The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

pollyanna_26

Floss said:

For those in NW England - I received an email today from Electricity North West, who are responsible for maintaining and operating the network that provides electricity to homes. They are encouraging people to join their Priority Service Register - https://www.enwl.co.uk/priority

If you click on the link there's quite a wide range of criteria that are eligible, including temporary need.

When I retired my then NW energy provider contacted me and placed me on their priority list. The one I moved to later did the same. This area is notable for energy outages so it was very helpful.

When I moved to another company I went on their list. Youngest dd ECV was recently placed on the priority list herself. it's worth doing .

polly

MrsCD

My dad is on the priority list for water and energy. He's 83 and in a bungalow so I set it up with a password that he'll remember for if anyone comes to the door.

pollyanna_26

MrsCD said:

My dad is on the priority list for water and energy. He's 83 and in a bungalow so I set it up with a password that he'll remember for if anyone comes to the door.

That's a good idea not everyone would think of.

pollyx

Cheapskate

Hello preppers

I used to come here often, but have been MIA for ages, urgently need to get back to OS ways so please can I come back into the fold?!

Interesting to see someone from Llanarth - my nephew got married at the vineyard there and lives n the outskirts of Cardiff!

Lovely to be back  

A xo

RAS

I was in Pundlnd to buy something and spotted their cheapo shrubs and fruit bushes at £1.50. Often these are dead twigs but they looked OK, so I did a few bark tests and they were green.

One of my groups buys supermarket fruit trees and bushes to try and work out what they are actually selling. The photos on these were "generic". One on the Hinnomaki Green was correct, the rest featured gooseberries with hairs.  The ones on roses appeared to show two or three different varieties of the same colour on the same sleeve. And the gooseberry plants were very variable, some virtually spineless, others lethal. 

But there were strong looking plants if you hunted; a black currant, a thornless blackberry and the gooseberry. I wouldn't recommend buying raspberries this way, as you can get named varieties from decent providers for little more.

There were also a range of ornamentals. 

None are going to do anything this year but if you get in quickly before they are wrecked by the heat and low light levels, check for freshness and pick the strong plants, there may be a bargain.

thriftwizard

I'll add that we planted Poundland currant bushes when we first took the allotment on, and they've done very well.

MingVase

How's everybody coping with rising prices? Are you changing what you cook and eat or eating less or making food go further? It's going to get worse..

thriftwizard

Good question, Ming! I've struggled to keep to my grocery budget for about 6 months now, and by some standards we are very fortunate & don't have to stint. I'm trimming gently, because the rocketing fuel bills are going to whack us quite hard. OH & DS3 will continue to work from home for the foreseeable future, OH because their office space has been reassigned & the Council have yet to find a new "home" for them, and DS3 because he wouldn't be able to afford accommodation in his university city on what they're paying him as a researcher. So the heating will have to stay on considerably more than normal... sigh! 

But the local market having had to re-locate has had an interesting flip-side; it's now next to the local community kitchen. And they have a trolley of superfluous non-perishables outside, in exchange for a donation. So I picked up a 3kg pack of fusilli pasta yesterday, bb4 June 23, for what it would have cost me pre-pandemic, and that's saved me a trip down to the wholesalers too. Obviously it's a case of they only have whatever they've got, not necessarily what I would have chosen, but the market works like that anyway - genuinely seasonal stuff! - and I enjoy the challenge of "what can I do with this?" so I can make it work for us.

Otherwise, my preps have consisted of getting my chillis, peppers, leeks etc. up & away; I was lucky enough to be given some grow-lamps for my birthday, and already had a couple of heat-mats, so the conservatory table is filling up with long-season seedlings already!

MingVase

"I enjoy the challenge of "what can I do with this?" so I can make it work for us."

^^^  I love this!

Toonie

I miss my old poundland currant bushes. Had a lovely redcurrant and a blackcurrant and they always put out loads of fruit, but couldn't move them with me when I left my last place (very strong roots and a recently dislocated shoulder meant no digging for me). I'll have a look in my nearest one and see if I can find some good looking stock.

I do worry about the rising prices as unfortunately we've just had a £650 bill for a new electric shower and rewiring (the old wires were unsafe). And this was mates rates for a days work as the plumber is a friend. Once upon a time I'd know I could cut down on a few things and recoup the money over a few months by being extra frugal. Now I'm not sure what we can do as my budgets are already tight. Tomorrow's shop at Aldi is going to be done with a firm grip on my purse.