Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....
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Yeah that one caught me out too 
I couldn't work out why??? then it dawned
The Devil's in the detail apparently
Well, with this thread in mind, and a need to get to the shops/post office, I went out this morning after checking what the local food bank 'needed'. There's an online site with lists.
They said they were fine for pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, etc., but short on diluting juice, tea, coffee, tinned fruit, tinned fish, meat, and tinned custard and rice pudding.
So, in my Tesco shop I bought an extra assortment of stuff. Finished my shopping and went to put the stuff for the FB into a trolley, and they had to go and get me another one because the three in use were overflowing. The fellow who fetched a fresh one said they'd emptied them yesterday morning and they were expecting this lot to be uplifted in an hour or so.......and this is a smallish Tesco not a superstore or even a full sized one. It covers a good range, but nowhere near their full range.
I know that this is a comfortable area amply provided with supermarkets, but there are still an awful lot of folks living near the breadline. This sort of mix must be commonplace right across the country, this area can't be the only one where the FB trolleys are full.
I'm sorry they're scant where some of you live, but this is my reality.
I couldn't work out why??? then it dawned
The Devil's in the detail apparently
Well, with this thread in mind, and a need to get to the shops/post office, I went out this morning after checking what the local food bank 'needed'. There's an online site with lists.
They said they were fine for pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, etc., but short on diluting juice, tea, coffee, tinned fruit, tinned fish, meat, and tinned custard and rice pudding.
So, in my Tesco shop I bought an extra assortment of stuff. Finished my shopping and went to put the stuff for the FB into a trolley, and they had to go and get me another one because the three in use were overflowing. The fellow who fetched a fresh one said they'd emptied them yesterday morning and they were expecting this lot to be uplifted in an hour or so.......and this is a smallish Tesco not a superstore or even a full sized one. It covers a good range, but nowhere near their full range.
I know that this is a comfortable area amply provided with supermarkets, but there are still an awful lot of folks living near the breadline. This sort of mix must be commonplace right across the country, this area can't be the only one where the FB trolleys are full.
I'm sorry they're scant where some of you live, but this is my reality.
I picked up a 3kg bottle of camping gas today - this is what drives my double burner Tilley. The gas itself hadn't gone up much (10% or so) but the deposit for the cylinder (I'd forgotten to take my empty) had gone from £21 to £39!
I can get a refund when I take the empty back though
Can you get the cylinders now?
A few months ago I wanted to change my double burner gas stove from camping gaz, (realy expensive!) To calor and I was told they were not leasing them out anymore and if you did not have a cylinder to swop ..tough.
I've held off as I have a tiny bit of camping gaz left, but want to swop over to calor that I can get from the local caravan site within wobbling distance, and it's cheaper too.
A few months ago I wanted to change my double burner gas stove from camping gaz, (realy expensive!) To calor and I was told they were not leasing them out anymore and if you did not have a cylinder to swop ..tough.
I've held off as I have a tiny bit of camping gaz left, but want to swop over to calor that I can get from the local caravan site within wobbling distance, and it's cheaper too.
Yep, here you can. They did tell me a story that they were being penalised for not taking a cylinder back but have started releasing new cylinders again. I suspect it was to try and stop people stock-piling.
Have a look on things like Gumtree and even social media sales sites; the empty bottles do come up for sale.
How's your water supplies?
We are seemingly OK here on exmoor, but the river is so low that you can paddle across in places where you would normaly have to swim.
No bottled water available in the local store today. Apparently its going faster than they can restock.
So yesterday I rescued many (11) plastic fizzy drink bottles out of the recycling boxes last night, and they have been filled and stored .I have several other containers that I've also filled for washing etc.
Reckon I've got about 30 litres all told. Not loads, but enough to last a few days should I need it.
Kitty litter bucket toilet is on standby, so easy to make but for the less able available online or from go outdoors for about £20. Kitty litter needs to be the wood pellet type to be able to compost, or you could use sawdust.
Line with a compostable bag, put a layer of Kitty litter/sawdust in then do your business, cover again with another layer, when full, compost fully or Bury, and you are ready for any water cuts.
I used my weed sprayer shower yesterday, with solar heated water in a camp shower bag. Free hot shower.!
We are seemingly OK here on exmoor, but the river is so low that you can paddle across in places where you would normaly have to swim.
No bottled water available in the local store today. Apparently its going faster than they can restock.
So yesterday I rescued many (11) plastic fizzy drink bottles out of the recycling boxes last night, and they have been filled and stored .I have several other containers that I've also filled for washing etc.
Reckon I've got about 30 litres all told. Not loads, but enough to last a few days should I need it.
Kitty litter bucket toilet is on standby, so easy to make but for the less able available online or from go outdoors for about £20. Kitty litter needs to be the wood pellet type to be able to compost, or you could use sawdust.
Line with a compostable bag, put a layer of Kitty litter/sawdust in then do your business, cover again with another layer, when full, compost fully or Bury, and you are ready for any water cuts.
I used my weed sprayer shower yesterday, with solar heated water in a camp shower bag. Free hot shower.!
we're on a borehole that's 100m deep; I have no idea how much water is down there
The Clywedog reservoir yesterday!!
The Clywedog reservoir yesterday!!
We’ve had so many burst mains and other water supply issues in our area in the last month or so, it’s unreal. Most of the time we’ve not had that much problems ourselves, but on occasion we’ve had no water for an afternoon.
Since there’s no shortage of water bottles in this house (ehem…
), we just have a bunch filled up and rotate it for boiling the kettle. In hot weather, I always make sure I refill my waterbottle in work before heading home anyway, so we’ve got that too.That way we don’t have to open the small stash of 4L bottles of water that we have set aside for longer powercuts.
My main concern would be the dogs, especially in warm weather. If we’ve had rain regularly enough the waterbutt will have enough for several days for them, but when we’ve had long spells without rain that’s empty too.
My water butt's are empty too! No sign of rain for at least a week, and having already lost my cauliflowers and onions to bolting in the heat of the last heatwave, I'm now watching the tomato leaves curl and the Tom's not developing, beans and Sunflowers are wilting before midday, leeks are not bulking up and looking a bit worse for water. It's hours of carting watering cans up the garden, twice a day, early morning, and late evening, and it seems to make not a sot of difference. The soil is dry as a bone within a few hours.
I've moved as many pots into the sparse shade as I can, but they are heavy as heck, and it's not easy with a knackered back!
I think apart from a few beans and courgettes, a few beets, tomatoes and lettuce, I'm down on veg this year. Garden is a sun trap and the temps are crazy! No breeze, due to high fences. Hard work this year!
I've moved as many pots into the sparse shade as I can, but they are heavy as heck, and it's not easy with a knackered back!
I think apart from a few beans and courgettes, a few beets, tomatoes and lettuce, I'm down on veg this year. Garden is a sun trap and the temps are crazy! No breeze, due to high fences. Hard work this year!
We're on our own private supply here, plenty of water for the garden at the moment but there's always a risk of it drying up completely. I stocked up on a week's worth of bottled water a while back.
I've also just bought a couple of 6L water fire extinguishers. I'll obviously follow advice of getting away from a large fire but having noticed several small burn scars at the side of the roads I thought they would be worth the investment in case of a discarded fag end or a car exhaust catching the dry grass in the roads etc.
I've also just bought a couple of 6L water fire extinguishers. I'll obviously follow advice of getting away from a large fire but having noticed several small burn scars at the side of the roads I thought they would be worth the investment in case of a discarded fag end or a car exhaust catching the dry grass in the roads etc.
So wish I had a borehole, or even a well or handpump. Sadly, no water under the property for this. Have dowsed it, and found all the drains mind!
There's water available in most places in the UK - but boreholes of 100m plus cost £12K and over to sink. The company that put this one in some 30 years ago reckon they can find water anywhere in the welsh hills subject to price!
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There's water available in most places in the UK - but boreholes of 100m plus cost £12K and over to sink. The company that put this one in some 30 years ago recon they can find water anywhere in the welsh hills subject to price!
The company I work for offer Ground Source Heat pumps - when the land isn't available ( area ) we offer a design option to use boreholes to extract the heat from the earth - as you've mentioned its and easy £10k to £15k for a 100m borehole.
I had been hoping to be able to have a sandpoint well, with an old fashoned hand pump. Not easy to find sand points in the UK, but I did find one and all the gubbins to hand drive it.
I've watched lots of vids on how to, and tho it's hard work it's possible for a relatively low cost, compared to having it done professionally. But you are talking of a relatively high water table.
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. Seems a shame, as these could be of use in the future.
I've watched lots of vids on how to, and tho it's hard work it's possible for a relatively low cost, compared to having it done professionally. But you are talking of a relatively high water table.
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. Seems a shame, as these could be of use in the future.
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
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
Our local newsagent/sweet shop/tourist tat/cafe, has a well capped with a glass tile that you can walk over in the middle of the shop!
You can see all the ferns growing too.
I guess it must have been capped at some point, and built over. There is a glint of water at the bottom as a rule, but havnt looked in a while. Must check it out tomorrow, see if I can still see it.
Strangely, I was thinking about the local hand pumps last year, and how it would be a good idea to get them repaired and tested in case of drought, which got me thinking of getting one on my property if possible. Must have been psychic.!
You can see all the ferns growing too.
I guess it must have been capped at some point, and built over. There is a glint of water at the bottom as a rule, but havnt looked in a while. Must check it out tomorrow, see if I can still see it.
Strangely, I was thinking about the local hand pumps last year, and how it would be a good idea to get them repaired and tested in case of drought, which got me thinking of getting one on my property if possible. Must have been psychic.!
Find the old maps and look closely, it might surprise you just where natural water sources are available
M
To be honest, just look at a 25K scale Ordnance Survey map. Look for the keys spr (spring) and W (well) - both in blue; there are 11 within a Km radius of us as well as 3 within 100m - and we sit at a height of 230m. But, as my geologist better half points out, height has little bearing on whether there's water around.
I do know where all my local springs are. Most are little more than a trickle if you are lucky now. The leat is dry, as the river is so low. We have a thing every year, where you can walk along the leat and see all sorts of arty f#rty "instalations" that use water as a theme, fancy water wheels that slowly open and close a globe for instance. All had to come out and it all finished early as there was no water running through. Shame.
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