The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

pineapple

I have a multifuel stove. Maybe it would be better with a dedicated wood burner, but without a source of cheap logs, I find logs too expensive. Plus I like to keep the fire in overnight. It warms the whole cottage - almost as good as CH

littlemoney

Picked 12 oz's of strawberries yesterday. Lovely with my porridge for breakfast. My grandparents also had Izal for the indoor toilet and newspaper for the outside loo. I also remember Izal at work in the 1980s. It was luxury when they changed to a soft one.

DigForVictory

There are those who say you can still buy it,although the modern stuff isn't as tart as its ancestor, but it used to be made along with a shedload of other products which used coal tar & given free (initially) to local authorities who were already buying gallons of IZAL products (cleaning fluids, disinfectants etc) & there were several overprintings possible. Have a goggle at this article? Nostalgia has its place, but as far as I'm concerned a nice IZAL museum display will do just fine - not my bathroom!

elaine241

We burn seasoned logs all winter and bank up the fire with some coal to keep it in at night. We do have an unlimited supply of logs, for that we are very lucky. A big oak tree blew down in one of the gales winter before last, we have left the main trunk still standing to season but the majority of the branches were hauled off to the barn to season. We will chop and split them for this years fires. We also have a big stack of "tree" length logs that are busy seasoning in a heap on the yard.
Ventured out for my weekly shop/errand run/animal feed today. I don't know if it was the weekend being extra busy but there seemed to be more items missing and several gaps on shelves. Lidl did not have dried yeast, plain or SR flour, caster sugar and a couple of other items. I went to Morrisons and disaster!! they were out of Thatchers Haze!! They luckily had dried yeast and their own flour bagged in bakery bags but no caster sugar. I bought Thatchers gold and thought I would venture to Sainsburys as I had to get fuel. (trust me three shops in one day is totally out of character!!). After queuing I managed to find caster sugar which I grabbed two packs of, bulgar wheat which had a long life so three packs and two bottles of pectin as I know it will be in short supply later. I could make my own but sometimes its easy to have ready made. Again disaster! no Thatchers Haze , bought another pack of Thatchers Gold just in case LOL

Zentimes

Hmm how long would me and OH last with our current stocks? Maybe a month. It's a bit depressing. Makes me wonder how much space those of you with a 6 month stash need? At the weekend OH and I reorganised the stash. He is far better at organising them on the shelving, resulting in more space! You should have seen the twinkle in my eye as I realised I could add more! So I'm back to buying extra tins when I can get them.

Got an Ocado delivery coming soon, a bit dismayed there are a number of items missing. Even after all this time, still there are problems with supply or packaging, I'm not sure which.

On the gardening front, I was quite late to the party. Peas germinated well outdoors, they're about a foot high now. Runners have been problematic, I've a few but they're not that far progressed yet. Courgettes failed to germinate, 2 cucumber plants given by neighbour both keeled over. Cut and come again lettuce mix is going well and we're eating some. Tomatoes, I cheated (partly). I bought 4 grafted plants, they're looking good and are now hardened off. I grew some 'redcurrant' tomatoes from seed and they are about 4 ins high but also hardened off.  Carrots just tiny but growing OK. Potatoes in 4 large bags, also growing OK. I still have more things to plant, I have to pace myself.

We'll be getting a pair of kittens in around 6 weeks' time, very much looking forward to having fuzzballs around again.

Living_proof

I grew up with not only Izal for my father's use, but also Wright's Coal Tar burner which was produced at the merest sniffle of a cold. Even when my own daughter was young we used one, and the old night light burners by this time had been replaced by an electric model, presumably safer. It suddenly became impossible to buy the liquid coal tar used in the chimney and I heard it was as a result of the EU banning all coal tar products. I wonder if there was any truth in that? The burners were very successful and produced a wonderful aroma overnight.

greenbee

I'm pretty sure coal tar was banned because it is a carcinogen. 

CCW007

Not sure it's entirely prepping but is gardening related and very MSE.  Picked up 19 rolls of turf and a load of offcuts last night for free that a builder was chucking out.  Will be used to repair the damage to the garden the ducks and chickens did last winter in the wet weather. 

Laid it all out last night and watered it so hopefully it will recover.

Any leftover will be left to compost down.

First tomato has set on my hanging basket tomatoes, must admit I cheated and bought those as I had no compost to sow tomatoes earlier this year.

Chard is bolting in this heat sadly but lettuce is doing well and we are eating the thinnings.  Broad beans are in full flower and the bees are loving them so hopefully soon we'll get something off them.

Need to sow more lettuce soon and pot on the cucumber seedlings.

jk0

My parents bought a Wrights Vaporiser. I'm sure it made my coughs worse.

maryb

I had a Wrights vaporiser when my girls were small.  It was the only thing that stopped them waking up in the small hours coughing until they threw up all over themselves and their beds.  My DH and I had a deal.  I dealt with all the nappies.  He dealt with vomit.  We both feel we got the better part of the deal