The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

mothernerd

euronorris said:

Online delivery slots are the reason I am so tired today.

Most seem to become available at midnight. We have one booked for the 7th April (earliest we get), and I wanted to get one for the 14th April (and weekly thereafter, so I can get regular top up shops). Duly set my alarm for midnight, got up, went straight to Morrisons site - crashed with the volume of traffic. Tesco glitchy and not working for the same reason, by the time it did, all slots gone. Iceland didn't seem to have any new slots up that I could tell. Sainsburys only allowing deliveries for elderly and very vulnerable (I'm asthmatic, but not severe, so I don't count). There are no local click and collect stores for sainsburys or tescos. Ocado had a queueing system, but they hadn't put new slots in yet. They went live at 6am instead I believe as site was closed 2am - 6am for maintenance. I did manage grab one with Asda! HURRAH! Would the payment process correctly? Would it ****! After about 45 minutes of going round in circles, I tried a different web browser on my phone and it worked instantly! Sigh. Very stressful. Get to do it all again in a week's time to try and get a slot for 21st April.

At least Milk & More are delivering well at the moment. I still get my tea! We are out of potatoes, but thankfully have rice and pasta,and will be out of sliced bread by Thurs/Fri, but we do have part baked rolls, and flour and yeast etc.

The weather is glorius. That's my positive. So washing hanging up in the garden as of lunchtime, and my seedlings have been sunbathing all day. CUrrently 16 degrees out there! Made a mini obstacle course for daughter to jump around. Basically just some garden sticks and her spacehopper, but she thought it was amazing. 3 year olds are great like that.

Stay safe everyone!

I'm doing that now. I got what I could last week and have some tinned and dried goods (normal winter stock up in case of illness / snow - what's been used + what has been replaced as it ran out). We can manage for ? weeks but I want some deliveries to top it up and provide variety. Tesco only show slots for the next 3 weeks and there are none available (me and mum will be in here for the next twelve weeks - i haven't said anything about what happens after that to mum). Click and collect is for stores miles away - could have asked one of the twins to pick up at a time when they have use of the car but thought it would be the local store. Asda is crashed. Sainsbury aren't taking on new customers (I have an ancient account, I don't know the details anymore but that's to my house, not mum's). Currently in the queue for Ocado (31317 of 43,000 +). The twins did say to let them know if we wanted anything but I was hoping once I'd got into lockdown I'd be able to do future orders myself - I can't give them a huge long list.

DS3 has brought my pills today (mum's are delivered, mine weren't. I managed to arrange for the pharmacy to collect my prescription but they can't deliver). DS3 hung the little bag on the gate, I scooped it off with my collecting bucket (bought several of Wilco's paste buckets for £1 each last week for growing, catching /holding stuff/ spare loo in an emergancy?) and wearing my plastic gloves. I saved the gloves I used to change mum's dressing last week (have fresh ones for dressing change) and also bought the non-allergenic multi pack from Wilco - I know i'm a baby compared to your preps but what I have is proving it's worth. Think I will go and start counting exactly what I have (mine and mum's combined stores) to pass the four hours waiting time for Ocado.

Thank you for all your help.

elaine241

Well today in my corner of South Wales you would be thinking it was business as normal or even a bank holiday! Lock down what lock down! The main A4042 was as busy as ever, with motor bikes charging up towards Abergavenny, you are not telling me the commuters have all switched to two wheels! The lane outside my farmhouse was like the M4 for pedestrians, cyclists, dog walkers,  joggers  and regular car journeys up and down. I really think that people need to get a grip of this idea of lock down and isolation, here in Monmouthshire we have the highest, by far in Wales , recorded Corona cases and unfortunately deaths.
We spent the day on the farm, looking after cattle, checking our in lamb ewes and taking the rugs off the horses so they could enjoy the lovely sun on their backs. 
I spent hours weeding out one of my large veg beds which has got covered in creeping buttercup, stinging nettles, dock leafs and dandelion to name but a few! I took hours literally to quietly clear every little bit of weed and stone from the bed and dig it over. Not the usual rush to get it turned over ready for planting but a slow down and take my time because that's what I had, time!
Tomorrow I will plant some seeds and tackle the next overgrown bed, again slowly and methodically enjoying the sunshine. 
At the moment it seems like the world outside has continued as normal and we are in our own little world quietly avoiding the rest of the population. The only negative I think I can think of is that I seem to be drinking more wine than ever before!!! But then in this time of worry and uncertainty is that really a negative!! LOL 

thriftwizard

elaine241 said:

I spent hours weeding out one of my large veg beds which has got covered in creeping buttercup, stinging nettles, dock leafs and dandelion to name but a few! 

Snap! Plus nasty little brambles, almost invisible but very, very prickly. But I finally got it done, and half the next bed too, so I'm quite chuffed as I feel I've got halfway now. But it was a lovely day, really quite warm, and I spotted a wren flitting into the pallets by the composter, several times, so I think she's probably nesting there. It was nice & quiet down there; I'm up for that kind of exercise any (sunny) day!

But sadly didn't get my polytunnel put up in the garden; the bolts have gone AWOL despite having been in a bag tied to the frame. (They've probably been put to use elsewhere.) The rest of the family didn't seem to think "tying" it together with bits of old wire coat hanger was a particularly brilliant idea; they have no sense of adventure! 

daz378

Been working since  Thursday  ..thankfully annual leave  till monday...not had chance to shop  ....so I'll try tomorrow. .got my carers id if im stopped.....im usually happy with a basket worth...but I'll have social distancing  on my mind....will defrost my freezer in the morning...and cook  what i have left....and hopefully can fill it up to take pressure off my tinned stocks....going to try set up delivery for my meds....you all take care and stay safe

3secondmemory

elaine241 Not the usual rush to get it turned over ready for planting but a slow down and take my time because that's what I had, time!

Tomorrow I will plant some seeds and tackle the next overgrown bed, again slowly and methodically enjoying the sunshine. 
At the moment it seems like the world outside has continued as normal and we are in our own little world quietly avoiding the rest of the population. The only negative I think I can think of is that I seem to be drinking more wine than ever before!!! But then in this time of worry and uncertainty is that really a negative!! LOL 

^^^

My way of coping with that this was to make the decision to take myself out of the equation. Originally I chose to go into voluntary self isolation for 12 weeks - making it my challenge rather than a government edict! Now I’m in home quarantine as I am fighting a recurrent infection - 😂😂 This, I can take on the chin. 

I relearnt the sweet pleasure of bimbling around the garden last year and was faced with a 2 year wait for psychometric testing and an proper ADHD diagnosis - I knew I was on Gardening leave for the foreseeable future 😃

I’ve asked for anti-anxiety medication to help me through. I was already on a very small amount of diazepam but for obvious reasons, it’s not a long-term solution. I’m doing everything I can to manage my stress and anxiety, but even when I’m busy and distracted, I have a very erratic heartbeat 🙁

unrecordings

Gardening really helps, not necessarily the big stuff or sowing but things like pruning which require a little concentration and/or precision with little planning or prep. If it's mild, with luck you can lose yourself for hours

euronorris

Our neighbour has dropped off some potatoes outside our door this morning, as a thank you for getting her milk on our deliveries. Lovely

DryTheRain

unrecordings said:

Gardening really helps, not necessarily the big stuff or sowing but things like pruning which require a little concentration and/or precision with little planning or prep. If it's mild, with luck you can lose yourself for hours

 It’s all about finding small sources of solace at the moment, and you’re right plants are excellent for keeping the demons at bay, indoor or outdoor, all good.

So what else is everyone doing for distraction - in between attending to essential matters of course.  I’m finding podcasts quite soothing, combined with exercise or the daily surface cleansing ritual.  Any recommendations?

I’m also mighty relieved my carer is now working from home.  We agreed it’d be best to restrict visits to twice a week, essential assistance only and keeping distance as much as possible.  If this is your situation it’s worth texting carers a pic of your PIP letter or similar, in case of police checks. There seems to be quite a lot of them out and about at the moment, which is unsettling and reassuring in equal measure!

[Deleted User]

We're keeping to routine as much as possible for a semblance of normality, we get up and have a cuppas, don't watch the news and enjoy the early morning sun and quiet.  Then I do the housework, dust, tidy, vacuum, wash or iron if there is enough to do a wash load (will only do a full one to conserve water) and I've ironing in the basket.  Check fresh stocks and use up anything that looks sad in a soup/pottage/stew or composite dish , read here several times daily it helps very much to read others are feeling much the same and trying to just keep going and share recipes/ideas/silliness to make things a little lighter  and we lunch lightly, just soup and an egg or something that needs using like my mashed potato mountains.  We try for a walk after lunch if there are few folks out that we can see and try to walk out into the open country as that lifts a weight off shoulders for an hour or so.  We've downloaded many box sets of things we've enjoyed before and will watch again with pleasure and we read, HWK has his greenhouse and we're readying the garden to plant as much as we're able here to help feed us in the months ahead. Small things but relatively normal things to keep us level.  The high spots of the day though are most definitely when we video call the daughters and can see the grandchildren.  I read each family a bedtime story on alternate nights which has become routine in these times of being unable to actually see them and it's keeping us in touch with the small people which is nice for them and their normality too.


We can all support each other here too, as we always have done and help carry individual burdens until this is over (and after I hope!) xxx.

euronorris

I am ensuring that I get into the garden with DD every lunchtime, on weekdays, and for most of the day at the weekend. Weather permitting. She loves it, and I'd rather be in the sun than stuck at a laptop any day of the week.

For her benefit, and for ours, we have stuck to our normal routine as much as possible. Get up, breakfast, get washed, dressed, hair brushed, teeth brushed, do a video call with family, then mummy goes to work at 8.30am (locks herself away in her bedroom), have lunch together, get outside, mummy goes back work, at 5pm cook dinner together, eat it, bathtime, another family video call, storytime and bed. It's not perfect, as it's still different, but I think it does help. Like all children, she craves routine.

I found the slots for deliveries on 15th April were still plentiful on Asda's website at 6am this morning. I didn't need one, but notified friends and family. By 7am, they were reporting that the site was crashing, but they each managed to secure a slot in their areas. So fingers crossed it will be a bit easier from here on out.