THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Karmacat

NewShadow wrote: »

I guess I just need to remind myself that the houses that are on the market now might not be around, but there has constantly been around 5 or 6 houses in my target area within/below my rough budget and that waiting/being disciplined will let me get all the related logistics sorted.

Your reasons for the move make lots of sense, NS - and you're spot on about the point above. For now, I'd say maximise the returns on the money you've got saved - switching accounts, regular savers, anything you can.

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I'd suggest looking for a house in an area that is "cabled up", so you can have fibre BB.

Absolutely!

maryb wrote: »

New Shadow just remembered something that we came across when my DD was househunting. She found a nice two bed terrace with a reasonable amount of garden, but not too much. We noticed there was a gap in the fence between her and the next door garden (she was end of terrace. When I looked at the documents it turned out that next door had a right of way through the middle of her garden in order to access their own garden and they would drag their bins out that way.

This too. And watch out for signs of a neighbour feud: does your seller play music loudly so you can't hear next door? At one house I went to, a terrace like maryb mentioned, there was a very solid brick wall down one side of the (long) front garden. I commented how nice it was, and the EA replied that the seller had built it to shield from the neighbour. Then I noticed it was built three feet *inside* the property boundary!

Check the crime stats for the area - there's a map, showing levels, types and numbers of crimes, I think its run by the police.

[Deleted User]

Another gloriously sunny day hare, and thermometer reading 94f. :cool:

Unfortunately, I'm back to work tomorrow.

[Deleted User]

We are cooking on the little hibachi barbeque in the garden and I haven't got rolls in BUT I did have some mashed potato in the fridge so I've made Potato Flat Breads with it. It's a Norwegian idea based on their LEFSA breads and they've turned out really well, brown and dotted like chapattis. A good thing to be able to make if you have no power and a good thing to make for a bread if you have no yeast or oven to cook a conventional loaf in.

Very tasty they were too! and the fresh grape chutney I made in a 10 minute cook with a wrinkly red onion, some old green and black grapes from the fridge that needed using up and some ingredients from the spice cupboard, we are well fed this evening!

Cappella

Sounds lovely MrsLW. I make potato farls and potato pastry quite often but never thought of using leftover mash in flatbreads. I assume they must be rolled very thinly?
Kitchen here is just beginning to take shape. Can’t wait for it to be finished and to work in it but have realised anew how very difficult life would be without a constant supply of running water. Even though we store plenty of bottled water it’s amazed me how quickly we’ve used it all. The new outside cold water tap is currently my very, very best friend here

[Deleted User]

I got the spelling wrong it's LEFSE not LefsA, the dough is softer than a chapatti or tortilla dough so it's much easier to work with, roll it to pastry thickness and cook it in a hot dry pan until it browns and then turn it and brown the other side. The result is somewhere between a pancake and a chapatti, a soft bread that is easy to fold over fillings, really nice. I didn't follow a recipe but added enough S/R flour to the mashed potato to get a pastry like dough, divided it into 4 portions, kneaded each one as I wanted to cook it and rolled out to plate size with a rolling pin. Takes a few minutes for the first side to cook but less time for the second. I cooled them on a rack and we had them cold with supper, look up a recipe on the 'net or just play until you get something at the end of the process that you like xxx.

meanmarie

Lyn......you just reminded me of the potato bread my late mother used to make when I was a child......she added bicarb and buttermilk or sour milk to the potato/plain flour and continued as she would with white soda bread.....was delicious with a fried egg or cheese......thanks for the happy memory.

Marie

mardatha

We're apparently getting a new kitchen sometime this summer, I need to think how to prep for that. Anybody had this done - how long does it take? The RV insists it will be 3 days but that seems a bit long to me..

[Deleted User]

I had a new kitchen and bathroom, courtesy of the Council.

The main bulk of the kitchen work did take about three days.

Of the first day, they ripped everything out, then reconnected the sink unit, standing it well off from the wall.

Day 2 saw the wiring redone, and the new units went in on the third day.

The finishing (tiling, redecorating, flooring etc.) was later in the week, but I was able use the kitchen in the meantime.

Cappella

MardathaI’m just in the middle of having my kitchen replaced. It’s taking a lot longer than 3 days, though that’s probably because it’s involved stripping the walls back to bare brick and replacing all the pipies and wiring. It only took a couple of days to have the new units fitted, but there’s still the tiling to be done and a new floor to be laid. I’d say it’s going to take about two weeks, but three days of that time involved no actual work being done, just letting the plaster dry thoroughly.
In terms of prepping I’d say have PLENTY of bottled water available. (I didn’t have enough) and be prepared to use your microwave and toaster a lot unless you’re lucky enough to have the space for an outside kitchen. I preprepared my own cook and chill meals and made various salads, which sorted lunches and teas out easily as well. We had our bathroom replaced just over a month ago (my OH has very bad arthritis as well as Parkinsons and we had the bath taken out and replaced by a shower)/but I’m finding the kitchens a lot more difficult to work around longer term. Sorry I’m not being very helpful am I? Hope yours takes a much shorter time than ours is doing.

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

We're apparently getting a new kitchen sometime this summer, I need to think how to prep for that. Anybody had this done - how long does it take? The RV insists it will be 3 days but that seems a bit long to me..

When kitchens are done here, folk have to sign that they understand it can take two weeks, normally it's 5-6 working days.

As BB says, the worst is over in about 3 days, but there are things which have to take the time they take like screeding floors and waiting for that to go off before re-tiling etc. And that's if they don't find anything horrendous in the proceedings, such as underfloor long-running water leaks.

Best advice is to look at where else in your home you can set up a mini-kitchen such as having the fridge/ freezer in there, a table with a microwave (if you have one) and kettle and neatly-ordered boxes of your foodstuffs. crocks etc.

Can you train the offsprings to deliver hot cooked meals for the duration?