Preparedness for when

maryb

Zerohedge is calling Dieselbloom (as he will forever be known in English speaking media) Two Lips from Amsterdam:rotfl:

alltrustgone

This made me laugh, in an otherwise I'd cry my eyes out way

http://pawelmorski.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/eurogroup-what-happened-today/

ATG

[Deleted User]

Greying Pilgrim, I cannot tell a lie, it was ME!!!!! and I am very pleased that you have survived the making of your first jugfull, I am very impressed also that you have a willing victim er, sorry, hungry person to feed it to. Seriously though I'm glad it's a useful addition to your puddings, it certainly is cheaper than all the ready mades isn't it? Thanks for letting me know, Cheers Lyn xxx.

2tonsils

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

2Tonsils - as you are 'closer to the action' as it were, I would appreciate some advice.

A colleague of mine's daughter (along with 24 members of the family/wedding party) is flying to Cyprus on Sunday and getting married at some point during next week (not to a Cypriot)

I know for a fact that she is not a prepper nor of the prepping persuasion. Any advice I can quietly whisper in her ear?

I'm assuming travellers cheques will not be a good idea?

Will the hotels be operating a sort of normal service? Will her wedding meal still be served?

Or do you think she will be OK?

Many thanks (and also for the weather updates!!)
Lilli

Hi Lilli, I have been keeping a close eye on the situation in Cyprus. Hopefully the banks will re open shortly but there is no guarantee. Because of the cash restrictions that are now in operation (yes, they were brought in immediately) certain things will be difficult to do. Travellers cheques may be a problem if no one is able to cash them. Personally I would take British pounds with me and change them to euros as I need them.

The foreign office is giving the advice to take cash and enough to cover all your expenses should you not be able to get money from the bank/ATM. They are also advising to take advantage of the security of the hotel...ie safes . It might be a good idea to take mobile alarms that clip onto the door handle as its better safe than sorry. You should all have health insurance and if you have a european health card that is even better.

I would advise them to contact the hotel that is booked for the meal and ask if everything is going as planned for the meal and for their stay.

There may be a few shortages in the shops so if anyone has food allergies/preferences it might be worth taking a few bits with you, for instance if someone needs gluten free food.

As to the weather, that is a difficult one! Four days this week it was 23 degrees and sunny. Today it was 22 but we also had a hail storm, and high winds that took the roof of a number of houses! At this time of year we are still likely to get the odd storm and the nights can be a bit cool.....but having said that its going to feel very warm after the UK. Tell them to bring some layers of clothes. We also have red dust in the high winds from North Africa and it gets everywhere, in your eyes, on your clothes , down your throat and up your nose...hope it clears before they all arrive.

The people of Cyprus will do their very best to make the wedding go smoothly and will make everyone very welcome. Hope they have a wonderful time and a great wedding.

Ida_Notion

We haven't had much more than a few minor flurries of snow in Bristol over the last few days (plenty of rain last week though), but I've read and heard suggestions in several places that what the north's just had, the south will be getting by the weekend. I'm past any fascination now that I might have had with snow earlier in the year - it's too scary knowing that less than a few hundred miles away, even healthy young men are dying from the cold just trying to walk home from the boozer. Spring can't come soon enough.

It's bothering me a bit too what the affect of all this will be on food prices. We keep guinea pigs, but have such a small garden that I have to buy their veg rather than grow it. For the last week I haven't been able to get any kale - I'm told it's just rotted in the fields - and now spring greens are disappearing from the shelves as well. What spring greens are still coming in have increased in price by 25% since last Friday. It's just been a bit of a pain in the R's so far, but now I'm reading that thousands of livestock have perished in the freeze too. It's fairly obvious that all this is going to have an impact on the price of just about everything that's edible.

I'm not usually this negative - I think I'm just worried because my ten year-old is off to spend four days with her auntie near Oxford on Thurs and the unpredictable weather is making me edgy. In an attempt to sound a note of positivity, I don't think cash will ever entirely disappear. At least, it won't for as long as there are still people willing to throw money into the many charity buckets up and down the land that are helping to relieve the government of a lot of the responsibility that it's neglecting to take for the more vulnerable in our society.

As an attempt to sound a note of positivity, I've a feeling that one wasn't right up there with the best of them

[Deleted User]

Hi IDA NOTION do you use a local greengrocer at all? You might try asking them if they would keep you any trimmings from cabbages etc before putting them out on the shelves in the shop. I've known some people do this and get a good boxfull a couple of times a week. It certainly wouldn't do any harm to ask and you might just find what you need for the piggalettos for very little outlay. Hope that's useful,Cheers Lyn x.

Cheapskate

Evening all

MRSLW, please will you remind me of your custard recipe - I vaguely remember you posting it, but failed to write it down, my bad!

Today I bought a little torch for my bag/pocket - is it deeply wrong to feel excited about a 3" LED torch that also glows in the dark? I bought 2, profligate soul that I am!! :rotfl:

I'm using cash more often now, and using my loyalty cards less - lots of them will let you add the points later, and most schemes just add the points without recording what you bought IYKWIM - have done this a few times now, don't mind earning the points, but have a real problem with TPTB knowing my every purchase!

My slightly scatty mum, when I asked if she needed shopping today, said she needed bread - showed me the old uncut wholemeal loaf she had - golly, it would have you up for GBH if you threw it at a chap! Told her to save it for the zombie apocalypse and she nearly fell off her chair laughing - my good deed for the day.

A xo

GreyQueen

Hello Ida and I don't think that you're negative, just realistic. I read somewhere that pessimists tend to have a firmer grasp on reality and a longer life expectancy than optimists.

Not that they're necessarily enjoying themselves. I'm a medium-pessimist. And possibly a Cynic, on account of my fondness for the rep of a rancid ole classical Greek dude (Diogenes) who appararently lived in a barrel. The city fathers brought wunderkind Alexander the Great to meet him and the ruler of all he surveyed asked the D what he wanted he could get him and the original Cynic said he wanted A to stand out of his light.

This time of the year in this latitude is historically known as The Hungry Gap. Lotsa modern people are confused by seasonality and imports and don't understand that at this point in the year we're on the last scrapings of the overwintered stuff and the new growth hasn't come through.

I'm wincing for the farmers who are out trying to rescue stock in blizzard conditions and get feed out to them. Lambs out in this, it's almost enough to make you cry, and I speak as an omnivore. Going to be a very hard year on top of a miserable 2012. That'll translate into higher prices.

At the mo we can suck in exports but that won't be happening indefinately and then we'll have to reaccustom ourselves to seasonal eating.

A few years ago I was in an indy greengrocer in the hometown, about May/ June time. Just the greengrocer by the till, me browsing quietly when these two women came in, poked around contemptously and declared at the tops of their voices that why were all the apples from Abroad and not England before stomping out.

Took everything I had not to point out to the ignorant coos that the reason they had NZ and S African apples was that it was early summer and our apples were on the trees about the size of sprouts, and it was imports or nowt. I just rolled my eyes at the long-suffering shopkeeper who sighed wearily.

Mrs LW, I made the mistake of not capturing the Custard Recipe. You wouldn't be so kind as to re-post it or point to the post count. Getting a bit tired at the mo and only online as the pooter is doing a full scan and I'm here for the duration.

ETA ditto to Mrs LW about the trimmings. My indy greengrocer (gawdlovehim) does this and has regular pickups from people with chooks and bunnies/ piggies. A lot of people hate to see waste and would be happy to have it taken away. My greengrocer pays to have his trade waste taken away as part of the rent on his shop so diverting the stuff doesn't actually save him cash and costs him a bit of time and effort but he likes doing it anyway.

Ida_Notion

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Hi IDA NOTION do you use a local greengrocer at all? You might try asking them if they would keep you any trimmings from cabbages etc before putting them out on the shelves in the shop. I've known some people do this and get a good boxfull a couple of times a week. It certainly wouldn't do any harm to ask and you might just find what you need for the piggalettos for very little outlay. Hope that's useful,Cheers Lyn x.

Thanks for that, but I don't drive and so rely on the 24/7 Asda that's just a ten minute walk away (we live on the edge of town), and which put all the independent greengrocers and butchers etc within almost two miles out of business long before we ever moved in. Our local high street has one bakery, but other than that it's pretty much all estate agents and take-away shops now

Greying_Pilgrim

Just in case Mrs Lurcherwalker has retired for the evening, custard recipe is HERE (post No. 7585)

Greying