On Being Prepared

Being Prepared
As promised here is (the first) post on being prepared. "Prepared for what?" I hear you say.
Let us start off slowly, when was the last time you found yourself unprepared ? Did you learn from it? Did you take your mac next time?, or buy those candles for the next time the power goes out?,  keep a few simple stores in so that you can feed unexpected guests?
 If we were to ramp this up. Will you cope with a four day power cut? Or being snowed in for four days? or the bank computer has a blip and your cheque is a week late?
Ramping up further. What if the shops were empty for a while because the shelves had been emptied? What if you lost your income and your savings dwindled and you needed new clothes? What if that power cut was even longer and there was no TV and  children could no longer charge their mobiles (NOW you're scared!)
Longer term, what if the worlds food resources wouldn't go round everyone, or floods destroyed our area long term, or there was a massive crop failure, or we were unable to buy or produce the oil on which we so depend.
And finally I will go all disaster movie and say what about if society as we know it was destroyed or a natural disaster took us back to the dark ages?
Are you prepared for any of these things?
 To many of my followers this is bread and butter stuff. You wouldn't be reading a blog on Frugality and Self Sufficiency if you weren't some sort of a "Prepper". However, I do know that some young folk, students and people new to S S read my blog and I hope they will find something here of use.
 We all have things to learn that make us more self reliant and resourceful. I hope that you will join in with your ideas and thoughts and make this a more useful blog than it would be if it were just my ideas.
As I said I shall start off slowly, my first post will be on preparing for small difficulties.
Back Very soon
Gillx
PS Much has happened sonce my last post, but I have decided I can't be bothered to write about it!
PSS Welcome to Anna Buell and Very Ordinary Annie on the Follower bar and Julie Royston-Ford, Tannia and Julie on Bloglovin

Making our own luck, being prepared and Radio Derby

People often tell me that I am lucky to live where I do. I don't feel that luck has anything to do with it! We are here through hard work, being very very careful and going without while we worked and saved our way from a rented terraced house when we were married 50 years ago to our own house in two beautiful, Derbyshire acres where we hope to end our days. David and I have never inherited any money or property, nor had any lucky win. Though I WAS lucky to have fabulous parents who taught me how to sew, cook, garden, make do and mend, value education and be caring of others.
 I lived all my life up to my marriage in the same council house that my parents were happy to get when they married in 1939. Over the years it started to dawn on me that my dad was disabled. I honestly didn't realise it for years! I thought that everyone gardened on their knees (which is how I do most gardening myself today) He used his walking stick (or shooting stick) in such a debonair way that he made it look like a fashion accessory, which went well with the cravats he often wore - he was quite a snazzy dresser! Dad always worked, even though he could quite easily have been considered too disabled to work. and was preparing for retirement when he died, aged 64 and a half. He had bought a greenhouse, a new record player and new artist materials (he was a passable water colourist) which he never got to use. Mum on the other hand lived until she was 88 and while still pretty fit, was beginning to show signs of dementia. She died getting ready to go to the pub with us (she was considered to be our skittles mascot!) which is a pretty good way to go, only to be bettered, I suppose, by dying on the way back from the pub !
I realise that I have rather digressed from what was suppose to be a preamble to how we can be prepared for difficult times, be they famine, flood, power cuts or whatever. There are many ways that people can prepare, without living on a smallholding like us, indeed most people live in towns and cities with little or no garden and limited storage space.
 I promise that my next  post will be about preparedness, but must digress again as I have just received a telephone call that prompts me to ask my fellow bloggers and followers for their views. Radio Derby have called me again, this time to ask that I go into the studio to talk about older(!) woman who blog. They tell me that there has been an article in the Sunday Times about the upsurge in older women who are blogging and being very successful in so doing and are interested in talking to a local older blogger about why she blogs etc. I have agreed with the proviso that they don't try to make me out to be some batty old woman ( I can do that for myself thank you) I told her that I was neither popular, nor successful, whatever that may mean, but that I did fit the bill as an older blogger and  have agreed to go along next monday at midday for what will be my fifth stunt for our local radio station.
I have since read the article and it is about older women Vloggers who are Vlogging about beauty tips for the older woman!! I never wear make up and jeans and teashirts are my clothes of choice, so I now identify even less with the women in the article, but I DO feel that there are many older women who are taking up blogging and who have many followers. So dear bloggy friends, what do you think is the reason for this increase? Is there something you would like me to tell the listeners?
On countdown for our BIG party this weekend and praying that the rain will let up a little for us.
All for now, looking forward to your views on older bloggers.
Gillx
P.S I have proof read this but may still have missed words distorted by a sticky"m" on the keypad!
P.P.S  re. being an older woman I was 70 last week, so probably qualify.