Preparedness for when

pineapple

I'm a bit wary of paraffin candles and the scents used in some of them.
http://www.greenamerica.org/livinggreen/candles.cfm
A neighbour got me a fruity scented candle for Christmas - I'm not a fan of fruit scents anyway so it is going to a charity shop when her back is turned.
I would never use an air freshener - I'm partial to the occasional joss stick but I do wonder sometimes about the ingredients. :huh:
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/toxic-incense/Content?oid=2947133
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/30/health

I used to do online surveys on my household habits but I think they gave me up as a bad job as I'm a bit of a failure as a consumer.
On to prepping - I'm looking for a manual meat mincer. Manual because it doesn't rely on electricity and it's not as if I would be mincing large amounts . Any recommendations?
Plus a food dehydrator (electric). I want to make fruity snacks and things like jerky. Again - any recommendations?
Happy Sunday! x

katholicos

wondercollie wrote: »

Back to death. My hospital really does try to have a nurse sit with the dying if no family is around. We're inner city, so it's not uncommon to sit with the homeless as they die. It is NOT horrid to tell a person they are dying. Literature and experience has shown that some people resist dying because they don't want to upset their relatives. Others wait for a sign before dying. So it is perfectly permissible to tell the person that it's allright to leave to leave...!

It most definately is unacceptable for a hospital staff member/nurse to tell a patient they can shuffle off, in front of their nearest and dearest, without prior discussion/consent (that they be allowed to do so) though, surely?

mardatha

I know people like gamekeepers, fencers, dykers etc who live in tiny wee cottages well hidden in remote country here who still live as we did pre-war. These people might seem to have hard lives on first glance- but when you really look at them, they do ok.
They rarely go into a town, rarely need the doctor, and never sign on the dole. Bartering and cash in hand & keep their business to themselves. They live very well on plain old fashioned food and plenty of game and salmon in season (as well as the odd sheep!). I used to have a neighbour who swapped me a side of fresh poached salmon for a tub of Asda ice cream
Landowners turn a blind eye to the odd brace of pheasants or woodcock as long as its just for the pot and for selling - as they benefit from having handy cheap skilled labour on call.
This I think is the ideal way of living and these folk will hardly notice if TS does HTF.

[Deleted User]

I can pluck,gut and truss birds, gut and generally sort out fish (not too proficient at filletting though) dress and skin rabbits and once, many years ago got to deal with a roe deer carcass (it jumped out in front of my neighbours car in the dark) and we picked it up because the police, rspca and council all said oh leave it there, we'll throw it away in the moprning. I know the law says you cannot pick up anything you have accidentally killed though. We had the advantage that my neighbours daughter was a trainee chef and had the best kept set of knives I've ever worked with which made the butchery easier. I have a paperback book from the 70's that covers butchery of carcasses for your freezer and although we didn't have deer diagrams we worked with the goat one and the anatomy was very similar. We hung the carcass in the neighbours garage for 48 hours and then butchered it in the garden, was the most amazing venison I've ever had. It isn't as hard as you imagine, but you do need to not be at all squeamish. I had squeamishness knocked out of me very early on as Dad fished and was ofter given fur and feather by people at work, and my Mum had an excess of squeam!!!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

thriftwizard

I know the law says you cannot pick up anything you have accidentally killed though.

It's not for any compassionate or humane reason, though - it's because you do not have a license to kill that animal! Knowledge gleaned from a Poultry Club lecture from a game vet...

I can do birds, fish, rabbits & hares without worrying, but have never tackled anything bigger. Not sure I'd want to, but I would if I had to...

[Deleted User]

A few people have mentioned fishing, but regular fishing (rod and line) is far too labour intensive, for a survival situation.

Far better is a gill net, or a night line.

westcoastscot

mardatha wrote: »

I know people like gamekeepers, fencers, dykers etc who live in tiny wee cottages well hidden in remote country here who still live as we did pre-war. These people might seem to have hard lives on first glance- but when you really look at them, they do ok.
They rarely go into a town, rarely need the doctor, and never sign on the dole. Bartering and cash in hand & keep their business to themselves. They live very well on plain old fashioned food and plenty of game and salmon in season (as well as the odd sheep!). I used to have a neighbour who swapped me a side of fresh poached salmon for a tub of Asda ice cream
Landowners turn a blind eye to the odd brace of pheasants or woodcock as long as its just for the pot and for selling - as they benefit from having handy cheap skilled labour on call.
This I think is the ideal way of living and these folk will hardly notice if TS does HTF.

we lived like this when my children were growing up until the late 90's, and they are all adept at crofting animals, trapping, and as they got older shooting small game. We had the mobile slaughterer come out to us to slaughter the goat kids that we weren't keeping and the pigs in the autumn. We can do chicken, geese, ducks ourself.
Until I moved to the mainland I never realised how expensive living was!!!
Mar we made ice-cream occasionally as it was too far to travel to a shop to get frozen food home again.
Casual labour was always bartered, as there wasn't really anywhere to spend money unless you travelled to the mainland.

mardatha

One of the many joys of living remote WCS eh? nowhere to spendit even when ye've got it! lol

fuddle

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

A few people have mentioned fishing, but regular fishing (rod and line) is far to labour intensive, for a survival situation.

Far better is a gill net, or a night line.

I tend to think the art of fishing isn't in the actual act but in the knowledge you gleam through experience. It doesn't matter how you catch the fish, as long as you have an idea of the swim and what is lurking beneath you could catch on a piece of string

The 'tickling trout' idea is frowned upon and actually really difficult I'm led to believe, but maybe worth a read for survival knowledge.

Hey Bedsit Bob. You don't have to tell me about regular fishing and being intensive... I can't move in my shed for paraphernalia :eek: :rotfl:

westcoastscot

mardatha wrote: »

One of the many joys of living remote WCS eh? nowhere to spendit even when ye've got it! lol

Oh it was great! it's a bit like that here, and I imagine the same where you are? nothing really within easy travelling distance so if you stay local there's little temptation to part with your hard-earned cash!
I remember being shocked at how expensive stuff like milk and tatties was though - really eats into your budget! I think we've lost a lot of the small pleasures now we're on the mainland - stuff like really enjoying the first peas, first fruit, stuff like that. Folks used to think our life must be boring but it changed with the seasons, even the house/kitchen work.

WCS