The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

prepareathome

-taff said:

I've ordered another waterbutt because the rain we had a while ago filled the first one up and I've already used it all.

I did have two but I must have given one away as I searched the back garden and cannot find it - but as this was at 10pm I did not check the sheds ( not somewhere I would expect to store it) so will do so tomorrow and alongside of the house as only other places it can be but not used it in ages and I remember thinking I would offer it on freecycle and I don't find it I must have done.

jamanda

Prepareathome - if people can see your side garden could you hide veg among the flowers/shrubs?  Guerilla gardening at home.  Perhaps bits of trellis with pretty things growing up, hiding your crop.

elaine241

Preparethehome you could put a temporary fence up just inside your fence to shield your plot from prying eyes. Something like the ready made bamboo screening that could be taken down in the winter and stored.

Si_Clist

prepareathome said:

... What are people doing about water?

In our case, for the two of us, just 8 x 10-litre plastic containers of tap water stacked in a corner of the kitchen.  We empty and refill each one on a roughly-3-months cycle as and when we can use the contents of one for rinsing or whatever.  Container size is 10 litres because 10kg is enough for us to comfortably lift up to sink level and empty out without risk of a wet floor.

Given that we have a combi boiler (therefore no cistern in the roof) it's not enough, but we simply don't have the space for more.  After that, it's what's in the waterbutts, filtered and boiled, and hope that we have enough Immodium and Dioralyte in stock to cope with the inevitable after-effects. 

Which brings me to Collis Browne's Chlorodyne, which we used to sell in my stepfather's chemist shop when I started behind the counter.  Don't know if it still had cannabis oil and laudanum in it by 1960, but there were certainly some weird folk regulalrly asking for it who were invariably told we didn't have any.  I see that nowadays it's no longer Chlorodyne but just Collis Browne's -  a mixture of (very little) morphine and peppermint oil.

ancientofdays

I was force-fed virol and cod liver oil as a child so spent most mornings trying not to be sick. Sometimes as a reward for not being sick, I was allowed to swish the blue bag in my nanna's washing.

elaine241

Si_Clist said:

prepareathome said:

... What are people doing about water?

Which brings me to Collis Browne's Chlorodyne, which we used to sell in my stepfather's chemist shop when I started behind the counter.  Don't know if it still had cannabis oil and laudanum in it by 1960, but there were certainly some weird folk regulalrly asking for it who were invariably told we didn't have any.  I see that nowadays it's no longer Chlorodyne but just Collis Browne's -  a mixture of (very little) morphine and peppermint oil.

No wonder it tasted foul but did actually work if you wern't sick, we were stoned!! :-)

euronorris

The results of my antibody test came in late yesterday. Negative. So it wasn't covid I had late Feb/early March. Disappointing, but at least I know now and am assured that I am right to continue being super cautious still.

GreyQueen

euronorris said:

The results of my antibody test came in late yesterday. Negative. So it wasn't covid I had late Feb/early March. Disappointing, but at least I know now and am assured that I am right to continue being super cautious still.

That's a bit of a disappointment, it would have been nice to have been relieved of that particular burden.

Si_Clist

ancientofdays said:

... Sometimes as a reward for not being sick, I was allowed to swish the blue bag in my nanna's washing.

And I bet your mother told her off for spoiling you ...

greenbee

euronorris said:

The results of my antibody test came in late yesterday. Negative. So it wasn't covid I had late Feb/early March. Disappointing, but at least I know now and am assured that I am right to continue being super cautious still.

There are some concerns with the home testing kits - not about the accuracy of the test in itself, but whether the blood samples taken at home are sufficient - and so they think there may be a high number of false negatives. That said, there is no evidence as yet that antibodies provide any significant immunity. Much like other coronaviruses the data so far is that the majority of recovered patients don't produce the right type/concentration of antibodies to provide a neutralising effect (See here for a pre-print of the research paper).

I'm in two minds about doing an antibody test. If done properly, it might help with the data about how widespread the disease has been in the community, but while there are concerns about whether home testing works it's a good excuse to put it off!