Hell is ever closer - part 2

[SistemaAddict]

Following on from the previous thread.

Hell is ever closer-how's your stash looking? http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eureferendumm2016/3646002-hell-is-ever-closer-how-s-your-stash-looking

Another one with tomatoes still mainly green, just a few becoming pink now. Tomatoes are tricky here, we are at altitude and prone to mist, the latter means instant phytopthera infection and ruin of fruit, so I've a sharp eye on the weather, if that sort of damp weather is due then picking the entire lot green is the only option (and to my surprise green tomatoes fried are very tasty!)

Potatoes have turned out well, have dug up a few, am working out where to store the rest. Carrots easy to grow (have Chantenays in small trays), lettuce has been crazy, have far too much! Courgette succumbed to white mould although the actual courgettes were fine.

Raspberries very good this year, had a great June crop and just starting the autumn crop now. Blueberries pretty decent too. Squash still ripening and fingers crossed for sweet potatoes.

Re long range forecasting, I pay zero attention to the tabloids who love to forecast deep freezes or scorchio temperatures.

You can pick green tomatoes and put them in the dark with banana skins. They'll ripen then.

@NoWordForFluffy - That's good to know, thanks! I'll do that if we don't seem to get anymore warmer, sunny days out.

That's interesting Fluffy, thanks for the tip! Although I do find they ripen on the windowsill (perhaps the banana method is faster?)

Just ordered 4 cases of red from Aldi for the Brexit stash (will obviously top up in the meantime too...) Buggered if I'm going through this sober!!

My dog food order arrived today. I've got 8 bags and each bag lasts about 21 days it'll keep him going for a while!

I am using some of the food I have to get through this tricky period. Trying to get tidy so I can continue organising. I am lacking motivation waiting for this appointment to come through.

Grab bag: 'I keep one for peace of mind'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49637873

Damn and bugger. I should never have mentioned misty weather, because after the rain all day, guess what we have? A fog! My poor tomatoes! Now I'll be watching them like a hawk for any telltale brown areas....

I'm on tomato duty at my parents house as they're away. Still lots of green, but managed to get a few that were heading past their best before and managed to make a roasted tomato and balsamic vinegar soup for lunch.

It's tipped down here all day. Sun tomorrow hopefully.

I've bought a few more bits tonight. Not much though as I'm almost done. Our room is rammed with food and drink. It's worse this time due to Christmas being just after the leave date!

I've read that France will suggest a 2 year extension. I suppose in that time there might be hope of a deal. I mean ok, in 3 years there's been sweet FA or should that be bitter WA? But surely in a total of FIVE fecking years we might get somewhere? Or just for the love of god revoke and pretend it was all a bad dream.

I will continue my forward purchasing habits regardless. It's been a great habit to get into. That's my only brexit positive.

I still have some stuff that will be in date in two years.

I am waiting for a referral letter for urgent tests, getting jittery. The stash will get me through any difficult period. Two years delay will be good in case I need the serious stuff in terms of meds.

I'm off to buy some Christmas stocking goodies today.
I have the rage thanks to hormones, pain, politics and my exH and his stupid abusive bint of a girlfriend.

Hello everyone.

Mind if I rejoin? I was on the last thread a little.

Blackeyed wishing you well with your tests. Just goes to show the sense in being well-stocked at all times. If it gives you just one thing less to worry about...

Bercows - would BJ/Cummings even agree to a two year extension if offered? I’d love to think they would but imagine the outrage. Surely there would have to be another PV during that time?

I’d be really interested to know how long you all think you could live off your supplies in a hypothetical situation where you were unable to buy anything at all for a period of time. I know that’s not what’s going to happen but I was thinking about it in those terms to try to help plan. So my thinking, was, for example, ‘if we could get by for a month without buying anything at all, that would probably see us comfortably through three months of shortages.’

The reason I’m asking is I feel like I’ve lost all sense of whether I’m going overboard or not doing enough. Sometimes I look at what I’ve stockpiled over the last year and feel a bit embarrassed at the excess, other times I think we should have more. Would be really interested to know if others have a rough idea of how long they are/will be prepared for.

Oh - and someone mentioned upthread mouse traps. I bought some for my ‘just in case’ box - also rat traps and cockroach traps 😱😱😱😱. I hope never to need them but I thought if things really do go tits up and you have a pest problem it could be more difficult getting someone out to the house and may be more difficult to buy that stuff at the if for any reason there’s extra demand (I’m in Kent so extra anxious about being able to get around by road and have started to wonder about refuse collection).

I’ve also bought a fire extinguisher and fire blanket for the first time in my life - though suspect these are probably things normal, proper grown-ups just have in their kitchens anyway? 🤔🤔🤔

I'm all for can kicking to be honest but appreciate uncertainty is not good at all. We need action not words.
We are apparently due another beast from the east so good to have a stash no matter what.

That's a good questions @SingingBabooshkaBadly and I feel the same about my stash. I don't have any snacks at the moment and they are what we eat a lot of (dried mango and crisps). Lunches are in short supply too. Food Id say a month for meals if I get creative but household stuff much longer. Welcome back!

I feel the same about my stash too, SingingBabooskaBadly. I have survival rations, undoubtedly, but I have been trying to remember to buy 2 replacements for every one tin I use.
My cooking style has changed as I'm learning to cook with tinned beans, lentils etc. DH has been learning to cope with occasional vegan meals, which pleases me. We are meat eaters but trying to cut down.
These threads are helpful, and it's good to feel the solidarity here. I'm still very hopeful that things will be sorted wrt Brexit, but feel more comfortable knowing we are stocked up for a while.
When things run seamlessly, life is so straightforward. Saddens me that this is under threat, that potentially we can't just go out and buy a widget if we need one. I am planning for winter too, enough warm clothes, lagging pipes. Trying to get ahead, basically. Fortunately our 2 cats should keep mice at bay.
I'll admit that prepping a bit is a good displacement exercise for dealing with uncertainty.

Well I have just staggered back from the supermarket with a what if I am not feeling very well shop, so will survive another week or so.

Not sure how long we could eat normally, or nearly normally. Maybe a week or two with tins replacing fresh gradually. Then we would eat but ever decreasing variety. The last thing we would be eating is dried beans. I really haven't worked it out. Maybe I should. Properly.

I was thinking it would be a back up for when things weren't available, say you could get 3 or 4/5 ingredients for a meal and needed to use the others out of the cupboard.

I usually have a massive shop before school holidays and then ex can deliver bread and milk so not taking autistic children to the supermarket.

If we have a bad winter (and power cuts), I'm pleased to say I can feed us on a tuna, sweetcorn and kidney bean salad for a week, might even manage a dollop of mayo each day

We are apparently due another beast from the east so good to have a stash no matter what.

There really is no evidence of any such beast, it's just what the daily rags like to trot out to sell their papers. I've heard mild and wet winter on the Netweather forums, but it's just too far out to say much.

It's unsettling not knowing whether we have 50-odd days till Brexit or 3 months or 2 years or whatever! The uncertainty must be hell for those with businesses. I'm just going to keep my stash going and rotating so I'm ready. However I do have days of thinking 'this is crazy, wtf are you doing?' and other days of 'There really isn't enough here yet!'

Well I am now taking the view it's not going to happen at the end of October and that my stockpile is complete. If I am right, and the extension is longer than 3 months, I will eat the stockpile. If I'm wrong, or we get the 3 months, I'll eat the stockpile. So come what may, it's getting eaten. Might have to build up a new one, but will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Hmm...lagging pipes - good point

I’m wondering if I’ve got a bit carried away in my thinking. My original plan was to have enough to get by - if we had to - for two - three months. Not because I think we won’t be able to get anything for that long but because I think it’s possible there could be disruption and some shortages for a very long time - also trying to insulate myself a bit from price hikes. Seems like this is way over the top compared to other people’s thinking. So my feeling that I was being ridiculous is probably correct

@Singing, looks like we've got some breathing space re No Deal at least :)