THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

pineapple

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I do have 24 rolls of loo roll arriving tomorrow with food for the month. There will be a lot of portioning and freezing involved,

I do hope you are not referring to the loo roll - could cause freezer burns in sensitive parts! :eek:

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Thank you all for the kind thoughts.

Delivery has been all packed away and there is a chicken in the oven and a loaf in the breadmaker.

Well, except for the loo rolls. I've got to work out where to store them, as they're currently forming a monolith in the middle of the kitchen due to the way they pack and wrap larger quantities. Needs to happen soon, as the Idiot Cat has a habit of deciding things make good scratching posts when on his way to bypass the real scratching post I made (part of a solid mahogany stair post - which I didn't realise until I tried sawing through the bit I found outside a house - what a WASTE to replace it with a crappy pine one from B&Q - but it's probably the sturdiest scratching post in the entire world) and sharpen his pointy bits on the kitchen table leg.

Just discovered that we have no foil. Grrr. So the chicken is covered with parchment and weighted down with a heavy baking sheet over the enamel tray, as I have no desire to deal with smoke alarms from fat spitting in the oven. So, no seasalt, no foil and a bunch of other things that should be here just aren't. And the sack of potatoes was left open underneath the kitchen table, so they're all chitting beautifully.



This is what happens when you delegate Stores and Provisions to third parties.


I'm going to stuff my face with chicken and bread later. And enjoy every moment of it.

dND

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Dammit. I really want a hug now.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:



I do hope you're feeling better soon Jojo.

:lovethoug

mardatha

I'm going to stuff my face with chicken and bread later. And enjoy every moment of it.[/QUOTE]

For some mad reason my brain read that as I'm going to wash my face with chicken and bread.. Yeugh! :rotfl::rotfl:

DigForVictory

In preparation for Back To School, I had the whole family booked to see the dentist. Now two lads are in work, my husband is flatly refusing & the youngest is commenting that "this is all a bit sudden" when I booked the date on Valentines Day. (Seriously memorable dates help the young remember.)

You cannot plan for ignorance. However, you can take steps to avoid needing future dental work. (Himself turned into a complete bear with toothache & I waived his human rights to get him an emergency appointment, as he couldn't manage a coherent sentence. Yet they wonder about me being a martinet over check-ups.)

Youngest is now brushing his teeth.

Laura_Elsewhere

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

the Idiot Cat has a habit of deciding things make good scratching posts (...) and sharpen his pointy bits on the kitchen table leg.

Cats loathe the smell of citrus so you could just rub squeezed lemon-halves over the table-leg every time you have one... shouldn't harm the table-leg (might make it a tiny bit sticky, but...) and should stop the cat spending any time near it.

I trust the chicken was damn good. Outsourcing does tend to result in a drop in quality, aka If You Want A Job Done Properly...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

Cats loathe the smell of citrus so you could just rub squeezed lemon-halves over the table-leg every time you have one... shouldn't harm the table-leg (might make it a tiny bit sticky, but...) and should stop the cat spending any time near it.

I trust the chicken was damn good. Outsourcing does tend to result in a drop in quality, aka If You Want A Job Done Properly...

Idiot Cat gets his name from being a bit special. Citrus holds no fear for him (unless I chuck lemons at his head each time he tries, I suppose). It's a twenty quid Swedish jobbie and the previous Supreme Leader sharpened her claws on the exact same spot for years despite initial attempts to sand it back smooth and discourage her, so I'm not enormously fussed whilst he ignores all other surfaces except for the doormat.


I'm flagging a bit today because the compulsory training day lunch was inedible. (packed full of dairy, no vegetables or fruit), so I was decidedly wobbly when walking home. Going to cook up some high protein things to take with me tomorrow to avoid that happening again.

Himself has had a nice Sunday evening and an afternoon out with friends today, but is beginning to find it harder down there by himself as the length of time he could be down there becomes a bit more real.

Anyhow, I have jobs to do. Like feeding myself. Back later!

thriftwizard

We have two kittens who don't mind citrus one little bit. And they actively seek out water; one leapt happily into the pond yesterday in pursuit of a frog, then dripped her way all across the kitchen, totally unconcerned; the frog had got safely away. And last night I was in the bath, and two little sets of paws & faces kept appearing over the edge, which did make me laugh although I was worried they might decide to join me, which would have been a bit of a squeeze.

It's been a lovely warm day down here so after a couple of hours hard graft at the lottie I headed down to the beach for a swim with a friend who had a rare day off caring for her massively-disabled husband. Although we're all grateful for the money the tourists bring to our local economy, it's rather nice to be able to get from A to B again without huge tailbacks & gridlocks on all the main roads! I was able to gather a big bag of seaweed for the allotment and a bag of pine cones for the stove whilst down there.

Then back here to pick up 23 slabs, freebies on Gumtree, which will allow us to extend the permanent beds at the allotment. So far we've scored a shed, though it was fairly dilapidated and advertised as "for firewood" and over 50 slabs, water butts from the Tip, guttering from my friend's mother's old house which I was helping to clear, pallets for composters and as tool racks inside the shed from a variety of sources, and most of our tools also came from the Tip and are none the worse for being old & well-loved previously. Not to mention, far less nickable... Oh, and water-pipe for hoops to make net tunnels over my brassicas, though I did have to buy the netting. If I only had somewhere to put a greenhouse (not allowed on our site, and there's nowhere suitable at home) there are two of those free to collector on the local Gumtree just now, and more within 15 miles. So much useful stuff going begging out there, so little space...

Karmacat

Thriftwizard, you collected seaweed for the lottie! I've loved the sound of that ever since I heard about it (Edwardian Farm?) it sounds brilliant.

I've had a little bonfire. Lots of ash going in one corner to weather a bit before I put it on the soil.

A question about marine foraging, though: does anyone else collect soft shells (like oyster shells, that flake and dismember)? Some of them aren't flaking and dismembering the way I want them to, and an attempt to encourage them didn't really work. I put a few in a baked bean tin and whacked them with a really hard branch The only other thing I can imagine is putting them in a cloth shopping bag and taking a hammer to them. Anybody got any experience?

thriftwizard

Chickens peck them to bits quite fast, KC... but yes, I do collect them & add them to the beds, although OH will keep nicking them for the edge of the wildlife pond. It's the bigger, older shells that fall apart fastest.

On another note, I went to the farm shop yesterday to stock up on poultry supplies and spuds. But they didn't have any sacks of spuds in, and haven't done since spring. The assistant didn't know why not. Thinking about it, I realised that I haven't seen any at the market either, which is definitely unusual; I don't often buy them there as the quality's a tad variable, but they are just about always there. I suspect the wholesale price is high due to the slow, cold spring followed by the heatwave - anyone else wondering about this?