Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[Toddy]

I've written of this before, but my teenage Saturday job was in the dairy. The floor of the back shop of the dairy was always wet at one side. It had a stone floor and water seeped up through the floor all day, every day, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It was pure water though, a natural spring. The health and safety folks knew what it was and didn't have any problem so long as it was properly drained and not a slipping hazard.
The fellow my Boss called in to have a look at it said that to stop the flow he'd need to dig up the entire back shop and go down fourteen feet to cap it.
Way too expensive so it became just part of the fabric of the building kind of thing.

The village sits up out of the river valley at about 55m above sea level. There's no high ground behind the building, no obvious pressure source, but the upwelling of ground water, of really good groundwater, makes for an ideal site to build around.

 

[Robson Valley]

Remember that water is essentially incompressible. Pressure from overburden could be applied a great distance away from where it is up welling from the ground.
I think that the thing to do right now is to stockpile drinking water. Rotate the inventory, water potted herbs and house plants as I do. All the water containers are refilled.

 

[TLM]

Round here, there are remnants of many village hand pumps, I can count 4 within half a mile of my home, but non are complete or in working order.

I don't know if UK handpumps are different but here they are VERY simple and repairing one does not require much if the main parts are intact.

 

[Toddy]

My granny had a stirrup pump in the back garden. We played with it as kids, pulling up water to soak the ground beneath the rhubarb clumps.
Good way to burn off childish energy

 

[Broch]

Yep, it depends how deep the water is whether a) they'll work at all or b) how hard it is to get the water out. If the water's near the top it's fine; if it's 10m down, for every Litre of water you get up you are lifting 1kg for 10m - worse if there's no non-return valve so you have to lift all the water in the pipe

My parents (bless them) saw an advert in a gardening magazine that was giving away a well stirrup pump if you bought a dozen shrubs - when it arrived, it was a garden ornament just 30cm tall

 

[TLM]

This is what an old style well pump looks like here, modern operate the same way just slightly different style.

 

[swyn]

The burn that runs along side the woodland path outside my gable fence line is the divide between two villages. Both villages have pre medieval origins, and they were built along a line of springs. The water is filtered through layers of sand and sandstone and bubbles up cold and crisp and sparkling clean. The wells are all capped now, but I admit there's a house I fancy that I know has a capped spring in it's back garden It's not for sale though, and Himself's not for moving anyway, but these wells were commonplace at one time.
In these times I think they might actually be a selling point rather than a negative one.

Find the old maps and look closely, it might surprise you just where natural water sources are available

M

I have an original1885 map of where I used to live. The W on the map marked where there was water. Some are dry today but I know of one that always had water in.

 

[bearbait]

You can find old OS maps, amongst others, from the National Library of Scotland.

Map images - National Library of Scotland

maps.nls.uk

One can happily spend much time looking at old maps of areas you know (if you like maps!)...

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

Oooof, its a bit toasty in the south west, thankfully tomorrow its due to drop a couple degrees and then Monday down to low 20's.

The hot weather has really encouraged cold showers, and cold showers really encourage short showers...so all in all my water conservation is pretty good....haven't reduced my showering frequency yet

Amazing how well organised you have to be to actually prep... I can barely prep beyond tomorrow's dinner! Making Jerky again tonight, I'm sure that'll last until Monday at best...

Any sign of national or international societal collapse, I think I'll have to rely on borrowing stock from shops... Would also be good to map out all the McDonald's in the country, never touch the stuff, but their food is supposed to last years...

 

[Woody girl]

You don't have to be super organised to prepare for what's coming. Just a couple of extra cans of food each week when you shop. For instance, if you buy two cans of soup, two of hot dogs/corned beef and two of baked beans, when you get home, just put them away for when you might need them.
I always write the expiry date on those tins with a sharpie, and after a while you have a small stockpile that means if you can't afford to shop or are sick, you don't have to worry about the shopping , I have been buying 3 for two tins when ever I see them anything that is on offer. I have peanut butter and marmite to last me a good year or more, aswell as cook in sauces and anything that will make a quick meal, either by warming up on the stove for a few mins or using my slow cooker.
Strip wash each morning and evening instead of a shower, and I let myself dry naturaly rather than towel dry. In this weather it saves water, and is very cooling and refreshing.
A lot of people are just carrying on as if nothing is going on, they are going to get a rude shock this winter if they seriously expect the powers that be are going to help out anything more than the bare minimum.
It's never too late to begin looking after yourself and your family...untill it's too late. We have a few months left just get on with it now, don't Bury your head in the sand and say you can't, or you are too busy. Hunger is no fun, hungry and cold is miserable. Hungry cold children on top..... do you realy want that for them.?
We take so much for granted nowadays, that we have forgotten how to look after ourselves well, without needing all the frippery of modern life. I feel sorry for the younger adults of today. My step daughter is 40, and has the idea that mum is sorted, so I'll take the family to her to get help, whilst boasting about a family holiday to Turkey.
Sorry, her priorities are messed up, and it's not like she's not been told.
She is an adult, has a good job and a 4x4 car. Holidays abroad twice a year, and a nice house. Don't get me wrong, well done her, but times have changed and she, along with thousands of others need to start thinking about how they are going to pay a mortgage and feed the kids. Not go off to Turkey for holidays. We've had words, and she now isn't speaking to me, I was just trying to get her to realise the extent of what this next few years will be like. She has her own responsibility now, and can't come running back to rely on me, who has had the foresight to insure myself with a few things to keep me.. not her going. I can't afford to help her if she thinks with her extra income she can leach off me, she's wrong. I'm willing to teach her but she doesn't want to know about the hard work I've done, just expects it on a plate when the time comes. She has rung me in panic as her car insurance has gone up and she needs new tyres for the mot, and doesn't know what to do. Sell the 4x4 and get a smaller, cheaper car, did not go down well!!
So sad.

 

[nigelp]

I just fixed the broken cord in our patio shade/umbrella. Just had to drop some fishing line down the tube with some weights on the end to pull the cord back through the tubing. This provides shading onto the SW facing window and keeps the house cooler. Many folk would have thrown it away and bought another - I have saved £90 and some resources.
I have started to buy some extra tins. I noticed that soup was all on offer this month!

 

[Woody girl]

We all need to up our game by a lot!
I rescued an about to be thrown out steamer garden chair last week. A slat had broken in the seat area. Some woodglue and a bit of extra bracing sorted it nicely, and together with another I got that was being thrown into a skip when a house nearby was being cleared, that only needed oil to loosen the mechanism, means I now have two stylish and origionaly expensive garden chairs for nothing but a bit of tlc.
Someone else was throwing perfectly good patio paving stones into a skip and breaking them, so I rescued a few to make a path in my garden. I would have had the lot had I a car to transport them. They were nice big thick ones and extremely heavy! What a waste!
Anyway, I now also have a free pathway.
I don't just forage for food.!
My hanging baskets were foraged, from a bin, and now helping me produce baby toms and strawberries. Old compost sacks are cut up for liners. I'm not shy to ask for stuff in people's bins if I feel I have a use for it.
I do need an umbrella for shade in the garden, but so far, no luck. It will come if I'm patient.

I don't understand some people. They just won't make do and mend. Some tough lessons coming, but I bet most will be in the queue at the food bank!
They will carry on with their wasteful ways untill the earth , our home , is unliveable, and we are all in a third world mess.
I'm growing trees this year, sweet chestnut, cherry, elderberry, and wild damson. I see so many of these being cut down every year, to keep things tidy. Grrrrrrr! And stupid ornamental trees planted for looks alone. One has gone from a neighbours garden so that they can park their cars, (5 of them.) Best crab apple tree in town too! Wonderful jelly made for years until that went, but they just regarded the fallen apples as a nuisance, and were "far to busy" to collect them up, let alone do anything with them.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

(Un)Fortunately I don't have children which whilst I'd like to, now is not the right time for me and the wife with what is happening in our lives. We do have a doggo though.

I do have a decent stock of stuff, rice, peanut butter etc... the issue is, I ordered 12kgs of peanut butter which arrived the start of last week.... 1kg down and already into the 2nd kg...so some foods don't last so long...

Got loads of tins of beans... but I might find myself put out of my wife's misery if I lived off those in a crisis...

Organisation to store rather than eat is probably the issue. Lots of people "do their weekly shop on a Monday", we do our shop when we do our shop...our last trip abroad involved driving from Devon to Durham to get my passport with the van with a of rucksacks and hot clothes and cold clothes, once we got the passport we went onto sky scanner and booked whatever flight we could afford that fitted our timings, drove back down to Bristol (airport), found somewhere to leave the van, packed our bags then dashed... and that was pretty organised for us!

 

[TeeDee]

I do have a decent stock of stuff, rice, peanut butter etc... the issue is, I ordered 12kgs of peanut butter which arrived the start of last week.... 1kg down and already into the 2nd kg...so some foods don't last so long...

Yikes!!

I too love P/nut butter but that is ALOT of calories!!!

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

Yikes!!

I too love P/nut butter but that is ALOT of calories!!!

Throw them into milkshakes which tend to act as a main meal during the day (time sensitive life/work), so double coffee shot, oat milk, peanut butter, a bunch of oats, bit of ice/water, dash of honey, blip in the blender and that's 800+ calories of near coma to get me through the rest of the afternoon... in this heat I don't bother as it will truly get me best way towards unconsciousness...

 

[Woody girl]

With torrential rain and thunderstorms predicted in the next few days, it might be a good idea to spend an hour or two getting your documentation details, passports, driving licence, insurance for car and home, any receipts for expensive items put into a zip lock bag and upstairs , take anything you value, like computers upstairs too.
The ground is so dry, we will be having much more runoff as water won't be able to soak in easily. Could lead to flooding in flood prone areas and even those that are not normaly prone to it.
Pack a weekend bag with enough clothes etc to keep you and family going for an extended time, in case you have to vacate your home.
Don't be complacent!
Hopefully you will be fine, but never assume. Better to be prepared and not need, than to need and not have.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

Good advice @Woody girl
Thankfully for me personally, the plus side of living in a city and on a bit of a hill, means that all the water should likely be (and I don't say this with any pleasure) downstreams problem...
But for city dwellers (or everyone really) we should all be checking any drains or gutters...

 

[nigelp]

Same here. Too high to flood.

 

[Woody girl]

Same here. Too high to flood.

Never assume you will be fine. I had a friend many years ago that lived halfway up a hill, a blocked culvert a few yards downhill was all it took, the culvert was free of debris the day before! She was flooded.
It can happen.
The run off from higher up the hill has to get to the lowest point, and will come past you to get there.
Good idea to check any drains and culverts that you can.
Don't forget, if things get bad, and in some areas they are saying there could well be up to 30cm of rain in a few hours, drains won't be able to cope. We've all seen the pictures of water fountaining out of drains where the water pressure is too much, and lifts the covers off. Flooding a street that normaly doesn't flood
Let's hope it doesn't get that bad, but it looks like there is a good chance this is a realistic scenario in some areas.
I live in a bungalow, on a steep slope and have had water within an inch of coming through my back door. My house acted as a berm!
The lower town flooded, but that was in winter without all the circumstances we have now. It's not just sodden ground, and a high water table that can cause a problem, as I've said earlier.

 

[Wildgoose]

On the plus side, a good chance to catch as much water as you can to refill the water butts