Ok, so we come out of lockdown. After you have breathed a sigh of relief (or whatever) what top ups do you need for No Deal Brexit/Second wave of this shit/Normal stuff you prep for

[bellinisurge]

I'm sure we'd all like to pretend this is all going away. I'm sure we have lists of places we want to go and people we want to hug.
Assuming we're going to do some of that, we also have an opportunity to take a look at our preps.
A second wave of this horribleness is not impossible. Neither is a lurch out of Brexit transition.
What are you going to top up on?

(This thread is for preppers in the Preppers topic so don't waste your time whining at us if you happen upon it. It's our thing, just move on)

@BrightonBB

The first portion on scones I had to dig out with a knife as I was too impatient to wait until it defrosted. The second portion on the last of the mincepies, which were a stash for an autistic child who suddenly went off them.

Thank you - I’ll be giving it a try. Yum!

Any news on when your library will reopen @Barbararara? I keep checking on mine but nothing yet. My DC are now bored with their books too!

I've just got bread flour left but I fancy some freshly baked Scones. Does anyone know if you can make Scones with bread flour? Will it come out all weird?

I need to try and freeze eggs.

Thanks to all for the previous threads. (I am a frequent name changer.) My preps were invaluable, especially having all had a haircut, up to date with dentist, new glasses. Very grateful for my yeast stocks. Flour ran out very quickly. Tinned tomatoes were invaluable. Bacon brunch was a brilliant tip. Hand cream: brilliant whoever suggested. Still have plenty soap and hand sanitiser. Got huge boxes of washing powder and dishwasher tabs from Amazon. So useful.

Duffs/waste of money so far have been almost all tinned meals. DC just aren’t used to them and don’t like them. Dried cheese from amazon is horrid! Krusteaze are quite popular but so fattening and two of the DC are quite chubby so rationing required.

I’ve been running my stocks down. Not sure if I can face building them up again! But I do feel more prepared generally. Wills have been redone and life insurance cover checked and adequate.

IloveParmaViolets I always use bread flour instead of plain. If your scone recipe calls for self-raising, you can add baking powder ( 2tsp to every 225g of plain flour to make self-raising).

bibblebobbleblackbobble many thanks. I'll be forcing my kids to bake me Scones today as part of their home education programme which went out of the window weeks ago

I'm a longtime lurker on the prepper threads and although I generally keep a well stocked pantry anyway the advice on sanpro, medicine, soap etc has meant I was well prepped for lockdown - thank you!
I've been through my stock and I'm busy rotating a few things but I don't think I have any new items to add

@IloveParmaViolets I might try scones with DS1 today too, thanks for the idea! He's a keen baker but lacks concentration (to be fair, he's only 4 ) - I tend to look for recipes where you can bung everything in a bowl and just let him stir/ whisk it. This Delia Christmas cake was actually really easy for him, and a good one for preppers as it kept for ages and froze well.

(On a side note, I also love parma violets, and am keeping an eye out for parma violet gin as I believe some supermarkets stocked it last Christmas!!)

@anothernamereally I thought I was well prepared too but these threads have been brilliant, some useful ideas. My reusable sanpro should arrive this week and hopefully save me £££, I wouldn't have thought of it without the help of people here, even though we have the reusable cloth wipes (which are great, by the way). One thing I did buy was a couple of plant sprays and some zoflora type stuff in case I needed to make my own disinfectant spray, will keep that as it may come in useful!

Hi! Was on the prep threads before and then changed my name for lockdown and now back to normal name.

Preps lasted really well for my 12.5 weeks and counting of isolation/lockdown.

Don't think there were any holes in our preps, but none of us were sick so didn't test out those provisions.

Was pleased to find a lot of local resources which I'll continue to use now and in the future. We'd already got a milkman for milk/OJ, and we used who gives a crap for loo roll a couple of years already. But now getting a veg box and we found local egg supplier, so we never had difficulty with eggs.

I'd underestimated how important 'treats' were. Trying to keep things normal for us and the kids, treats are pretty essential for maintaining a sense of normality and security. Glad we didn't have to live off a diet of tinned stuff.

@RubySlippers77 thanks so much for the tip. I'm going to try to make the Scones tomorrow as work was hectic this week.
I'm a fan of parma violets too, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I love them.

I'll have a go with the Christmas cake, I do love a fruit cake. I might add Earl grey tea to make it lighter & more summery.

I'm doing this red Cross free mental health course: resources.redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk/mental-health-and-coronavirus-pack

I need to update my lists as I suspect the family has been raiding my stock
Plus inhave now had to resign to to covid childcare so preps will need to be done little by little so hoping six months will be long enough!

I also had Hope's of convincing dh to buy a small freezer. Not going to happen now

Rejoining as well, after taking a break. I was the one who suggested seperate boxes for prescription and otc meds, and quoted that study that by the US Army that found most meds still have 90-95% efficiency 10 to 15 years after their use-by dates.

Surprisingly, we did quite well. What I underestimated was:

• Coffee (didn't factor in what I drink at work)
• Sugar (DH's tea and I bake more so we don't run out for treats)
• Toothpaste (we have both taken to brush our teeth during the day)
• Hair conditioner
• Dog treats (sold out everywhere around us for the first few weeks)
• Bread Flour/Bread mixes - we had enough for 40(!) loafs but DH goes through them in no time. He has got a very restricted diet and canned soup + fresh bread was his go to, especially while we were both down with Covid-19.
• Pregnancy tests My coil was removed in February but I need a very specific replacement they didn't have in. No problem, we rescheduled but of course, the new appintment was cancelled. We have been fine for condoms and diaphragm gel (and I'm tracking my cycle to be extra safe, too) but for the sake of my mental health having a bigger stash of them would be nice.
• Comfort food I thought we had enough and for Brexit, it probably would have been. However, DH really struggles with lockdown, so comfort food has been a big deal. Probably going to get a yoghurt maker and some small chocolates to solve this issue.
• Sodastream cannisters We had them refilled the day before lockdown but ran out after 2 months. Can't get them refilled, as Scotland is still in lockdown. Not sure yet if I will get more of them.
• Dental first aid kits DH's filling came out in March and he has used a lot of them. We have not run out yet but when I checked online to get more, they now cost four times what they used to. Would not have been an issue for Brexit but of course, with all the dentists currently closed, everyone has been buying them.
• Jump Starter I wanted to get one for ages but DH insisted it was not worth the money. Anyway, we have a jump starter now

The rest was spot on or more than we needed. I did think we had enough for 3 to 4 months and 6 months if we stretch things - that was pretty bang on. I just got into a more stable job and we will re-start Brexit prepping over the summer. Most of the original stash expired this year or will expire early 2021, so we more or less need to start from scratch. I need to find a butcher that deliveres/is local, given the recent news. I'm veggie but DH decidedly isn't. On the waiting lists for veg boxes. I used to have a subscription for those but put off finding one in the new city we moved to. We did establish a very good relationship with the local booze shop but we have always been low-key friends with the owner, so that was pretty much a done deal from day one of lockdown. Also great to send gifts locally, which was not something we had thought about before - my PIL had done something really nice for us so we spontaneously send them a nice bottle of gin + tonic through them.

The first thing I did when we moved was to go on various allottment waiting lists (takes years to get one where we live) and I am really glad I did that, as more people seem to have decided they should get one, too. We have the space to plant some food but our neighbours have taken to feed the birds, so I'd have to break out protective nets etc. and in theory, people could just steal the planters at night. Not done any gardening this year but got seeds etc. for next year.

Just making sure I've got enough plasters, painkillers & 1st aid kit refills in. My area sold out completely of medical items so I'm prepping now they're back in stock. Also a good idea to get flu/cold remedies while they're available now off season.

Replacing anti bacterial gels & hand washes.

Winter clothes and boots/shoes. I'm wfh permanently now so don't need to send a fortune on outdoor gear.

School uniform for the new academic year

We have a drive though farm shop for pies, meat, veg, fruit, cheese etc
A greengrocer delivery
A milkman for milk, eggs and butter.

I’m going to stock up on supermarket items:
Batteries- AA out of stock for a while
Rice
Crisps
Biscuits
Chocolate
Cereal
Cake mixes
Corned beef
Tinned tomatoes
UHT milk (have 12 pints delivered but have happily used this to fill the gaps)
Dental floss and toothpaste

I’ll also fill the freezer in the Autumn, we’ve been able to get plenty of fresh food, so most meals have been cooked from scratch.
So rather than focusing on frozen fruit and veg as I did this time. I’ll focus on easy dinners/treats: burgers, breaded chicken, fries, pizza and ice cream. Stuff the kids enjoy that replaces takeaways/fast food.

We found we were pretty good for basic food but the things we ran out of or wanted more of were toiletries (shampoo, deodorant etc), chocolate, biscuits, dessert type things, and alcohol! I worry about stockpiling those things though as I fear they would get eaten/drunk more quickly than we would normally.

I have an Asda order to be collected tonight. I might have been able to restock with pasta and raisins and pringles. But not flour or butterbeans or apricotsor yeast. Flour and apricots can wait a bit though as have enough for now and not that long a life. If I have got pasta it will mean pulling out all the stuff in one place and packing the bottom with the new pasta.

It is hard work this stock rotation lark. All the new raisins can go in there as well.

Next on the restock list:
Lightbulbs
Batteries AAA, AA and D
Wind up radio number 2
Solar powerbank number three.
Paracord and tarp. ( Wish list)
More handgel.
More Sainsbury's antibac spray.

More of my deodorant. The kids aren't very smelly yet.

Stocking fillers

I think I will get a milkman .They were not taking on any more .
Most things I was pretty prepared .

Hair clippers... ended up buying a very expensive set but H really pleased with the result .

I will ask my hairdresser what colour I should buy as it has gone a bit pink ( vanity ) .

I will buy pain relief. I was a bit slow off the mark for that .

Anyway thanks for the prepping threads ... I was well organised.

Temporary filling material.