The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

lucielle

If you put bicarbonate of soda in their baths it helps to take the itch away.  HTH
L

mothernerd

Thriftygifty said:

jamanda said:

There doesn't seem to be much chance of not catching the virus when yours has managed to get nits and chicken pox, or is your child one of the "magnet" variety where everything finds him?
Hope they all get over it quickly.  This just isn't what you need.

I know, I really want to pull DS out of school but I realistically can't.  I'm really annoyed that he seems to continually be catching one thing or another especially as they are doing extra cleaning and the children are more spread out where possible, I think it may be my fault as we didn't mix with many children/people and he was hardly ever ill as a baby and it has now come back to bite me.  Middle DS was due to be starting nursery middle of January, that won't be happening now despite him needing to socialise before school next sept it is not worth the risk with the new strain of the virus, at the moment DS1 and husband are the weak link with the virus entering the house.  My mum has been mixing with the children over the Christmas period as we thought we were semi safe after 5 days of no school and no sign of illness, how wrong was I!!! I hope my parents don't develop shingles, my Nan had those and it was very bad.  As for DS1 who has spots he seems fine other than pickled he is playing as normal, he was sleepy and pale yesterday then the spots happened, we gave him Calpol, I need to up my stocks of it, I think we may need 3 bottles per child in reserve, the baby is teething. DS1 hasn't been itching the spots which is good, they are pus filled small blisters (blugh) he will be having an oat bath later.  I have now finished maternity leave, that was a fun 9 months, I will be working remotely in the evenings as well as a pox and nit infested house, fun time here!!!!  I have been having a constant battle with my mum about not coming near us, I think the only way to stop contact now is to lock the door it seems extreme but I feel as though I am the bad guy in wanting to protect my parents and they are not to far down the list for the vaccine!  
We are reasonably stocked with food, I need to tweak it slightly and stock up on more easy food rather than food I have to defrost before cooking. 
I am frantically trying to get any home admin done and the house cleared before DH goes back to work next week.  I have cleared out the nursery and we are moving DS3 cot into our room, the nursery will become my office and a room to clear out everything on ebay etc.
Stay safe everyone and kept your heads down and hang on this is such a trying time. 

I put the padlock on mum's gate back in March and it's rarely been off since. Also took the keys out of the key safe. Her deceased partner's family all have the code and trip in and out of the house without notice - well not on my watch. I've probably protected mum a bit too much - because I dealt with all the deliveries (kept stuff in isolation in the garden shed whenever possible) she hasn't learned what she needs to do. So she started bringing the milk in, going outside to the letter box and then bringing the bins back in and I'm saying don't touch anything that is coming in from outside. She thinks standing six feet away from someone and then both reaching out their hands to hand something over is still 6 feet apart.

I've placed a lot of restrictions on my own life, just to keep her super safe - no buses, only 3 trips to town, twice in a taxi and once in a SM. The first time I went shopping was after first lock down ended and the day before we went into a local lock down so I stayed mainly in my own garden and whizzed around  with my borrowed shopping trolley and then left the trolley at my house and brought everything back to mum's in a taxi. There were some cleaning items that Wilco wouldn't deliver, lots of charity shop books and jigsaws and a few random items (library had reopened so I took back the books I'd been minding for them, pies from the farm shop). Very few shops were open, not many people about and I didn't go near the market/ bus station. Well we've survived 2020 so I must be doing something right.

I have a delivery today but I'm going to put a washing line (bought a pack of strong rope ones for making natural decorations) on the trolley handle and push/ lower it down the path for them to fill from their van and then they can push it back up the slope - the slope isn't very steep but it will be dark and it might have started to ice up again. The only things missing seem to be 'party food' - just a few bits to liven up my home made stuff. It's a mixture of celebratory long weekend (brisket joint and a shoulder of lamb because no legs were available), dairy substitute items as I'm going to have a stab at veganuary (at least one wholly vegan meal each day - can live without vegan bacon/ sausage / pasty substitutes but have a couple of soft cheeses and a jar of soya 'cheese sauce' on order) and store cupboard (only need one large toilet roll pack per month but have 5 each of tinned prunes and grapefruit segments as mum has decided to start having them again). I didn't really put any salad items on (can use finely chopped cabbage as a base, still have some Asian greens outside and I think the lettuce seeds I thought had drowned have recovered) but did add a few packs of frozen veg (not had any room in the freezer for them recently)

I am planning a full on growing year - mum has frustrated my efforts a lot this year, still keeps insisting that 'it's the wrong time of year for painting' (not if I'm digging down below the level of the paved area, painting and putting together raised beds, filling in the new 'paved' area with stones and having it all ready before the seedlings need somewhere to go). She pulled up some of my parsnips and beetroot when they were tiny, plucked several 'going wrinkly' peppers (no mum they start out wrinkly and swell and fill out as they grow) and threw them in the bin and has reluctantly ceded ground to me one foot at a time.

Stores of various tinned/ dried goods are healthy and basic toiletries and medical supplies (vaseline, E45, plasters, antiseptic and bite cream, ibuprofen for me, paracetamol for mum)are good. I bought 6 shower gel and 6 pots of moisturiser from my Christmas money as I have finally finished mum's supply of previously gifted items. I buy her shower creme, deodorant and skin cream (usually when it's on offer) mostly in sixes and then give it to her for birthday/ Easter/ Mothering Sunday etc. Her partners family have frequently bought 'gift sets' which have been stuffed with random items (separate day and night face creams, cleansers) and other stuff she never uses. Well I have used it all up (not always for the intended purpose - if it moisturises my face it can do my feet and hands as well).  I have very dry skin and have to look after it to prevent eczema and dermatitis outbreaks. In summer I use high factor suncream (stocked up again at the end of summer aka when they want the space to put the Christmas stuff out) as I also get eczema caused by the sun.

I'll return to lurkdom now before you all die of boredom. Be vigilant with your own health and any vulnerable relatives, even if they aren't helping themselves.

euronorris

Thrifty, its possible you did have chicken pox and your parents not remember. My husband def had it as a child but his mum wasn't sure. We became certain when he had shingles a few years after we met. So, I think it's more common than people think for parents to forget lol.

Mothernerd, you've done so much to protect your mum. Well done. Not easy I'm sure. And the growing situation sounds hard work, requiring a lot of patience! 

Been in the garden and started on tidying and prepping it for a good growing season. More to do, but I do a little at a time with DD as she is still more of a hindrance than a help lol.

monnagran

Thrifty, be thankful that your children have the opportunity to have chicken pox at a young age.  It is a much better time to have  it and they wont remember much about it.  My prides and joys chose to wait until they were in their twenties to catch it and it was horrific, raging temperatures, hallucinations and the works.
I had it aged 6 and the doctor came to the house.  They did that in those bad old days during the war. Anyway, he took one look at me and said,  "Oh Ho! You've been kissing the boys."  To which, according to my mother, I gave him a very hard stare and said coldly,  "Only one."

I still have a tiny pit in my forehead where I scratched a spot.   It's 76 years old.  And I still exchange Christmas cards with the boy I kissed.

VJsmum

You hussy, Monna

DD had to do a COVID test yesterday so we've been waiting on the (thankfully negative) result all day - brought it home to me that enforced isolation can happen at the drop of a hat.  I had to start thinking about whether i could feed 4 people for 10 days on what i had in.  i could have done it but the variety of fresh food would have been greatly diminished.  I definitely need a little more long life milk.

we've just gone to tier 4 - it won't make a great deal of difference to us from tier 3.  it just means any walks we take can only be with one other person rather than the 'rule of 6', but at most we only met 2 others who were both from the same household.  I confess i don't worry about being outside too much as evidence seems to be that it is much more easily spread indoors than out.  

greenbee

VJs- the fresh stuff I deal with through my weekly veg box delivery and the milkman 2-3 times a week. I have been to a supermarket once since March - after 10 weeks in isolation due to a prolonged spiking temp following my original Covid diagnosis I haven't felt an overwhelming need to actually shop myself. Sometimes I can get supermarket deliveries and sometimes I can't. When I can, I stock up on things that aren't so easy to get from the veg box/milkman (peppers... lots of peppers...). I use an online health-food shop for stuff like nuts/seeds and eco-friendly cleaning products, ebay for pork scratchings, amazon for chocolate. 

We're in Tier 4, and my brother, who is a local GP is now insisting on masks when meeting outside. He's the risk (at least, when meeting me, as I don't see anyone else) as he does at least one day a week in a Covid clinic. Up until now he's been fine with distancing outside, and was OK about occasional indoor contact. Now it's 2m, outside AND masks. But the kids are going to be in school as keyworker children. He's not overly worried as they are primary age, know about hand washing, have a good routine for coming home, and are good at distancing and wearing masks. The fact that their dad is dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, and they know I've had it and am still not recovered probably helps. And they're happy to tell people who say 'you don't have to wear a mask' that they DO because dad is a doctor!

Thriftygifty

I must have had chicken pox as a child at some for the test result to say I had, in fairness my parents were quite busy when I was a child and I was always at work with one of them either on a building site or with my mum at her work, It was a valuable lesson, I occasionally take my children to work with me if I have to go in briefly.  I will try the bicarb thanks. He had a porridge bath and is currently in bed with gloves and socks on as he says he is cold, he hasn't been scratching but his 3yr old brother has been scratching his back when I haven't been looking just to be naughty!!!
Finally had an email from the veg box company as I was on the waiting list, first box coming on Monday, quite expensive compared to actual farm shop only open on Saturday morning but that requires going and collecting it. I need to work out our food budget and factor in the different places we are now getting items from, the bakery bread is so much better, one day I may make my own.
It is difficult when trying to keep people safe, we they are unaware of the true extent of this virus, they are in a bubble within a bubble. 
I am considering wearing a mask for the school runs, i'm sticking with the plan of pushchair as I get to leave through a gate and avoid the crowds doing the oneway system on the steps, I don't know if I should switch over to the double one and put the baby and soon to be 4yr old in it who is perfectly capable of walking and then put the raincover over regardless of weather it has an automatic brake if I let go of it but I'm not sure if it would stop with weight of children if I were to slip on ice. When it was icy it was very difficult with other pushchair and both children walking fallling over twice and crying, their school is on a hill, thoughts please.. 

VJsmum

It's nice to know that a GP promotes the use of masks.  So many are ambivalent about their effectiveness and i am quite the advocate.

Onebrokelady

Thriftygifty said:

I must have had chicken pox as a child at some for the test result to say I had, in fairness my parents were quite busy when I was a child and I was always at work with one of them either on a building site or with my mum at her work, It was a valuable lesson, I occasionally take my children to work with me if I have to go in briefly.  I will try the bicarb thanks. He had a porridge bath and is currently in bed with gloves and socks on as he says he is cold, he hasn't been scratching but his 3yr old brother has been scratching his back when I haven't been looking just to be naughty!!!
Finally had an email from the veg box company as I was on the waiting list, first box coming on Monday, quite expensive compared to actual farm shop only open on Saturday morning but that requires going and collecting it. I need to work out our food budget and factor in the different places we are now getting items from, the bakery bread is so much better, one day I may make my own.
It is difficult when trying to keep people safe, we they are unaware of the true extent of this virus, they are in a bubble within a bubble. 
I am considering wearing a mask for the school runs, i'm sticking with the plan of pushchair as I get to leave through a gate and avoid the crowds doing the oneway system on the steps, I don't know if I should switch over to the double one and put the baby and soon to be 4yr old in it who is perfectly capable of walking and then put the raincover over regardless of weather it has an automatic brake if I let go of it but I'm not sure if it would stop with weight of children if I were to slip on ice. When it was icy it was very difficult with other pushchair and both children walking fallling over twice and crying, their school is on a hill, thoughts please.. 

Can you attach a wrist strap to the buggy then if you let it go it will still at least be attached to you,something like a dog lead would do 

[Deleted User]

Our local news this morning had an article about another vaccine being developed by Bristol University, the Professor who was interviewed was asking for volunteers for the first trial to start in the New Year and when asked about 'another vaccine' said if you needed to fix a car and only had one spanner it would probably not fix all the faults BUT if you had a tool box full of spanners then you'd find one to do the job.  I find it comforting in these very difficult times to know work is still going on to combat covid and that there might be more vaccines coming onstream to deal with the mutations to the virus that are inevitably going to keep happening.

Advice from our GP daughter is that 'things are gruesome out there' Ma, don't even try for a trip to the Co Op at the quietest time or anywhere else, it's not worth the risk.  Stay out of things because this new variant is causing chaos. That advice will be followed .