Starting to think we may be stuck here for a bit......

[MaryN]

We live in East Anglia - Norfolk actually. A lovely county, although it was not my first choice for somewhere to live on returning to the UK from living abroad. But here we are, and although my feet are itching a bit, I suspect we will be here for a while longer until circumstances change.

I was delaying making any real changes to the property in case we decided to move on because it seemed a bit silly to spend too much money on alterations that might not necessarily appeal to buyers. However, I think I must now seriously contemplate "prepping" this place up - just in case.

So, the garden is getting a bit of a makeover. OH has made me some nice raised beds to enable me to grow some deep root crops - parsnips, carrots and suchlike - and we have spread manure liberally over the resting veggie patches in anticipation of boosting soil fertility for the coming season. I have now completed my little orchard of mixed fruit trees - one or two more apple trees to go in around the place later this year - and for now we have about 20 trees, all in good heart and as of last season all producing fruit. The soft fruit canes and bushes have been pruned and trimmed and are budding well. I have trained loganberry canes along fences and tied them in. I aim to ensure a good supply of fruit providing winter vitamins © to carry us through. There is more to do. I have a short length of blackthorn and hazel hedging to prune and manure. It will be a while before we get hazel nuts, but the blackthorn is flowering - fingers crossed for gin later this year. A good variety of herbs now flourish throughout the garden for flavour and herbal uses as necessary.

All this fruit and vegetable produce has meant I have needed to acquire an additonal freezer, and I now have 3. This is great because I can go for quite a time on what we grow and freeze, but it means we are vulnerable to power outtages - I am still working on rectifying that, and it may be a generator for temporary backup will be the thing until I sort out something solar. Does anyone have any experience of Generac generators??

My chicken flock is stable, and I have a good stock cockerel. Two decent sized coops provide plenty of space for the chooks and then some if I need to boost the flock. At the mo' I only have egg layers, but I will, if necessary, bring in meat poultry. Every now and again I bring up the subject to a sheep or two...... but so far OH has proved resistant. I may need to use bribery.

If this all sounds as if I am panicking a bit, you are probably right. Things do look a bit precarious at the moment, and I really should stop reading all these reports about food shortages, global warming, etc etc., but best to be prepared and all that stuff - I was never a Brownie/Guide but I understand the principle.

I'm still angling to have a look at that cistern under our office..... the carpet looks a bit tatty and could probably do with replacing, so I may just do a bit more scuffing and rucking, oh look at that.......

[T-oddity]

We made a similar decision last year, had always intended getting somewhere a bit more remote once our lads had grown up, but came to the realisation that with the way land and house prices have gone and as the eldest is struggling to find decent work they are likley to be around for a fare few years yet, plus my parents are going to be much more dependant on us in the not too distant future, so we have decided to stay and sort the place.
Solar panels went on last year, a wood burner with back boiler and a thermal store are going in at the end of the month, then it will be upgrading the security which is woefully lacking at the moment, better rain harvesting and a polly tunnel or maybe even an underground green house if I can squeeze one in for some aqua ponics, plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of years

[NorthernRaider]

Sometimes you just have to play with the hand you were dealt with, I always wanted to set up home in Somerset, but the prices alone made it unfeasable for us. So we made do with with Co Durham and its quite good really especially as you get a lot more for your money up here.

[Straight Shooter]

Know what you mean Mary, looks like the sale of our place is imminent is the news as of today...at long last.

So i will be on with the new build asap and designed for a prepper along with a self sufficient lifestyle ...at long last.

As for reports Mary, we would all do well to give it our FULL undivided attention ....all to gain and bugger all to lose , security of homes along with boundaries of ground looms large around here and i am certain...anywhere in the UK at any preppers abode ....is my view, we need to think things through and do what we can to identify any weaknesses and address them asap ....become proactive ! and do what we can.

[bigpaul]

I was brought up in Plymouth, not a big city but city attitudes prevail none the less, having mixed with people from Lords and Ladies to Prostitutes and Drug Dealers, I know what people are capable of, and its not a pretty picture.
we spent 10 years living in Glastonbury, nice place, but far too many people live in Somerset-which is something we didn't realise when we moved there.
after wife's mother died we were able to come HOME to Devon, best decision we ever made, we now live in an area wife has lived in most of her life and an area I travelled through most of my life to visit grandparents in Barnstaple.
we now live in a remote but not isolated area on the very parish edge of a small market town, surrounded by fields of sheep and cattle, where everyone knows everyone else and they know where you live, strangers tend to stick out a mile.
the best advice I can give anyone is, if you can, move out of a city-any city -and move to a small town, dosent matter where, but come SHTF your going to wish you had!!

[Straight Shooter]

Good sound advice BP ....but maybe difficult for even a prepper to achieve given you need to fund the move and find a job or means of supporting ones self but doable ...the main confrontation here is belief are you sure this really needs to be done, is it worth the upheaval for you and yours ? even if you firmly believe a move to the sticks is a good move (i am sure this a really good move and makes sense ) it is a big change for anyone , but none the less sheeple will not be far behind looking for food and supplies when it does kick off , that you can be sure of even if you are in remote areas , sooner on later that will come to pass ...of this i am certain, nobody is going to live happy ever after, but you can bet you Will fair better than a town or city that's for sure, we have been here many times BP and argued our cases along with many others on here this scenario.

The main thing here is ...doing what we do as preppers/survivalists DO we believe enough to go ALL the way with this belief we have and make the move ...or just fanny about like its a pastime, a hobby and treat what we do as a bit of fun....a part time job ....or are we serious , only the individual can ask that , so ask it of yourself.

As i come on here most days looking for information and inspiration, i also learn about my own short comings and there are many , but i consider we are all on the same road some further down the road than others , but i still learn stuff.

Maybe now would be a good time for someone to run another scenario on home security and the defence, i cannot seem to put that one to bed.

[bigpaul]

for many people prepping is little more than a hobby, a part time pastime, a passing interest.
for some of us its more like a lifestyle, a complete culture and belief system.
in both "camps" we do what we can to provide ourselves a back up in times of adversity, which even if someone does the minimum still puts them ahead of the ordinary sheeple.
I guess i'm a little different, i'm older than most on here, and I was brought up by WW2 generation parents in a time before supermarkets, computers and mobile phones.
was talking to the wife about this during breakfast this morning, I think prepping is in our blood-although they didn't call it that back then, but our parents made sure the cupboards were always well stocked-not necessarily full but well stocked, it was no good running out of something when the shops were shut!!
people were more self reliant back then, I remember dad resoling our shoes-and no he wasn't a cobbler-he was an accountant!!
self reliance would be a good skill for most people to learn these days , the majority are too reliant on other people for their every want, not good when SHTF.

[Straight Shooter]

That's odd BP ! i just had a shoe iron given me off John the farmer, and yes i too remember those times BP and you are dead right people back then looked after themselves, my father could turn and did turn his hand to almost anything.....with no help from HOW TO on the internet, he learnt on the job like most back then.

[bigpaul]

yes SS, I remember my dad fitting our gas central heating-had to have it checked afterwards by a gas fitter but he did all the work himself.
it was just what people did back then, people also repaired stuff too, these days we live in a consumer geared, "get someone in", throw away society.

[Skean Dhude]

Things were simpler then. We didn't have so much legislation for one thing with the Stasi dictating everything you can do.

More importantly they didn't design in things that make your items obsolete after a few years. Even now finding old stuff is the best way to go.