What have done towards your prep?

[Steve]

(25 October 2015, 21:07)Straight Shooter Wrote: Now that is what i call a veggie patch Steve....what you putting in there pal ?

All the usual, plus anything I can grow for the pigs.

[Geordie_Rob]

Well my multi-fuel stove is finally installed. House looks like a bomb-site, but it'll get back to normal once the mrs has finished painting.

Also took delivery of a flat bed tipper van full of loose loaded logs (some seasoned, some still need finishing). After 5 hours of probing with moisture meter, barrowing from the front to the rear garden & stacking, I now have a nice stock of sorted firewood.

Also got 500kg of smokeless coal ordered for delivery on the 6th of November.

Finally happy that if the electric goes off then we can still keep warm with no central heating.

[Straight Shooter]

Just ordered some more knifes , Opinel no8 plus a few Huitafors of different types plus a DC4 sharpening stone.

[Sunna]

sorted out my larder , put stuff where it should be , worked out what im short of found some long lost 1st aid stuff now in with 1st aid kit.
found that my powder milk need toping up and more soap and washing up liquid needed.

something I should of done ages ago

[Straight Shooter]

That reminds me ....a total review of my storeroom AGAIN...you really do need to check at regular intervals ...spect i will throw out some more stuff AGAIN !

[Midnitemo]

Well I've decided on my com's and bought the first instalment.... a Yaesu FT60E plus a few extra's , blew the budget a bit but well pleased, when demonstrated by an expert it didn't look to daunting , will have a proper play when I'm on nights next week , one down only another two to buy , then i'll add a FT7900 mobile rig as a basestation....job done.

[Steve]

I'm collecting a hay baling machine next weekend. It's the old-style small square bales - easy to handle, easy to build with.

[Lightspeed]

Well done MM, good to see you're progressing on the coms front.

Here, we decided to evacuate from the BO house last week last week due to a near pneumonia bacterial infection that we both suffered simultaneously. Antibiotics now doing their thing and I went back to the house after work today to tidy up a few things that we'd left.

Very pleased to find that in spite of sub zero temperatures the house was still at 11c and 45% RH ( dew point 0C) after a week without any heat input whatsoever. Looks like the insulation and new windows fitted last summer are having a good effect.

[NorthernRaider]

LS I read some place that chest complaints, chrony broncs, asthma etc in many European older properties was caused by fungal spores on old hay and straw.

[Lightspeed]

We considered this as you may recall that I still have many tons of hay insulation in the lofts.

However doc confirmed it as a bacterial infection and we've been able to piece together time line to work out exactly who we caught it from ( a friend's airhead wife who for the last year has been an evangelist for Aloe Vera, believing no modern medicines are necessary, just aloe based products....which coincidentally she sells). She's been sick since just before Christmas, and is now in hospital on IV antibiotics and oxygen.

A lesson learned that no matter how good the preps in place a simple person to person infection could well spell a major personal SHTF event.