Stocking up.

[ClericalError]

Who can remember the 70s, where bread and bog rolls suddenly disappeared off the shelves?

I can remember the 70s very well. I studied for my O levels by the light of a Tilley lamp, and when I started to buy my own groceries when I lived in a rented house as a student, I can still remember the horror when a jar of coffee went up by about 50% from one week to the next. When you're completely new to it - I was 19 years old, with no knowledge whatsoever of how to look after myself - those kinds of price rises can be quite discombobulating. I don't remember things disappearing, (ye gods, I'm sure I'd remember toilet roll disappearing ) though I definitely remember the five of us pulling together our pennies (literally) to buy a half pint each when the leccy went off. Beer was still hand-pulled.

I do recall potatoes disappearing from school menus, to be replaced by mini bread rolls, which I now think must have been after the drought of 1976 did for a lot of the crop. I also remember two sets of power cuts, in the early and late 70s. By the time of the second lot, the Winter of Discontent, I was old enough to be frustrated at how feckless my so-called family was but not old enough to leave. e.g. We were living in a house with one fireplace besides the mains heating. You'd think someone would test it and use it in the event of power cuts and freezing winters, no? Nope. And when we lived way out in the country I remember them swapping light bulbs around from less used rooms instead of having a spare or two when a bulb blew after the nearest shop miles away had closed. The moment I had both my own place and any spare money I was dedicated to never running out of stuff.

At the moment I am running my food and water stocks down a little as I am moving very soon, but certainly not dropping levels of medications or essentials. I plan to ramp back up as soon as I am in the new place and concentrate on things that may be in short supply in any disruption but which I actually use. This time round I have thrown out a few tins of powdered milk so I obviously need to work on that. I have a few health issues so when I am overworked and overtired having some tinned stuff around and never being forced to shop when I am not up to it has been a real help. I'd really miss a lot of Mediterranean foods if they were gone a while. I'll be seeing the GP this week for a big batch of not at all recreational drugs to tide me over the move and possibly a little more.

[jennyjj01]

I also remember two sets of power cuts, in the early and late 70s. By the time of the second lot, the Winter of Discontent, I was old enough to be frustrated at how feckless my so-called family was but not old enough to leave. ... freezing winters, no? Nope. And when we lived way out in the country I remember them swapping light bulbs around from less used rooms instead of having a spare or two when a bulb blew after the nearest shop miles away had closed. The moment I had both my own place and any spare money I was dedicated to never running out of stuff.

Similar here. I was in my teens when we had the power cuts in the 70s. Mum and dad were pretty helpless and it was me that organised torches and car batteries for lighting. Dad spent hours tracking down flour and yeast because bread was in short supply and that's when I first cooked bread. Rolling power cuts were bad, but at least the gas fire still worked. Modern central heating is bu66ered without gas AND electricity.

This time round I have thrown out a few tins of powdered milk so I obviously need to work on that.

ASDA NIDA at £5.50 for 900g tin or else Sainsbury 300g satchets.

... having some tinned stuff around and never being forced to shop when I am not up to it has been a real help. I'd really miss a lot of Mediterranean foods if they were gone a while.

I'm close to half a tonne of stockpile now.
I would be interested in comparing notes on priorities etc. Here's my recent summary list if links work
download/file.php?id=1679&mode=view
about 18 banana boxes stashed away, assortment of cans/rice/pasta/tea/coffee essentials. Oh and much Jack Daniels and beer )

[Arzosah]

That's one impressive list! Amazing, Jenny - I don't have anything like a list like that. Nor am I at a stage when I could make one right now, everything's in quite a state of flux at the moment. And will be again if I can manage to get the kitchen renovated. But between the two events, yep - I do like the idea of a proper list

[jansman]

That is an impressive list.Sadly,my lack of skill with computers ( and interest), means simply looking at the shelves and seeing what we are short of !

The mention of the 70's is interesting.They were grim times,but I think we only realised that looking back from our prosperous times,if that makes sense.Where I lived ( still do) nobody had anything anyway. I think the coming year may see 70's - style shortages of certain items for a while - at least I hope that is all - so my priority is to maintain a ' normal' situation.If there is stuff we cannot get,we will just work around it.I think that prescribed medicine is a big worry for many.I read that gvt. is contingency planning for this,so that will be one to watch.Of course,that situation could arise at any time.

As I said earlier,the current situation has re- focused my storage,to the point where it is back where it should be to cover all bases,not just March 29.

[Deeps]

Impressive stock control Jenny, I'm with Jansman though, due to innate laziness and a dread of admin there's no chance I could do something similar. I just have a rough mental note of what I'm short of, this could lead to mistakes of course.

[Arwen Thebard]

Oil Of Cloves.

I woke up this morning suffering with a raging tooth ache and realised we only had one bottle of Oil of Cloves in the first aid kit. Straight onto the internet and ordered 3 more bottles.

Any form of pain is bad enough when times are "normal" but it would be far worse if an emergency appointment with the dentist wasn't available the next day.

Perhaps I should have ordered a few more as barter items?

[Arzosah]

Started a list (I like a list!) and it's already throwing up some interesting things. I know I won't keep up the level of detail that Jenny has, but having a master list like this is quite powerful.

Oil of cloves! My bottle is at least 4 years old and it takes days to get an emergency appointment round here, even now. Yes, I better buy some more.

[ForgeCorvus]

Oh, bleach: I know there's a version of bleach I can buy that's fit for long term storage, but I only researched it halfway, and got lost in other things, so now I'm back to square one.

Calcium Hypochlorite, AKA Pool Shock. You mix a very small amount with water to make a concentrated chlorine bleach that you can then dilute down to 'normal' strength bleach.
Somewhere around I've got a table of the ratios, I'll see if I can find it....... My next prep needs to be a filing system

Yes please, ForgeCorvus, if you can

Heres something that should help, copied from Here

Using Pool Shock as a Water Purifier
When it comes to water purification, it’s important to have more than one way to insure you
have clean water. Boiling water and using bleach for water purification are tried and true, but
both have drawbacks. Boiling water requires a source of heat, which can use up extra fuel in an
emergency, and bleach has a shelf life of just a year or so.
Using pool shock, specifically calcium hypochlorite, is an ideal way to have a reliable water
purification method on hand, using a substance with a very long shelf life. You can buy 100%
calcium hypochlorite at www.inyopool.com

A one-pound bag can purify upto 10,000 gallons of water.
Here are the directions you’ll need.
Add one heaping teaspoon of granular calcium hypochlorite to two gallons of water, or
5 ml. to 7.5 l. of water. This mixture produces a solution similar to bleach.
Use one part of this solution to 100 parts of water to be treated. Allow the mixture to
sit for at least 30 minutes before drinking. If the smell of chlorine is too strong, pour the
pure water from one container into another several times to allow the chlorine to
dissipate.


WARNINGS: Do not breathe the toxic fumes from the pool shock.
Store away from anything flammable, including paper, gasoline, oil, oily rags, and paint
solvent.
Additionally, do not store near any type of ignition sources, such as lawn mowers, generators, etc.

[Arzosah]

Thanks for that. The last of the Christmas cards are going out this morning (bad prepper! lazy prepper!) so I might make a few online orders as a reward

[diamond lil]

In the 70s I was a very young mum of two toddlers, married to a dock worker who was always on strike. We really depended on potatoes as filler-uppers and I was struggling when the price suddenly went sky high. Also sugar. I had to go back to my Irish mum's "hard-times cookery", big pots of soup and rice pud.