What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12

[Arzosah]

Shame on me
Doing a bit of shuffling of the food reserves in the loft. Decided to chuck all my pre 2020 chickpeas, dried veg, lasagna sheets and a few other bits that never rotate into my regular diet.somewhere around £75 to replace.
Lasagna sheets had lasted well considering they are only in cardboard boxes.
There were some droppings which I figure were from bats which I know to roost in the eaves. No sign of any bags or boxes being nibbled, which is why I doubt it's mice.

Also still dehydrating cheap veg. Just shallots and carrots.

Sympathies! I haven't lost that much dosh - I was mentioning I had a dehydrating splurge and only recently stacked it all up to be visible maybe £40, including those dozen eggs I dehydrated, and which I think are in chunks that are too big. I still really like the idea of dehydration as a preservation method, because it doesn't go off, but its a real lesson about building in the rotation of supply. I'm absolutely not wasting like this again - the money and the time and effort

[Yorkshire Andy]

Little christmas bonus at work put it towards a ecoflow delta 2 power station to sit between my river 2 and delta max 1600

It's half the weight of the max and about 4x the capacity of the river 2.... with a 1kw capacity

Ready for this year's planned camping trips.... river 2 worked ok but this will let me run the compressor fridge for 4 days without any input if needed

It'll also mate with my ecoflow powertream unit and the ecoflow smart plugs....





Starting to get a bit twitchy at the very least we are heading for cold weather into the new year bordering on very cold with a bit of winter thrown in
. If the boat yards open over Christmas im off for more red diesel for my heaters...


Grabbed some chicken feed yesterday the bin is full which is circa 2 months food for them

[Frnc]

Got a delivery of 6 x 140 Nescafe Azera, £30. Should be a bit cheaper next time, and was the last time. I have about 3 left from last lot. Not diluting it at the moment, as it's not much dearer than anything else, apart from Aldi's version, which isn't as good. Worked out that one 140g tin lasts me 10 days, so 6 delivered every 2 months on Sub n Save is perfect. I've just got another kitchen cupboard as lodger cleared it out the other day, so they went straight in there. I've already mostly filled the other lodger's cupboard. It has all the big stuff - oats, cornflakes, pasta, all in plastic containers, big box of low salt Bisto (it is vegetarian). So I have loads more room for prep food, unless I decide to get another lodger. I think I'll shift some of the stuff with over a year on the date into it, to make my main food cupboard (which is a double, corner unit, but the far bit is hard to reach) more accessible. This will make it a lot easier to check the dates in future. Koka noodles still live in the prep room, as the boxes are nearly 1m long.

[jennyjj01]

...maybe £40, including those dozen eggs I dehydrated,...

so... 800 bags of Aldi carrots

still really like the idea of dehydration as a preservation method, because it doesn't go off, but its a real lesson about building in the rotation of supply. I'm absolutely not wasting like this again - the money and the time and effort

Some does degrade such as onions and leeks which go brown and root veg needs the blanch.
My big waste was chickpeas. And powdered milk.
TBH I don't begrudge the waste. It was an insurance.

[Peter]

We have decided that no way do we intend to be cold, at any cost.

About a year ago I posted that I was getting to old to hump around buckets of coal,
emptying ash and cleaning the hearth every morning before breakfast.

So we are using the central heating full time, and have found after a few days the house
is now up to a constant temperature, currently 21C, there is virtually no condensation on
windows each morning.

When you allow for the cost of the coal we would be burning, £4 day, energy costs for both
gas andelectricity are at £8 or £9, a day, a bit pricey maybe but this rate will be for the coldest
months, december january and february, Last year from the end of march to october timed
usage, for both gas and electricity was under £5 a day, not too bad when spread over the year.

We still have the option of burning coal (still have some) if there are power cuts or if TSHTF.

[Medusa]

We have decided that no way do we intend to be cold, at any cost.

So we are using the central heating full time, and have found after a few days the house
is now up to a constant temperature, currently 21C, there is virtually no condensation on
windows each morning.

When you allow for the cost of the coal we would be burning, £4 day, energy costs for both
gas andelectricity are at £8 or £9, a day, a bit pricey maybe but this rate will be for the coldest
months, december january and february, Last year from the end of march to october timed
usage, for both gas and electricity was under £5 a day, not too bad when spread over the year.

As with you, we refuse to be cold in our own home and are lucky to be able to do so. We have no gas supply although there is a gas supply at the end of the drive. It was just never connected by the previous house owners and when we enquired about the cost many years ago to have a gas pipe fitted to the house it was stupid money as we have a very long drive and the boiler was at the rear of the property. We have stayed with a gas boiler which is probalby now about 40 years old, basic and has had most of the parts replaced over the years. Our son who is a heating engineer suggested that it is more reliable than the newer boilers, although probably not as efficient so we kept it. We also have 2 wood burning stoves. By our mathematics we are able to keep the house warmer at less cost with the wood burners, with some free wood and some paid for, certainly from October to December unless the weather is extremely cold. We have used the oil boiler for heating the water (once a day mostly) only apart from two occasions this year. Cleaning the ash from the stoves is fine, carting the wood from the shed indoors is harder than it was, but we have a utility trolley which will fit both wood buckets if needed right now. Of course when we are older, this may still not be possible and we may have to revert to oil only heating. I am guessing that the lesson here is to keep warm in whatever way works for the individual.

[Frnc]

Checked all my radiators except the one in the cellar. All ok. One was a bit cool at the bottom, so I turned the TRV up for a couple of days. Best time to check them is about 20 minutes after heat comes on in the morning, when the boiler is firing almost nonstop, and even rads with TRVs set fairly low get hot for a while.

I've turned the TRV in the prep/storage room down a bit, as the rad was hot during the day, which is not necessary. It does get cold in there, but it is several degrees above dew point, even first thing in the morning. And relative humidity is well below mould risk.

So hopefully now I can leave everything as is, for the rest of the winter. I'm just about meeting my energy spending budget, which varies with ouddoor temperature. For instance yesterday, average temp was 4°, so the gas budget was 44 kWh, about £3.

Bathroom humidity cleared in about 2 hours yesterday after a shower, without using the dehumidifier on the landing. There is a sharp drop when I open the door, but then it goes back up for a while. Couldn't see any condensation on the painted walls. I have a clean mop in there to use if I do.

[Adjee]

Next two days to be spent adding more insulation to all the animal pens and bee hives, extra bedding for the goats and lambs, extra fur to be added to all the rabbit kit boxes. I will also move the horses I am looking after for a friend from their place into our barn so they will easier to deal with (saving me a good walk every morning and evening). Temperatures are due to drop to @ -17c overnight midweek and hover there for a while.

Extra hay and straw bales also ordered for the New Year to keep the stocks up (five horses eat a lot!). Extra boiling pot out ready to keep a constant supply of warm water for all the animals and our heat stones brought in which we will put in the petchka then transfer to the animal pens overnight (an old trick but it works well).

That's the animals covered, for me it is hand warmers, shapka, thermals and the odd hot toddy!

[Medusa]

I recently spoke to the H & S lead suggesting that it would be beneficial for some of us to attend the three day first aid course as the one day emergency first aid at work refresher appears to be covering less and less each time. They have finally found the funding and agreed and I am booked on the course. Very happy with this. Also trying to encourage my husband to attend some first aid training as he has literally no idea how to do CPR and after stabbing himself with a stanley knife, not cleaning it or dressing it and getting a very nasty infection in his hand I think it would be more than useful.

[GillyBee]

Extra boiling pot out ready to keep a constant supply of warm water for all the animals and our heat stones brought in which we will put in the petchka then transfer to the animal pens overnight (an old trick but it works well).

Can you tell us a bit more about the heat stones? How big are they, what are they made of, how long does it take to warm them up and how do you use them without animals burning themselves? I am always intetested in hearing about low tech solutions that actually work.