What have done towards your prep?

[Mortblanc]

Would you believe that I have a 6-24x50 varmint scope on that little rifle?

It have put thousands of rounds off the back porch since I got that rifle and have quite a target array set up at 25m with flip up disks and a metal squirrel that has a 1" center target that resets with a second hit. Also have some metal spinners 1"x1" that dance around nicely when hit. big 2'x4' metal plate that I spray paint and then draw a bunch of Xs on to just shoot for groups. I do not think the neighbors can even hear the thing.

In these times of isolation and wondering about the food supply it seems a reassuring thing to have.

I hear that robin and ramen noodles makes a good meal!

[Straight Shooter]

sowed a sixteen foot row of broad beans today, going to make a rabbit hutch and hen house next week ……..planted some tubs with garlic , come in for a coffee and a look on here ……..back to it for a bit more therapy .

[Mortblanc]

I saw a problem that needed a fix early today, grabbed the drill and a bit of wood to take care of the situation.

Removed the old bit of wood that needed replacement and found the homeowners worst nightmare, water intrusion to the interior!

I had a leaking window that allowed water to run down the interior of the outside wall until it soaked the floor and rotted a large section of the floor out along the wall. About 30cm x 1m.

I spent the entire day tearing out bad wood and replacing it with new.

It would not have been a real big deal under normal circumstances but all of the lumber supply stores and repair centers are shut down and I am well into the self isolation run and do not want to push the reset button. Our area is right in the middle of the infection peak and they are expecting the wave of cases to appear in 2 weeks.

I fortunately have a supply of 2x4 and plywood sheets which my friends have advised me to throw away for years. All that "clutter" is now considered supplies.

I'll get this finished up tomorrow. This kind of work makes an old man tired.

[MaryN]

For those of us lucky to have a garden, the only thing is to keep planting seeds and hoping they come up in time. I did a tour round the larder over the weekend and have a bucketful of sprouting potatoes to plant - no idea what sort they are, but they will grow and provide food. We have a large pile of well rotted horse manure so I have started to spread that anywhere that looks hungry. I don't think I have wasted a scrap of food - normal for us anyway - someone or something eats everything. The chickens are laying well on grits and scraps; cats are ratting happily around the compost heaps, and my fruit orchard is sprouting away, encouraged by lavish amounts of manure. If there was something else I could do I would do it. As this is normal behaviour in my household, I am trying not to feel too threatened by everything going on around us, but it's getting difficult. I have asked OH to dig a moat - he's not keen, but I'm working on it!

[Talon]

Ah water ingress is the bane of my life Mort. I'm planning on repointing my partners house this summer. If i'd seen this coming I could have picked up some scaffolding from work and had the ideal time to do it.Unfortunately I didn't think my work would close.So instead of being in Scotland with home cooking and repointing I'm in Durham.Ah well I'm trying to use this time to test my preps and supplies.The shops are open still but I'm experimenting with rationing what I have.So far it's fine and I've come to the conclusion that a good selection of spices cannot be understated, and chilli powder is absolutely essential.
The social isolation aspect is ok for me ,well apart from missing my partner.I can't do my usual shooting sports but I've rediscovered the simple pleasures of the slingshot and I use my daily woods walk to practice .Good fun and the fundamentals of shooting apply just the same.
Other than that I'm using my spare time to learn Annies song on the guitar.I'm trying my hand at walking stick making, and the allotments a godsend. I can spend most of my day pottering in there.
I'm worried about the mortgage if this goes on too long like millions of others.That's probably the only real worry I have so I can't really complain.

[Straight Shooter]

Just ordered some more seeds , including Kentucky wonder pole beans ( gonna munch like Mort ) .

[MaryN]

I have been using the lockdown time to review my preparations. It has been a useful exercise. By and large I am quite pleased with my situation, but it has thrown up a few areas to review. One of those is lack of variety in stored goods, and I shall remedy that when circumstances allow. I have also taken the opportunity to unpack, defrost and reassess the contents of my freezers, and that has been an eyeopener. I have been able to bring to the top the older packs of food and to reorganise the various items in a more logical manner. That is going to save me a bit of time when looking for something, and I now know what to restock.

On the non-food side of things, we have taken the opportunity to clear out and restock our log store. After months of chucking anything burnable into the store, it was time to do a stockcheck and restack everything in the various sizes needed. We do have central heating here, but there is no point in heating an entire house when we tend to mainly occupy a couple of rooms. We have a logburner and an open fire, and they provide our main heating over winter. We normally burn from Sept/Oct to March/April, depending on the weather. So, we have decided now is the time to start thinking about getting the next year's wood in. There has been a big demand in this area for well-dried wood due to the popularity of logburners, and the best time to get the wood in is the end of the season. We have contacts.

So, we may be stuck on the property, but there is masses of useful stuff to do. So far, so good - fingers crossed.

[Straight Shooter]

Although we have plenty of flour, I am being told that its hard to get hold of in the local supermarkets ? so I had a look on Amazon and Ebay …..I could not believe the prices I had to do a triple take ! sooooooooo I dig out the grinder and took out one 4 kilo bag of wheat grain (mylar with oxy ) packed in 2013 and ground a kilo (took me three passes) to get it fine enough its now sitting on the work top proving up , I will bake it off tonight ……..I will let you know how it turns out .

[Mortblanc]

That is exactly why you bought that stuff and packed it away back during the Myan apocolipse SS. Use it for what it was intended and enjoy every bite!

This is the emergency they all said would never happen, and if it did the government would take care of us.

In my case, the food is out there, the supply chain has not broken and the major stores are well stocked and the small ones also. prices are normal and fuel prices are down by 1/3 ($2 per U.S. gal/that would be one pound per 4 liters). After the first panic buy things leveled out here.

I am not going out to buy anything at this point. This is because we are at the high point of the predicted infection peak, which is supposed to be followed in 2 weeks by the wave of cases tested and reported.

If I were 30 I would not care, 30 year olds are not dying.

Just think, if I lived in a third world country where the life span was 53-56 I would not be here to worry about it.

[Straight Shooter]

Well ......it turned out ok , brown bread, a bit heavy , I made the loaf in a Dutch oven......wild child will make HER loaf in a bit , in a different way to mine.

All this is about is just a test of seven year old grain and will it make a reasonably good bread , I made toast with two slices and eat the crust end ....all with some butter and strawberry jam , to be honest ,I countdowns not fault the taste and I quite enjoyed the bread my only criticism I should have left it prove for longer.....will not make that mistake again...I will now mill the rest of the bag......I can now pick things up off the floor without bending or stooping.