+- Survival UK Forums (http://forum.survivaluk.net)
+-- Forum: Discussion Area (http://forum.survivaluk.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=13)
+--- Forum: An Open Box (http://forum.survivaluk.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=78)
+--- Thread: What have done towards your prep? (/showthread.php?tid=1010)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Straight Shooter - 30 October 2017
Thing is i have always worked hard ....its like water off a ducks back ....i tell you this not to empress you....i have been this way from the age of 10.....believe it or not i really do pay attention to you all.....what i do not explain to you is the fact although i feel much better after operation (i have loads of breath now) but i sit down at regular intervals and have a cuppa i adhere to this routine to the letter (the commandant makes sure of that don't you know) ....all these things i am doing now is for making ready for when i cannot , so i will have it easy later......when i tell you all that's going on ....it may appear i am running about like a nutter ....but i am NOT !...... ten/twenty years ago ....MB and Mary would have given me a run for the money....(Mary was five then) growing old comes with problems along the way (things can change in a moment) and stay forever to some degree .....growing old gracefully and excepting your lot is far more harder than one might imagine....(young men it will come to you ...sure thing) what you read now from this old fart .....maybe you will remember along the way....if you do ....charge your glass, hold it up and say SS i get it now ole son....and MB needs a toast also he is doing a better job ...i very often say Cheers MB......we are sitting in this boat....its a long boat....there's me MB ,Charles and Jonas fighting like f..k for the rear seats we all want the same thing..........to be Last off the bastard.
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Straight Shooter - 2 November 2017
Well its one year TODAY we moved into the new place, i did write a post regarding how well we insulated the place and how cheap the our Lpg gas was ....heating and hot water ....Lightspeed was changing over to a pellet furnace at about the same time and suggested i give an update on actual costs over 12 months .....£8.82 per week is the true cost....this is excluding our wood burning stove (that we use most in winter) and only use gas for 1 hour first thing in the mornings (heating wise) ......i know our place is Small but its dirt cheap ,if fact all our utility bills are, .........in fact we take a shower once a month....whether we need it or not !.....yeah i know!.
The last raised bed is now filled, in the polytunnel today made two more raised beds and filled them also 9" deep 3ft x 4ft made hoop covers on both and fixed ....had to re'arrange the straw bales.....will test the PH tomorrow on all beds .....prolly need to be limed .....the raised beds in the polytunnel i intend to trial this winter to see what can be grown,the hoops act as another heat zone although they are within the main polytunnel .
RE: What have done towards your prep? - MaryN - 2 November 2017
Have you thought about trying to grow things like pineapples? I think the Victorians had quite a success using manure beds to provide the heat needed. You might even get away with growing lemon or orange trees. (Thinking ahead here to lemon with a nice G&T).
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Straight Shooter - 2 November 2017
Never thought about them Mary.......but why not? .....another polytunnel arrived last Tuesday (as a spare) Wednesday the (spare anti fog polythene arrived )enough to cover three polytunnels.......2018 should be my finest hour if all go's well.....i am very determined to excel in the garden.....i have the time.....and finally the dedication ....this is what i want this is the way i want to live my life........living off the land and all the goodness i can extract
from it.....one Sunday morning 55 years ago i happened on Sam Green walking past the chapel (in the back lane where i lived) he was carrying a wicker basket ....this was full of veg
"take a look at this young un" Fresh potatoes,Fresh carrots,Fresh cabbage,Fresh parsnips ALL provided by the LORD above with a little help from me .....Can you SMELL that ? ...NO ...that smell is lamb my boy.....Mrs green is roasting ...."you can't get better boy! out of the soil straight into the pot!") and to top it off .....its a beautiful day , i thought he was nuts as i watched him open his back gate and disappear up the path and through his kitchen door .......i think of Sam a lot these days when on my garden....lots of good memories ....along with other old coal miners ....glad to be above ground working their allotments....this was not hard work for them.... but a pleasure...breathing FRESH air rather than coal dust.......to be born WELSH is a Privilege ...good enough for me.
One good point about growing old, is remembering stuff that's profound ....without realising the importance of statements made and conveyed in the distant past ...and when you reach a given point they explode like a grenade and make complete sense....and you get the full meaning (and the intent) on the storey teller /teacher....Nice one SAM ....i now understand it all .
RE: What have done towards your prep? - MaryN - 3 November 2017
I don't think there is anything nicer than roast Welsh lamb, roasted to crispy, with fresh veggies straight from the garden and mint sauce. I shall be dribbling in a minute. Nice glass of something to go with it. Perfection.
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Skean Dhude - 4 November 2017
I made a point of meeting as many as I could on my travels over the UK. Been home based now for a few years. Would have loved to meet up with everyone but it just isn't possible.
Doing things in the house now. About 1% of what SS is doing though although as I am working up to my heart attack I guess I'll be able to do a lot more after.
Currently replacing all my lights with LEDs and sorting out the garden. Woods on hold now till next year.
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Straight Shooter - 4 November 2017
John (the farm) pop'ed in this afternoon for a cuppa...."there's plenty of horse manure up there for you, easy to shovel into bags or your trailer....its on the hard standing for you " Bloody hell John ! i was about to ask you for some.....he is now inspecting the raised beds ...you been busy boyo ! oh aye ! .....then John tells the story....he is having some dry stone walling done out the front yard, Ben is doing the work......aye i was out for a pint last night Ben starts off, and they have a new barmaid ....she is absolutely stonking , i could'nt keep my eyes off her..... all the young lads were trying their luck .....after about six pints i said to her ....if i could take you home tonight i would take you straight to bed and give what these younger men cannot ....she looks embarrassed and replies ok Ben whats that ..........a F..king good nights sleep......Ben is 77 btw .
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Mortblanc - 4 November 2017
I was forced into the transition from incandescent lights to florescent, then to LED bubs over the past couple of years and suddenly realized that my power bills had gone down by several dollars each month from back when I moved in here 8 years ago. I have not had to change a blown out bulb since the transition.
I no longer view lighting as an expense of any measure. These LED bulbs will run for a day at a fraction of a penny cost.
They have also changed the power requirements of my gen-sets. A 1000w gen-set will run 200 of those little boys rather than the 10-15 incandescent bulbs of the old days. Instead of EITHER lights or accessories as a choice on a small gen-set "back in the day", one can now run both. My 2500w set will run the fridge and the lights with power to spare. And a 2500w gen-set is much cheaper than the big units. Around here I can get a 1k set for around $100US and a 25k set for about $300.
RE: What have done towards your prep? - CharlesHarris - 4 November 2017
MB,
I've changed nearly all of my flashlights (hand torches) to LEDs as well, as with current designs you give up little in the number of lumens provided, but the run-time is greatly enhanced. I got LED conversion heads for my older 2AA, 3C and 5D cell Maglites and have been very pleased with them.
I also have several UCO LED lanterns around the house which can be used for emergency lighting in the summer months. In winter I still use the old Aladdin kerosene (paraffin) mantle lamps and Coleman lanterns because also heat the room.
RE: What have done towards your prep? - Straight Shooter - 5 November 2017
Transplanted some Kale and Savoy Cabbages into the raised beds (polytunnel) also sowed some lettuce,radish and some carrots ...just to see if they come anywhere.
Collected some Horse manure this morning and filled another trailer ready for John to drop off to me ....on his way to collect more stone tomorrow, wife made some beef n onion pies last evening i made a dozen corned beef pasties....Tony turned up as we were packing them up for the freezer.....so some went walkies...."here are some fittings for the brew shed" i did tell him some weeks back i wanted to put in a new cold water feed and outside tap , so now have near enough all the fittings and pipe....."i thought you said you were building an aquaponics THING ?".....yes i am ....but i will get to it when i can i said...thing is all the smaller jobs keep coming up and they have to be sorted ....besides which i do what i feel like these days, i never get bored that way...."no things don't get bloody finished either " Tony laughs......"lets have a look at where you want this tap then" i open the brew shed....."bloody hell mate ! " end result .....6 bottles of chocolate stout and i bottle of blackberry wine found their way into Tony's 4 x 4 after he suggested this would make an excellent accompaniment for the pies and pasties.......i need one of those automatic gates at the top of my drive....with a intercom.