THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Karmacat

fuddle wrote: »

I guess all I can do is keep my plot as clean as possible and remove dead vegetation.

This is what I'm doing in my own garden. I clipped back all my hedges, after years of neglect during illness ... but I still haven't got rid of it all off the property. I'm workingon it now, but some of it smells of cat pee and I had a second rat infestation this year

And believe me, I use gloves for everything in the garden - either big thick gardening gloves, or washing up gloves, if I'm doing something a bit delicate

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[Deleted User]

aspergillus
This is what I am convinced, eventually killed my husband. He was very healthy and fit until he came in contact with this, in some rotten buildings that he had to survey. Got lung disease which eventually led to his heart failing due to the hard work of supplying oxygen

Re gloves outside, I never but never do anything in the garden without good gloves, not even moving pots or handling any soil. Rats are all over at night

ivyleaf

I remember years ago a neighbour being a bit sniffy about my always wearing gloves for gardening. "I'm afraid I like to feel the soil on my fingers!" she commented. Hmm.

[Deleted User]

Just a quickie to say that I still get advance weather info, the forthcoming storm was forecast a month ago and is definitely coming to fruition. Could be hurricane to cyclone, the models are saying it will likely track first from s Ireland Cork first and it looks as though the west coast, sw England , Wales and w Scotland will be severely affected. Remember 30 years ago? It appears to be building up worse than that and will stretch the emergency services. Think severe wind, rain, floods. I already started to take precautions with ropes on the allotment and tomorrow will remove any potential flying objects from around the house. Candles and matches handy and batteries fully charged for portable lighting and radio. I think monday/tuesday and keep an eye on the pressure, watch as it drops and be prepared. 30 years ago, I was at work and people were called home as their windows had blown in. I had drawn all my curtains in case of flying glass

GreyQueen

Thanks for the warning, kittie, I will go up to the lottie tomorrow after w*rk and make some preps.

The cold frame was mended last weekend, when two rotten end planks were levered out and replaced. It is very heavy but the only vulnerable point it the steel-framed window which forms its lid. I will have a think about what, if anything, I could do to mitigate any damage to that.

One of my two water butts, which are very large food-grade barrels, is presently lying empty on its side behind the shed. I drained it down so's I could move it so I could access behind it to paint the shed. I was meaning to let the mud inside dry out before getting rid of it and re-filling.

I shall do a fast version of that chore, re-instate the barrell, then bail water from the other barrell so they both end up half-full and thus pretty heavy and stable.

I remember the storm of 1987 very well. It happened to be the only day that my Kid Bruv, at college in the midlands, came up to Scotland to see me when I was at uni. I had no phone, and he was MIA somewhere in several hundred miles of territory. I rang his college from a payphone and they could tell me when he'd left (early morning) but no one knew where the heck he was.:(

He turned up just before midnight, having been travelling for something like 18 hours, originally by train but having to switch to and fro between trains and buses as lines/ roads were blocked all over the place with fallen trees and other debris. Poor kid was exhausted and I was so relieved I (almost) forgave him for having nicked my TT Races souvenir tee-shirt and have been guileless enough to come visit me wearing it (bless!).

A think to remember about windows in stormy weather is that a window which is partially open, can allow wind in which can then blow out other windows or even rip a hole in the roof from inside. The physics of it are pretty astonishing. Soooo, prolly a good time for us fresh-air fiends to seal the place up tightly.

maryb

I remember in the 87 storm, going up to bed just as it was getting going and the pressure had dislodged the loft hatch - lifted clean out just as if someone was going up there to get something. The windows were all closed but were Victorian sashes so let in a fair old draft. The floor under each window had a great pile of those tiny Robinia leaves which had forced their way in

[Deleted User]

getting very serious, intensified to a cat 2 over the sea but will lose a bit of energy over the cold water, looks as though a cat1 hurricane, dangerous to life. I have already used some rope on the lottie, will be getting more today and lashing my empty water butt down. Will also be lowering to the ground my very heavy cantilever parasol in the garden. Nothing much on the news but still uncertain wrt tracking but still looks like in my last post

Pooky

The local (to me) weather bloke has said our little corner of the country is likely to be uneffected by the storm and he's normally spot on, we have frequent power cuts anyway so always prepped for that and the garden is all ready for winter so nothing to blow about.

The big storm of 30 years ago really ripped through this village, loads of roofs lost and structural damage. The perils of cliff top living. I was living about 3 miles away at the time and remember trying to walk to work, hanging on to a lamppost in the middle of the road and deciding I wasn't going any further....managed to get home and watched the fence panels fall like dominoes across the back gardens.

Floss

Apparently it's Hurricane Ophelia...

GreyQueen

Floss wrote: »

Apparently it's Hurricane Ophelia...

Such a wishy-washy drippy name to be bracketed with 'Hurricane'. Those naming-wallahs need to up their game.