..to say Homestead Prepping Lite is not Doomsday Survival Prepping. So here's some non-panicky ideas

[bellinisurge]

I'm a general prepper so I know about this stuff. It's my "hobby", if you like. Best case scenario is it all goes away and is nothing. We all want that but it might not be like that. Next best case scenario is two weeks boring self isolation. Yes, you can ask your pals to bring you food but this pal has their own stuff to deal with. I'll help you up to a point as long as I'm not required to self isolate too. Next best case scenario is a general lockdown in your area when nobody can bring anyone anything. No one in your house is poorly but there's only so much TV you can binge watch before you get hungry or need a wee or do other hygiene stuff. This is where homestead prepping lite comes in.
You don't need to worry about utilities going off etc but you do need to eat. You probably have stuff in your freezer and cupboards but enough for two weeks. Frozen sweetcorn and spaghetti for breakfast, anyone?
And bog roll? Yes, there are general prepper approaches but who's got time for that shit if you aren't a prepper? You need to get extra but where to store it? Get a hold-all. Take the bog roll out of its packaging, squash each roll down and pack it in there. Yes, you might lose some on the outside of the roll, they'll look a bit bumpy but it's better than a bog roll wall in your bedroom. Or rejig your drawers to make space.
I'm not a medic, I am over 50 with an underlying health problem so my situation is different to you regarding getting poorly. Follow general advice about good hand hygiene and eating well to boost your immune system.
I hope the worst that happens is you get bored. Don't beat yourself up about being concerned. And stop willy waving about how it's all nothing to you and everyone else is being silly. Take back control of this situation and don't give in to hype either way. There's loads of great advice on here.

I too am immune suppressed. I'm also disabled so can't always get out. I always have back up supplies. It's not being batshit, it's being sensible.

Take some responsibility for your own situation and stop expecting other people to do it for you

This is so, so true. A couples of years ago I was involved in the periphery of an unfolding disaster in the UK. I was utterly gobsmacked at the sheer number of people claiming they had had no help and no warning (giving tv interviews, aparently even bursting into the control centre thingy etc)

Yet updates on the developing situation, and what you should do was All over social media, the local radio station was given over to it, the fire brigade went round banging on doors warning people.

The big concern for authorities was to find and round up all the severely ill, elderly, bedbound and disabled people and ensure they were taken to safety. Yet there were loads of able bodied, wealthy, intelligent educated people moaning that they hadn’t explicitly been told, in person, what to do.

Some people just won’t attempt to help themselves. Then get all humphy if anyone suggests they should.

Food supply chain in the UK is very much Just In Time. Any slight disruption to the supply chain and it will fall apart. Not to mention that if you want to order online, you need working internet and that relies on certainty of the electricity supply. Which you really cannot take for granted. And you are relying on the banks/ internet banking working if you are going to pay for stuff.

It's such a shame that people who can generally take care of themselves over this waste time whinging about people who try to take care of themselves. And then whinge when no one rushes to help them with something they could have tried to do themselves.
Speaking here as an immunocompromised person who may well need help at some point.

I really enjoyed this thread last night.

I arranged an ASDA delivery for this afternoon with:

24 toilet rolls (already had a big back in use at home)
Extra fairy washing powder
Two extra toothpastes
Cupboard bits like tinned tomatoes, soup, pasta ect and frozen onions and veg mixes.
Paracetamols, vicks and Jakemans sweets are also coming.

I'm not panicking that I'll get it. I'm just being organised in case of having to isolate for two weeks or if we do get it we've got supplies in to see us through.

Our local Tescos are selling plastic-wrapped multipacks at half-price and less.

Question. I’ve asked this elsewhere. Should I avoid buying fresh fruit, particularly berries, which are individually handled by pickers? Should I buy multivitamins and dried or tinned /frozen fruit instead?

Thanks.

Tinned fruit is better than multivitamins. But I have both.
It's a taste thing really. What can you (and your family) put up with if you can't get fresh (although keeping your usual amount of fresh and washing it well as normal is a good idea).

Just a note for anyone with an over active immune system (crohns, psoriasis, colitis etc) multivits are not a good idea, they strengthen your immune system which is likely to put it into overdrive. The idea of immunosuppressants is to stop it attacking our bodies!

Good point @Gilead . Thank you.

Just returned from my Tesco and stocked up in order to add to stores I had in case of a no deal Brexit. So glad I have enough now not to panic buy at the last minute which would actively make life more difficult for anyone else.
Ibuprofen was sold out and I got the last bag of plastic gloves. DH has health problems so I’m keen to try to protect him if I can. No panic here and thank you to Bellini whose sage advice has been very practical.
I’m a teacher and wondering about my A level and GCSE students. It is possible that if schools are ordered to close then they will be adversely affected. I have told students to make sure that they keep resources at home from now on.

Question. I’ve asked this elsewhere. Should I avoid buying fresh fruit, particularly berries, which are individually handled by pickers? Should I buy multivitamins and dried or tinned /frozen fruit instead?

Or maybe just wash the fruit...

I don't really understand why people take the piss out of others who are stocking up. We live in a rural-ish area (5 miles to nearest shop) so I always have extra non-perishables/frozen fruit and veg in in case of bad weather, car breaking down, sick cat needing near constant supervision etc. I'm sure loads of people do this in real life for various reasons whether it's to bulk buy stuff on offer or for budget reasons, it just so happens that it could come in useful if you need to self-isolate because of Corona.

Absolutely waspnest.
Have people bought hand gel? I was going to give the boys a small bottle to have in their school bag. Literally sold out everywhere. I'll just be encouraging them to handwashing more.

Are people avoiding crowds? I went to the theatre last night and it didnt cross my mind. I wonder if it should have done?

I think people over 60 are now being advised to avoid crowded areas, public transport etc.

For those without hand gel don't worry too much: washing with soap is actually more effective. Hand gel is a back up if lacking facilities.

@LOLeater , you are welcome. And a question about schools? Do you know whether they have plans for "online" teaching. Kind of like "working from home"?
Or am I hopelessly naive?
Ages ago I bought some KS3 study aid books for my year 8 . I fully expect she'd want to doss in front of the tv for a bit but that would only go on for so long.

You know, I'm sure I remember my mother (born 1933) telling me they used newspaper for loo roll during the war - one of her jobs was to cut the paper into squares....

We had such bad weather here yesterday (though we're out of the main path of Storm Jorge) that today I'm charging batteries just in case, and I will be buying candles and a few more matches.

People looking for bread alternatives - crackers, crispbreads, rice cakes are all good.

And when it comes to emergency food, the absolute most calorie-packed, that does not require cooking, is probably peanut butter of some kind. Chocolate's out, wouldn't work in this house!

And I must confess, we do already have things that will run off the car battery if necessary (e.g. [very slow] kettle, and I've been eyeing up Kelly Kettles for a LONG time now. We're also pretty good at repurposing stuff and whipping up meals from not very much. We've various other skills between us too. And while the cats might not be thrilled to have to give up their nice cat food, they've shown they are effective little mousers/ratters and bird-catchers when they have to be. (Any vegetarians/vegans please look away now. Cats are obligate carnivores.)

Not that I'm paranoid or anything from all the dystopian science fiction I've read/watched over the years....

I was reading stuff on experiments done with bar soap that were linked to yesterday on MN.

It's amazing stuff! And no it doesn't pass stuff on, the microbes rinsed away.

Our school has an on line link set up already for weather disruption. They can post worksheets , not sure about submitting work back as the weather has been ok since they set it up!

Thank you. I have plenty of soap. Xx

I have the most ginormous pack of dried prunes I don't eat them, (but I figured it's a dried fruit in the event of crisis and "keeps you regular" as I also have a lot of white carbs). They were bought for Brexit v1 and are going out of date

I'd happily live on dates and unsulphured dried apricots. Not sure about the vitamin content of either

I should revisit my tinned veg supplies really. I just don't really know how much to get in, given that I don't really enjoy tinned fruit or veg, so it would only be for emergencies. I've got a fair bit of veg in the freezer though.

Like Waspnest I live a distance from the nearest supermarket and am at the bottom of a steep hill. In 2010, it snowed a few days before Christmas on a Sunday. I had planned to do a big shop on the Monday so everything was running out. We tried to get up the hill but a tractor came the other way & DH who was driving ended up on a patch of ice & couldn't get going again. The rest of us got out & without the extra weight, he managed to slide the car onto the bits the tractor had churned up. We gave up & ate something out of the rapidly emptying freezer. We were able to get out the following day - it took 90 minutes to do a 15 minute journey & we stocked up with everything we could. Lesson learned. I check the weather forecast and always plan ahead.

We live in an area where power cuts happen regularly, especially when it's windy. The last few weekends, I have planned meals that can be cooked on my bottled gas hob, rather than my oven. Sod's law means that I could have used my electric oven, but I'm not bothered.

If people want to scoff at me, fine. I did stock up on tins etc pre-Brexit so a lot of those are still fine. I will be picking up more paracetamol tomorrow plus loo rolls, oil and bread flour. I normally bake my own bread anyway. We have some UHT milk but get fresh milk delivered 3 times per week by the milkman. I need to investigate what would happen if they stopped deliveries, but we have a dairy farming neighbour so I would imagine he'd still have to milk the cows. When it snowed, he came round to see if we needed any milk or veg. We could easily email.

Thanks for an interesting thread. I didn't think I was a "prepper", more that necessity and location mean I need to be organised.

The big concern for authorities was to find and round up all the severely ill, elderly, bedbound and disabled people and ensure they were taken to safety. Yet there were loads of able bodied, wealthy, intelligent educated people moaning that they hadn’t explicitly been told, in person, what to do.

Wonder if any of them had been inadvertently competing in dipshit bingo online beforehand?!

My family keep eating my preps.

We"ve been to costco today, we go every few weeks but have done an extra shop today. It was very busy, when we left people were waiting for car park spaces. There was plenty in the shop though.

We got...

Pasta
Rice
Bread flour and plain flour
Tinned tomatoes
Tinned chickpeas
Tinned tuna
Tinned sweetcorn
Tomato puree
Potatoes
Minced beef to freeze
Almond milk
Chocolate biscuits
Beer, wine and champagne (to cheer us up if we're stuck at home and bored!)
Washing powder
Dishwasher tabs
Toothpaste
Soap

We already have...

Spices and herbs
Yeast
Tinned soups
Frozen fruit and vegetables
Cheese, in fridge and freezer
Oats
Nuts, seeds and dried fruit

I feel better knowing that we are now better prepared. I suppose I'm planning in case of having to self isolate or our area being in some kind of lock down. I'm a teacher so come into contact with lots of people and my DH works for a large government organization. It's possible that both our places of work could close.

I know I'm probably panicking unnecessarily but I always feel better with a plan!

I also plan to use Netflix, audible and YouTube exercise videos for entertainment, plus reading, knitting, cooking. And I expect that my house will be cleaner than ever!

Went in Morrisons earlier to get my dinner plus a few bits I’d written down from this thread. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg, and an abundance of bread, but literally everything on my list was gone - pasta, soup, porridge, teabags, uht milk, antibac spray... I forgot to look for the bread flour, although I’ve never made bread in my life and think we would probably end up eating crackers rather than bake bread!
My dc school has an iPad scheme so all the pupils have their own ipad. I imagine they will come in useful should we have to do online lessons or similar. Providing everyone has home wifi.