any reason to .............but to listen to my 9 yr old son cast up any time anyone says "oooh you and oh never argue" he chirps in oooooooooooohhhhh they do !!! i will never forget the time mum threw a slice of bacon @ dad at the table cos he ate the last bit!!! lol well if thats the only argument he can bring into adulthood i shall be happy!! lucky he wasnt here yesterday when i swiped oh with mop whilst cleaning my floors he came bounding in from garden smiling from ear to ear over how he found 3 raspberries!!!!!!!!!!!! delighted i was not!!anyway we are a big loud family too at get togethers and i love it!!!