There is a whole lot of info out there and it takes time to digest it all. Construction companies in South Africa are not very au fait with earth shelters and the main underground building is in the mining industry and basements of big buildings. It will take a while to find someone who can do this but I am sure we will get there.

 Well, if that Solar Katrina decides to make us a visit, we might have to stay out of the sun for a while. We are not sure if or even how long the storm would last and how much radiation it brings with it, but let’s imagine we have got the warning from NASA and we are hunkering down in our bunkers. You have supplied your bunker with what you think you might need, and you are set for at least 6 months. Do you have any good ideas as to what you will do to keep busy? Keep the kids busy? OK, my kids are grown ups and they will take care of themselves, but what about yourself? How are you going to stop yourself from going crazy with serious cabin fever? You are in it 24/7 with your spouse – and perhaps others.

I say you need a sound-proof scream walk-in closet with room to swing a baseball bat so that you can hit the old mattress in there. That’s the first thing. Then you get out your large wall tapestry that you are going to make with petit point, or a 6000 piece jigsaw puzzle, or your French course you have had for 10 years and get busy. (Thanks Annie for those great ideas:)Try and imagine how you would cope with 6 months underground. Walk through your day in your mind and make notes of everything that you could get busy with. An indoor veggie garden, learning to do ballroom with your partner, getting to grips with chess (make sure you have instruction books of things you want to do and learn).

Any other ideas out there? Share them with pleasure.

What will You do for Fun in the Bunker
That is today’s subject. Let’s imagine we are under siege and safely underground with all our provisions, even our games, cards, pictionary and of course scrabble and a really big old dictionary. But now we are three months down the line and not just a little bored, and the radiation metre says not yet, so no horse riding today. Now what?
Take up a hobby that takes up little space. Jewelry, painting, sculpture (you brought along the plaster of paris, shoe box and tape, didn’t you? Oh – and of course – water…hmmmm. Maybe the sculpture will have to wait. But wait! Make up some papier mache pulp in advance and keep it in sealed plastic ice-cream cartons. I could even make up some plaster of paris blocks before hand. Which is when I wonder? Before hand?…beforehand? How long is before?
Will it won’t it, will we won’t we? Whichever way the poles shift, or the sun brightly burns, preparedness is key to survival in any emergency. Girl scout me be.
Lists are all well and good, but doing is the thing. I am going to take a leaf out of Flylady’s book (if you haven’t discovered the joy of flylady.net please go and visit this site). She is the doyenne of de-clutter and organisation. 15 minutes a day to de-clutter, set the timer. And now a new 15 minutes – to collect survival equipment and foods and store it all very well.
And don’t forget the jewelry making kit, or your favourite games.
Any ideas for fun underground are most welcome. I will add them to the final lists.

2012 and Water…
Water. I keep thinking of water. Imagine you suddenly hear on the news from NASA you have 12 hours to get to your safe place. Stormy solar flare is on its way. Is there enough water in the shelter? Food, emergency equipment, crank handle radio, gas, matches and quite a bit more? How will we conserve the water and still have enough to keep us hydrated. Strange thought, water.
I suppose the reason I am starting this blog with water is because we need it even more than food – and the water tanks need to go under the house in the ground – before we start building the rest of this magic home in the hill.
Waterless soap. That anti-bacterial stuff. Not always a good idea to do the anti-bacterial thing though – we like good bacteria – but it could save a little on water. Imagine trying not to wash your hands too often? A damp cloth will have to do…a jammer lappie. A sorry cloth. Sorry there isn’t any running water.
This is quite spooky really. Will we ever be ready? Is your shelter close to your home? Mine is in the mountains – or it will be! First there are the plans to be finished. There are many different ways to design an underground home, and ours is going to be built into the side of a hill on our farmette (read “small farm”). It is two hours drive from our home in the bushveld, and who knows where we will be on that fiery day!
One thing I do plan is that we will have finished our hobbit house in the hill. I also know that while planning, life happens! This is not to be some temporary disaster shelter, but a dwelling we shall enjoy for the rest of our lives, however long or short that may be. To that end, I am looking everywhere for good ideas. I am also extremely glad I am married to a civil engineer who knows his concrete.
Concrete. Now that’s not a very environmentally friendly product, but I am told it’s the best idea in a solar storm – with 3 feet of earth above it – and big strong doors – blast valve? Is that the name? Well, something truly strong enough to protect us, designed for disaster.
As long as the internet is working, I shall be gleaning as much info as I need. Then to find the right products and equipment. Now there’s a long list of hitherto unknowns!
What if there is no electricity for a long time? Well, we will have to get ingenious won’t we? I have been longing to live a permaculture driven life redolent with the fragrance of lavender and rosemary, growing my organic vegetables and milking the sheep (sheep’s milk is more easily digested than both cow and goat, really), collecting my free range eggs and singing in the hills while my solar panels collect energy for me and the wind turbine whirls away in the sometimes high winds of the mountains in Limpopo. I might have to wait a while for some of it, I might not. Perhaps the sullen sun decides to chill a bit instead of spitting radioactive fireballs at us. Anything is possible. However, whatever will come, I aim to be a good girl scout and guide my family and friends to preparedness.
When the horse gets to the water, will it drink?
We are back to the water again. There are very serviceable water tanks out there and I aim to get me some. Water in a tank buried under the dwelling, with a hand pump and some water purification drops. I can just see that ol’ style pump in my kitchen…well, where else? I am certainly not going outside to fetch water if there is a Solar Katrina whipping up a frenzy out there!
Grey water. Another tank under the ground with pipes that lead from wash up to a drip irrigation in an indoor greenhouse with grow lights. I can’t think of any other way to have fresh vegetables while under siege from the sun…and polar shifts, magnetic flips and maybe even flying trees and roofs… and an earth mother gone mad.
The survival lists are growing. I will share them in this blog as I go along. The true challenge is staying in the now while plotting and planning for a possible earth shattering event. My need in the now is to de-clutter big time in order to live a simplistic life with only that which serves us well, whether the cataclysm comes or not.
Any thoughts and ideas on water storage are most welcome…and I shall share any interesting links as we go along.
http://www.rainharvest.co.za/2010/05/26/how-to-choose-a-water-tank/

http://www.magniwork.com/?hop=onurb Magnetic generator, build it yourself…no, no! Get an electrician to do it!http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com/ Get fit generator! Get an electrician to build this too.

Water Food and Fun