The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

greenbee

Agree with @-taff - just clear the space beforehand and then disinfect thoroughly afterwards. TBH I'd borrow the spare if you can, and see how you get on before buying and trying to sort out delivery the way things are right now. I don't know whether suppliers are doing 'installation' at the moment, or just kerbside delivery, so better to go with your neighbours' offer.

dandy-candy

DH went back to work yesterday but decided its not worth it. He is self employed and he doesnt qualify for government money as he is just over the £50k threshold so he has been desperate to get back out there, but its so quiet that he only made £90 yesterday. It’s just not worth the risk to us and the kids for that so he said he will stay home again. Our council put the council tax up this year and started charging us separately for the green bin, then after I paid the green bin charge they promptly wrote and said they arent collecting the green bin for the forseable future and they are cutting the recycling collection to fortnightly instead of weekly! I haven’t paid the main council tax charge yet, its over £2k and with no income thats a lot of money.

We managed to get some veg seed so I prepared the veg beds and will get planting. DD supermarket shelves are still pretty empty on tins and no sign of flour - there isnt even a delivery date when she scans the label. I managed to get tinned soup for the elderly neighbour though so that was good. I had a chat with my dad and stepmum yesterday and I was saying thank goodness this is happening in the good weather rather than winter when it rains and gets dark early and is generally depressing. They said that over 70s have been told to stay home until autumn 2021. Is that right? I havent heard that anywhere?

daz378

My  clients toothache   hasn't deteriorated yet.....his local dentist as agreed to see him.....but only if absolutely necessary.....not much shopping done this week...busy at work..but supplies are holding up....getting a paid day off friday

Onebrokelady

MrsLurcherwalker said:

Just this morning had confirmation that a near neighbour has had and is in recovery from covid-19, have seen an ambulance at the house a couple of times in the week so wondered if it was that BUT her husband is still out getting his paper and milk etc. every day from the local shops!!! an educated man, a very senior engineer in his 60s and STILL he hasn't taken on board the need for him to isolate as well aaaggghhhhhhh! why???

I think those manufacturers who have moved their companies to or moved all their operations to third world countries because of cheaper costs should think very carefully about the future and I think people here need to understand that not everyone can go to university and get a degree.  What we really need is skills at all levels of need for industry and society and to be able to fulfil those needs from our own population to a greater degree.  I know when we were growing up parents hoped for an 11+ pass to give better chances of a better job in the future or a profession if you were bright enough to make university (rare in the 1950s) but the need for people to be able to work in shops and offices and on the land was just as relevant and then came technology (without which our lives would be much less ) but technology has removed the need for humanity from many areas and with the need for humanity in factories etc. removed I can understand fully why owners have £ signs in front of their eyes and not the welfare of their work forces or their country.  We can't turn the clock back but we can make sure the future is better regulated from the end of this pandemic and hold companies to account for how they do business, and we MUST!

I wouldn't worry too much about the neighbours husband being out and about, I work in a hospital and have come into contact with colleague who tested positive and was off work, we've been told to keep coming to work unless we get symptoms and they aren't testing us 😟

euronorris

Not much choice of second hand sewing machines local. And those that are, are out of my price range. So, it would likely be new if anything. But still weighing it up. Is it justifiable, expense wise, to us at the moment. I'm not certain.

Have a food shop delivery due tomorrow. Have had bread flour in stock and out of stock repeatedly on that order. Same for yeast. Currently, bread flour in stock, but yeast out of stock. Leaving it at that now. And just see what turns up.

thriftwizard

Euronorris, a sewing machine is actually a very sound investment, provided you actually use it. You can save enough to cover the price by making one pair of decent, lined curtains, which will in the long term save you money on fuel bills. (Re-making curtains by cutting down good secondhand ones is even easier.) They don't have to be pencil-pleated with weighted hems, either - though the weights do make a difference to how they hang - straight lines & eyelets or curtains clips work perfectly well. It doesn't take much expertise to make little shorts etc. either, and they can be made out of old shirts, for example; kids often prefer the softness of pre-used fabric. I'd still recommend buying a good secondhand machine in preference to a cheap new one, because many of the latter struggle to stitch heavy fabrics like denim & won't be repairable when they "die". 

DigForVictory

Hear, hear! Plus you can make masks, scrubs bags, scrubs etc (if you want) too. The singer engineers will be booked solid as soon as they’re open for business again - I had planned to get my treadle machine refurbished.

For all with windup radios, a word of caution. The windup radio has a working headphone jack but flattens fast. I have *stopped* using headphones & have the little solar panel carefully angled to charge...

Chieveley

DigForVictory said:

Hear, hear! Plus you can make masks, scrubs bags, scrubs etc (if you want) too. The singer engineers will be booked solid as soon as they’re open for business again - I had planned to get my treadle machine refurbished.

For all with windup radios, a word of caution. The windup radio has a working headphone jack but flattens fast. I have *stopped* using headphones & have the little solar panel carefully angled to charge...

My neighbour has just had her sewing machine collected/serviced/returned from her engineer. They assured her they were doing distancing in the workshop and had mountains of machines to get through. 

Si_Clist

thriftwizard said:

... I'd still recommend buying a good secondhand machine in preference to a cheap new one, because many of the latter struggle to stitch heavy fabrics like denim & won't be repairable when they "die". 

And a plastic one will probably drive you nuts walking across the table when you sew with it!

DigForVictory said:

... The singer engineers will be booked solid as soon as they’re open for business again - I had planned to get my treadle machine refurbished.

I used to be heavily into vintage Singers*, and FWIW I can't think of anything apart from accidental damage that could warrant anybody spending money on having a treadle machine "refurbished". The Singer treadles were designed to be maintained and sorted-out by the average housewife, and nowadays we have the great advantage that everything you could ever need to know about them is on the internets. 

* So much so that I did a blog about them a few years ago, and to my surprise it's still online!  If you're really bored, check out https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/  It looks like if you click on "older posts" at the bottom of the page, the rest of it's still there, floating round cyberspace ...

mrs_motivated

I have been lurking on here the last few days out of curiosity, I had a preconceived idea that preppers were Bear Grylls type people, digging for water supplies, camping out in woods and living on squirrels which is a bit to extreme for me.  However, after reading and seeing so many sensible posts, things like keeping good stores and supplies, repurposing things etc.  I was thinking that’s exactly what I do and always have done.

Anyway, I am quite proud to be able to declare I am a prepper after all so hope you don’t mind if I join in the thread.   

Mr M did look horrified when I told him I was a prepper and was reading tips from other preppers.  His response was Okaaay but I’m not drinking my wee....clearly he needs educating too.