Second wave

[Little Lou]

Good question, SS.

I've done all right so far, but have made several really amateur mistakes I'm now trying to put right.

The biggest is that I didn't own a chest freezer. Stupid of me, but I'd somehow always assumed a freezer would only be useful at the start of an event (while there's still power) and had never realized how essential it would be as an ongoing tool. I found it out this time when getting food deliveries with several items on the same short date, ie when I needed to freeze half my weekly shop just in order to get through the week without breaking into my prepping supplies. In a real event I now realize it would be even more important - eg when harvesting more fruit and veg than I can reasonably eat or preserve, or even if we had to kill an animal and had more meat than it was practical to store.
I've solved the immediate problem by buying a bigger freezer, but for long term I'm now looking to find a really quiet generator so I can keep a freezer going even when the power is off.

There've been little mistakes too. For instance, I never guessed how quickly ordinary people would latch onto the need to bake their own bread, and how difficult it would be to replenish my stores of yeast and strong bread flour. I also found out that those big sacks aren't really as practical as I'd hoped, as I take so long to get through them with just two of us that it's hard to keep the rest fresh.
I've solved the immediate problem by replenishing and increasing my stocks of flour and yeast, but I'm now aiming at getting more of the smaller bags and fewer of the sacks, and trying to find reliable ways of keeping them good. Would vacuum packing work? Should I invest in one of those little machines?

Most importantly, I think I underestimated people's reactions - both the good and the bad. The 'rallying round' phase seems to be over now, and we're starting to see some of the real desperation showing, which is making me think more and more about security. If the second wave looks bad, then I'm looking to bug out up to the country, where I have very reliable neighbours, and some really good (and 100% trustworthy) friends who own shotguns...