The Post After The Weekend Before!

THIS POST CONTAINS A PHOTO OF THE INSIDE OF AN ANIMAL! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE WHAT AN ANIMALS INSIDES LOOK LIKE.... STOP READING.

Hello.

I am alive.

I am writing this covered in bruises and still finding bits of mud in my hair.

This is most certainly not a usual situation that I find myself so let me explain how I ended up black and blue, covered in dirt like some kind of feral animal but all the better for the experience.

First we need to remember what happened in February when the storms hit and the power went out and I promised myself I would build a kit to keep me going in the event of an emergency.

For the six or so months since the power went out, I have been researching the internet, reading books and watching survival shows in order to build up a reservoir of knowledge.

But theory is only part of the process and practice makes perfect as they.

With that in mind I set about buying the sort of things I "may" need in the event of the electricity disappearing.

Here is a picture of Some of the things that I thought would come in useful.

This bag contained:

• zippo lighter
• ferro rod and striker
• waterproof matches
• fresel lens (magnifying glass to you and me)
• parachord
• compass
• sealed box containing food rations.
• zippo bags
• multi tools + torch on a keyring
• mora knife and knife sharpener
• tea lights
• cutlery set
• small stove and fire lighters
• mess tins
• thermal cup
• water purification kit
• folding shovel
• pillow (not used)
• emergency blankets (not used)
• first aid kit (used...lots!)
• sewing kit
• various books (S.A.S. guide, knots, edible plants)
• deck of cards
• notebook
• Solar panels
• water bottle
• change of clothes
• sleeping bag
• sleeping mat
• and a bag to put them all in!

Not pictured are: portable battery, shemagh, more cordage and a tarp.

In total the bag weighed 9 pounds and was easy enough to carry.

That bag, along with myself and Darren (off the sinkingship) took ourselves away into the wilderness of the Shropshire hills and spent the day on a survival course which is run by a group trained by Bear Grylls himself!

We did lots of things and learnt an awful lot including the following:

• You can eat nettles without them stinging your tongue.
• how to start an upside down fire.
• How to find various points of the compass without the use of a compass.
• Crossing a ravine by dragging yourself across a rope may cause bruising and nipple burn if not done correctly... (yes, that WAS me!)
• AND... How to skin and cook a rabbit (although we didn't kill the bunny, That was done by a farmer for us).

An upside down fire!

We also made our own shelter and spent the evening camping out in the woods.

All in all it was tons of fun and well worth the experience.

Now, I know what you are thinking: "Oh no, he's one of those oddball preppers!"

Well, you are only half right. 

I'm not a prepper.

Or at least I don't consider myself a prepper - in the way some people think about preppers.

I am not the sort of person who thinks about the end of the world, or Nuclear apocalypses or anything like that ( and to honest most preppers are not like that either), but if/when the electric goes off again I know that I am ready for action and there will no panic or fuss.

Plus, roasted Rabbit is quite nice when you have skinned it, pulled it's guts out then twisted it's head off and stuff on a stick over a hot fire.

Blurry picture of a rabbit being skinned.

Anyway. Confidence has been instilled, lessons learnt, and new hobbies fully established.

It is amazing how little we remember about how we used to live. It was not that long ago that people HAD to live this way or perish. 

I think it is important to know at least a little bit about surviving and at the very least I can freak people out by eating nettles straight off the plant.

Awesome!

this post is also available on our secondary site. Go visit it.

you should have seen the other guy!

A Game Called Idiot

It has been noted, in some sections of the internet, that I have been a tad quiet this week. There is a very good reason for that.

The weather.

Or, to be more precise, the lack of electricity caused by falling trees during the big storms.

Those in the south of England are mainly under water. This should come as no surprise as everybody knows that water flows down hill and the south is further down than the north. This means that given enough time and enough wetness, the south will always be wetter than the north.

The north is traditionally known for being damp, but when there is so much rain falling from the sky and so much water being pushed in from the sea with all this wind, the end result is flooding.... LOTS AND LOTS OF FLOODING.

The wind had caused a power cut in my area around 5pm on Wednesday. Everything went dark and cold very quickly.

I had been on the web earlier in the week and taken part in one of the many "Would you survive a Zombie apocalypse?" quizzes. Turns out i would last around 355 days, which isn't bad but I know that with those instincts at my beck and call I could see out an evening without the TV on.

Candles were found and that old deck of dog eared playing cards were located from somewhere in the "holiday drawer" and that was that.

Myself and Mrs H played a game known in the old city of Oslo as "idiot" which more polite than the name we Brits seem to use for it*.

Thursday morning came and I awoke to the strange sensation of my own body willing itself to warmer climbs. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. A stand up wash in the sink with a pan of water half boiled on the hob was the best I could hope for and the rest of the day was spent wishing for something...anything to happen.

It didn't.

The power was off for so long that we had to abandon using the little boys room (living in the middle of nowhere means we are not connected to the mains water and everything gets pumped around. Without power there's no pump and with no pump there is the inevitable BACKLOG and BUILD UP and well.... you get the idea!) and that's when the fun stopped.

It rained a bit and then the sun came out but it stayed cold. I don't really want to talk about how cold I was because it still hurts. Although while I was out chopping a tree down it began snowing and I really started to hate life.... and trees.

45 hours after everything fell to shit, the power came back on and everything was plugged in quick sharp just in case the power went off again. In fact I am typing this really quick as I have no doubt the wind will pick up again and the lights will go off again.

So there we go, that's what happened to me. 

It's amazing how much we rely on electricity and take for granted. Everyone in my house laughed when I bought a back up battery for my gadgets, but they formed an orderly queue when their phones were on the blink so the jokes on them.

But this has got me thinking about the next time something like this happens. Therefore I am going to start a proper well cool survival kit and then make the others fight THUNDERDOME style to see who gets to have a bite of my high energy nut bars or use the water filter to make a cup of tea.

Now, where's my Tina Tuner outfit?????

*we call it shit head.

Another Award

It's only Wednesday and it has already been a very trying week.

Monday was okay, campers coming and going after a very busy weekend but I managed to find the time to do a little house keeping on my laptop.

I found a number of half written posts going all the way back to before this time last year.

Who knows what would have happened if I had told you all "that time a thing happened" or "when something I thought was something else, actually turned out to a be different something else." but those times have passed and a re behind us now.

Tuesday saw Scottish power come all the way down to Shropshire to turn the electricity off. I don't why a load of Scotch electricians had to travel half way down the country to mess aorund with the supply, but they did. 

The campers were annoyed that they missed their daily dose of The Wright Stuff on channel 5 and Loose Women, but we had stocked up on Daily Mails so they were contented to read all about how people from another country are to blame for cancer and how what was reported as a cure for cancer last week is now actually a major cause of cancer and how Diana would be spinning in her grave if she could see the world today etc so on and so forth.

I also received this beautiful award from Rob Z Tobor which I got from his blog HERE. 

if you have not read his diary, you really should. to get the best out of it you should really start at the beginning but if you can't be bothered i will try and sum up the story so far......

there is a school goat, a russian spy, a man who wanders around in the woods looking for aliens while zombie snowmen try not to fall into the ever increasing number of holes that Rob has dug in his garden.

There are also some pretty cool pieces of art work as well.

To paraphrase the man himself - "It's well cool."

Wednesday came next and all was going swimmingly. That was until I cut my finger and then a camper who has been here for four days so far asked if they could move pitch ... again.

That's right AGAIN. This is the third time they have moved their TENT (yes tent!!) in the four days they have been here.

They are now going to move to the pitch I suggested to them when they first arrived, but didn't like the look of it.

There's no helping some folk.

I have also decided to spend some money.

I haven't told MRS H yet. But it IS my money and I have been saving up for ages and haven't treated myself since February so it's high time I did.

Wedding plans continue although Mrs H is getting fed up with all the planning and I'm fed up of having to pay for things.

It's still a few months off yet, but once it's all paid for and done we can get back to normality.

Right that's enough from me.

My heart felt thanks go to Rob for his award.

I'm off to buy a gadget that probably won't work anyway.

Laters Taters!