What Preps are you doing this week? Part 13

[Peter]

I too am on BP medication, Perindopril, 6mg a day, a 4mg and a 2mg, strictly a 28 day prescription doctor
sends straight to the pharmacy no chance of getting it earlier.

Over time I have increased my stock by missing out the 2 mg tablet 2 or 3 times a week, making sure I check
my BP a couple of times a week.

Hawthorn berries are very good for lowering BP, collect and carefully dry them for Hawthorn Tea, You can
also get hawthorn extract capsules, and garlic is good too.

[GeeGee]

I cant have hawthorn unfortunately as I have vonwillebrands..no factorr V111 in my blood so it doesn't clot similar to haemophilia and hawthorn and beetroot juice thins blood ..my luck !
There was a national shortage of DDAVP that kind of ended in 2025 there's more than before but still having manufacturing issues (desmopressin to help clot blood and stop bleeding )
I spent months trying not to cut myself or bruise anything .. always covered in bruises anyhow due to no clotting factor but it was hairy for a while the health authorities are still monitoring the ddavp situation
Good job I wasn't in the car really when it got written off or I would have been written off too depending on which hospital I was taken to... not all keep it or can get it
I've taken it for granted I suppose... I can put a prescription in and get it or go straight to hospital and have the blood clotting ddavp if I'm in trouble
Plan b needs to be arranged.

[jennyjj01]

Only a small prep this week, I guess: I harvested the Spuds and Onions on my allotment. Trug full of spuds of all shapes and sizes and a carrier bag of fair sized onions. Much better than last year's yield, when blight hit the spuds and the onions just died.
I'd feared allium leaf miner, which I also suffered last year, but somehow, I've escaped it this year.

I'm continuing to nurture what's left of my tree onions.

Now, Time to sow some carrots, cauli and turnips?

[GeraldTheBonzai]

I am a happy bunny.

Popped into our local Guildcare, just for a nose.
Complete 40 pint brewing kit - used once by the look of it. Just checked it and its totally complete. £5
25 litre water container - plastic. Tap on front. Looks unused. £10.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

Winter wood ordered. Gone up a size. Normally get a full load in the autumn then a top up after xmas. Last winter, most of the log suppliers down here ran out, so wasnt able to get a topup. As such, wood store is lower than I would like.

[grenfell]

Only a small prep this week, I guess: I harvested the Spuds and Onions on my allotment. Trug full of spuds of all shapes and sizes and a carrier bag of fair sized onions. Much better than last year's yield, when blight hit the spuds and the onions just died.

I cleared one potato bed recently. To be fair most of them weren't that big but were otherwise fine. Haven't touched the onions and leaks yet. Decent harvest of soft fruits that are still coming , wife made a load of jam this week. Runner beans are slow and the bed of Jerusalem artichokes looks to be suffering in the dry weather.

[Frnc]

Booked my annual boiler service for early September.

Next door's getting their roof re-slated about the same time. They have to take one or two off my side, so I'm praying there's no heavy rain. Unlikely to be an issue.

Reviewed my finances. Have saved a bit. I've not actually moved any into my savings account(s) recently, but I will do nearer to the end of the month.

[jennyjj01]

A financial prep/gamble.

My energy price fix comes to an end at the End of August, coinciding with the end of my part time job.

So, I've selected and applied my price fix to start from the day after.

Opted for a two year fix at £20 or about 11% more per month than I was paying for the last twelve months.

OUCH, but it's a survivable cost alongside my fairly unchangeable income.

I'm taking a whole day off work next week SOLELY to work through finances looking to cut costs and increase savings income. E.g. cancelling some wasteful subscriptions and consolidating ISA's and SIPPS

[Frnc]

A financial prep/gamble.

My energy price fix comes to an end at the End of August, coinciding with the end of my part time job.

So, I've selected and applied my price fix to start from the day after.

Opted for a two year fix at £20 or about 11% more per month than I was paying for the last twelve months.

OUCH, but it's a survivable cost alongside my fairly unchangeable income.

I'm taking a whole day off work next week SOLELY to work through finances looking to cut costs and increase savings income. E.g. cancelling some wasteful subscriptions and consolidating ISA's and SIPPS

Is a good idea. I'm on a fix too. I've just upped my DD a bit actually, to cover the portable AC. Obviously I don't know if there'll be any more heatwaves this year. Three is enough.

Another think you can do is keep track of what you spend on groceries etc. I have a spreadsheet for that, and another for current account, savings accounts, loans, how much I still have to pay on bills and how much of groceries budget is left. It gives me an overview of where I am, and how much I expect to have saved (or overspent) this month. Obviously the second spreadsheet has data from the groceries one. The groceries also has a column for whisky and another for household expenses. Latter is things like clothes, not major jobs like a new roof.

[Frnc]

Swapped out 4 x 5 litres water.

First I run bath cold tap for a few minutes in case of legionella.
Then:
1. Empty old
2. Fill and drop in 1 Milton
3. Leave 15 mins
4. Turn on side and leave another 15.
5. You can loosen top, let a bit dribble out. Sterilises the threads.
6. Refill, add 1 Oasis.
7. Let dry, cover with black bin bag.

These 5l ones are good because they fit under the bed. Others are 10l, bit too tall for that, so they go here and there, some on book cases or shelving, some in or to the side of a wardrobe.