Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Evening all.

I'm deffo getting my Kelly Kettle early in the New Year, it's been on the wish list for a while and Santa has brought me some folding stuff so I shall have it now.

I first saw one used on my lottie when a pal brought hers over and it was love at first sight. As Mrs LW says, you wouldn't believe how fast they can boil water and on how little fuel. We did ours with twists of newspaper and grass. These kettles tend to create raving fans whenever they're seen in action, in my experience.

I would have to take mine outside onto the covered walkway to use in a power outage but it would be feasible and I would be a much happier bunny with tea and a HWB if necessary.

On the subject of HWB, I have had several years' sterling service from a £land one but do choose the pink rubber ones as the white ones had a product recall the other year. I've also had a Stermat brand HWB which keeps on trucking. I knit my own covers for them out of scraps of yarn, just a combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch and it's surprising what you can do. Or you could use fleece from old blankets/ scarves for a cosy non-fraying cloth alternative.

We were talking economics this aft, me and the parentals, and they remarked that this is now the first point in 3 generations where standards of living are going in reverse and people are poorer than their own upbringing. It's going to hit a lot of people very hard in the years to come. Thank goodness that there are OS books and MSE and thrifty blogs out there for guidance if people feel the urge to learn.

I can make clothes and will have a go at fixing most things, can knit a plain jumper, make rugs and do all sorts of arcance stuff which was once everyday stuff like sides-to-middling a sheet. I don't like to see wastefulness, it sticks in my craw. Combination of upbringing and greenish values.

My attitude to hard times is that yoiu can rant and wail and complain to your heart's content, but ultimately it ain't gonna improve your lot. Or you can (wo)man up, gird your loins and engage with the process of making the best possible life with the resources which you have, sharing your skills and supporting each other whenever possible.

Hokay, prolly should make a round of teas here at the homestead. On a stovetop stainless steel kettle on the gas stove. Fast and energy efficient.

Random Factoid: The Le Crueset company turned their hands to making weapons as well as cookware in the last century. So when TSHTF, you may be glad to the anti-ballistic properties of their enamelled pots and pans. Or failing flying lead, you could always brain a z*mb*e with a casserole dish.:rotfl:

pineapple

oldtractor wrote: »

why did you buy your ex a present?

He wasn't an ex till I bought him it :rotfl:

maryb

Now my DH would love something like that - maybe that's why we're still married. That and the fact that I quite like useful prezzies as well:D

Butterfly_Brain

DH has told me to order one on the 2nd January when everything is back to normal :j

BigMummaF

GreyQueen wrote: »

....My attitude to hard times is that yoiu can rant and wail and complain to your heart's content, but ultimately it ain't gonna improve your lot. Or you can (wo)man up, gird your loins and engage with the process of making the best possible life with the resources which you have, sharing your skills and supporting each other whenever possible....

I get the feeling people are going to do both, & I'm ready with me placard to join the throngs!
For far too long whichever government of the day have relied on the working folk & their British Stiff Upper Lip, to do whatever dastardly deed they could dream up to keep us 'plebs' in our place :mad: Well; no more! We're constantly reminded of why we were engaged in two world wars, & why we remain in the thick of conflicts against tyranny around the globe. If we're not to let those brave souls become nothing more than political cannon fodder, we need to stand up to OUR repressive regime & tell 'em to stick their fiscal policies ...sideways! :rotfl:
(Guess who saw our esteemed leader on the noos, telling us 'we're on track' You do have to question if he is part on an alien invasion, cuz he certainly ain't livin' in the same world as me)

pineapple

BigMummaF wrote: »

& why we remain in the thick of conflicts against tyranny around the globe. If we're not to let those brave souls become nothing more than political cannon fodder, we need to stand up to OUR repressive regime & tell 'em to stick their fiscal policies ...sideways! :rotfl:
(Guess who saw our esteemed leader on the noos, telling us 'we're on track' You do have to question if he is part on an alien invasion, cuz he certainly ain't livin' in the same world as me)

Unfortunately I think we are also part of that tyranny. Let's put it this way - we are quite happy to support and sell arms to tryrannical regimes when it suits, plus one has to question the real agenda behind some of our overseas operations.
Meanwhile the big market fraudsters go relatively unpunished because they are 'too big to fail' and the system remains rotten to the core - but try lifting a can of beans in Tescos or fiddling your work expenses and see where that gets you!
We are most definitely not 'all in it together'.

mardatha

Big Mumma, brilliant post and I thought the same thing when I read Cameron had said that.

mcjordi

mardatha- love the sig.. might have to change my xbox name to that haha

westlothianlass

HI al
Just a quick visit online to wish you all the best for the New Year _party_
Steak pie is waiting for us at my parents house, trifle has been made and I've wrapped it in many layers of clingfilm so that marauding children don't try and pinch some:D.
I'm way passed the age where I think standing in the gales in Edinburgh is a good idea but if i look out my parents window I can see the fireworks (with the added bonus I can be in my Pj's if i want).
Hugs WLL x

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

Big Mumma, brilliant post and I thought the same thing when I read Cameron had said that.

He'll be first against the wall, come the revolution.

My Spies and Informants have been telling me the the Universal Credit has already been started in Manc and Cheshire, although it isn't officially being trialled there until April. It's going very badly, apparently, although there is a news blackout on exactly how badly. Completely unsurprising to anyone who lives in the RW of course. Can see Poll Tax 2.0 incoming........

Gonna be an "interesting" few months and not in a good way.

I shall be looking to my stores, my laurels and my allotment for comfort in the coming months. Thank goodness for tinned tomatoes, that's all I can say.