The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

euronorris

Oh Thrifty! Wishing you strength my dear! Don't worry about homeschooling. They will be fine, just do what you need to do to get through the days until they are all well.

For the youngest though, the teach your monster to read app is now free (usually £4.99). It is really good, and fun for the little ones. We bought it for DD back in Aug/Sep I think and it has really helped her with phonetics and reading. It will also offer you a half hours peace from youngest one.

DigForVictory

Thrifty, if you have a microfibre towel, it is near miraculous for drying after a bath.
Mum would dump salt in, so we were bathing in saline, pat us dry (no microfibre, itchy!) then splodge on calamine.
When my lads had it, I cheerfully used it to develop their maths - "I got three spots!" went up to 78 very quickly, but given he wasn't counting above 20 before, I seized the opportunity.... Blew that year's Christmas out of the water though! Plus that fortnight incubation?  My 3 lads took 6 weeks, plus recovery time! Be as gentle with yourself & them as possible. Plan a deep clean in March & just keep everyone else out (if covid & chickenpox don't)! Just so much better for them to have it Young ("childhood diseases" are the ones your immune system copes with better in childhood) than risk it later.
Write it in their red books, too? That record of all childhood immunisations etc so you can look up (if it isn't seared into long term memory) in years to come when you get the phone call "mum, have I had?"! That & their latest tetanus are pencilled into the lads passports, so they don't depend on my memory!

Thriftygifty

DS1 has woken up warm/borderline slight temp and a sore throat but not sure if the sore throat is a reaction to school work keeping a close eye on him, every little symptom that my children use to get and I would sweep under the carpet now turns into watching them like a hawk.  DS2 is now pickled in spots but playing I think tomorrow will be the challenging day, DS3 the baby only has a few spots I'm hoping he gets it mild as he can't have any antihistamines, he did wake up at 2am screaming, DH camped in the lounge with him so not to wake the others and give me a break. I hadn't thought to write in their red books thanks. Speaking of red books when I eventually get organised and set up a BOB I should put them in it. 

Thanks Eurronorris I did have teach your monster to read but switched phones and didn't want to pay for it. 

Hmmm OK well I will plan for power cut and keep my phone charged, as long as they aren't long term with the freezer we can cope. We did have a power cut just over a month ago for an hour for no reason I could tell. Thanks

mothernerd

Belated best wishes for Cornishchick and hugs for Thrifty (remember when they are poorly they sometimes revert to more baby toys - mum used to buy 'Mr Potato head' or fuzzy felt for children we knew when they were in hospital, my youngest was happy to sit watching cartoons all day - bought him his own tv with the insurance money as everyone was word perfect on the Superted episodes). We had 5 short power cuts one evening last week - just breaks in transmission really. The tv and lights came back on but every time it happens the burglar alarm goes off so I found it easier to sit at the table doing a jigsaw (only a few yards from the cupboard with the alarm) rather than attempt to sleep and have to stop my machine, take off the mask, shuffle across the bed, out of my room and thr

I'm not asking for medical advice more preps and precautions I can take (please make allowances as it's taken me 2 hours to take my morning pills - conflagration of various minor ailments ganging up on me). Mum is going to get her first dose of the vaccine on Friday    but I'm not old enough. Given that I'm already struggling to stay on my feet and my immune system is compromised, I'm planning to semi self isolate as much as possible given that we are in a small 2 bedroom bungalow. Ideas so far are
1)   Keep my own toiletries in a bag and take them into the bathroom with me and bring them out again afterwards (brought one of my own towels from home so I can use that).
2)   Be vigilant with mask hygiene (I use a CPAP machine at night). Clean the hose (weekly job) and change the filters (monthly) in the next two days. I could also bring the bowl I use for my mask into my room and add that to the things in my bathroom bag (could soak the mask in warm soapy water whilst I am washing and doing my teeth - it shouldn't soak for more than 10 minutes).
3)   Wipe the sink and toilet before and after use (I've been trying to do this but mum keeps moving them or hiding them because it's 'untidy' for them to be out on the worktop and the child lock on the bathroom cupboard traps my fingers and is very difficult when I've not got my glasses/ the right glasses on eg when I go in to wash myself in the mornings).
4)   Fill all my spare water bottles and take the water filter into my room (I finally treated myself to a soda stream with my present money so I've been saving a few 2 l bottles and resisting mum's attempts to use them for taking milk from hygienic unopened glass bottles and put them in plastic (I did buy 4 1 l bottles of milk months ago so that 'emergency' milk could be put in the freezer but she started moving milk through them so 'the milkman could have his bottles back).  
5)   More food prep. Did a batch cook using all the older veg on Monday as I felt ill and wanted to be sure we had food if I went worse (plan for the worst, be joyful when it doesn't happen). There are some half done things and I might be able to do a freezer shuffle - take some things out to use and freeze some others - another few days meal plan based on what's taking up most room in the freezer. Certainly need to do an audit of what is where (I have a fridge freezer in my room, bagged DS2's when he moved in with gf).
6)    Hope to do a thorough clean in the next two days including all the handles, light switches and door frames (we both hold onto them to get around the house at times). Think this is going to be a balancing act between getting it done and working so hard I end up in bed anyway. 

The new phone I ordered yesterday has arrived (asked about the new blood tests procedure when the doctor's receptionist phoned but we need a taxi to get back home and the public phone is at the entrance and we will be coming out in another place. I can try to do cleaning and other jobs when mum is in bed but any (preferably easy) ideas would be welcome. We have a good stock of tinned soup, beans, rice pudding and fruit and I've put more yoghurts on the order. I can make up a blancmange and a batch of defrosted berries in sugar free jelly. Wear a mask and gloves everywhere but in my room?

Thank you
     

[Deleted User]

I've always tried to make 'overlapping meals' partly to use up things that are left from one to be part of the next and partly to maximise fuel usage  when I'm cooking.  On Tuesday I made a batch of savoury mince with some of a pack I got last Friday in a Tesco delivery.  I used some over the weekend to make Bolognese and we had some of the savoury mince yesterday with a jacket potato and some steamed veg (I cook a weeks worth of Jackets all in one go and reheat them as we go, they keep well in the fridge) and today I shall use the leftover veg and a cooked jacket to make bubble and squeak to have with the rest of the mince.  I've made a big pan of red pepper and tomato soup today for a few days lunches and we'll have it with cold cooked sausages (I cooked 2 packs of low fat sausages in the oven when I did the jackets) and I've also done a pan of stewed apple for a few days puddings, today we'll have stewed apple and custard, tomorrow because there will be custard left I shall make apple fool and the day after as there will be apple left I shall crush up a couple of digestive biscuits and make a simple crumble with it. I find I use everything if I'm inventive and it saves fuel to cook big amounts at the same time, preferably all in the oven if possible to only have one heat source.  Hope that helps?

Thriftygifty

Have you all read the news about Scotland stopping click and collect? I am thinking England will follow suit as we normally do, if you need anything non essential get it now safely. This will be a huge blow to small businesses I feel for them all when they are trying their hardest to stay a float and in the gov process lining a rainforest company and supermarkets pockets. Based on this new info I won't have an income for a few months unless the gov have SE help again. 

VJsmum

Boazu - you are fortunate that you have the time to do all that as well as the fridge space to keep it all in and the allotment to provide.  With four adults in the house, my fridge is full a lot of the time just with day to day food, milk, cheese, yogurt, salad and veg.  i couldn't possibly fit all that stuff in as well.  Those who work full time and have a family to care for also would not be able to do so, so you are really lucky.  Also those in poor health would struggle.  I'm also curious as to how you keep the mince fresh for that long?  Does it keep for that amount of time in the fridge or do you freeze it?

Jack Monroe did a range of foods for those who are poorly but still want to eat as well as possible -  I think it's on her website.  

Floss

@mothernerd could you keep your antibac wipes in your room & take them in & out of the bathroom with you? 

[Deleted User]

I'm retired after a working life except for when the family were younger not lucky at all, we worked hard for what we have, made choices that meant we didn't have all the holidays, possessions, indulgences  and perks that others chose to have and in retirement continue to work at what we can to make our lives as good as we can into older age.  It's not fortune that's put us where we are it's our jointly made decisions and priorities throughout life and being prepared to live a very different lifestyle to many of our peers.  We don't and never have had debt that's a choice, we've always been content with a quiet life and have never wanted the glitz and high life and we've always been prepared to roll our sleeves up to do the physical work it's something we both enjoyed (and still both do) and that's a choice too that many people don't want and that's their choice. Luck plays no part in where we are today.

I split my mince into smaller portions and freeze it normally, the mince I used on Tuesday came on Saturday with a use by date of 12th January and was perfectly OK to leave in the fridge in its packaging until I cooked it, it was also in a zip lock bag to make sure it stayed fresh.  We have a small storeroom here and have shelved it floor to ceiling giving us the room to store our supplies and I'm also lucky to have floor to ceiling cupboards in the upper part of the kitchen which also take the home made goods again, our choice to live this lifestyle which is the same as we did when we were a family of 4 and the girls were younger and they were part of the growing, making and preserving.  No one else has to follow but it's a good life if anyone does, both the girls while having professional careers also grow and make and preserve and their children enjoy helping in the same way as they did when they were small and get the joy from learning new skills

I shouldn't have to defend our choices to anyone but we've worked hard and now have a good if unconventional life as we age.

Nargleblast

When cooking minced beef with the intention of making it into two different meals, it is a good idea to save fuel and time by cooking it all at once into a generic savoury mince mixture. Half can be used for that day's meal, the other half stored in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer till needed. Obviously if kept in the fridge it would need using up within a couple of days. Not only do you save fuel and time, it is also safer from a food safety point of view. Regardless of the use by date on the packet, once the pack is opened the protective layer is compromised and the raw meat starts to deteriorate.