What Kind of Preparations

[Lamont]

What kind of preparations have you made in the last year?

[snow hope]

Trying to reduce debt.
Wood stove installed (2 years ago now)
Lean-to wood store built and enough seasoned wood stored to do me through the winter
Plenty of tools and equipment stored
Basic food supply stocked up (and being cycled)
Store of 2000 litres of oil for heating system.
Plenty of warm clothing and shoes/boots built-up.
New uPVC Front door and rear door being installed in January - will improve security and insulation considerably.
Vegetable patch to be put into more usable form this year (3rd year)
May purchase decent touring bike this year and/or Honda moped - for transport back-up.

Why don't you tell us what you have done Lamont?

[Bedrock Barney]

Ok I'll play.

Hugely increased roof insulation depth (now 500mm)
Built primary and secondary woodstores
Installed wood fired cooker (also provides hot water)
Installed new super efficient thermal store
Ditched Toyota Prius and bought an old 300tdi Land Rover (!!!)
Nearly finished vegetable garden (raised beds etc)
Bought airgun (fruitcage munching squirrels beware)
Joined target shooting club (to improve above potential activity - full FAC being considered)

On the list for 2009:

Large greenhouse or polytunnel
Solar hot water panels
Acquisition of farmland via SIPP
World peace

[Lamont]

Bedrock, why did you ditch the Prius for an old Landrover?

[RenewableCandy]

Bedrock, why did you ditch the Prius for an old Landrover?

IIRC this has turned up in a previous thread, in which Mr Barney was talking about how much easier the latter was to repair.

But, you may ask, what the heck has Chateau Renewable done this year?

-Additional insulation work (including very costly leak repairs, and absolutely-not-costly additional loft stuff)
-Dug extra bed out of drive (seeds to go in this spring)
-Food store, and related cooking expertise
-Seed-saving (sunflowers and beans. Well you've got to start somewhere!)
-Installed second water-barrel
-Put down name for an allotment
-Joined York-In-Transition
-Paid off debts (bar mortgage, but even that has gone down below important psychological landmark) and packed in commutin' so I can spend more time with The Family/York-In-Transition!

[Lamont]

I agree with Barney. The pollution caused by creating a new car is quite a bit more than recycling an old car. And they are much more user friendly.

[MisterE]

Didnt go nuts due to working so much away, plus did lots the year before.

Removed all debt not that I had much inc Mortgage
Worked my tits off all over the UK and banked after tax n living 40k
Enhanced the log stove plumbing set up
Roof (Welsh Slate) Collapsing replaced with monoflex, Cambrian Reclaimed Slate and Dry verge and insulated all to 400mm, will withstand any weather now.
New Windows and doors, plus re arranged them to take advantage of the South.
Built a secure out house for all my tools, got lots of tools for most trades all great quality too.
Bathroom was falling apart, did that and now you can dry clothes in it, it looks great, its watertight, and uses lots less water due to cystern, shower and taps.
Learnt about storing foods.
Got all my friends onboard about PO, losing your debt and getting back to community. We now make more effort to meet up and do things together.
Built a summer house 12 foot x foot which has massive windows facing south and acts as a green house.
Put 6 foot rendered concrete walls around my property, with plants (climber) growing 2foot above that on trellis etc.
Arranged free motor repairs on my Diesel and free MOTs via helping mates out.
Bought some awesome books, after all no electric = no PC = no Info
Purchased some warmer clothing and bedding.
Got me a Stove kettle
Stocked up on Vits and Minerals
Bought new valve amp and some pedals I've always wanted - what what I like playing my guitar (ok thats not a prep)


2009

If work then keep earning
Fit 3 coil cylinder
Fit Solar HW on South Side roof
Changing diet (losing lots of processed stuff)
3 Windows & one Door left to do
Start my Allotment
Buy some good knives
Start back fishing again (dust off my gear)
Keep building our community spirit up and make an effort with people, which to be honest I do, I'm the type that gets on with everyone.

[contadino]

Er....um....I did a lot of research into domestic scale production of ethanol and how to run small-holding machinery using it. Unfortunately, in the process I found out a lot about distilling moonshine (or grappa as it's known around here) so I suspect I'll be blotto before getting anything into my rotavator.

[revdode]

When I figure out what I'm preparing for I can start.
2008 I ran off to Hungary.
Sold off our house in the UK - but it was a close thing.
Apart from that work - the reason for the move has taken up a lot of my time.

[MisterE]

Whats Hungary like? I've never been but it always seemed like a place that would interest me

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

Drank beer and procrastinated furiously...

[revdode]

Whats Hungary like? I've never been but it always seemed like a place that would interest me

Apologies for the long rambling post.

Hungary is quite a varied for a wee country. Where we are on the south side of Balaton it is green and beautiful although rather flat, the other side of the lake is more hilly and wild. Last year was our first here and the growing season is long and hot although no shortage of rain mostly in the evenings. Our landlord has the garden in huge areas of lawn something I will address next year, we have a pumped well / water store for watering the garden. Along with paprika , grapes and grain they grow a lot of sunflowers, corn and canola commercially. The land seems fairly fertile and very cheap a plot near here of 4650m2 with 56m2 bothy complete with cellar is around 12k GBP (yes really) - this is actually an expensive area. These plots are widely available the problem being they have restricted planning permissions a dwelling for year round living is not allowed. Older houses in villages tend to come with large gardens, some also have access to shared community gardens and there is a lot of small fields in odd corners so buying up more land shouldn't be a problem. Put a proper modern house on a plot and the prices are comparable with central Scotland or were. The property market here is in trouble although this doesn't seem to have registered with a lot of sellers who seem prepared to sit with unsold houses for long periods.

There are still a lot of working local markets, although Tesco is doing its worst. Actually finding a large scale national chain here is hard work. The larger supermarkets are Tesco (Caymans), Auchan (France), Spar (Netherlands), Aldi / Lidl (Germany). You can get great fruit and veg in season and everything needed for preserving it as well.

Outside of large towns you still see old long houses with large gardens where older or poorer folk still grow a lot of their own food. Horses and carts are still a relatively common sight and some smaller areas of land are still worked by horse. However the majority of farming is moving into the agri business model - big fields, big farms, big machines.

Probably the most obvious problem for someone living here is the language which is really different from anything else although if you can speak German it's possible to get by. The bureaucracy is terrible, they are far better at this than the British but you don't have to deal with it more than a couple of times a year so it can be pretty much ignored. The people are generally very polite, a little reserved and formal but that isn't a bad thing.

The economy is a basket case (aren't they all) this is probably the biggest threat for me staying here for the three years of my assignment. It is a center for manufacturing, which is why I'm here, general consumer products tend to be moving further east but products that need a short supply chain are holding on.

There is still a lot of bad feeling about the treaty of Trianon (1920) and a sizable minority still seem to feel that Hungary was treated unjustly. There is a Roma minority which has a long history of persecution leaving many communities paranoid and difficult to deal with. There is/was a very large public sector here, not well paid in European terms but with a few benefits (pension / 13month salary) that seem likely to be trimmed as part of the IMF loan deal that was done earlier in the year. The combination of austerity measures, nationalism, an easily identifiable minority and a resurgent right wing make the political situation a little uncomfortable. When my mum visited this year we misjudged our visit to Budapest and ended up in Hero's square just as the Magyar Garda (google them) were winding up their signing in ceremony - just a little scary.

It seems like an affordable place to live in a sustainable way although the winters are usually colder than we have this year (minimum so far only -8 degrees C). I like the country and people but as you can see I have some concerns. Probably by the end of next year I'll have a clue what I'll do when my assignment is over assuming the business allows me that choice.

BTW beer and wine are cheap and the summer weather if ideal for procrastination.

If anyone wants more information please PM or email me.

[Papillon]

What kind of preparations have you made in the last year?

Well, I seem to be going around in circles

I suppose the main two things I have done, were to get married
and lose a whole load of money (still managed to stay away from debt though). I think the main problem is not having a place of our own

[snow hope]

Come on Lamont, spill the beans - what preps have you made?

[Lamont]

About the same kind of preps as most others so far, I find it helpful to get others idea's. It helps me to see what I have forgotten about.