2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Cherryfudge said:

The coat sounds like a good investment, Pip, and a planned one at that. 

Oh no! to the moth - is there any damage?

Fortunately no visible damage @Cherryfudge.   

I must confess that I am considerably p—ed off by the shrinkage of the swatch, which is why it took so many years before I did do the finishing. ( The yarn wasn’t great either. ). However the colour will work well with several of my suits.  And I really liked the pattern.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

I hate to break it to you but putting it in the freezer for a few weeks won't kill any moth eggs...! Freezing *can* kill moths, moth larvae and moth eggs but only if it's a commercial deep-freeze made for such purposes and freezing considerably colder than the average domestic deep-freeze! Also, it's not the freezing that kills them but the thawing, so a cycle of repeated freeze-thaw-freeze is what's done for conservation work. 

The better option is simple daylight, which degrades the 'glue' the eggs are attached with- so put the garment outside in daylight (I usually put it on a coathanger and peg the hook to the line) and let it get thoroughly daylighted for several hours, then turn it inside out and do the same; hang it upside-down if it's got bits that would otherwise be shaded completely. That way any eggs drop off into garden where they are harmless. It doesn't need to be full sunlight, just daylight is enough. 

Alternatively, put it all in a large box or bag, spray in some insecticidal "space-spray" and leave it sealed for an hour or so. 

But although the internet is filled with people telling you to freeze things to kill moths and larvae and eggs, it won't kill the eggs and not necessarily the larvae (!)... 

MrsCD

I've always wondered about that, Laura. I also wonder if 'bugs' and viruses survive really cold winters, too. Do they just hibernate?

Sarahspangles

MrsCD said:

I've always wondered about that, Laura. I also wonder if 'bugs' and viruses survive really cold winters, too. Do they just hibernate?

I know some viruses are killed by cold and dry air, but they only need to hitch a ride on/in a human to get back inside and continue spreading. The amount we mingle then determines how many cases there are.

Gem-gem

Good evening everyone, 
I am just catching up on a month's worth of posts and have just got to 28 May. @PipneyJane, I am so pleased to hear about your news. I am so happy for you. 

Also, I loved the ladybird buttons on the baby cardigan.
i have one spend to report - a new pair of loafers. 5 coupons. This was one of my planned purchases for this year. Luckily, Mum and Dad are giving them to me as a birthday present, that is later this month, so no money spent. 41/66 25 left.

PipneyJane

Thanks @Gem-gem.  

@Laura_Elsewhere - thank you for the excellent advice, which I will follow once we get back home.  (We’re off to the Kent coast for a few days with DS and BIL.).   I did have a vague memory that a domestic freezer wouldn’t get sufficiently cold, but acted on a “well, it’s better than nothing” basis.

- Pip

Sarahspangles

PipneyJane said:

I did have a vague memory that a domestic freezer wouldn’t get sufficiently cold, but acted on a “well, it’s better than nothing” basis.

At least it’s somewhere the moffs can’t get!

Liverpool_Anne

hi all, on the subject of viruses and bacteria surviving cold

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/guest-blog/colder-than-ice-researchers-discover-how-microbes-survive-in-subfreezing-conditions/#:~:text=Research has shown that microbes can continue metabolic,subfreezing temperatures of -40 o C and below.

Laura_Elsewhere

It definitely depends on which microbes- some can not only survive but thrive in the very deepest depths of the ocean, in pitch-black and very cold conditions, others are happiest astonishingly close to the lip of active volcanoes!

I have to say, one thing I learnt (to my surprise) from the pandemic was WHY all those books we read as kids kept on having grown-ups tell children "it's nearly tea-time- go and wash your hands!" and when children came in from being out, they always came in and washed their hands... it's a habit I've more or less kept, just washing my hands when I come into the flat, on the grounds that the Outside World has a wider range of unfamiliar pathogens than the Inside World of the flat does But doesn't it just show how lucky we all are, to have grown up when most infections were treatable, mostly curable? Now we're back in the pre-war state of having serious disease that can't *necessarily* be cured by meds, so all those old-fashioned ideas like washing your hands when you come in, and washing your hands before eating, are a useful habit once again! 

I made some jam tarts yesterday, and I've left a few in the Oxo tin there. I'm pretty sure that wretched Scamp can't get that tin open like he learnt to with the old tin!  Help yourselves!

Sarahspangles

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I have to say, one thing I learnt (to my surprise) from the pandemic was WHY all those books we read as kids kept on having grown-ups tell children "it's nearly tea-time- go and wash your hands!" and when children came in from being out, they always came in and washed their hands... it's a habit I've more or less kept, just washing my hands when I come into the flat, on the grounds that the Outside World has a wider range of unfamiliar pathogens than the Inside World of the flat does But doesn't it just show how lucky we all are, to have grown up when most infections were treatable, mostly curable? Now we're back in the pre-war state of having serious disease that can't *necessarily* be cured by meds, so all those old-fashioned ideas like washing your hands when you come in, and washing your hands before eating, are a useful habit once again! 

In my current Woman from the Ministry job one of the things I’ve heard a lot about is the importance of dilution. That’s the point of hand washing, window-opening and most cleaning. We can outrun viruses if we only have a small number in our systems, and won’t get food poisoning from a few bad bacteria, it’s only when they’ve multiplied they’re a problem.

A senior Man from the Ministry recently told me we’re now all doing our bit for the War Effort by catching Covid, because it’s helping the less severe strains spread and over time this will suppress the nasty ones. Only those whose immune systems may not be effective need to have the extra protection from vaccines. It’s quite hard to sell this to people!