Preparing for Winter V

CCW007

Si_Clist said:

* The tree was supposed to be a damson but it turned out to be a plum, albeit a very nice one.

We bought a greengage tree which produces the nicest purple plums! 

Primrose

I think a number of nurseries probably have plant labelling problems.  Annoying though to have to wait for a long time and then find you didn,t get what you paid for 

Si_Clist

fionaandphil said:

... Do you have some outdoor space such as a garage or shed you could store them in? ...

We have no garage but we do have two sheds.  One's full of all the gardening tackle, netting, sacks of fish blood and bone, and so forth and the rack that will shortly be full of trays of apples ('cos we've now finished bottling the pears that were in it).  The other's full of two ordinary pushbikes, two pedelecs, the strimmer, the hedge-cutter and similar gubbins.

We also have two semi-permanent (or so they were meant to be when I built then 15 years ago) lean-tos (leans-to?).  One's full of logs, and the other's full of the wine and beer-making tackle, our stash of old newspapers for firelighting, various clutter that's too useful to throw out, and all of this year's spud harvest.

Most of the house is crammed full of our preps, but mercifully we still have a few odd spaces here and there, so we're not quite at the stage yet of using the bogroll stash as a coffee table.

Primrose

It can be rather scary the amount of stuff you actually need to be as self sufficient as possible and although some of the equipment is only used at certain times of the year, it still has to be stored somewhere. 

i've been watching a YouTube series called Simply Alaska about a young couple living in a cabin there and being virtually self sufficient and the amount of equipment and storage they need for all their winter canning and food preservation is huge.  Worth a watch if this is a topic you're really interested in.

nannygladys

Stocking up slowly, bought another 2 boxes of analgesics, just in case so now I have plenty and can give to family if needs be.

Been through pantry and have plenty, so as I use a tin I will replace it, same with dried stuff, so I can keep on top of it.  

Clothes wise I should be ok as I seem to have the necessary in. Planted some winter cabbage and kale today and have more bits and pieces to plant as well. I will have to look if there's anything else I can grow.
Nannyg

Primrose

I see a weekend business paper was forecasting possible power cuts this winter as much of our electricity supplies comes from a France or Ireland.  If yiu have an old fashioned "plug in" landline phone set, don't donate it to a charity shop as it will still work in a power cut. The portable hand sets with bases won,t. 

Si_Clist

Primrose said:

... If yiu have an old fashioned "plug in" landline phone set, don't donate it to a charity shop as it will still work in a power cut.

For the time being.  BT are "set to" (as they insist on saying all the time nowadays) pull the plug on landline phones in 2025 and switch us all over to an internet-based service gawdelpusall ...

Anyhow, if you want to know where our electric comes from right now-ish ...

https://electricinsights.co.uk/#/homepage?&_k=zxkuon

Primrose

Thanks for that useful power supply link.
I'd no idea that British Telecom were planning to abolish land lines.  I can foresee that many older people who don't have mobile phones will be greatly perplexed by this.   Do you have any information sources?

greenbee

@Primrose - you won't need a mobile phone. You can get voice over IP phones (internet phones) that look exactly like landlines, but need a power supply. They just work over the internet instead of alongside it on the phoneline. Anyone with a fibre connection and no separate copper to the house will be using these already (FTTP). Those with copper to the cabinet and then fibre will be using the 'old fashioned' phone only for the first bit. Most of the phone network runs over the internet now, it's just that it isn't visible to the domestic consumer. 

daz378

Hiya popping in from a quiet preppers thread....just emerged from 11 day covid isolation....needed a mate to bring milk and a loaf....otherwise  was well stocked  and could have lasted a few more weeks....my stock of tins of curry ..were especially useful   as i at least got the hint of a taste    while eating....medical prepps were reassuring   ...especially pulse oximeter..which reassured through my persistent cough....being double jabbed was mainly ok