I have this very good friend called Vanessa. One of my closest. Here is a picture of her.

From memory what is just out of shot is a whip of some sort.

Anyway, some time last year Ness cooked up this mad idea that at a random point of time, she would text me the words "GAME ON" and from that point onwards I would have to imagine we were in post apocalyptic societal shutdown with no access to shops of any kind, and see how long we could last.

I thought this sounded fun and insanely agreed.

About two months later I got the text, but it was a seriously bad week, Adam was away, I can't remember, but I said I couldn't do it and she agreed I could have one right of refusal. But that next one was IT.

The call came on Sunday. 

Interestingly Adam seems to think this'll be fun, he's a bit intrigued by the whole survival aspect.

I'm a bit less intrigued, and a little preoccupied, but ah what the heck. Let's do it.

There was some speculation we might last a couple of months. This was unfounded and wildly optimistic: we have exactly five rolls of toilet paper left. Also only a week's worth, if that, of fruit. How long will we be prepared to go without fruit? We'll see. Kid's lunchboxes? By next week we might have to be a bit imaginative.

It's also Easter in under a fortnight and I don't have eggs for the kids – hmmm.

However, my curiosity has totally kicked in.

I've never been a stockpiler, and wish I was. Why do I not buy toilet paper in bulk? Why do I not have loaves of bread made and sliced and in the freezer? 

I only have about a litre of milk left – can I find a way of getting milk??

The rules are that you can swap stuff, trade and barter. I had two litres of cream about to expire in the fridge and tonight made a big batch of butter, sour cream and icecream. There's a couple of litres of yoghurt doing it's thing on the bench and I have lots of flour.

 

 

How long can we go without buying anything? 

For all my talk about how much I hate supermarkets, I find myself popping in more than once a week, that's for sure. 

We've got a freezer full of home grown pork and a couple of chickens left. We have eggs, although they're mostly pre-sold to our local food co-op! 

I have some lettuces growing but they're a way off. Time to investigate foraging! Maybe trade with friends with gardens. 

Come on, this'll be fun. Because I have no idea what we can really do without. 

 

xxx