Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

It's great to be among kindred spirits. I tend to stand sideways to the general run of the mill which passes for normal out there, so much so that I jest that when I've finished my dissertation, the spaceship will collect me and take me back to my own planet............:rotfl:

I mean, I walk past tanning parlours, nail bars and all sorts of fol de rols every day and wonder what the heck this is supposed to have to do with me? Scented drawer-liners? What is all this about, please?

Today I did my job, picked up some lovely compliments from customers. Went to the library and the c.s. Pillar candle 20p (original price on base £4.99. I win!). Yesterday I collect most-of-a-shed from pal's lottie. Arm hurts but it'll pass.

I have a Project. It needs some carpentry repairs, then a roof and a floor. I shall have to level a patch of ground. I have a couple of spare slabs but not enough. The reclamation yard a mile from the lottie sells them, I have no vehicle, will have to finesse that. Will be going to the timber merchant to price up some wood. Will make a plan and execute it over the next few months.

My new-to-me shed will be utterly mine when I have finished. I'd not have the same sense of achivement and satisfaction from buying a new one from a DIY Barn, that I will get from repairing it on a shoestring. I will learn skills in the doing of it. I will also probably cut myself minorly, get tired, sweaty and a bit cross before it's all done. There may be Language, even.:p

Then I'll trick it out like a beach hut and it'll be my lottie home away from home. I'm thinking gingham, bit of vinyl offcut on the floor, Kath Kidsonesque but done for pence. I'm loving it.

Prolly be done about wintertime as I must concentrate on getting the crop in the ground, but hey, a gal can have her humble dreams, can't she?

VJsmum

Whilst I cannot lie - i do like some of the finer things in life (a regular hair tint and my holidays), I also love the very simplest things also.

I could go and buy all my veg - but I just love the magic of growing something from seed and learning, learning, learning what to do for the best
I could spend money on a posh handbag - but it'd only get scratched, and I love the thrill of my £70 worth for £20 from TK Maksimus
I could probably have a pair of Jimmy Choos, but I'd break my bleeding ankle walking down the road
I could shove all the laundry in a tumble drier - but I hate wasting that energy when i can stick it on the line for free and i love the smell of fresh air.
I could eat ready meals but love the sense of achievement in cooking from scratch (and anyway I had a rare one yesterday and it was MINGING!)
I could go to the gym - but then I'd miss walking in the countryside
I could have the latest laptop / smartphone / eyepad - but that would be a waste of this 2 year old one
I could have a posh car - but then I'd have to clean it

Nah - I'll stick with simple, it's much more fun

Edit - I could also have gone out and bought OH a birthday cake, but then he wouldn't have the lopsided one I have just smeared in butter cream and covered in chocolate sprinkles to make it look half decent :rotfl:

JayneC

Sounds fab GQ

Thanks for the link VJsmum, made me smile. I sing that little song regularly, even makes DS2 smile (or is that grimace:p) and he's a grumpy 14 yo. Thankfully he's 'one of us' no interest in FB, hasn't even got a mobile, is an xbox addict tho, but tends to like the fantasy and historical games rather than war games - thankfully.

Just been watching rag rugging tutorials. Quite fancied having a go and looks fairly easy. Trying to warm the place up - I have wooden floors in living room and stone in kitchen so feet can get a bit chilly...Not sure that counts as prepping ??

Found some batteries that fit my poundland torch (duracell are a bit fat it seems:p) and it's quite bright, so well pleased with my little bargain.

Picked up a field guide to wild flowers(£1.45) at CS as well the Home Emergency Guide by DK, that was quite a bargain as it was 4 for £1 in the local hospice shop, picked up 3 books for DS1 and DD3 too by authors they like, will put them away for xmas stockings.

babyshoes

GreyQueen wrote: »

Then I'll trick it out like a beach hut and it'll be my lottie home away from home. I'm thinking gingham, bit of vinyl offcut on the floor, Kath Kidsonesque but done for pence. I'm loving it.

Prolly be done about wintertime as I must concentrate on getting the crop in the ground, but hey, a gal can have her humble dreams, can't she?

You reminded me of this lady who I did a lesson with recently. She has a lovely shed! It's a 'shedio' rather than a garden shed, but it's lovely just the same. Her old one, which I've linked to, was done carribean beach hut style, the new one is even brighter!

elona

GQ

The pound or 99p shops usually have quite large floor tiles on sale and backed with sticky stuff which might look good in the luxury second bijou hideaway (AKA the shed).

Mrs L

Figures are now 87 cases with deaths still 17 but quite a few people are in critical condition.

Had trek to market today and got free range eggs so very pleased. Made home made burgers and rolls for tea and dd has requested pizza whirls to take with her to friends tomorrow. No idea what to cook tomorrow but might just play about with ingredients I have in.

Big box arrived from AF today and I now have loads of marinade and spices at a sixth of the price, some cans of soft drinks, cereal bars for lunch boxes,some tins of fruit,laundry liquid, shower gels, bottles of hot sauce and emergency sweeties

Butterfly_Brain

RAS wrote: »

When I was on a "disaster" team, part of our briefing was film of a serious fire at a local chemical works. Fire officers hosing down flames running on the ground to prevent spread. Fortunately someone on the works staff explained to the fire service lead that the tanks stored immediately behind the officers (towards which the flames were trying to spread) contained highly explosive material with a low combustion temperature. They re-doubled their efforts and hosed down the tanks as well.


The works was well and truly hung out to dry by the HSE afterwards because they had chemicals for which they did not have licences and others in quantities exceeding agreed limts etc.

This works was just outside the centre of a major city and has since been re-located. They reckon it could have taken out much of the nearby housing estate/flats, the inner ring road and part of the rail network.

I used to work for a chemical company 30 years ago and all staff including the girls in the office were trained in emergency situations, thankfully the training never turned into a real life situation, but I still remember a lot of that hazchem training.

Butterfly_Brain

GreyQueen wrote: »

Woke to the news of the fertiliser explosion in Texas. Appalling. If you were that close to a blast all the canned food the world would be no good to you. But a go-bag might be crucial. I suppose some people would look at those shredded homes and think to themselves, if some of those were preppers' homes and most were non-preppers' homes, what difference did it make in the end?

Hokay, I am on a late but it is time to hit the highway. Laters, GQ xx

I remember the Buncefield oil refinery fire explosion in Hemel Hempstead in 2005, the shock wave was felt for miles around, hard to believe that it was 8 years ago this December :eek:.

[Deleted User]

The weather man is promising us a nice day tomorrow so we've decided to get Fatima the OzPig out of her stable, give her a good grooming and have the first cookout in the garden of the year, woohoo I feel like a kid at christmas, I do so love cooking outside, everything tastes so much nicer. I picked up a camping cookbook in a CS a couple of days ago with a recipe for Jerk Chicken that I'm going to try out is sounds very flavoursome and I might have a go at making some flatbreads to go with it which will be yummy. He Who Knows is wanting to get the garden table and chairs out of his shed he says, to give him a bit more room, so if we do and the weather goes rapidly downhill I appologise in advance, I hope it stays nice though, Cheers Lyn xxx.

mardatha

Is nice and sunny here but chilly. I was out checking the garden in a woolly duffle coat and it was nice. No garden at all bar some crocus but I think I saw some house martins!

[Deleted User]

Morning MAR hope you're feeling OK today, glad you've got nice weather up there at the moment. Lucky you with the house martins, we get the migratory birds coming in over the river at this time of year but it's been so cold that I haven't seen anything yet. We usually get early swifts and swallows and they hunt over the allotments just across the road as I think it's first landfall after thier journey, will post when I see the first ones, it's always a bit of a thrill isn't it? Cheers Lyn xxx.