Our house was built in 1960, originally with gas central heating and a gas fire, but now we have a multifuel stove.
Although we can burn wood, which we do on chilly evenings, through the winter we use smokeless coal, a bucket full of which can last all day and night with care, if we leave the living room door open the heat circulates around the house and can cut out the central heating.
I would say getting the stove is the best prep we have made, and we can also cook or boil water on top of it. If we were starting again from scratch I would get one with a back boiler for the heating.
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Agreed Pete, a well set up multifuel stove is the best Bug-in prep ever. We wouldn't be without ours.
We cook on ours regularly, and actually prefer the taste of food cooked on it.
Mostly wood burning, and if needed to be kept fired overnight a shovel of coal does the trick.
We also cook on our wood stove most weeks and most days in the winter months , you just can’t beat nice stew simmering away .....the flames , crackling of wood accompanied by the smells of good food ! Yes a good wood burner is a must have for any prepper a source of heat and a means to cook plus it’s great to look at ! On a cold winters night ......ours is not a multi fuel ....just wood ....as I have said before we have to open windows even in the dead of winter ! And that’s on low ! .....the insulation I fitted is paying back big dividends ! .
Made five jars of red pickled cabbage today ready for Christmas .....some are gifts for friends , some chutney also planed by Friday ......the dehydrator is in use ....nothing is going to waste ! .....the truck brakes have been done today new discs and pads all round......onwards !
I can’t resist salted red cabbage when it’s left overnight prior to pickling.
One of my grandsons has got a temporary job in one of a major supermarket chain locally , been there for a few weeks ....there are plenty of deliveries at the moment but some items are on back order ......they are getting ready for the Christmas rush ! But at the break time everyone is talking about the customers are stocking up right now ! .....which comes as no surprise given reports coming out of the MM and government , no one trusts a word they say .
We have had a wander around all the super markets this week, and it’s fair to say there have been improvements in the past couple of weeks , some stock positions are very low and some no stock at all ,but these are are few and better than past weeks .
Special attention to entry points is very visible loads of display of deals on offer .....the main thing and theme is of plenty ! Ok I understand this happens every year as standard ....but there appears to be a special effort being made ! .
I ordered a new chest freezer to replace one of the old ones ....before it passes over .....and while I can still get one.......it’s arriving tomorrow Saturday .....been moving things around to get more room ( the brew shed ) extra shelves have been put in , and ready to be filled with more preps ........I will reuse the old freezer for dry preps storage void of any power .....some chutney and relish to make this weekend ....but first thing tomorrow it’s a trip up to the pallet yard for a trailer full of kindling .....fix bayonets !
the weather has been great and our leaves are turning so I took a long drive to a "warehouse store" out in the country, about 30 miles away.
Unusual store where there are no gondolas or shelves, everything is just stacked on pallets on the floor. Prices are a few pennies lower than the regular store but the advantage is that where the store might have a dozen cans total on the shelf the ware house had 100 flats of cans and no one thinks twice about you loading 2-3 dozen flats.
I bought flats of canned soups, canned veg, canned meats. My canned goods were low after the covid imbalance and I have changed my menu preferences over the long term. That is something else I discovered after 2 years of isolation. Some foods I simply can not tolerate daily for two years!
It took me a half hour to unload the Jeep when I got home!
I counted it all up and found that I had a meat and veg per day for 100 days for 75 pounds your money.
That is reserve supply since I cook out of the freezer during normal times.
BTW, all of the local stores have been out of fresh chicken for nearly a week. Frozen is still available but you can not buy a raw or cooked bird anywhere except KFC.
That seems a real good deal for 75 quid MB .....would be a lot more expensive over here ! For sure .
New freezer arrived on time and is set up .......will do the transfer today ....then it’s off to the store for more canned goods to fill the shelves ......by the end of today they will be full ! .
The garlic in tubs are coming on strong in the poly tunnel , and the lettuce ( in tubs and hydroponics ) ....the aquaponics is doing very good also ...better than expected ......cabbage, kale , amongst other stuff.
Cleaned the gutters .....will do them again in a few weeks ....leaves are falling big time here .....the blower is in full swing and all leaves being transfured to the compost bays .
Since we get deep winter here I find the time has arrived to do the winterproofing.
Plastic on the double pane glass, door covers, check the tape wrap on the pipes and insure the electric to them is on, cover the air conditioner.
I have a window unit AC that runs 24/7 from April till Oct. I had it on just a couple of days ago because it was nearly 80 and stuffy.
AC on Thursday and Snow predicted for Sunday night. Remind me again why I do not live in Florida!
Turned up for my tyre change ......no tyres ...or the ones I ordered I should say ..out of stock and on back order l will try again this coming Wednesday .
Made six jars of tomato chilli chutney .........just in time for Boxing Day cold meat extravaganza ! .
The workshop needs another clean up ....the f..k up fairies been at it again........if only I could catch them at it ! .
Off out to get more canned preps .....I found a bit more room so I will fill the spaces ....full ....to save money later .
I was offered two 47 kilo bottles of LPG .....for the same price I paid the other week ...so I grabbed them with no empty exchange ! ....when you see anything that is of a advantage to you ...do not hesitate grab it if you can afford to do so .....or afford not to ! .
All shelves are now full ....could not get a fag paper in there .....more heirloom veggie seeds arrived today so we are more than ready for next year . Just about finished the winter preps around the ground ....all that’s left is a undercover enclosure for the generator and some sound proofing ......will get even more fuel ......I think I may well want every drop of it this winter ! .