Knowing your area.

[jansman]

Went fishing today on a stretch of river in the village where I have had fishing and shooting permission since I was a lad.I have not been there in a year,and I totally forgot the sheer abundance of game.As I was deadbaiting for pike,I had a chance to sit and observe,whilst waiting for bite alarm to sound,( had two nice fish BTW). I have been lazy these last few years,and lost sight of my surroundings.

When I got home I walked the dog.Now he has been laid up for 12 months,and only just walking properly again.Went around the village,and spotted pallets,a skip with clean bricks and a large sheet of plywood, and an advert in the post office for unwanted coal to be removed. Went back for a car and squared all that!

Its worth keeping your eyes peeled.

[Deeps]

Everyone's 'patch' will be different, I'm out the back fields 3 times a day with the dogs and have a good idea of what is happening out there, there's been an increase in the bunny population and I know where there's some good wood been dumped (no space in my wood store at the moment) but am pretty ignorant of what is happening in our scheme/estate as I hardly ever go through it.

Again, we're all different but I'd add people to the list of things that are in our areas, not just in a prepping sense but even the more mundane.

[jansman]

People is another thing Deeps.With not being out with the dog,I have lost touch with who is who around here,or more to the point,who to be wary of!

[Arwen Thebard]

This is a good point. How many of us stick to the same routes on our daily walks, oblivious to changes and opportunities going on close by. I have a few different routes I can take when I am out and about which I usually rotate depending on whats available to forage and in the fields at any given time. Varying the times I go out is another way to meet different people as well as most people are creatures of habit.

[Deeps]

Us getting the dugs has had a seismic impact on our lives. I totally get its not for everyone, it wouldn't have worked for us until 5 years ago but they have got us more involved with a fair number of our local community. Learned a lot about our neighbours over a fairly wide area through them and made useful friends and gained a fair bit of local knowledge too. That's me being practical, there's also a lot of talking crap etc as well. I've also covered more ground that I wouldn't have looked at if I didn't need somewhere to walk the dogs and found plenty to forage. Of course, some (most) won't be as lazy as me and might have explored more anyway but we'd lived here for 10 years before I bothered to check out what was literally on the doorstep.

[Arzosah]

Utterly crucial information, I'd say, both in terms of foraging and hunting, and the people. I've mentioned my pearl of a neighbour - but there's also a little T junction (unfortunately on my rather short street) where there's a couple of families that mean I hesitate to walk down the street that way if they're out on the road - and the teenagers play football on the road, even though we literally live on a street with houses on only one side, because the other side is a council-owned unfenced football field with free access. It all took a serious turn just before New Year, with a targetted murder. There's still a little shrine where he died. In amongst the flowers, pictures, cards, candles and helium balloons are beer cans, set there as part of the memorial. Last summer, I'd walk down the road in daylight even if they were out playing football, I won't now, even targetted murders can go wrong.

[diamond lil]

Well I've lived here 30 years and in the next village for 12 years before that, so I'm familiar with the terrain. But I'm never out on the hill now so things will have changed. I used to walk for miles with my son and his hawk, and that way we knew where every electric fence was, every bull was (vital!) etc. But not any more.
And I'm really sorry Jansman but I read this at first as "Knowing your arse"

[jansman]

Well I've lived here 30 years and in the next village for 12 years before that, so I'm familiar with the terrain. But I'm never out on the hill now so things will have changed. I used to walk for miles with my son and his hawk, and that way we knew where every electric fence was, every bull was (vital!) etc. But not any more.
And I'm really sorry Jansman but I read this at first as "Knowing your arse"

Arse can cover some parts of where we live these days!

[grenfell]

jansman mentions the bricks from a skip and the free coal . I've a,ways looked out for stuff like that . This week I have ended up with some more garden tools including two hover mowers a petrol strimmer and a petrol leaf blower ( yes I know they are evil but...) . Practically al my firewood comes from similar sources too . I've always had the attitude that if something is offered or iiis free there for the taking then take it and think about what to do with it latter. If it turns out no use to me I can always pass it on to someone else.
With regards to things like foraging I know the locations of certain nearby areas where such and such grows , I know several gardens that have certain plants in or vegetable patches but there are probably gaps in my knowledge , the world isn't static " development " makes sure of that.

[peejay]

I'm going to be getting rid of some bricks myself soon. I've been kidding myself that I should hang onto them but really can't justify it (maybe a dozen or so to make a small rocket stove at a push).

Now I've decided to get rid, I'm now procrastinating over whether I should pay someone to take 'em or whether there's any value in getting someone to take 'em for free (they're at the bottom of the garden & I can't be arsed to shift 'em myself to the front of the house for example.

Some of them will be very old but solid "blue" engineering type bricks - I'm sure they might have enough value for someone to take 'em a their own expense rather than me pay for the privilege...