Preparedness for when

JayneC

Hello again and thanks for the warm welcome.
Thank you to Pineapple for the Incredible Edible Todmorden links, I was aware of the project but hadn't seen those links. One of the guys on my Permaculture Design Course was part of Incredible Edible Todmorden and one of our little groups did a practice design for one of their projects. We also had someone from Hebden Bridge coincidentally!!

I don't think it's OTT to be prepping for disruptions to power supplies or to food supplies. I think it's very sensible really. My brother who is in the know about power (works 'on the inside' as it were ) has bought himself a generator and if he's done that things are serious!! That's part of the reason I got a wood burner a couple of years ago- you can always find something to burn if push comes to shove... It heats the water and runs the central heating (after a fashion) too. Was ridiculously expensive as I had no chimney and no water tanks, so they had to be put in, but it was an investment.

I'm hoping to be a bit more successful on the grow your own front this year too and have a couple of chickens for eggs. I'm seriously considering fencing off the end of the yard completely and getting more chicks or even ducks - I live in a terraced house in town with a tiny yard so this would take almost all of my outside space, but I reckon it's probably worth it - I have an allotment and access to a landshare garden to grow food (and possibly firewood) and am even considering getting some rabbits to breed for meat, probably squeeze a hutch in there somewhere,

I'm so pleased to have found somewhere to talk about this without being viewed as a total loon (I hope:rotfl:)

maryb

I CAN SEE

cataract op was fine and i will be able to see without my glasses even before they do the other eye. Got a shield over it at present though. wee bit sore - like an uncomfortable contact lens but it should be fine tomorrow.

So when TSHTF i'll be able to see to dodge. Ain't no zombie gonna sneak up on me!

thriftwizard

Fantastic news, maryb! Happy for you.

mardatha

WCS that's why we keep the fire on all the time, it does work out cheaper than lighting it every day. But this summer we're going to try lighting a fire every second day, and just have baths alternate nights instead of every night. For dishes we can use a kettle, there's only 2 of us.

ginnyknit

Congratulations Mary, must be wonderful to know its all done now.

Mar if you are using an electric kettle apparently it uses a lot of 'leccy or do you have a gas stove? When I tidied the back garden today I found a big olive oil tin Dd's Oh picked up for me last year so think a little stove maybe in the offing. We have the big brick fire pit that Ds cobbled together a while ago but havent tried cooking on it yet but think the tin one will will work well with a pot on top. I have a pressure cooker pan that will do a good sized soup or stew. I now have DS checking the offers in Mr T when he goes for his lunch once a week and he is now on full alert for bargains.

memory girls blog strengthened my resolve to try the bottle growing and I have religiously saved bottle - OH drinks a lot of juice - so I will let you know how it goes. Sorted out the greenhouses and with the plant pots I got on freecycle they will be very neat as all the pots match. That doesnt matter I know but if it looks orderly I will feel more confident. I have resolved to spend as little as poss again on anything garden wise and checked my compost bins and one is looking very good.

Remember everyone the high amount of rainfall will have washed a lot of nutrients away so comfrey or nettle feed will be your best friend this year.

We will succeed! :T:T:T

katholicos

maryb wrote: »

I CAN SEE

cataract op was fine and i will be able to see without my glasses even before they do the other eye. Got a shield over it at present though. wee bit sore - like an uncomfortable contact lens but it should be fine tomorrow.

So when TSHTF i'll be able to see to dodge. Ain't no zombie gonna sneak up on me!

So very pleased for you, Mary.

boultdj

Yippie! to the op working Mary.

craigywv

thats great mary b wonderful news!!! sounding really bad in greece 2t cant really say anything elsebut just take care. glad we all om prep alert ibeen feeling unsafe again so took garden by storm and its beginning to look a bit like potters world out there ANYTHING that can hold even a few scallions or spuds is filled . fe;t guilty putting sweetpea in a hanging basket as more strawberries could havewent in there but i do have a jar from last year i harvested and they smell so lovely hanging at back door.my mum gave me a plum tree and a cherry tree last night for mothers day i so happy as i have had great success with my other plum tree it nearly broke in half it had such a lot of plumson it. i was in mr t lastnight its scary the price increase got a lot of ys meat i not getting time to run down 1 of my freezers to defrost so im not worrying what i am going to do is empty it today and take a hammer to the ice build up , it shouldnt take long as its only the top shelf the other shelves sre clear of ice. i dont want to empty itcompletly as i would miss out on ys meat while waiting on freezer being empty it would prob take another month for me to be able to switch it off so its hammer time looking forward to it . xxx noticed inmr t last night no value tea bags, coffee, rice pud,pasta sauce,to name a few and the price of some good brands was ridiculous ...cluborange biccys 1.85!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or something like that and loads more. only good thing was buttermilk was 50p so got 10 ,9 in freezer so making sodas and pancakes today sorry soda bread lol we just say sodas over here have a lovely day all im preparing under my oil tank today as well as i going to grow mushrooms there . loads of room as tank built on breeze blocks and paving stones and is flush to my brick wall so will cover front with something. bye for now xxx

esmf73

OOOH I love soda bread Craigy. Miss it from the time we spent in Ireland. Also found a fab butcher near Antrim. The queues would go out the door sometimes!!! Feeling of impending doom here too. Freezer now defrosted and cleaned and have decided to refill with almost non perishables! I read an article saying that in the event of a power outage could you eat all the meat etc when defrosted? So I have decided to stock up on rice, plain flour and those sort of things. All stored in large plastic bins in the freezer. Will let you know how it goes!!!

GreyQueen

:j Congratulations on the eye operation, maryb; may your discomfort pass soon.

JayneC, I find it fascinating that your insider brother has brought a gennie. If that's what those in the know are choosing to do, I think it speaks volumes, and the rest of us need to pay attention it.

I can recall last year hearing an interview with people from the generating industry and they were sounding scared about their ability to keep the grid up and running and it's only got worse then.

I'm glad you feel comfortable to discuss preps etc. I do find that a lot of people are a bit (mimes hands over ears) lalalalala. As if not thinking about it will make it all go away. I don't find such attitudes very helpful in the main; read somewhere that pessimists have a better grasp on reality and tend to live longer than optimists............:rotfl:I'm a slight pessimist; if my glass is half full I'm looking around for the burger who's been swilling my share.:p

I live in a tower block with no outside space of my own, bar the lottie a mile away. We're on a communal heating system (industrial gas boilers with electrical controllers). So if the power is off, the boilers are down even if the gas is working; they have to be reset after even the briefest leccy outage. These provide heat and hot water. I also cook on gas and boil my kettle on the gas stove, but I have an old electric kettle put by against emergency.

I'm getting a Kelly Kettle too so that I could use it outside to boil water from twigs (these are available) or waste paper. I'm going to cut up corrugated cardboard boxes when I get them and make them into strips which could be torn up to use in the Kelly. Or used as firestarters on the allotment. I also plan to coil corrugated cardboard into some into shallow tins like tuna tins as these make emergency stoves when drizzled with melted candlewax. Will be adding to the candle-cache from c.s. and bootsales. Trying to avoid very scented candles as they can end up rather nauseating.

I think the best thing is to think of several ways of achieving the same thing (heat, hot water, hot food, light) and work towards having at least one alternate method to business as usual. We're all working to out individual circumstances and resources. I'm constrained by no garden and a rented home, but on the plus side my flat is tiny and very well insulated (and in southern England where the weather is more benign than other parts) and doesn't get that cold even with the heating off. Even with no heat, I suspect my home would be warmer than some places with their heating on. Still deeply-covetous of those woodburner stoves...........

What is sure to happen is this; if there is disruption to normal life there will be a run on things which you can currently obtain reasonably cheaply online or in camping/ army surplus type shops. I'm thinking gas bottles, stoves, candles, lanterns, water carriers etc. They will be harder or even impossible to get. Human nature being what it is, there will likely be profiteering.

So, think about it now and move towards having your preps at hand (but discreetly). We can extend the helping hand to family, friends and neighbours in need on our own time, we don't need to advertise ourselves as suitable targets for looters if SHTF.