Roots and Resilience

23/09/2026

STOP BUYING EXPENSIVE PRESERVING PANS — DO THIS INSTEAD

Use a wok.

Seriously, if you make jams or chutneys, you don’t necessarily need to spend money on a specialist preserving pan.

A wok gives you a massive surface area, which means more moisture can evaporate at once. That helps jams and chutneys reduce quicker and gives you that proper thick consistency without cooking them for half the day.

Today I used mine to make a homemade tomato and sweet pepper chutney using homegrown tomatoes.

🍅 TOMATO & SWEET PEPPER CHUTNEY

• 1.25kg cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 sweet peppers, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 250ml 5% acidity malt vinegar or cider vinegar
• 200g brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1½–2 tsp ginger paste
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp chilli flakes — optional

Put everything into the wok, bring it to a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring regularly.

Keep reducing it until it’s properly thick. If you drag a spoon across the bottom and the chutney doesn’t immediately flood back into the gap, you’re about there.

Then spoon it hot into clean, hot jars.

Sometimes resilience isn’t about buying more kit.

Sometimes it’s about making better use of what you’ve already got.

Grow it. Cook it. Preserve it. Put it on the shelf.

19/09/2026

Prepare for the Worst. Live Your Best Life. ❤️
Resilience isn’t just about preparing for hard times. It’s about making sure you actually enjoy the good ones too.

Today it’s Moulin Rouge in Plymouth with Sarah and my daughter. Family, memories, a proper day out — that’s part of resilience as far as I’m concerned.

PreparedNotScared LifeIsForLiving Plymouth MoulinRouge FamilyFirst

19/09/2026

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!

Keiren Egan, David Fitzharris, Leslie Browell, Paul Hartnett, Barbara Green, Richard Mcwhanel, Andrew Boyington, Richard Smalley, Wayne Milward, Jane Phillips, Paul Douglas, Smyth Paul, John Jennison, Chris Flynn, Richard Hipp, Ronnie Dewar, Roseleen Barton, Dylan Davies, Junior McCleary, Anne Gilliatt Welbourne, Jane Nicholl, Hugh Mc Laughlin, John Quinn, Claire Williams, Richard Muscutt, Skip Reddan, Liam Greally, Gary Fiore, Adam Slus, John Kelleher, Antonio Mackenley, Dee Shokar, Peter Russell, Alan Kaye, Loris Waine, Robert Svedberg, Tony Phillips, Tim Elliott, Susan Farrell, Colin Mc Cooey, Carol Baldock, Jazmine Taia Hollingshead, Michael Sexton Byrnes, Dave Adamson, Trudy Dobson, Orhan Simpson, Michael Wren, Noel McEvoy, Paul Farry, David Goss

18/09/2026

⚡ Energy prices are heading up again — so what are you going to do about it?

I’m not prepared to just sit there and keep paying more without at least looking at ways to reduce how much electricity I’m forced to buy from the grid.

This is one of the ways I’m doing it.

A relatively simple solar setup with an EcoFlow microinverter, producing usable electricity during the day and helping reduce what I need to buy.

In this week’s full YouTube video I go much further into what I’m doing with solar panels, battery storage, wind power and my wider home energy resilience setup.

The aim isn’t to pretend everyone can go completely off-grid overnight.

It’s simply to become a little less dependent on the system each year.

⚡ Full video:
https://youtu.be/mw6ZtSqnzow

EcoFlow STREAM Microinverter:
https://tidd.ly/3TvCdNc

EcoFlow STREAM Balcony Solar System:
https://tidd.ly/4cNX1WP

Affiliate links — I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

What are you doing to cut your energy costs or reduce your dependence on the grid?

BalconySolar Microinverter SolarPanels HomeEnergy EnergyBills Preparedness Resilience SelfReliance EnergyIndependence RootsAndResilience

18/09/2026

⚡ ENERGY PRICES ARE RISING — SO WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?

Are you going to sit back and absorb the increases, or start finding ways to use less energy from the grid?

In this week’s long video I show you what I’m doing — from a simple plug-in solar setup to battery storage, solar panels and wind power.

My aim is simple:

Spend less. Depend less. Become more resilient.

👇 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/mw6ZtSqnzow

What are you doing to cut your dependence on the grid?

Energy prices are rising again — so I’m reducing how much electrici...

17/09/2026

This is one of the ways I’m trying to reduce how dependent we are on the grid and soften the impact of the higher energy prices we’re likely to be dealing with this winter and into January.

I’ve got the EcoFlow STREAM microinverter running with two old solar panels I already owned. They’re smaller than the panels you can buy with the EcoFlow setup, they’ve been sitting around unused for about eight years, and I haven’t done anything clever with them — they’re literally laid flat on top of the chicken coop.

Even like that, they were producing 382W when I took this screenshot. That’s 382W of electricity I’m not having to buy from the grid at that moment.

What I really like about this setup is how straightforward it is. You don’t need an electrician to get it up and running, so there isn’t a load of extra installation cost. You might need a few brackets depending on where you’re putting the panels, but other than that it really is a case of set it up, plug it in and start producing electricity.

The app is simple as well. You connect it, it shows you what each panel is producing, and you can see exactly what’s being fed back into the house.

For me, that’s the point of all this. I’m not trying to become completely energy independent overnight. I’m just gradually reducing what we need to buy in, using what I’ve already got where possible, and building a bit more resilience into the house.

Plug it in, start producing electric. Winner.

🔗 EcoFlow link: https://tidd.ly/3TvCdNc

https://tidd.ly/4cNX1WP

For transparency, EcoFlow have now accepted me as an affiliate, so if you buy through my link I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I bought and installed this before becoming an affiliate — I’m sharing it because I’m genuinely pleased with how it’s performing.

16/09/2026

⚠️ ENERGY WARNING FOR CHRISTMAS

Energy prices are expected to be around 15% higher or more by Christmas, with another rise currently forecast for January.

If you can cut usage, improve efficiency or build a bit of resilience now, do it before winter really bites.

And don’t forget — check in on those elderly neighbours. A hot meal, a cuppa and a bit of company can make a massive difference.

Dan

16/09/2026

I think we could see a tragedy this Christmas.

Martin Lewis is warning that energy rates around Christmas will be nearly 17% higher than they were in April, and there could be another increase in January.

Then add the possibility of extreme winter weather.

My concern isn’t simply that energy is getting expensive. It’s what happens when elderly people, vulnerable households and families already struggling decide they simply cannot afford to put the heating on.

Cold homes can become dangerous very quickly.

This is exactly why I keep talking about resilience.

Not panic.
Not doom.
Just having alternatives.

Warm clothing. Backup heating where it can be used safely. Emergency power. Food in the cupboard. Checking on elderly neighbours. Helping family.

Sometimes resilience is simply making sure the people around you don’t have to face a difficult winter alone.

Prepare early. Look after your people. Look after your neighbours.

EnergyPrices UKPreparedness RootsAndResilience

14/09/2026

5,000 followers on Facebook. ❤️

Thank you to every single person who’s followed, commented, shared or joined in.

Resilience is community, and community is resilience.

We’re stronger when we share what we know and look out for each other. Onwards. 💪🌱

13/09/2026

🇺🇦 Russian drone strike near train carrying Boris Johnson

A Russian drone struck a train at Yahodyn station near the Ukraine–Poland border today, 13th Sept
shortly after a diplomatic train carrying former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Swedish PM Carl Bildt and other officials had passed through.

Ukraine’s state rail operator says the diplomatic train had deliberately left early for security reasons and believes it is highly probable that it was the intended target. That has not been independently proven, but the timing is certainly concerning.

Another train carrying former CIA Director David Petraeus was still at the station when the drone struck. Thankfully, no casualties were reported in the train attack.

This came on the same day Russia also struck a truck near the Polish border crossing, briefly shutting the crossing.

Whatever your politics, this is another reminder of just how close the war is operating to NATO territory and how quickly these situations can escalate.

Preparedness isn’t about panic. It’s about paying attention to what’s actually happening in the world.