Prepping for a Pandemic... 15

[FuckThisWind]

A lot of us have been here before. We Prepped for Brexit. Some of us are Heathcare workers. We prepare for the worst every day. It's difficult to predict what will happen in our lives. In our lifetime. Will we get Cancer? Will a huge meteorite wipe the world out?

One thing is for sure, this new virus is either affecting us, or is going to affect us all very soon. You are all already onboard. I hope you are prepared and much as you can be. And in the meantime this thread is here to support us all.

This week will bring many new challenges. We are almost certain to have some sort of lockdown. Like other parts of Europe. We aren't special. We aren't different. We are all
fragile souls. But I hope we live to tell the tale.

God Speed.

@MrsWhites another regular user of reusables. Definitely get some, it will be one less thing to worry about. I love my menstrual cup but I wouldn't recommend getting one in a crisis as it's a skill to get it in and out (and again make things as easy as poss!).

Hope everyone is managing ok this morning. It's so surreal at the moment. Fine one minute, then I remember and have a little panic. Still have my bug and sore throat with the occasional cough, so even tho I'm sure it's not CV (productive cough rather than dry), again every so often I keep having moments of terror that I've passed it on, before i stopped going out. I haven't been out since it started, so again unlikely but you can't help but be a bit paranoid.

DH's grandma's 100th party has been cancelled for next weekend (thank goodness) 40-50 people of all ages turning up at the home at random times from all over the country. Doesn't bear thinking about. I think his mum was trying to think it would be ok,so she hang on for a bit, but I'm glad she pulled it (just before the home called her). I feel worse for her than for his GM tbh.

Several years ago a local wood was knocked down so a couple of houses could be built. It was just a hundred yards or so from my garden.
As a result we were inundated with slugs because they killed the local hedgehog population.

It got to the point where you literally couldn't put your foot down at night without landing on a slug there were thousands of them & I was out there killing them every night.

Anything I planted was ravaged in one night.
I couldn't believe how fast they could decimate a plant.

I started using Nemotodes then.

My income is not the highest so I only used it twice a year - once in spring, once in Autumn.
In theory you are supposed to use it every six weeks in the growing season.

I haven't seen more than the odd slug in years so now I just use it once a year now.
The one year I didn't use it at all, I lost almost half my harvest so I'm back to an annual dose.
I get the occasional slug damage, but not enough to make me pay for a second dose.
You will never get them all because slugs from outside your garden will get in eventually.

If you have a lot of things in pots etc..., it's really important to remember to move them & water with the nemotodes underneath otherwise you'll miss a lot of them.
I also found they were under the edge of the patio area in their hordes.

The Nematodes used cause no harm to birds or other animals that may eat the slugs so it's safe even if you have dogs, cats etc...

Long time lurker here, finally joined up because I’m hoping to get some advice on how to deal with my vulnerable, stubborn Father.

He’s nearly 70, has diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. So VERY vulnerable to covid-19. He also has early stage dementia and very poor eyesight. Basically, he’s a sick man. He is refusing to self isolate, and even refusing to take basic measures to protect himself (still shaking hands, going to crowded places, won’t use hand gel). His attitude is “if I die, I die”.

I feel like he is my responsibility, no other family around really, but I don’t want to risk catching it off him if he isn’t willing to take precautions. I am immune comprised myself and have children to think about. I don’t know how to break it to him that I won’t be seeing him for a while. I’m heartbroken that he’s putting himself in harms way and I can’t shake the idea that he could be looking at his final days without his family around him

@Posharmchairs that sounds lovely .. a perfect Sunday I should say .. I baked some biscuits yesterday and fondant iced a few to keep dd busy and they turned out lovely.

Sundays are busy at home with proper breakfast and proper lunch so I have been in the kitchen. Planning to scrub my elbows off every bit of home that needs some tlc today (which I doubt I can finish in a day)

This is a very interesting series of simulations. Showing the differences between quarantine and social distancing. Plus is rather hypnotic and pretty!

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Thank you all for the recommendations for reusable pads, I’m definitely going to go for it. Will look into the brands recommended and will order some today!

Waitasecond I think things might change once an official announcement is made (hopefully later today after the COBRA meeting) about the over 70s lockdown.

I have ill parents well in their 80s and they are listening to me and doing everything possible, which is reassuring. But I have parents-in-law in their 70s currently on their way back from visiting friends, staying in hotels, going out to dinner last night etc! And my MIL only has 40% lung capacity!

I think part of the issue is the sector of elderly who don't have access to social media etc. All they have seen so far is what BJ said the other night, which was so lame, of course some won't change their ways on the basis of that. I think when a stronger message is issued, more will take notice... at the moment there is no guidaence and leadership!

My dad keeps chickens in allotment about a mile away from where he lives would he still be able to go and feed them if there was a lockdown?

Any ideas for kids masks? Cambridge mask Co sold out of smalls

pebble21uk I hope you are right. Though I do think even if over 70s are asked to self isolate he won’t comply. He’s very much like a teenager in that respect, tell him to do something and he does the opposite as some misplaced act of defiance. Let’s see what this COBRA meeting results in.

@WrapTrap , good hand hygiene and social distancing is better than masks.

Can I recommend Earthwise girls for reusable pads as well? I’ve used them for three or so years and haven’t had any complaints!

Wales is supposed to be making an announcement today as well so lots of waiting!

On the over seventies thing - Johnson should be on the telly now explaining it instead of this insidious briefing and obscure Hancock interview on Sky thing.
My tough and experienced MIL in her 70s was just crying on the phone to dh. Dh tried to reassure her, as I have, that we've got this and have no problem helping mil and FIL. She's just said she would go mad stuck in the house for 4 months. This isn't tbe wartime generation, at most they were kids in the war, protected from this shit by their parents. They are children of the 50s, teenagers in tbe swinging sixties. When all the bad shit was over.
Bloody cruel not to explain it directly.

@Posharmchairs @MrsWhites
I second using reusable wipes, pads and nappies.
I'm repeating myself from previous threads but incase there are new people here:
You can make your own wipes by cutting up fleece. Either old blankets or bought by the metre. Wash the cloth whole a few times to bring it up to maximum absorbency.

Also most local authorities offer a feee cloth nappy for you to keep as an incentive to buy them or just to use one less disposable.

When can we expect a post cobra announcement

We want to get the DC's involved in the family prep planning

Have put DD9 in charge of fitness, so far she has had us jog around the kitchen, do star jumps according to our age, a press up completion and now the plank based on how many points she has scored on one of her iPad games, oh well we did ask

Now for something DS12 can do, maybe entertainment

Could your DS12 be in charge of ‘teaching’ your DD9 something every now and then maybe? If he enjoys maths or art or something?

@colouringinpro I have had a chat and all are on board thankfully. Some Members of family are not visiting the house due to their children having come back from abroad recently so are self isolating as a precaution. That was another worry I had.

I hope your ex follows the house rules!

I was going to suggest these educational activity books from the works , looks like a few people have beat me to it as they are running low on stock however I used these while I was homeschooling last year for a while.

www.theworks.co.uk/p/key-stage-1-books/letts-maths-and-english---age-6-7/9780007949069

Seems like it's going* the way of Martial Law with the Government preparing to sign in police powers to arrest those refuses that fail to comply with Self-isolation. Here's hoping for cool heads and better flow of information than we've be receiving.

How amazing is the community started on these threads. I’ve learnt so much in the few days I’ve been involved. I’m probably only a lightweight prepper, as in I’ve always kept a good stock of extra food/bottle water etc but you ladies have really inspired me to try everything from dehydrating fruits and vegetables, to growing my own and going reusable wherever possible!

Again, thanks for the reusable pad recommendations!

Also, the imagination tree on Facebook have some good ideas for activities etc with children. They have posted an example timetable, which I’m going to tweak a little to ensure we keep to some sort of routine when the schools finally close.

Also, has anyone else tried the pepper in water trick? I found it a really easy way of demonstrating the importance of soap and washing hands to my son. There are loads of videos online if you haven’t already seen it.

@Whatthefoxgoingon are they having another one today?

@lexloofah
-Hold quiz's for the family
-get a magnetic dart board lol
-Choose which topics to learn about / find interesting documentaries.
-choose home science experiments.

I got to tesco at 10am today. Ten min queue to get into the car park and got one of the last spaces.

No pasta, some sizes of nappies gone, barely any tinned food, no long life milk, no part baked bread. Only jasmine rice left. No loo paper. Not much hand wash.