Prepping for Pandemic... 14

[FuckThisWind]

OK folks, we have been prepping for a Pandemic for 13 threads now. And a Pandemic we now have.

I think we all know this has gone beyond prepping now. And most of us agree that the UK Government has not really stepped up to the mark. We have had shared advice here from our Italian residents and those in other countries who have taken much more stringent measures.

So this thread continues to be about us being prepared. But it is more than that. It is about support, sharing of information and advice. It is now a community. A community who acknowledged a long time ago that this was always 'Not Just The Flu'

I thank you one and all for being here. We have tough times ahead. But we are all still here. Please share, rant, whatever. The great thing about these threads is that they have always been supportive and non judgemental. I like to think it's a safe space for all of us who are concerned. And trying to do our best. For ourselves. For our loved ones. And for our community and beyond.

Our lovely local artisan soap maker is giving soap away to anyone who needs any.

Sometimes a crisis reveals the best in people.

@YellowPinkie yes the potatoes will grow, most pleasingly so! If they have more than one bit that has sprouted you can cut the potato into more than one piece to create more than one plant too!

I currently have a couple of potato plants accidentally growing in my compost heap

I’m not a gardener but I have planted sprouting potatoes twice and each time the yield was LOADS!

I did mean to say thank you to all NHS staff on here, I can’t imagine how you against it you must feel. I’m going to see about offering childcare help to any NHS staff in my village.

I think this weekend I’ll have a look at what we can plant - I’ve done my budget and assuming petrol and food costs stay the same for ‘normal’ weekly expenditure, I’ve got £9.70 left by the end of March, so not much wiggle room for gardening stuff, but I’d love to see if I can grow some of the veg we use often, like red onions, carrots and potatoes.

I'm now focusing on stories about recovery, like this one https://www.click2houston.com/health/2020/03/11/i-had-covid-19-and-heres-my-story-woman-shares-details-of-coronavirus-experience/.

It's easy to dread the worst, and I am so worried about my parents and husband- but logically most people won't have such severe symptoms, and sometimes you can "think" yourself into feeling even worse.

If anyone else sees any recovery stories, could they share them here too?

I’ve just had a phone call from my mil to say her neighbour has been taken in an ambulance by paramedics in hazmat suits. She’s had my 3 year old in that house recently and I’m really terrified now. I was in the office with my boss’ 92 year old mother yesterday.

If you are not a gardener I'd maybe give carrots a miss. They are tricky and not worth the ground space IMO. You need sandy clear soil and they fool you into thinking there is something beneath the soil when actually there's very little and its all top growth.

Easy recommendations from me are:

• broccoli raab since it goes from seed to ready in 5-6 weeks and so the butterflies don't get a chance to get to it.
• potatoes (keep them away from tomatoes due to blight)
• strawberries
• perpetual spinach
• spring onions
• courgettes
• runner beans
• lettuce
• rhubarb has to go on the list since it lasts year after year but its a long term one and you shouldn't take from it for the first couple of years. Once its established though its amazing. Every garden should have some.
• fruit bushes eg raspberries can produce a lot but we struggle to get to the fruit before the birds do.

For those worried about seeing family, look to set up skype. It is free and you can even just leave it running so it is like a window into your house for the elderly to look at. Just like sitting on the sofa and seeing people walk about.

DP and his parents have consistently mocked my prepping but now they’re waiting on a phone call to tell them whether or not they need to self isolate, no fucker is laughing now.

I've just been to Tesco with the kids. Why is it no matter how many times you tell them not to touch everything they have to 🤣

They may as well have gone around licking everyone's faces 😂🤦‍♀️

I have to say, living in a small town definitely has its perks. Our Tesco has pretty much everything I wanted. Pasta was almost cleared out but I didn't need that and painkillers obviously were a no go but everything else was fine.

I was worried about yeast mostly because my kids live off home made pizza and bread. They had plenty so I bought 3 packets of yeast and a bunch of flour.

I now need to write it all down and see what else I need to get.

I think on Tuesday me and my partner will go on a luxury shop while the kids are at school and stock up on alcohol and sweets 😂

Sorry I haven't caught up with the thread but if anyone is interesting in canning, this book is free to download on amazon at the moment.

In my view we are at the stage where if you are sensible you need to buy now what you might need over the next few weeks and then stop going into shops. Its tempting to twitch and top up but its important to reduce the number of people out and about now.

I'm popping out for nappies and chocolate. I was giving it up for lent but it's a small comfort in times of stress. I have 19 spare loo rolls. Once we've been out we are staying in and awaiting any changes.

I'm so happy I found you guys. A calm place in a storm.

Following on from the lovely post that @MinesaPinotPlease did

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-51886547/coronavirus-italians-sing-from-their-windows-to-boost-morale

The cynical me did think that it strikes me that they’ve been in lock down and are singing despite the bloody awful time yet bojo doesn’t trust us to stay at home and be sensible or keep our kids indoors if the schools close! What a difference.

Don’t worry (too much) about the suits. It’s going to be routine protection for paramedics- because they just don’t know what they are going into when they go to a house.

After worrying how I'm going to keep lo off next week I do now have a persistent cough after a sore throat. I doubt it's CV.... But I won't be lying. Does anyone know if kids can be kept off if a parent is ill or only if child is ill? With Boris bringing in measures to force schools to stay open I can't see him shutting them ...

In?

JennyPrepper1 Thank you so much for your posts and your dedication to humanity , and to all those others in the front line.

On a personal note I have two clinic appointments at Addenbrookes in a couple of days, one mid-afternoon and the next the following morning. I checked their site earlier and it hasn't been updated since 12th, where they say one coronavirus patient has been identified.

"Confirmed coronavirus case at Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Website accessibility help
12 March 2020
A confirmed positive case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been identified on one of our isolation wards at Addenbrooke’s Hospital."

I'm happy to trust the hospital advice to keep appointments, but my worries are more with the fact that in one 24hr period I shall have to travel up to a total of six hours on four buses to get there and back. Not sure why I'm telling you this, but I'm another person who lives alone; I'm in my early 80s and plan to take whatever sensible precautions I can. Maybe I just need to reassure myself and put it out there!!

This thread in particular I'm finding invaluable for the input given by everyone. Thank you all

I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s just pneumonia, which is a terrible thing to say but DP keeps saying shall I nip and get this from the shops etc and I keep having to say NO don’t be so fucking irresponsible

Morning everyone and thank you all so much for thinking of me. I do feel better this morning, the panic has subsided and I don’t feel quite so anxious, I just feel tired and mainly sad really, like I want to stay in bed all day.

@AlohaMolly

I'm wondering if it would help to lower your anxiety about your DM's neighbour to remember that in the containment phase the Govt tested 30,000(?) people many of whom were tested because they had direct contact with a confirmed case and 'only' a few hundred tested positive.

It is quite contagious but much less contagious than some other diseases so by no means a foregone conclusion.

The article just posted talked about a small house party where 40% of the guests came down with it, which means 60% didn't.

I hope it doesn't feel like I'm trying to underplay things...I just want you to be able to breathe and have this in mind

Bloody tv Dr has enraged me Italians just want a fucking siesta How about he volunteer to go to Italy and help rather than poncing about on tv and radio. has he seen the numbers! Oh and he supports Boris well I hope he was paid well for that statement it will be remembered next month.
uk.news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-dr-christian-jessen-says-090134025.html

@itsnotjustflu do you have more info on the school walkout?

@MoonlightMistletoe when dc was a baby we were poor and brought most toys from car boot sales, I filled the bath with hot water and a good squirt of fairy liquid, left them to soak for half an hour, gave them a scrub then rinsed and dried them. All germs are washed off and down the plug hole. If you can pack up soft fabric toys and store them away for now. They aren’t so easy to keep clean and I’m sure teddy bears are a breeding ground for germs.