Preparedness for when

D&DD

Lynn it may be worth asking on the lets keep chickens thread maybe? Thats a bummer if you can't increase flock size..let's hope we aren't going down the american route where they also ban people from gardens in some places!

Revolution reminded me a bit of Jeremiah which I used to love years ago..not enough action in it for my OH either MrsL but that means I'll be able to watch future episodes in peace!

My free gala apple tree has just arrived from Thompson and Morgan :eek: I really don't know how they have the cheek to call it a tree..its only knee high! The graft tape is still on it and to give you an idea of size its in a 3 inch square pot and doesn't stand as tall as my kitchen bin :rotfl: Glad I never paid for it!!

Jayne I usually grind up cayennes for the pepper too

Tesco's was out of bread flour so they sent me Allisons instead I'm not complaining I thought I'd get some extras in in case the 'hollywood effect' caused a price hike..I also got 10 more boxes of yeast,I've tried most on the market but find Tesco's the best.

OH has a long weekend so he has been drafted to help me with my food storage..he's soo pleased about that..
I have it vaguely organised but it just needs tweaking a bit and I need someone with muscles to help with certain boxes.

Snow flurries here this morning so the gardens still on hold but so far nothings getting too out of hand on the windowsills although at this rate I'll have indoor cucumbers this year :D

nuatha

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Morning all, JAYNEC I don't think cayenne pepper is ground seeds, I'm sure it is cayenne peppers dried and the dry flesh of the pepper then deseeded and ground, only think of the colour it is?

Good morning Lyn, you're right. Cayenne is is the ground dried flesh of the Cayenne pepper ( Capsicum annuum) though some of the seeds are left with the flesh for heat. It will grow as an annual in the UK - though needs a greenhouse round here.
Actually a cultivar of the same pepper is used for sweet paprika, being processed without the seeds.

I think I've just found another reason why I want a small smokehouse

Margaret54

Hi everyone Hope you are all as well as you can be and keeping warm? Checked the gas meter this morning and the units were down to 15 and it is the lowest it has been. Using the extra gas due to the cold weather, like we do. My ds got £20 worth in the local shop and it was a faff and a half to get it on again, but got there in the end. We have a pay as you go meter (same with the electricity) so no bills as you are paying up front. Thing is you are popping in and out at different days to check how many units you have left:) Going to buy more later today I think, as I would hate for that to happen again. Reminded me of the awful days when the children were small and not enough money for coal some times with the budget being very tight, and a child needed a new pair of shoes/coat etc. and the money just did not stretch. They are all adults now and have said those tough times stand them in good stead, when money is tight for them, (what would Mum have done?) You feel blessed that those days are over, but reading stuff now are we really over those days?

GreyQueen

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

OH had been bemoaning the loss last year of his brazier as he loved to have little bonfires with the kids lol. He has over the past couple of years had a few of those cheapy "metal bin" types, but they always seem to go on the base and drop through. There are better versions/firepits for alot more cash, which we didn't want to spend.

So OH got a firepit made from a recycled washing machine drum, with a sturdy base alreasy attached and ready to go for £13-bargain. He is now working on plans for some kind of frame to hang pots from over the top. But it looks like we could add a grill or metal tray over the top to cook on if we needed and it will be great for those summer evenings alongside out paraffin lamps to sit out .

Ali x

Well done! I saw something preptastic in a Cl@ s Ol*son store last week; whopping great metal tripod with a suspended pan on a chain. Switch it out for a kettle or a cooking pot and you have a really OS cooking arrangement.

nuatha; my parents have Polish migrant workers as neighbours (and very hardworking and pleasant people thye are, too) and they use a 6 foot tall metal locker as a smokehouse. Wonder if this could be an idea for you? I'm assuming they know what they're doing as it's part of their culinary tradition. They have split logs of some kind specially for it. My Polish starts and ends with tak so I can't go and ask them what kind of timber. They keep the wood undercover in the shed..........

Shopping for preps fluctuates according to where I am and what I see. Saw big cans of SouthSeas brand mackeral and sardines, flat oval cans at 99p Store. Hmmm, tiny cans for 75p or huge cans for 99p and 4 years' date on them. Got a fair few.

Other stuff goes up and down according to what's on special and what my best guess will rise in price according to what's happening on global markets, dependant on weather etc.

I keep my eyes peeled for preptastic things at all times and have got the Harrisons' book on jams and chutneys in a c.s. today for 99p.

Right, tea calls. Laters, GQ xx

ALIBOBSY

Well its absolutely gorgeous and sunny here-hitting 70 in the greenhouse :j.
We have had a few sunny days but it was still bitter cold, but today really feels like a proper spring day -kids have been out on the tramp bumping away lol. Think we have been lucky missing most of the snow here, but its pure chance as things not too far (think 20 miles) from here were quite bad.
Toasted some marshmallows over the new firepit last night with the kids-will be lovely in summer evenings.

SIL after saying she couldn't afford the charges for BIL tv in hospital-so FIL and MIL have been stumping up-not that they can really afford it in their 70's :mad:, then booked a long weekend with her mother for easter (who goes away when your OH is in hospital???).
She also has been puffing away on her fags all the time and still going out with her mates to the pub every friday .

So this week the Dr's announce as BIL has recovered far beyond their expectations he can go home whilst still being under district nurse and outpatient care-plus a likely readmission for further op's to sort out his bowel and intenstines later on. So he came home yesterday and SIL STILL went away and left him alone. FIL and MIL went on holiday (booked last year) on thurs and were worried, MIL wanted to cancel, but my OH told her to go and he and his sisters would try to keep an eye on BIL. Oh gone up now to see if he got some lunch and to see if he needs something for his tea later on.

Plus had a weird experience. Couple of weeks ago I had a dream where my gran's spirit was trying to contact me by knocking on the wall-I could hear the banging and see her, but not make out the words she was saying. I awoke with tears on my face. When I spoke to my mum over the weekend about it she looked a bit shocked-my sister had a dream the same night where our mum had a heart attack and colasped-she also woke up with tears on her cheeks. We didn't know till the following Monday how weird it really was-Mum hadn't told us but she had been feeling off colour for months and was getting breathless and having some chest pressure. Dad had been pushing her to see the Dr, but she wouldn't go. After what we said about the dreams when she had another bout on the Mon and Dad pushed her, she finally decided to go to the Dr's. He said her blood pressure was through the roof and she had classic heart problem/angina symtoms. She got one of those under tongue sprays, blood pressure pills and statins as well as being back and forth to the hospital for test/ecg/x rays. Makes you wonder if my gran (mum mother) was out there trying to send us a message. 2013 been a bad year for families health so far .

So sorry to hear your sad news BB and wondercollie I am sure the right job will come along soon.

Have a good easter and keep warm ev1.

Ali x

ALIBOBSY

Rosemary_Jane wrote: »

Hi,
just seen a link to this:

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/john-ward-smoke-signals-special-eurogroup-will-stop-capital-flight-now-29-march-2013/

I don't have a Santander UK account, but later where he talks about getting out of sterling, is scary.

I'm not ready....

TBH the scariest thing about this is even 12 months ago I think most of us would have thought it extreme, but now it starts to look a real possibility. Is it worrying that the RBS online access has a message that it will be off from 2 am to 6 am tommorrow lol.

Ali x

Butterfly_Brain

Thank you for all of your good wishes to DNiece and I have passed them on to her she is really touched, bless her.

This world is truly getting scary and the banks and corporations are now showing their true colours, have you seen this?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/29/asda-welfare-scheme-birmingham
Talk about selling your soul to the company store. I have now added Asda to my list to boycott, the list is getting very long and is now both sides of 2 A4 narrow lines sheets of paper :mad::mad:

elaine241

Hello All, hope you are keeping warm, really cold wind here but occasional burst on sun! We start lambing next week so I am praying that the weather warms up a bit & stays dry.

I have just finished The Death of Grass and The Road. Death of Grass made me realise how quickly "civilised" people have to put their normal standards to one side and basically shoot first and rather than ask questions later just forget the questions and shoot again! It is very much of its time being based in UK when we could still have guns but it made me think especially about blocking people into the centres of population. Makes me glad I live in the sticks!

TBH The Road was quite depressing, it made me realise some SHTF scenarios mean that no amount of prepping will be of use and that how wretched survival in some instances would be. I think, for myself, plan B would be the only option if this situation occurred.

Anyway get away from the depressing thoughts! I bought TEOTWAWKI and am determined to put some of the ideas into action. I am building up my foraging skills although tbh they are pretty good, livestock and gardening I have done all my life, I am learning to sew properly, can already preserve, pickle and produce wicked home brew!! First aid training is there if not a little rusty same for shooting skills but I can at least hit a barn door!! If I had to I could trap & fish, skin/gut etc We are already collecting wood for next year as our main source of heating is the woodburner although I do cook and heat using bottled gas.

My longer term aim is to look at being able to live off grid if neccessary. DUe to the large amounts of poo! I am going to look at biogas for cooking and if possible heating. A ground source heat pump would be possible as we have the space and machinery to do it. A local famer has just put in a hydro generator using a fast flowing mountain stream and is now selling back to the power companies.

I did propose a Doomsday book club for everyone to report on good, bad and indifferent books that they have read. What does eveyone think? It would be informative if you could post short review so that we dont waste time looking for useless books.

Anyway keep prepping and stay safe everyone.

Butterfly_Brain

I watched revolution and was underwhelmed, if all the power had gone out why did the house across the street and the falling aeroplane still have lights?

JayneC

Thanks MrsL and everyone else re the advice about cayenne pepper.

It is scary times indeed. I withdrew all but enough to cover my DDs when I got paid on Thurs and think that's what I'll continue to do. I've already spent my grocery money and the rest is divided up in envelopes, not that there's much, just petrol money, kids activities and milk bill really. I have far from the limit in savings (ie about £50:rotfl:), but it would be a nightmare if I couldn't access anything cos the banks were shut.

I worry about my parents, who really don't grasp that their life savings could be snatched. My mum's dad died when she was a little girl and she grew up with barely anything as he wasn't insured or anything, so my gran drummed it into her that she must have life insurance and savings etc. So all her life she's made sure she's done that, invested as much as she could even when she didn't have much and now she and my dad are quite comfortable. To think it could all be snatched away is just horrific.

The weather has been weird again today, beautiful sunshine, interspersed with snow showers!! Got a bit done at Lottie and DS chopped some wood in the sunshine. Am debating with myself about whether to chance the carboot sale tomorrow. Need to get some stuff out and could do with some cash, but not sure it's worth freezing for:o