What Preps are you doing this week? Part 7.

[jansman]

I told Mrs J about this thread. She reckons that you need to get on YouTube to find out about sewing machine problems. She is a dab hand with them, ( did it for a living at one time) and says a picture is worth a thousand words.

[Le Mouse]

I told Mrs J about this thread. She reckons that you need to get on YouTube to find out about sewing machine problems. She is a dab hand with them, ( did it for a living at one time) and says a picture is worth a thousand words.

Definitely! I've had to download the manual because I've lost my paper version. There's a short mention about a needle threader and that it will be explained on the next page. It is not. A quick Google and choosing a youtube video has explained everything to me! I'm guessing I googled it the first time round too!

I'm finding doing something practical like sewing is helping my mental health no end at the minute. I must keep it up when this whole virus malarkey is over.

Finally been allowed to make a Sainsburys account so have been ordering and checking against my imminent Tesco order for what's available and what's cheaper. Both orders arriving Sunday. Replacing stores, plus stocking up.

[GillyBee]

I agree with Forgecorvus about making sure the needle is in the right way round. It goes a different way in each of the 3 machines I use.
I too have an old Frister and Rissman handcrank. Do you have trouble getting the right needles?
(Mine was a joke present after t'other half saw it down the recycling centre and remembered promising to get me a sewing machine to replace my 1985 F&R.)
In the end I machined out the needle holder with a Dremel to take a modern industrial needle as the old ones were unobtainium.

[cbp125]

I am blessed with a very experianced sewing centre near me, which not only stocks all of the parts, but can service and repair them all as well, Ashford Sewing Centre if it helps

[jansman]

This week my car will be serviced and MOT too. Mrs J ‘s car next week. We never let vehicles go where that’s concerned. My neighbour just dropped off an entire willow tree on the front, so it’s a good job the chainsaws are ready to go.

Got salad, kale , Pak Choi, and nasturtiums to put out, and the garden is looking good.Spuds are growing strongly. Mrs J is busy making face masks for family and friends, as there is a possibility that wearing them may be a pre condition of lockdown relaxation. She wants to be ahead of the game. I never cease to marvel at the speed she works. As she said, 30 odd years ago she was working piece-rate machining shoe vamps. She was making £300 a week then, and that was real money in the late 80’s. They were the days.

Got a phone call from a mate of mine in the next village. He has not worked since the lockdown and is on his knees financially. He offered me a couple of shotguns ( .410 and a 16 bore- both Italian- very nice), as he needs some cash quickly. I gave him what he asked, and it was reasonable. I have promised him that I will not sell them on for two years. If he wants them back, just pay me what I paid. He knows I am a man of my word. Tough times.

10 gallons of home brew to deal with and red cabbage and cauliflower to pickle. That’ll do for this week.

[Yorkshire Andy]

This week my car will be serviced and MOT too. Mrs J ‘s car next week.

My mot interval got extended until October but it's booked in for the last Saturday this month.. whilst I'm handy with the spanners I'm not an MOT man and would rather it be safe and sound . . I serviced it the Saturday before lockdown so I know it's ok but another set of eyes will only hurt the wallet


MOT chap says he's riding it out as once this 6 month extension expires he's going to be raking it in in terms of failure rate and repairs to pass .. he says the 12 monthly is bad enough with the failure rate in terms of sheds on the road.....




I've added another full face respirator to the stockpiles bit of a bargain as it's a brand new scba mask of the sabre brand £10 for a replacement inlet assembly and 5 minutes (6 screws and a "hose clip") and I've got a mask worth £150 for £35 which will take the euro 40mm filter canisters joys of once up on a time chatting to a rep.... And him saying about them been modular. That will then be the whole family with a mask a piece... There's a large chemical factory not a million miles from home if the winds in the right direction so won't harm to be prepared incase it "goes up"

[jansman]

My mechanic says if folk take the 6 month MOT ‘holiday’ there will be such a bottleneck in October that they will fall foul of the law. The stations will not be able to process so many.

[Decaff]

Today I did a bulk order of basmati rice, long grain rice, and a big tub of chives. Next month I will bulk buy dried beans, kidney and chickpeas are two of my staples and then I can can my own for the pantry cupboard. Got a few jars to keep me going but I'm not happy to have lower stocks of my staples especially the way things are right now. Also got another big bag of red lentils and split peas. Keeping on top of things as soon as they are opened so always got plenty in, working on the 2 is 1 way of thinking.

[grenfell]

My mechanic says if folk take the 6 month MOT ‘holiday’ there will be such a bottleneck in October that they will fall foul of the law. The stations will not be able to process so many.

My van originally had its mot in march but following someone running into me it had to have one in the july , category S . I'm always busy in july but have a little more leeway to have the van off the road in the earlier months so bit the bullet and booked it in February which of course meant i lost around five months but in hindsight of the current situation i'm thinking it was a good move not that i can say it was planned to work like that.

[jansman]

My mechanic says if folk take the 6 month MOT ‘holiday’ there will be such a bottleneck in October that they will fall foul of the law. The stations will not be able to process so many.

My van originally had its mot in march but following someone running into me it had to have one in the july , category S . I'm always busy in july but have a little more leeway to have the van off the road in the earlier months so bit the bullet and booked it in February which of course meant i lost around five months but in hindsight of the current situation i'm thinking it was a good move not that i can say it was planned to work like that.

I reckon ( talking to the mechanic) you did make the right decision.He was adamant about how busy it will be.He said that another problem will be that so many drivers will need to get a ticket,that regulars like me,who ring and say" Brian,got a problem", and he just says, " Drop it off,be done tomorrow ", will not be able to.

Mind you,it's going to be the same with hairdressing and,more importantly,dentistry.I have a problem,but Mrs J is desperate to see our dentist.