THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

ivyleaf

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

She has, after a fashion.

I found her this morning, sitting on the doorstep, of one of my neighbours.

Ooh, the fickle little madam! Glad she's all right though

lillibet_dripping

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

GQ, our local Waitrose has a container of coffee grounds for gardeners to help themselves to. Do you have a branch near you?

.... as does our local Morrisons!:T

GreyQueen

I'm about 3 miles from the nearest 'rose in a direction I travel in about once a year, if that. I will be on the prowl tomorrow after work, and asking in a few places. One thing's fer sure, a city centre neighbourhood isn't lacking coffee shops, I wonder that they all get a living.

I've read up on using coffee grounds and there seems to be an issue that, if spread on the soil without composting, they can be a bit much, so will be looking to compost it with some shredded newspapers for carbon (coffee grounds are technically 'greens' from the pov of creating compost) and perhaps adding my ground eggshells to the mix to mitigate the slight calcium deficiency typical of coffee compost.

I'm contemplating trench composting in what will be the spot for the 2018 runner bean crop.

GreyQueen

:j I have about 10 kg of coffee grounds and the promise of more come Friday, from an indy coffee shop which produces about 2 kg of grounds per day and which I pass by daily on my walking commute.

They seemed pleased to have someone who wanted them and speak as if this could be an ongoing thing. I have promised to bring them a small h.g. pumpkin on Friday as a token of my appreciation.

I feel one of my capital-A arrangements has just slotted into place - very pleased.

[Deleted User]

jko wrote:

Anyone noticed the Ebico offer in the column at the side? They are offering free overnight electricity. The only proviso is that you must not use more than 60% of your energy then, and the day units cost 17.18p. This would still be a big saving for anyone with an all electric flat.

Don't they require you to have a smart meter fitted?

jk0

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Don't they require you to have a smart meter fitted?

Yeah. I just noticed that. That's why I deleted my post. I certainly don't want to encourage those things with my problems.

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

Yeah. I just noticed that. That's why I deleted my post. I certainly don't want to encourage those things with my problems.

Last week SSE sent me a letter telling me I was 'eligible' for a smart meter and that they're 'currently free' as if they're doing me a big favour by offering and I should get mine before they start charging. Accompanied by a brochure of guff which mentions, although not prominently, that you can sometimes have problems switching suppliers if you have a smart meter.

No s**t, Sherlock, since switching is something very much on the cards in the next six months since they took away their no-standing-charge tariff (I get to keep my deal until about Feb, will be looking to offski then if I can get a better deal.

It's also less than a year since they switched my analogue electric meter for a digital one. I checked v.carefully before allowing that to be sure it wasn't a smart meter and made clear I'm not having one. Since this letter isn't opting me in (you have to book installation) I'm not responding to it but I have put a big and prominent notice inside the locked external meter cupboard saying NOT TO INSTALL A SMART METER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

The utilities have a pass key to these cupboards and I don't want the bu88ers getting in there whilst I'm out and pulling a switcheroonie on me. The water company changed all the Towers meters a few months ago with no prior warning and we were left wondering why our water was running funny and there were leaks everywhere outside. :mad:

It's a load of old codswallop, about how they enable you to work out which of your appliances are using the most energy so you can- what? Turn them off? My household uses 2.5-3 kWH per 24 hrs, which is consistant and I can't see how I can reduce that without switching off the fridge or spending less time online; since it costs me pennies per day and provides hours of entertainment, that ain't happening.

thriftwizard

S'funny, we've had one of those nice letters too! Which I've been ignoring, along with just about everything else, for the last month. Strikes me that that might be rather silly, as they might well try to slip something (i.e. installing one of the dratted things by stealth) past the Offspring whilst I'm occupied elsewhere. Luckily I'm fairly sure that either of my DDs would phone me to check before allowing them to pass the threshold; however if one of the boys, or their father, should be at home, they might not be so suspicious...

Today is the first day that I've been able to relax and think that Mum might actually still be with us at Christmas; she's "parked" in a care home for a couple of weeks' respite care, as she's still as weak as a kitten although beginning to make progress & cheer up a bit. At the end of the day, she's 91 and anything might happen, any time, but actually she's as tough as old boots and not quite ready to slip away just yet, as she really wants to know what will happen with respect to two small-but-ongoing family dramas! So I'm free today to get some things done, like getting the chimney swept, organising a delivery of logs (as I've not been able to pick them up for free on my travels) and do a bit of re-stocking - you can actually see my store-cupboard shelves in places!

I kind of need to re-think some of my emergency supplies, as well as re-stock, because the general situation has changed; we are now only four at home on a regular basis, two of whom are pescatarians. On high days and holidays we go up to eight, possibly ten, but that's temporary & won't help us get through the corned beef mountain! But there's not a chick pea in sight...

I'll also have to start another sourdough "starter" as I suspect mine has died after a month of neglect. And a bottle of ginger beer blew up all over the kitchen last night, causing a somewhat sticky & unholy mess - next time I'm called away, don't leave anything fermenting by a radiator!

thriftwizard

Well - here's how NOT to do it: go to L!dls & the wholesalers, stock up, open boot, let an entire avalanche of tins, bottles etc. fall straight out onto the car park... needless to say, the fabric conditioner bottle broke and everything is incredibly slippery & smells horribly floral, and one or two tins, now well-dented, will have to be eaten for supper tonight instead of gracing my store-supboard for months!

But here's a tip for the new stove owners amongst us: the chimney sweep came this morning. Our back firebrick cracked some time ago, and his advice was to replace it as it's cracked right through, rather than try a mend which might well make matters worse. It's safe to use as is, but best to get it sorted before it suddenly isn't any more & the whole casing is ruined. I've spent some time trying to source spares, as it's not a bog-standard model (thanks to the shape of the fireplace) and only come up with people selling the whole set, at fairly vast expense. I'd looked at the manufacturer/importer's website, and they didn't seem to sell direct, but in desperation I picked up the phone & called them to see if they knew where I might get one. To my delight, they get them cut onsite, and they're sending me one straight away for about one-third of the price the woodburner merchants are charging! Asking the manufacturers themselves has to be worth a try, if anyone else is in need of spare parts.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

Accompanied by a brochure of guff which mentions, although not prominently, that you can sometimes have problems switching suppliers if you have a smart meter.

According to a report in today's paper, it's not just suppliers you can have trouble switching, with a smart meter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-5060141/Why-smart-meter-stop-microwave-working.html