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Preppers

Homesteading Home 🏡

167 replies

Neome · 11/03/2020 20:04

Welcome to Homesteading Home for anyone with little or no direct contact with people outside their household.

This might be due to self isolation, precautionary low contact due to preexisting health conditions or living miles from anywhere and enjoying being a bit of a hermit.

What are we all doing to keep our lives and our children’s lives in balance today?

A day of screen time and popcorn may be called for or a day of baking, knitting and family yoga. Whatever you’re up to please feel free to share your triumphs and tribulations.

Best wishes to all who enter 🏡

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BanKittenHeels · 11/03/2020 20:18

waves

I’m now only leaving the house for work (medical), I will go straight there and come home with no stopping. I will shower in the old utility room (due to be knocked down so washing machine etc. in the garage) and store my work stuff there. I obviously wash my uniform every day anyway.
There is every likelihood that I might end up having to stay at a work facility for an extended period of time over the next 12-16 weeks. I have a bag of essentials stored at work and one now on my car.

I think I am most likely to pick it up at work (I’ve probably already been exposed a few times) and that’s why I won’t go out, I don’t want to spread it further than I need to.

Our children are off school now and we have no plans to return them this academic year. We are working out a muddle between me, DH, our nanny and her DP to give them an education.

I’ve got my dehydrator out of the cellar and will be dehydrating some pineapple over night.
Lots of the food plants in our orangery (more of a lean-to, let’s be honest 😅) are doing well although some of our beans are a bit leggy, so I think I’ll try to plant them outside later this week.

I’ve bought a fair bit of pickling vinegar for projects later in the year.

Alwayscheerful · 11/03/2020 20:30

Checking in.
I have enough food for for 3-6 months.
Toiletries, Toilet rolls, Laundry and cleaning supplies to last 6 months.
90 dishwasher tablets.
A couple of large containers of water.
60 small bottles water.
Vicks First deafened. Vitamin C tablets and I have requested a vitamin d prescription from the Doctors.
A few packets of cress seeds and a packet of spinach seeds not a clue how to grow them.
Candles and matches. Gas for the BBQ. 5 sacks of coal.
I should cancel my next hair appointment and order some hair dye.

I need a thermometer.

Building up the courage to ask DH to order a small generator in case the electric goes off and I need to save the food in my new chest freezer, I am sure he thinks I am mad already.

What have I forgotten please?

FuckThisWind · 11/03/2020 20:41

Hi @Neome thanks for this thread. We sure as hell are gonna need it. Those of us (like you) have been prepping for a Pandemic and are now possibly going to need support more than ever.

Highlandyak · 11/03/2020 20:46

living miles from anywhere and enjoying being a bit of a hermit.
Grin why you spying on me!

Neome · 11/03/2020 20:47

Very encouraging to hear about your leggy beans BadKittenHeels I have some leggy beans in starter pots outside that have been ‘hardening off’ ie ignored for weeks. I am definitely planning to plant them soon...

DS and I have only been doing this for about a week but we have quite a home based life usually and flexischool due to additional needs. I do a variety of self employed things some of which can be done from home.

I’m very impressed with your list AlwaysCheerful I’m a beginner by comparison!

Much of my lifelong prepping (which I never called prepping but maybe rudimentary self sufficiency/self reliance skills) has been in learning practical skills at a basic level. I like knowing how things work or are made and how to mend them, socks, toys, plumbing, people sort of things.

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itsnotjustflu · 11/03/2020 21:11

Hi everyone. I think we are going into lockdown on Monday. Pretty much decided unless Boris changes his mind -not likely- so just checking in to say hi in advance and will check back in once we are in lockdown.
We are prepped to the hilt - FINAL Morrisons delivery coming Saturday but I may change it to Friday. Just one last stock of fresh goods. We have enough for a good few months but are due to move house in 2-3 months - yikes!! I have bought in lots of exercise books for the LO. We will try to get exercise everyday in one way or another and I'm going to try to think up a fun project for him everyday where he has to research a topic and then we can do a fun exercise around it - or bake.

GalOopNorth · 11/03/2020 21:26

Hi all and lovely to have a new thread to snuggle into.
We withdrew our DC from school on Monday this week because I am immune compromised and concerned with the way this is going. We live very rurally, with a big garden, so we’re working on being self sufficient in fruit and veg by the summer. We’ve wanted to do this for ages but possible necessity has made us finally get round to it.

We’ve got salad ready to eat in the greenhouse, and a second batch coming up. Seedlings of kale growing on the windowsill, alongside sweet corn, broad beans, tomatoes, french beans, broccoli, sprouts and chillis.
We also have raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries and black currants ready to go into the new raised beds we made this week.

The first couple of days of school at home we tried to follow quite a ‘schooly’ regime, but by yesterday night DC1 was missing school and said it would be easier if we did slightly different things.

So today, after their English and maths, they chose their own Project to do - DC1 went on a nature walk with DH and DC2 learnt to code and coded a bunch of mods in a mine craft world (which he’s never done before)

Then we all took the dog for a long walk round the fields on our farm (nobody to bump into).

We’re prepped for 6 - 8 weeks of complete lockdown if needed. We have chickens so get 6 eggs a day too.
I work from home and DH does too so we are really lucky. DH is still shopping weekly for fresh stuff, washing hands, going at quiet time’s etc, but I expect this is the week we will stop that.

I have absolutely no faith in the government to look out for us. We very much feel we have to take our own welfare into our own hands, as to Boris I am disposable.

Sprayitall · 11/03/2020 21:28

Hi all here :) will be back here once it’s lockdown

MoreCoffeeNeeded · 11/03/2020 21:31
Brew
KundaliniRising · 11/03/2020 21:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Neome · 11/03/2020 21:52

Somehow feels like getting onto a ship to a new world. Your situation sounds lovely GalOopNorth.

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Neome · 11/03/2020 21:53

You know what I mean, not being immune compromised, obviously 🌞

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Readyme · 11/03/2020 22:10

This is pretty much Us now. I have some experience with social isolation due to doing months of strict bedrest.
My advice would be to break up your day into chunks morning / afternoon / evenings etc and plan a different focus for each part of the day it breaks up monotony and it helps to keep the mind focused.

For us morning are about being outside in our garden, it's large and isolated and takes a lot of work. if weather is very bad We will do online work out regime
Afternoons are for school, afternoon activity (craft project, sensory play etc) followed by 'quite hour ' when DC plays independently and I read a book.
Evening Family time.

GalOopNorth · 11/03/2020 22:19

That’s helpful readyme about chunking the day. We are currently operating an ‘of its not raining, we go outside’ policy. But there is a lot of mud!

CookiesAreForEatingNotStoring · 11/03/2020 22:44

May I join you please?

Other than trips to the oncology dept of the large County Hospital, we’re going to stay home now.

Partner has decided to stop work. His optimistic attitude of trying to do radiotherapy in the morning and go to work in the afternoons has hit reality. Thankfully.

We already home ed, so no major change there. We have dropped out our groups and activities. Hopefully not for long. But it’s an unnecessary risk not worth taking.

Neome · 11/03/2020 23:19

Lovely to have you CookiesAreForEatingNotStoring was just talking to my Dad about his Immunotherapy tomorrow (for stage 4 cancer) sadly we agreed I couldn’t travel to be with him for scan results next week.

Dad asked me to send some photos of a recent family event and it’s reminded me I’ve been meaning to do a photo book for ages. Now’s the time.

I love your daily plan Readyme

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BanKittenHeels · 11/03/2020 23:37

I can recommend Yoga with Adriene if anyone is wanting to stay moving whilst at home. Great stress reliever too and she has lots of free series. In no way affiliated, just think she is terrific!
m.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene

CookiesAreForEatingNotStoring · 12/03/2020 00:48

Yoga is a great idea. I might even get some good crochet work done too. Any small positives are welcome.

bellinisurge · 12/03/2020 05:40

Thanks for this thread. Got called "fucking mental" on MN a couple of weeks ago (was it less) for daring to use this term about how sensible people were to take the homesteading approach. Which applies whatever your home is actually like - flat, terraced house, whatever .
Hunkering down, making your reduced world as comfortable as possible and tackling boredom - great ideas.
Actually woke up thinking Yoga with Adrienne would be a great idea. I have a "7 minute exercise " app which dd and I have had a go at before albeit as the "giggling badly behaved kids in the class" type approach . I've done yoga in the past . It was fantastic.

Catmaiden · 12/03/2020 10:31

Hi all, great idea for a thread!

I think we are pretty well prepared, I have to go out soon for fuel so will pick up last bits of fresh stuff while out.

We have food growing now and in store from last season and I've stocked up on dry goods so hopefully will be able to feed family and, if needed, workers.
Got plenty of food for stock, hens laying well now so we have eggs.

I've gone through my craft stash and dug out some unfinished works, and have a stack of books to read. DH has books and various diy activities plus a barn full of farm equipment to maintain.

Just worried about DS, in Uni a long way away from home Sad

RedLentilYellowLentil · 12/03/2020 11:09

I would like to be homesteading but the kids are still in school at the moment. I'm thinking of perhaps pulling them out from this weekend (if the government doesn't pre-empt me) and only hesitating because one of them is in sixth form and does need his classes. Once the government pulls the plug, the school will provide online learning but not in the meantime.

We're very self-sufficient in terms of activities. We all read avidly and have a mountain of unread books to get through. Also loads of board games and various personal projects that there's not normally time for. We were planning to put the house on the market before coronavirus all blew up, so there's DIY to get on with. I had thought I wouldn't plant veg this year if we were moving, but I will now, so I need to see what seeds to order.

Like a pp, I have a uni-age child who I wish was with us, but hopefully the unis will close early for Easter and we can all be together.

One other regret is that I've just taken up swimming again after many years and won't be able to continue if there's a big lockdown. Sad

IndecentFeminist · 12/03/2020 15:10

Hi y'all. Still life as 'normal' here, kids are at school (I work there too) and DH has his own business so is out when needs be but limited as far as possible. We are on an island with only 1 case so far, so not as affected as many. We are anticipating that school may well be closing in the next week or so, so are preparing for that. We home edded up until last year so are mentally well prepared for that, have plenty of stuff around etc. Am going to do a library trip tomorrow to stock up on reading books for them. We have a large garden that has a few unfinished projects ongoing so may sort them if we are off, and continue our usual planting. Have some seeds in the greenhouse starting off so need to keep moving...have a few more to get in as well as needing some compost.

Apart from essential trips like school we are home now, and anticipate being more so as time goes on.

Neome · 12/03/2020 15:54

Homesteading means really different things to different people. At the risk of twee analogies it’s all part of the patchwork. Someone might be living a very urban life but knitting their own hat or socks. Someone else might be self sufficient in vegetables, eggs and goat’s milk.

If my romantic childhood picture of the Little House books helps me pull through mentally, even though I know life was pretty tough and not quite as described by Laura Ingalls Wilder, that’s ok by me. In the mean time I’m spending more time doing some of the things I’ve been telling myself I always wanted to do.

Does anyone have an unfinished craft project they’re thinking of fishing out? I’ve got a half knitted beret with a very fiddly pattern and fine yarn that’s never the thing I get out to do in an odd 5 minutes in a hospital waiting room. I’ve done quite a few simple chunky kids hats, scarves and jumpers since I started my hat.

Perhaps I should repurpose it to a full face balaclava 😉

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Catmaiden · 12/03/2020 17:53

I always have various half finished craft objects on the go, ditto at least three part read books!
I've resurrected a part finished quilt, which I'm determined to finish. Also putting together a crochet throw from all the granny squares I've made. I started crocheting all the squares together on monday, having spent a calming couple of hours arranging all the squares in a "pleasing pattern" Smile

Neome · 12/03/2020 18:08

Thay sounds really lovely Catmaiden

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