Previous thread continued.
http://www.fluwikie2.com/pmwiki.php?n=Forum.FindingOtherPreppersArkansas
Thanks for the new thread Aunt Bee, Sure am glad you joined us here.
You had ask about my preps. Well I have enough for a 4 adults for 9–10 months I believe. Not that much water but I do have a small Doulton filter and a tea kettle for boiling. We have a small stream that passes below our house. Hate to drink that water as I know it to have Giardia and other beasties but…If it gets really bad than better dirty water than no water. Food is all over my house- in closets, pantry, garage, crawlspace, under bed and oh, kitchen cabinets. Most of my preps expire next year so I will have a tough time if BF does not come here for several more years. We still have to get a few things that I have saved for but will wait untill this fall to aquire. Propane, new grill, plywood for some windows, solar and battery array for CPAP and one last trip to Sam’s club. The thing I am most concerned about is my CPAP. I stop breathing 130 time an hour ( yes 2 times a minute), so it is very important. You would be surprised how crabby I can get after a few days with no sleep:-))). My son and hubby have decided that no matter what the cost we have to have something to help me breath and sleep. They want me to be nice if we have to SIP for months at a time! The problem with reading this and other forums is that so many people have such good ides that I keep wanting more and more preps. Black out curtains for instance. We will see. Thanks again for starting a new thread Aunt Bee. Any other thoughts out there in the home of the Razorbacks?
Your welcome PBQ. I’m glad someone posted this site on another forum.
I have a long way to go to be as prepared as you but I’m working on it. I’ve thought a lot about water too and have started saving all my bleach bottles for cleaning and washing water. I do this every winter anyway. My cousins close to Memphis and the fault line were told that an empty bleach bottle has just enough residual bleach to keep drinkng water safe for a long time. I keep all kinds of bottles and I get teased but will disinfect those and fill with drinking water if things start looking serious. We have a well and a pur filter on our kitchen faucet and a natural spring on our property so I feel a little better about the water situation but plan to stock up all I can after that ice storm in 2000. I bottle all my own drinking water anyway because I don’t like the taste of store bought. Our swimming hole stays clean through most of the summer because of the springs feeding into it so we will have that as back up for bathing and cleaning. My boys and nephews are all grown but there are still a few of them that bathe in the creek in the spring and summer along with my father when he’s been mowing and it’s extra hot…he rides his lawn mower over LOL.
I asked DH about the CPAP machine and he says to find out how many amps it draws per hour. He thinks that a solar cell and a deep cycle battery with a coverter to convert your DC back to AC might work depending on how many amps it uses…hope I got all that right. He’s not familar with a CPAP…well he knows what it is but has never seen one to know much about how many amps they might use or how they actually work. He’s one of those electronical kind of guys. You may have already investigated that route…if so, I’ll see if he has any more ideas.
I know about wanting more and more but I’ve got to get the food and meds taken care of first and then I’m going for the extras.
Aunt Bee thanks for the new thread.
PBQ wish I was that prepared.
You will be this prepared. It just takes time. I think we will have at least a few months perhaps a year or more. I have noticed that at least with me it is becoming an addiction. I swear that I am going to the store to buy only what we need NOW. And somehow several cans of chicken with an experation date of 2008 end up in my cart. They are not on sale it just seems that a little more can’t hurt??!! Next month however we are taking a huge pay decrease as DH is going from full time to part time teaching. Not his choice but the college is downsizing subjects he teaches. I feel good about what we already have but we are going to be using some of our preps this fall to cut back on expenses. I guess I will have to overcome my addiction! Anyway- little by little and you will get what you need.
DH will be working on the specifics of my CPAP in July. He will figure out what we need to run it but if he has any questions can my DH post to your DH Aunt Bee? Is yours a electrician or engineer? Thanks for thinking of me and my sleep and asking your DH about it. You are a sweetie!
Arklatex you are welcome :).
PBQ my DH is an elctronic technician among other things but mainly he’s one of those guys that is very inventive and always looking for a better way to build a mouse trap and can fix about anything or figure out a way to make things work. We rarely get new stuff because he’s always fixing things one more time…until I put my foot down LOL. He would be glad to help in any way he can when your DH gets ready to work on your CPAP. I’m also worrying about my mother’s oxygen and will be getting DH to start thinking about that but at least we have a generator on our ancient motor home and she has several portable canisters that do not require electric. Still it would be nice to have the elecric one if we weren’t able to get the canisters refilled.
I did an estimate of what it would take to get everything on my “have to have list” and “really need to have but could get by without” and it totaled about $5000…yikes! I didn’t deduct what I’ve already got of that inventory but still it is a lot and it doesn’t include anything like solar cells but I was aiming for 9–12 months worth. I’m trying to pay as I go so I do understand the $$$ situation.
Yes it is expensive to prep. Buying what you think you might need a year from now for 6 months is daunting and requires quite an outlay of cash. I have hidden cash for my last trip to Sam’s and have paid cash for everything. However if BF doesn’t hit untill 2008 or later we may need to put a thousand or so on the credit card if I can’t save up enough to replinish our stocks. Since it has a 0 balance it is not too big a deal but I hate to use it. On the other hand I would hate to starve even more.
It must be nice to have a handy hubby. My guy is smart but not handy. We were all so proud when he changed the batteries in the flashlight last year. And it turned on the first try!
I will also resort to the credit card if I reach my tipping point and don’t feel I have enough of the necessities. I feel better now that I’ve made myself a goal to aim for.
Yes a handy hubby is nice but he can’t even boil water…or won’t LOL.
I feel good about what we have and will be cleaning out one cupboard today and tossing the expired stuff. You will get there, a little at a time. I am not buying anymore food items with an experation date of sooner then fall 2008, unless I know I will use them right away.
A couple of years ago I was in bed for almost a month and H didn’t know how to wash pots and pans. You can imagine what the kitchen (and house) looked like when I got up. He knows now and how to turn on the dishwasher too!
Hello Ya’ll, been canning this weekend. Have canned 14 Qts chicken broth, 12 pints chicken, 7 qts potatoes, 10 pints butter, with the 36 pints HB and 13 pints plum jam last week. I am trying to get one of my freezers cleaned out so I have some extra room.
Our house is on the market, I don’t know what I’m going to do when it sells.
PBQ I have a pretty good idea how the kitchen looked LOL. I’m checking the expiration dates too and am also going for 2008. I am working on a new pantry so that I can do a better job of rotating. I’ve never kept this much food before so I’m getting a little overwhelmed already. Just picture sacks of groceries in our bedroom…a rotating nightmare.
Arklatex I’m in awe and I’ve got to learn to do that. You are inspiring me. Well I hope your house sells soon…before you have more preps to move but I bet it’s gonna be a job. Are you just moving to a different house or another part of the country?
Arklatex, How do you can all that and still have your house in pristine shape? You must be wonderwoman! OMG! Yea, where are you moving? To a house with a large pantry and 2 small bedrooms? :-) That is what out house looks like now. Well, really it looks like one big pantry if you open any closets or cupboards. What is the housing market like where you live? It is slowing down here in NW AR. It was a wild ride for a while though.
How wonderful to find this forum! I have literally been sitting here glued to my laptop…trying to learn as much as I can from y’all. I live in SW Arkansas -Lafayette County to be specific — and began “prepping” about six months ago. We began by buying a little extra each time we went to Sam’s. It was almost as if we wanted to keep it low key so that no one would consider us “alarmists.” (While I’ve always kept a little “disaster” kit, this is my first venture into the world of preparing for the long term. I scoffed at the Y2K scare and had the following in my Y2K kit: one candle (unscented), one Bic lighter, one jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and extra batteries for the remote control.) Then one day, a close friend in Tennessee mentioned that he and his wife were making basic preparations…just in case. As he said, our kids and grandkids are “too busy” to prepare so it’s likely that they will depend on us. We live in the country and have ample room to house everyone. Needless to say, the realization that they’ll be coming home for safety and for an extended time spurred us on. Every trip to Sam’s or WalMart now includes purchases toward future use. I travel 10 months out of the year so I haven’t begun the canning, hydrating efforts but after reading this forum, my next purchase will be a hydrator. I will tell you that I, too, find myself peeking into fellow shoppers’ baskets and I get the feeling that the population of “preppers” is growing.
We have encouraged our children to begin preparations necessary to get them safely to us….in good health. We are still preparing accomodations for the new arrivals that will keep them separate and apart from us until they’re proven “flu-free.” It became evident that we had to address storage space so we had a large storage building built on our property.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to share your valuable information. I feel like I have so much left to do.
BigPiney, Glad to have you here. Arklatex is from your area. Most of us are in the northern part of the state but very much welcome you real southerners. I think I am from the south untill I go farther south!
It sounds from your post that you have quite and bit and have put lots of thought into this. Good for you! How many children do you have? Do they live close by? Keep posting and keep prepping!
Welcome BigPiney. As you can tell from the threads, I’m a newbie here myself but not to prepping…just never knew there was a name for what I’ve done for years on a smaller scale.
I was just like you when I found this place and was even more excited to find I wasn’t the only person in Arkansas doing this.
These folks are very inspirational and now I must learn to can something other than relish and jam and there is a dehydrator on my list of needful things.
BigPiney-Welcome to the forum. I’m from Miller Co. Its good to know that there are other preppers close by.
If you are interested in a good dehydrator Gander Mountain has the excaliber brand, Have been very happy with mine. It has the 5 trays and sometimes I wish I had purchased a larger one.
How many people are you prepping for?? We are prepping for 4 adults and three children 3,2, 7mo.
PBQ—If we sell our house we are going to live in our Fifth Wheel for awhile. My DH keeps asking me where I’m going to put the BF closet if we have to move. DD is going to have to make a place in her house or we will rent an air conditioned storage unit until we decide where we are living. I think we are going to build on our land. We are going to have Master bedroom, craft room and a food storage room. If we have company someone will stay in the fifth wheel.
It is a challenge to can and keep everything clean, but I am doing my best. We just listed with realtor, have had it in the paper for several weeks, lots of calls. I cann’t wait until someone wants to look at it and I have a canner full. I hope the housing market is still strong enough to sell our home. Will keep you posted.
You are brave Arklatex. It takes almost a year to build a home here. How fabulous for you to have a craft room and a food storage room! Most of us can only dream of that. We only have 1 extra bedroom. Really we just have 3 rooms. Our house is beautiful as we are on a golf course and it is 2400 sq. ft. But our living/dining/kitchen/office is one large room looking at our great view. Master bedroom and guest room. that’s it! 3 rooms. I don’t think you are supposed to count bathrooms but I really don’t know. A food storage room and craft room, big sigh, how wonderful for you!
Where did you get The Gander M. dehydrator? I bought one that they have at Wal Mart and have been pleased with it. But I love to dry and vacum seal so much that if I have to get another dehydrator I would look into getting a really good one even though $$$ is tight right now.
Oh I forgot to tell you - we are prepping for 4 adults. I have enough for us for 9 months or so I think. I really need to organize more to really figure it out. It is such a daunting task. I just can’t seem to make myself do it.
PBQ-we have a Gander Mountain in Texarkana, they sell Excaliber brand dehydrators. They are a commercial brand, I purchased a 5 tray in March. We love it. My only problem is, I wish I had purchased the 9 tray instead. My DD and SIL want one, I think I’m going to purchase one for them for their birthdays, the 5 tray, if they would like the larger one, they can return and get the bigger one.
I have a large craft room in my home now,a large kitchen, lots of cabinets, and a very large yard, that we don’t want anymore.
I will definitely visit Gander Mountain. My husband says that this prepping seems to be satisfying my shopping desire and for a worthwhile purpose. Humph!!
We are a blended family — although we didn’t blend until all of our children were grown. Together we have five children (who live in five states, including one on the east coast, one on the west coast, two on the Gulf coast (who use our home as their evacuation destination during hurricane season) and one child who lives in Conway. We have 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. We have 24 people at our home for the entire week of Thanksgiving and are always running to the grocery store for reinforcements. I know that I’m not near ready to sustain a group that size for a long period of time.
I know that there’s a way to systematically determine the needs for a group this size and I also understand that I’d better get a handle on it soon. Any suggestions?
BigPiney-The way I determined what I needed was to plan menus. I started planning for 6 months, and decided that I would serve each menu 12 times during the 6 months. 187 days x 2meals 374 lunches and dinners and 187 breakfasts. I then listed everything I need to serve one meal for the number of people that I had and multiple x 12meals. You find out quick, that’s alot of food. As I complete each menu I mark 100%. I undated my food list yesterday, getting close to 500 meals for 6 people for lunch and dinner, still only have 6 months for breakfast. Have been trying to stock fruits, snacks and deserts. Milk has been a big concern with a 7month old.
Trying to plan if power goes out. Trying to keep enought jars and lids so I could can everything in my freezers before it spoiled.
I don’t envy you trying to stock food and supplies for your large group. Good luck.
So is Gander Mountain a store Arlatex? We have a smallish (at least the front is smallish) yard but it is taken care of by the property owners association yard guy. It is our retirement neighborhood. A horse shoe shaped street with mostly widows. My almost 60 year old hubby is considered the young hottie. I remember reading about your thoughtful and wonderful organizing earlier. Wow! I wish I were more that way. I’m saving getting that plan together while we are SIP’ing. :-) HeHe. One thing I remember is evaporated milk being used in a pinch for babies and can be used for cereal and cooking for adults too. That would be cheaper than formula and more versital too though not as many vitamins and good things for baby. I don’t think BF will hit this year so, if it doesn’t happen in 2006 you will not have to worry as much about milk for the baby. But who knows- not me. Just a feeling I guess. Ark, do you remember who said “the gathering gene”? I think lots of women have that.
Big Piney, Go to providentliving dot com. They are a Morman site and very useful! Kind of scary too with the amounts of food reccommended there. Oh my. I am overwhelmed by it. But it will give you a great place to start. BPWoods, I hope you have at least 20 bedrooms for your crew! LOL. I’ve had 24 people for dinner a lot but never near that many stay over. I would have gone crazy!! Really. How long have your families been blended? That means you met adult children and entertained them too. Pressure!
PBQ-I am storing evaporated milk, 200 cans and counting. I remember when my youngest sister was a baby, she drank evaporated milk with Karo in it. I think that we have decided on Nido whole powdered milk for the kids, you can purchase it in the Mexican food section of WalMart. She will be one the end of October, so have only stored a couple of weeks of formula. Hoping you are correct and BF doesn’t hit in 2006, and if were lucky never.
Going to start purchasing disposible diapers, have some cloth ones, but would hate to have to wash on washboard if we didn’t have electric for a while. I do have a washboard, 5 gallon bucket with plunger and a wringer if washing clothes by hand becomes a necessity.
Good to know that you are married to a Hottie.
Oh that’s right now I remember the Karo syrup is added too. I can’t seem to recall why other than a sweet taste. I don’t think it adds any vitamins or minerals for baby. 200 cans! another Wow! I’ve gotten 3 cans of the Nido but have never tried it, but heard good comments about it. You must have loads of stuff and a place to store it. Hope you don’t have to move into your RV before your new house is built and old house sold. Why move your preps twice unless you have to? I think perhaps the first part of 2007 I will organize my food preps. I need to get serious about it and not just buy stuff. I will use your formula- so many breakfasts, so many lunches etc.
PBQ-I think the Karo was used to keep them from being constipation.
We will have to move before we get anything new built.
I found 16 pints strawberries in the markdown basket this morning at the grocery store. I have been going by each morning when I get off work, they usually have some good bargins. I made 5 pints of strawberry syrup and put one pint in the dehyrator before I went to sleep, I still have about 10 pints to put up when I get home this everning. I am going to make another batch of strawberry jam, and either freeze or dehydrate the rest. “I think”
When I changed to the menu plan, I found that I had alot of holes in my food storage.
Ark, you work at night too? Well now I just think you are a super woman! Do you ever sleep? Really -figure out a way to bottle that energy and I’ll figure out a way to buy it! Now that you mention it- the Karo is added for constipation. I do not think well anymore!!! Hormones have been in a state of flux for many years now and I have finally broken down to pay for some DNA tests that hopefully will tell the doctors exactly what hormones I need, rather than this hit and miss non-system we have been trying. I have menopausal syndrome. Never heard of it till I saw it on the RX pad. I can’t wait till I feel better;-)!!!
I hate to tell you I never had any problems with menopause.
I do sleep, only during the day. The only difference is I sleep about 6 hours when I sleep during the day, and 8 when I sleep at night. I’m a night person and DH is a day person, he thinks he is suppose to wake the rooster each morning. I have never understood why anyone would get out of the bed at 0500 without a fight or alot of grumbling.
Have hams on the counter ready to can, and there are still 6 pints of strawberries that I have to get in the freezer. Next time a have the bright idea of buying 16 pints of strawberries at one time, please, please, hit me in the head.
Have a nice day.
Thanks to all for the info - the website is wonderful but I must agree….at times I’m overwhelmed. And I was so proud of my progress that I was wishing that my arms were longer so that I could pat myself on the back - NOT!!!! Baby steps.
Our families blended about 15 years ago - all kids grown and on their own. At Thanksgiving, we have them on the floor, we lease two RVs and fill those up, and if it’s warm enough, the teenage boys go in a HUGE tent with mattresses in the garage. It’s a great time if I can just “release” from my cleaning fixation and enjoy the company rather than worry about mopping and dusting!! I’m getting better year by year.
Thanks again for everyone’s help.
BPW, did you go to providentliving dot com? Did you see those numbers? I am overwhelmed by it too. I don’t like to clean but I do like things tidy. That many people would make me nuts. Good for you to let that tidy thing go, at least while they were at your home. With that many people there is nothing you can do anyway.
PBQ-Got called off work tonight, so I had a little extra time on my hands. Canned bacon for the first time, its in the canner cooling down. I have at least 30# in my freezer that I’m going to can if it turns out okay.
bumping for bill
PBQ – at 10:40
Since you mention it, I suggest you check out bioidentical hormones if you need to go on HRT. The side effects are often milder, and fewer, with them. They are identical on a molecular level to what our bodies create, unlike the synthetic ones that have extra elements added so they can patent them. Your pharmacy can work with you to get the levels just right for you.
MountainLady, Glad to hear from you! It has been a long time. I had been on HRT for 12 years. Now we are working on the bioidentical hormones and my pharmacist is compounding them for me. Still a problem though better than just HRT. I seem to ignore my body untill it screams at me-and then want it fixed today! I am hoping once I get the DNA receptor info back we will be able to pinpoint more precisely what hormones my funny body needs. Thank you for your concern. Did you have this problem or are you a nurse or MD? Maybe a pharmacist? Not many people know about compounding or bioidentical hormones. Thanks again- if only I had mentioned this 11 years ago on the wiki! ;-)
Arklatex, pediatricians no longer recommend the karo syrup. It can be a source of botulism, and a tiny amount can affect the baby but not an adult. Use mineral oil if needed for constipation. PBQ, I know a lot of folks who have benefited from BHRT. I used just the progesterone component, very briefly. Now I’m through the whole thing (took about 5 months)- no more hot flashes, no more insomnia, it’s great!
Arkie, I’m glad to hear from you too! If I had known all it would take to get this response I would have posted my hormone problems earlier! Happy that you are still part of the wiki. What have you done to prep lately or are you finished?
BHRT sounds like something I need to check out. I’ve needed something for a few years but am hard headed and was gonna be strong and go all natural but that’s getting old. My main complaint is lack of energy and memory :).
I got my pantry rearranged today and got an inventory of what I have in there and also those groceries I mentioned that are in my bedroom LOL. We just got an Aldi’s in Ft. Smith and soon I’m gonna make the trip to check it out and stock up some more but I wanted to have all my ducks in a row first. Hopefully I can get cases of canned goods that I can store under the bed til I need to rotate them. I’m also gonna check Sam’s out while I’m there and have been holding off on some purchases til I make that trip to be sure I’m getting the most for my hard earned $$$$.
BTW infants shouldn’t have honey either or Pepto Bismol since it’s closely related to aspirin and can cause Reye’s syndrome. I found out about the aspirin connection the hard way since I’m allergic to aspirin. I had the flu already and kept telling DH I felt like I was having one of my reactions and kept taking benadryl. I finally noticed the connection when I was taking it after every dose of Pepto and right there in teeny tiny print on the back bottom of the bottle it said not to take it if you’re allergice to aspirin. Shortly after that, a twelve year old child in our community came down with Reye’s after taking Pepto. The scarey part is most of us would never make the connection.
I knew about the honey (botulism) but had never heard of Pepto causing Reyes Syndrome problems. Live and learn. Thanks for the info.
For anyone heading to NW AR there is a place in Siloam Springs that sells cases of canned goods at a VERY good price. Aunt Bee did you read my post about Allen Canning? Can’t remember where I posted it. (Memory problems- me?? :-)) They are only open from 8 to 3 weekdays but the prices are great and the selection too. They don’t take credit cards but sometimes do take checks. Let me know if you want anymore info and I’ll give you their number. I was impressed with them. We have an aldis too and they are pretty good.
Energy- you sound like you did lots today, Aunt Bee.
Hello Everyone..PBQ etal. I really like Aldi’s bought maany a 1$ QT of strawberries there. I have been lax on my prepping…I have finished my three months of breakfasts…but have slowed down $$ tight..Picking up something every time we do the shopping but not much. I figure something better than naught. I need to check on the hormone thingie..I am artificially hormone def. total hyst. on only the estrogen.but would rather be natural I have real sleeping problems…need to talk to my pharma..sounds like. Just wanted to pop in and say hello…gnr
Yep, should have talked about my hormones earlier. Hello GetNReady! Glad you are still in the loop. Yes if you are having sleep problems then it is probably hormones. That is one of the first things they will ask you. Your pharmacy may not know about bioidentical hormones unless they compound them. Look for a family pharmacy. I know Wal Mart and Walgreens don’t compound. I go to Colliers here in Fayetteville. If nothing else have your pharmacy call Gabe here. He knows everything about hormones! And he is a guy! Go figure. Are we all menopausal? Sounds like the age to be.
We are money tight now too. DH is not teaching as much (not his choice) because the college is dropping some of his (and lots of others)classes. He still teaches meteorology, aerodynamics and a few others but… So now I have a part time job at Dillards. Oh well.
Hey PBQ, my preps have slowed down… I have enough food for a few months, much less water. I will not really be able to SIP because I will be part of the health care teams. I have lots of spaghetti and beans in case of shortages! I’m really getting rather fatalistic about it… if it happens, it happens, and I will deal with it as it comes along. If you get started on your BHRT, better stockpile! My compounding pharmacist is male, too, but he does a great job. Once my ovaries quit putting out spurts of estrogen, though, I haven’t needed any at all.
bumping for bill
PBQ I think I heard about Allen Canning a long time ago. There use to be a guy that set up at a local flea market with cases of stuff from there dirt cheap…had completely forgotten.
There is a pharmacy in FS that specializes in compounding hormones and such. Years ago they actually did the channel 5 noon news once a week answering questions about menopause….too bad I wasn’t as interested back then.
I so understand the $$$’s too. This has been one of those weeks for unexpected expenses just a week after we paid vehicle and home owners insurance…why does everything break at once? I hope everything is good til fall because my little side biz picks up and I have a little more extra cash plus my new pantry should be finished.
PBQ – at 07:44
Not a health care worker of any kind, just tried them.
Tried the others, had every bad side effect there was that was temporary and quit, but wasn’t happy with that either. Went to a different doctor, and she mentioned the BHRT. From the first dose it felt right. Couldn’t believe the difference between that and the synthetic ones. I have never really had any difficult side effects at all from the bioidentical ones.
UH, oh, the guys are going to run off with us talking about this stuff. lol
But, then again, some of them might need them too. If so, they can get them too in different levels adjusted for their bodies.
Aunt B-Which pharma in FS..very close to me…gnr
gnr it is Lee Pharmacy on Grand Ave. I’ve never used them but was impressed with their knowledge when they took call in questions on ch. 5 years ago and thought someday I might need that info. I’m switching docs this year and hope the new one is a little more receptive to alternative treatments.
Mountainlady I would love to have a doc that actually recommended something like that. I assume she is not near Ft. Smith.
No, sorry, she is in Harrison, name Dr. Shirolyn Moffet (I think that is the spelling). Maybe you could call her and ask her if she might happen to know a doctor in your area.
Marshall Medic Pharmacy will fill the prescription if you can find a doctor to give it to you.
Marshall Medic is good, or Woods Pharmacy in Mountain View.
Thanks for the name Mountainlady. If it came down to it and I got desperate enough, I would travel to Harrison but it wouldn’t hurt to ask if she knows a doc in my area.
You are welcome, Aunt Bee.
Maybe the pharmacies that will provide it might have suggestions also. Wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Good luck!
I hate to drive. If you do to I bet they would mail them (hormones) to you.
Thanks Aunt Bee….gnr
You’re welcome gnr.
Mountainlady I think I might just give the pharmacy a call. They wouldn’t recommend docs when they did the news but I can understand their reluctance to do it publicly…if I call I’m sure I will have more luck.
PBQ I do hate to drive outside my little comfy zone and that’s one reason I get to FS so seldom but DH is there several times a week and Russellville too. My driving issues all started about 6 years ago and I hate to drive over any of the Arkansas river bridges and the extremely steep hills make me nervous too. What little research I’ve done points to peri-meno induced anxiety as the culprit. Getting old is bad but the alternative is even worse LOL.
Yes, Aunt Bee, I had all that anxiety too. It first seemed to be triggered by the hurricanes, but then extended to other things. Now that the ovaries have stopped entirely, the anxiety has lessened too. Something to look forward to!
I’m glad to know it. I’ve noticed that mine has lessened a little and tends to come and go now so I’ve been hopeful. I also thought at first that mine was triggered by a very stressful event in my life but thought later it was more of a coincidence or maybe just my tipping point.
My hormones have been in flux for years and no thought of letting up. The list of symptoms that the pharmicist gave me to choose from- was all of them -at one time or another this last decade or so. That’s why I went the DNA receptor route. The bioidentical hormones do work great if you can get them in proportion of what your body needs. My problem is that we never got them just right. Because my body (hormones) changes like that of a woman still having periods. I wanted to get everything straightened out before we SIP and so does DH! With the help of technology I am hoping to. Even if I can’t get enough to last more than a couple of months (I don’t know yet how long they will be potent but will find out) I will know what I need however, so when I come out of the other side I can get on with my life. BTW, anxiety is a very commom symptom. And to think, you probably thought it was just you but hormones play such a vital role in our lives and to think, men have so little to compare this with. Maybe we can all feel better through the use of BHRT. Power to the women of BHRT! Thanks for all your advice and been there’s. And Thanks for keeping in touch.
healthboards dot com/boards/ is a nice resource for any kind of health issues…they even have a forum dedicated to menopause and if you dig deep enough, they have a post from a good while back that lists every symptom you’ve ever imagined for meno.
At my last checkup, the young doc informed me that menopause was not a stage in life but an era…she was right about that LOL.
bump
Meno isn’t just an era, it is a major headache.
Melanie, You are right meno is major headache. As one who has gone through it for 15 years I can attest to it. And DH has gone through it for that long too. Why not share the excitment! Got my results back this week and just as we had thought-hormones in flux. But feeling better already! Thanks for your support girls!
What have you done to prep this week? I’ve done nothing but I have my eye on a windup TV. I’ve started working and as soon as my discount kicks in the TV is mine! If they have any left.
The wind up TV sounds good, where did you start working??
I canned 16 pints chili,(its cheaper to buy on sale, I think that I will can what we plan to eat out of jar, and buy the chili that we use on hot dogs)10 more pints strawberry jam, 3 qts squash pickles, 15 pints HB. My late peach trees will be ready to pick this weekend, so I will be putting up peaches again. My garden is late so my cucumbers are just getting ready to bear, so I will be making pickles soon. Added a few store bought groceries to preps this week, only a few thing on sale. Since I finally hit the 6 month mark on my preps, thought I would continue to can meat and garden items, and get back in the swing of things starting this fall. Since meat is the most expensive continuing to can what on sale will have me way ahead when I start the next 6 months of preps.
Hope new job is going well.
Had about three days of weather in the 80′s, now its back up to the mid 90′s.
Arklatex, Dillards. I started working at Dillards. It is hard to stand for 8 to 9 hours but the support stockings, the discount and only working 3 days a week makes it do-able.
So with all the canning and gardening you are doing you must be tired. I say that tounge in cheek because you do so much. Gosh I get tired just reading what you do. The hot dogs you are talking about… are they ones that you are eating now? Have you found them canned? My SIP Guys would love to have hot dogs. I’ve never found them preserved though. Not counting those little Veiana (sp) sausages. Keep up the good work. And keep prepping! Do save a can peach jam for me after BF when we all have a party at my house! I can’t wait to try it!
Yes I think we are in for summer now. It is starting to get hot here too. At least being in the mountains we get a 4–5 degree break on the heat. And I don’t think it is as humid up here either.
BTW, did I ever tell you my brother lives in Shreveport? I have sent him along with other close family members a bird Flu primer. I will send the next installment in a couple of months. My mom and sister are kinda’ prepping but I don’t think brother is. Well he is a new grandpa so he is busy. He works at a hospital there. If you have something really bad, that has to be sent there, he will probably read the slide to determine what cancer or disease it is. He is such a great guy. Very smart too.
Don’t work too hard in this heat.
My fear is that I have years to go with this major headache. Thank goodness I have prepping to keep me distracted LOL.
PBQ congrats on the new job and Arklatex you never fail to amaze me with all that canning and a job too.
As far as prepping, I finally got my hands on a Ball Blue Book of food preservation but will have to wait til next week to buy meat and a couple more cases of jars…been wanting some quart wide mouths for the meat. I blew all my prep budget on Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels because Dollar General is having a great sale on those items and they are almost as cheap as the store brands. Hunt’s ketchup is just .75 and we eat a ton of red neck gravy as DH calls it. Dollar Gen is one of my favorite places to prep but keep in mind, my options are pretty limited here in Podunk.
Ok now I want a wind up TV too :).
If there are any TV’s left! They are going very quickly! They put out a table of them and every time I see it, it gets lower and lower. My discount doesn’t start untill next month on the 20 of July… maybe there will be one left for me? I think I will look on line to see if I could order if they are gone. Does this mean that people are prepping for the BF or people just wanting to spend money? Don’t know. I have started a “to buy list”. There goes my first months salary!
I think it is better to have TP and PT than canned meat. If we get desperate for meat DH can bag a animal. Can’t imagine not having paper stuff things. I also have quite a few boxes of tissues. The great things about paper products is that I can store them in my garage because the heat does not harm them. Yea… space is becoming a problem.
Arlatex, I meant to ask you how your house sale and building is going?
They showed it Monday to some out of town people, I was told it was between two and mine was one of them,but I haven’t heard from anyone. They are showing it in the morning at 0930 and I have my island covered with peaches that I picked this afternoon. So much for starting to can as soon as I getoff in the morning. Told my husband while I was taking them out of the buckets that someone would probably come look at the house. So as soon as I get off work will have to move the peaches.
Haven’t done anything about building, just planning on living in our fifth wheel if it sales.
When our kids were younger and we did the bluegrass festivals, there were lots of couples in our age range that sold their homes and lived out of their RV’s. The folks that did this often built a large great room with an extended overhang that they pulled their campers under. It acted as an addition to their camper when they weren’t on the road but was cheap to build and upkeep since it was just one large room…no bathroom or kitchen to build. They still had room for their families to visit for holidays and such. They all seemed to love it. Arklatex I hope your house gets a bid soon.
PBQ I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of those TVs will be left for you and yep I agree about the TP and PT. I had the same thought about the meat when I diverted my budget for the paper goods.
Aunt Bee, we have several friends who are selling their homes, they all have RV’s. Some of them are building metal building and putting an apartment inside, others are living in their RV fulltime. We have a nice lake close to us that the full timers can stay for 42 days and then they leave for 18, then return for 42. Two couples that we know started full timing this year and they love it.
I DH has always wanted to live in an RV for the summer. Always. He is from Wyoming so he would like to visit cool weather places while it is hot down here. Then come home when it is cool. I don’t think that will happen. But don’t tell him, I would hate to step on his dream. (Teachers just don’t make enough money to do that.) Arklatex, sounds like you and your DH have figured this RV thing out.
Aunt Bee How do you “do” (sing or listen) bluegrass festivals? Where are they?
Arklatex I bet you will enjoy it too, especially if you are gonna be at the lake with your friends.
PBQ I listen but DH and both boys play. They outgrew us and we tried going without them but it just wasn’t the same. There are several festivals in AR but the biggest is Turkey Track at Waldron three times a year. They are soooo much fun…lots of good folks and most are just listeners.
Now if we ever have to SIP I bet they pull those instruments back out..I better add guitar and banjo stings to my preps LOL.
We have some good bluegrass gatherings in Mountain View, and of course we’re the Folk Music Capitol of the World. Every night during the summer we have music on the square, and of course there’s the Ozark Folk Center too.
I can’t believe I live in Arkansas and have never been to Mountain View but I would love to visit and plan to if I ever get the time. Everyone that goes loves it and lots of our BG buddies go there every time they come to Arkansas for a festival.
Speaking of places in our great state, DH and I drove on top of Magazine Mt. to see the new lodge a few days ago and while it’s beautiful and impressive, we were both disappointed. Guess we were looking for something more like the lodge on Petit Jean with all its charm and craftsmanship.
Come visit sometime, Aunt Bee, I’ll show you around. Bring the guys, they can play on the square. I have never been to Mt. Magazine!
I wanted to share an amazing discovery I’ve made… probably not new to other folks, though. We have had a terrible time with the fleas this year, and I was looking around for something other than poison. I discovered diatomaceous earth, and it has worked! Now I’m going to have to stock up on that, too! It’s a great relief to both me and the cats to be flea-free.
Arkie sounds like a plan. Mt. Magazine is beautiful with lots of wonderful views but not a whole lot to do up there.
We battle fleas every year and tried the DE years ago but it didn’t work for us. I’ve always thought I got some bad product since so many others have had good luck with it. I’ve had luck with borax sprinkled around base boards and under furniture to help with the spiders we’ve had so many of this year. I’m allergic to pesticides so our options are pretty limited…sulphur for the yard is about it. I’ve got to give the DE another try.
There are apparently a number of different forms of the DE, and it says specifically not to get it wet, maybe you got a bad batch.
I think maybe I did. It sounds like I should research it more to see what kind I need to get. Did you get yours locally and are you just putting it in your yard or on your pets too?
My youngest son’s room got infested and we spread DE on every surface in there and even after a few weeks the things were thriving. That’s when I collected a few and put them in the jar to see if it was doing any good and it wasn’t..they were alive days later. He’d rescued an abandoned baby raccoon and kept it in his room. That little thing was so mean LOL but we bottle fed it and kept it healthy til it was old enough to survive on its own. It finally got out of its cage one night and DH and DS were devestated but it was a good thing…it was time. She did just fine and came back a few times to let us know she was ok. I finally got rid of the fleas by vacuuming his room several times a day and mopping with pine cleaner. Sadly I would think twice about taking in a wild animal now.
The “brand name” on mine is Natural Guard, I got it at the local Co-op. Our fleas came from a Humane Society cat, the poor scared thing hid behind the washing machine for two weeks, and the fleas multiplied! Then my other three cats were tormented, and Frontline Plus helps a little but not much. It might also be of benefit that I live in a cabin and don’t mind putting a bunch of dust on the floor. (Better dust than fleas!). Tonight there are still a few around, but nothing like before. I did put it on some of the cats, it’s helping with their fleas also.
I have read that you should not put it in the yard because it kills the earthworms, so I haven’t tried that.
Poor cat. We’ve adopted several times from the humane society too.
Thanks for the name of the DE. I sure didn’t know that about earthworms but it makes sense.
Happy 4th of July
Arkie, I hope that invatation to visit Mountain View is for us too. I am hoping to visit in the fall when weather is a little cooler. If plans hold up perhaps we could meet? My family used to own the Stone County Leader and I wonder, is it still there? As a girl I used to love to visit the square on either Friday or Sat. nights (can’t remember which) and watch all the old people (gosh, I bet they were really old-like 50 or 60!)play and do the jig. My family helped start the Folk Center too I think. I should see it before I die.
Arklatex, I bet your kitchen smelled great with all those peaches on your counter. Heck I bet your house smells great all the time with everything you do. Did the people choose your house or the other one?
PBQ, come on over, just holler at me when you’re coming. The Stone County Leader is still here, they even have color pics on the front page now! The Folk Center has professional jiggers :) The town is really growing (I’m sorry to see that)- we have two stoplights now, and no one has even TRIED to shoot them out lately.
PBQ-have not heard anything from them.
Too bad Arklatex. Next time maybe.
I am feeling much better now girls. Got the new hormones! I’m feeling more like the old gal I used to know. Not like I’d like to be but I’ll never be perfect or have the energy others seem to have, like you Arlatex. I’ve got my dad’s metatbolism not my Mom’s- she still runs circles around me and my sister! Have a great weekend everyone.
PBQ I am so glad you are feeling better. My energy comes in spurts and then I work so hard that I’m good for nothing for a day or two.
I finally made it to Aldi’s today and got several cases of veggies and such. I’m anxious to try everything and then go back for more cases. The cheddar rice cakes I got were just as good as the name brand I’ve been eating for a while and I sure wish I had gotten more. The store in FS is pretty small…not sure how they are in other places. I still need to get a Sam’s membership and see what I can find there but with the cost of gas, my trips will be few and far between.
DH keeps sayimg “more TP?” LOL.
I’ve used up my shopping quota for the year. I’m not a shop til you drop kind of girl anyway and Monday we had to replace two appliances which almost made me sick and involved a trip to FS. It took us all week to get them installed and clean up the mess and now I have to go back to work tomorrow…but thankful for the job.
PBQ – at 22:23
Glad the new hormones are working! I know that I felt better almost immediately with the BHRT, which I can’t say for all the others.
bump for BB.
Mike, What are you doing in Arkansas? I figured the CA in CAMike was for CA on the the left coast!
Gosh, this job thing is killing me. Not the work per se but the standing for hours and hours. No breaks- just lunch. Not enough time to get the blood out of my legs. About 3 to 4 hours in, I am exhusted and my legs and feet hurt. Maybe I could just direct from a chair. DH says I do that great anyway! I have gout and arthritis in my feet. I am wearing support knee hi’s. Merrill shoes. Taking advil. Will I ever get used to standing for 8 hours at a time? Any suggestions out there?
Bless your heart, at our age it is hard to stand all day, especialy if you aren’t use to it.
I was going to recommend the Merrells until I got to the end of your post. That’s all I can wear and I’ve found that not Merrells are created equally. To get the support I need from them, I’ve found that I have to get the lace up running type shoes with full arch support and I still have to add extra foam under the arches sometimes. I can only wear the slip on moc type shoes for a day here and there and only wear my sandals a few hours a day. They are pricey but I figure for the price of a doctor’s vist and a couple of prescriptions I can get a new pair of Merrells and fix the problem for 6 months or so…can you tell I love Merrells LOL?
Another thing I’ve found that helped a few years ago is tart cherry juice. You can’t get it here so I just bought the tart canned cherries and ate a half a can a day and then one of DH’s customers found the tart cherry capsules at a health food store near Russellville….it has to be tart cherries and they are tart. I mixed the ones in the can with a carton of cottage cheese, fat free cool whip and about half a package or so of powdered sugar free cherry jello. I added two cans of drained cherries to that concoction and saved the juice and drank it too. I can only find these type cherries at the smaller stores…not W-M. CV’s here has them.
Glad you love your Merrells Aunt Bee. That is about the only shoe I wear too. I have heard of cherry juice for gout and even have some in my preps but I take medicine for gout every day so that’s not too bad. Do you have gout? Or do you take the cherry juice for your feet or arthritis? I don’t want to (whine :-)) but I also have plantar fasciitis and sciata. Not bad now. I did get a script from the doc for tighter support hose. I don’t know how I am going to put them on! Gosh I didn’t mean for this thread to become a whine feast for medical problems. I started it though didn’t I? I am feeling better with the hormones!
Only a week and a half ‘till I get my discount! Yipee! They still have some wind up TV’s and Lamps left! Can’t wait.
Hubby has started reading the CPAP thread to figure out about how to run it without electricity.
It is so hot here, I can’t imagine what it must be like down in flat AR. Can’t wait for fall.
I’m drying cherries and peaches today. The first batch of peaches turned out great. I’ve never tried cherries. They are so good and good for you. Thanks for advice Aunt Bee.
MountainLady, you are a member of MENSA? I’m impressed! I’ve always wanted to be smarter.
I’ve never been diagnosed with gout but I suspect I’ve had a mild case of it and it does run in my family but that’s not why I ate the tart cherries. I had a serious bout with back problems and nothing helped til a friend told me about her husband’s luck with the tart cherry juice. My problem is the opposite of yours…mine is from having to sit at a desk and computer all day and I’ve had problems with my upper and lower back. The tart cherries have always helped me. I wish I still had all my favorites because there were several good sites about it but you should be able to do a search and get a ton of good info. The regular cherries will not help the same type problems that tart cherries will. Bless your heart having to wear those support hose in this heat.
Congrats on the tv..still crossing fingers for you.
It is soooo hot here and I’m in the mountains. The humidity is extra high for this area but that’s because we’ve had several good showers this week so I better not complain too much.
Mountainlady I am equally impressed. My mother had a dear friend when we lived in Mississippi that was very involved in MENSA and even started a newsletter. She was the most interesting person and had moved down there to a tiny, very rural community to raise her children and sort of live off the land. Poor kids probably were in shock after moving from New York to the middle of nowhere but they eventually thrived.
Aunt Bee, You can tell you are a Southern Lady because you say Bless your heart. What a kind thing to say. Bless your heart.
Mountainlady, if you posted that you are a member of Mensa, I missed that post. If you are a member, check the discussion on the American Mensa Forum, under the Health & Medicine sub-category. We’ve just moved the discussion toward prepping, and would welcome your input.
PBQ how sweet of you to say that but it is easy to be kind to kind people.
I had a small set back on my preps today…kind of. I picked up a lot of matches, alchohol and peroxide and felt pretty good about fianlly getting that only to get home and go to my freezer for something for supper and find that I had left it ajar about an inch somehow and everything in it was ruined. Thankfully all my preps have been nonrefrigerated items and I’ve not been replacing stuff in my freezer but instead using those $$$ for preps. I had several frozen casseroles and pizzas in there among other things and had planned on using those up for meals in the near future and freeing up more grocery money for preps…oh well it could have been so much worse a couple of months ago. I just hate waste though and don’t think I will use the freezer again til I have more preps…I don’t plan to do a large amount of preps that need refrigeration anyway. Now I’ve got to clean the thing out and I’m not looking forward to that…gonna take a lot of bleach.
How long were you gone? I guess it wouldn’t take long in this heat for spoilage to occur. That has happened to everyone in their life at some point I think. Too bad yours wasn’t in the winter. I wouldn’t have minded the wasted food as much as the time spent making the casseroles. And the plan to use them. I sometimes make something for the freezer and then forget about it untill it is freezer burned beyond regognition and then I throw it out. Same for the fridge, just insert mold for freezer burned. I like to have a few things on hand because you never know when you’ll have a funeral/party/guests, etc. I am so dissapointed for you. Bless your heart!
Thanks PBQ. They weren’t homemade casseroles or I would be crying. The freezer is in a storage building and I switched several packages of chicken out of it Tuesday and I guess I just didn’t close it very well. I’m also bad about forgetting things in the freezer and that was the main reason for getting the chicken out…it was on the verge of freezer burning. When I got my new fridge a couple weeks ago, I cleaned out the freezer on my old fridge then and I am gonna resolve to be more organized and use the stuff as soon as possible. This shouldn’t be hard because I’m not getting much freezer stuff at all since I don’t consider that stuff good for prepping and am making a huge effort to keep everything rotated. Also I’m going to start trying out more recipes with my preps to make sure I top off the right stuff so the freezer will get a rest til after I’ve done that.
I was already anxioux about the holes in my preps and have been glued to the news for the last few days. My blood pressure had been very high for me all day yesterday and when I came home and found the freezer, it got even higher and that’s when I realized I had to calm myself down and put it in perspective so I’m not the least bit bothered about it today…divine intervention. On the other hand my oldest son just informed me he would be bringing a couple girls by the house later today and if I don’t get in here and straighten up a bit, I will be a wreck LOL.
Oops that was me….DH cleared the cookies.
PBQ – at 10:53 and Dennis in Colorado – at 19:25
Yes, I am a member of Mensa. I outed myself! :-D Guess anything posted here gets around! lol
The thing is, it’s a genetic thing, so nothing to be proud of, per se. I had nothing to do with it, except for managing to avoid brain damage that would have brought the intelligence down. It’s like having blue eyes and freckles, or brown eyes and smooth colored skin. You just come out that way.
Thanks, Dennis, I will visit the forum. I didn’t know about that. I have registered, but haven’t been visiting there much. I spend too much time here and on other news sites… watching…
PBQ how are you drying your peaches, have never tried it?
Aunt Bee-sorry to here about your freezer door being open.
I’m drying my peaches in a dehydrator. very easy. You can even leave the skin on so you don’t have to peel them. (Easy/lazy is my middle name.) They do stick (because of the high sugar content- like bananas) so when you turn them over after a few hours it may take a few minutes to pull them off the trays. They seem to get done faster if you turn them once. After that they just fall off the trays.
I do not like canning but I do like drying. I have an electrical outlet on my screened in back porch. I sit the dehydrator out there on a table so I don’t heat up the house because -you know- it’s already hot enough in here right now. I even dried some limes yesteerday. I have been drying orange and lemon peels for teas but I have never tried slices of the whole fruit untill the limes. I dried the peels and then cut the segments out and dried them. Seems to work so far. I tried drying fresh ginger a while back and it molded in the bag. I dipped them in sugar and then dried and is fine so far. That is one thing I like about drying over canning is that (mostly) you can see if something is not working. With canning you can run into lots of problems with microbial critters that you can’t see or taste or smell. I’m too much of a chicken to eat anything I have canned- well except jams and jellies or tomatoes, but they are so cheap to get at Walmart that it doesn’t make sense for me to work for hours processing to save a few cents. Plus the mess! You have energy to do all this, Arlatex. Me, I am a sloth. My time is better spent sitting and reading Fluwiki. HeHeHe!
I am also making another order of loose tea. I get it wholesale because I own my company and have a license. I make iced tea everyday at least once and I like to have lots on hand. I will order about 5 pounds of the stuff. 3 green 2 black.
Let me know if you dry your peaches. I think you will like them. And remember the easy part!
PBQ-thank you-I’ll have to purchase some peaches when I go to Wally World and give them a try. I like apple slices dipped in sugar dehydrated better than the bananas.
Have you bought your TV yet????
Nope- not ‘till next week. Well, what is today? On the 23rd of the month. Thanks for asking. Had hubby looking at it and it will not run the TV on the turning thing but will run the radio with just the turning. I’ll get it anyway. The wind up light too. I have a list.
Had hunky hubby check out the TV and lantern and we deceided not to get the TV because it did not run on just the crank handle, only ran the radio with cranking and we have 2 of those already. Did get the lantern though because we can use that as a nightlight if making trips to the bathroom. Also got a comfortor for the guest room. I am going to try to get the paint before fall. I need to make curtains too- I have the material just need to get out the sewing machine. It’s been a long time since I’ve sewn. It is a simple but large panel for a sliding glass door. I’m hoping the curtain will help keep out the cold air if there is no heat. I need to make them light proof too so people won’t see light in the house. Maybe I’ll get to that this winter. After I’m though the room will look great- not the mish-mash, hodge podge it is now. The furniture is very old and beautiful. Can’t wait to see it finished. May have to SIP for a while to finish since I am so slow. :-)
PBQ-congrats on the lantern and the comforter.
Thanks Arklatex. Aunt Bee, Are you recovered from the freezer incident?
I think so but it did set me back on preps. With all the ME stuff, I’m more anxious than ever to get more preps and have strained my poor budget doing it so naturally I’m thinking about all the groceries I wouldn’t be having to buy to eat now but on the other hand I believe everything happens for a reason so maybe there was some bad food in there that may have made us sick.
I’m so happy that you got the lantern but wish the TV would have been what you were looking for.
Any progress on the CPAP? I’m finally getting DH a little interested and I think he will be researching the whole solar cell thing.
I don’t know why I feel this urgency lately to do all I can while the doing is good, just a gut feeling and it’s not the BF that has me worried but more economic disaster or WWIII. Since everyone around me thinks I’m a nut case, it’s comforting to come here where others are “getting it”.
A years worth of preps would be such a huge comfort.
Please let us know what your DH finds out about solar, Aunt Bee. Mine is dragging his feet about learning. He will read for a few minutes than get distracted for a couple of days. He did go to Sears today and look around but didn’t buy anything because he didn’t know what we needed. :-( I knew he would do this so I gave him a couple of extra months for my time line. I know him better than he knows himself. :-)
I’m not worried about WWIII. Though I hear lots of people are. Preps are preps and will do great in any event. You will get there. A years worth of preps takes awhile to procur. We have about 9 months I think. Nothing fancy but enough to keep us alive. Even if rice and beans are all you have- you will have more than most of the world. That’s a scary thought. Gas prices are going up and that is more troubling to me. You said economic disasters, well that could be the start of it. Know that all of us on fluwikie will stand a greater chance of survival than most others, no matter what the disaster. We are a resourceful bunch and with all the tips on here well..we can do it.
Past my bedtime and work tommorrow. Prep on.
Ha our DH’s sound a lot alike. Mine got distracted by the hydrogen engine…I hope I have that right…anyway, I’ve got to steer him back to the solar panels LOL.
You are right about all of us here being resourceful and we are better off than most. I’ve decided to rethink my prepping once again and though I’ve resisted stocking up on a bunch of rice and beans, I’m gonna bite the bullet and do it just for peace of mind because it will take me a long time to have a year’s worth of the type food I would like to have. Meanwhile I can keep adding to my other preps but will have the peace of mind of knowing that at least we won’t starve. Well to be honest, it’s not just us I’m worried about. Nobody else in my community is doing much prepping, if any, including my large extended family so my thinking is that I could feed them several meals of beans and rice if it ever came down to it.
I read about a girl that has ten years worth of meals prepped and it’s mostly a mixture she calls Scotch Broth..a mixture of beans, lentils and rice with seasoning and she says that it is not only filling but tastes good too. It was very inspirational and I’ve decided to aim for something like that for now and add the rest at a more comfortable economic rate LOL. I’m not going for ten years worth but it will be nice to have it as back up and she says it will last twenty years if stored properly. It made me feel better anyway because I’ve just always got to have a plan.
Ooopsie that was me.
I always fare better if I have a plan too. Just knowing that we will have enough makes me feel much better. Water is still somewhat of an issue but I did but an extra tea kettle to boil water. The woman you wrote about having ten years of food, wow! I don’t have enough room. I can’t even imagine that much food. I guess that’s what the newbies are thinking right now-wow I can’t imagine 3 months of food. :-) Hubby is going back to work teaching soon and still no plan on running my CPAP off grid. He better get busy- but knowing him like I do I have a feeling this part of my preps won’t be ready for a while.
Arlatex, How is the house thing going? Any takers?
PBQ-no bids on the house, my good friend and neighbor sold her’s without ever listing it in the paper. Told her I Hated her. She didn’t believe me.
My DH bought a cultivator and some other kind of plow for our tractor yesterday. We now have all the attachments that we need to plant any size garden we want. They had only been used a couple of times, and the man decided he didn’t want to garden.
I also purchased a well bucket off of ebay this weekend, I now have the well pulley and bucket so if the SHTF we can get water.
How wonderful, that seems to be the most difficult thing to get enough of…water. You are pretty well prepped then I’d say. Congratulations.
Yes, selling a house can be nerve racking. If you are waiting to sell your house to build another especially. Waiting can be horrible, selling your own house, BF, waiting to build your own house… At least you and hubby can get your soil in shape so when you need your garden it will be ready. That must make you feel great. Just knowing that you will have enough water and garden space. And since you can like nobodies business, well there is just no stopping you!
It has been so dry here for so lomg that I’m afraid about our own water issues. I was counting on the little creek that runs below our house but now am concerned that it may dry up when we need it the most. I hear from old timers it has never dryed up but…I guess I am just a worry wart. Will have to think about this for a while.
Hubby fell walking back from golf yesterday afternoon. A man hole cover was loose and he stepped on it. Boy, is he going to be sore today! We took him to the Emergency Room and the doc fixed him up with surgical super glue! I had already put quite a bit of regular super glue in our preps and now I feel even better about it! I have used it for paper cuts for many years and was planning on using it for these little cuts and scrapes during SIP but I got to see how he used it and his technique. Now I am even more confident. Plus DH got a tetanus shot. I think he is awake now so I’m going to see about him. Plus I work today. ;-(
PBQ-Sorry about your DH fall, he was lucky that he didn’t break anything.
You need to ask the old timers if the creek behind your house is spring fed, if it is, it probably will not go dry. we have a couple of springs on our place, and the creek that goes through our property is spring fed and it has water in it all summer, no matter how dry it gets.
Sorry you had to work today, look on the bright side, it was to hot and humid to do anything else.
Just FYI, it rained here for twelve hours starting last Wednesday night after midnight and didn’t stop until after lunch. I don’t know how many inches, but it was a very good rain. Now its so humid its hard to breath.
PBQ sorry to hear about your DH but at least it was a learning experiemce for you. Some days going to work is just the last thing you want to do…got a feeling I will feel that way tomorrow since I didn’t get as much accomplished here at home as I wanted to this weekend.
Arklatex I can identify with that humidity. That’s the way it was for us a couple of weeks ago but boy when the rain stopped, it stopped for good and we’ve had nary a sprinkle since and in this heat, it didn’t take long to get dry and we are already under a burn ban.
We have a pretty large spring fed creek right behind our house and we’ve always had clean water longer than most but this year it got murky early even though we kept getting good rains. We have another spring on our place not in the creek and it’s dried up too but our well has never even gotten low thank goodness and I have my great grandfather’s well bucket. I think the raifall deficit for the last several years has lowered the water table and that’s why our spring is dry…hoping that never happens to the well.
I’m looking forward to the cooler weather.
Fall is my favorite season! I so look forward to it. Sept. just can’t come fast enough.
The creek is not spring fed. It is a small tributary of the Illinois. Is that right? It goes into the Illinois. I’m glad you too have springs on your property though. When I was a little girl my Dad would take us to different towns in north central AR in the summer. We would stop at springs along the way for water. Now there are fast food places. At the springs there would be a communal cup. I can’t imagine drinking out of them now but at the time it was what we did. How lucky for you. Maybe we should find a couple of springs nearby just in case… I wonder how we could find one without treakking through the woods? Any ideas?
We need rain terribly and I wouldn’t mind a little humidity after a rain. I’m glad you got some, Arklatex.
DH is sore today but doing well. You would think the way we move around that we were older than the hills. I never did think I would be married to an old bald guy though. I guess he never figured he’d be married to a fat old lady either. :-) HeHe.
I’m not prepping for a few days. I have book club here with dinner for the girls on Tuesday night so I’ll be busy with that.
Aunt Bee do you think it is time to start a new thread or should we wait?
PBQ our spring is on the bank of the creek so maybe look for an area along the creek with lots of greenery around. It just slowly trickles out now when it’s running but DH did dig it out years ago and clean the area around it since it was a community landmark but we didn’t keep it up. We do have city water out here now but everyone has a well too so our area would be ok with water unless the water table became contaminated. The only reason we know our creek is spring fed is because it forms a large pool aka “the swimming hole” and we spent hours in it when our boys were young. You could actually feel the cold water from the springs feeding the creek. My point being in all this rambling, you may have some springs in your creek and not know it. The springs in the creek are probably at least 6–8 feet lower than the one in the bank where everyone use to get drinking water.
This page is still loading pretty fast for me and I’m on dial up so maybe wait?
The book club sounds like loads of fun…we don’t have that kind of culture here in the boonies LOL. If we did it would have to be something practical like a cookbook…I do love my neighbors though.
Thanks for the info on springs Aunt Bee. Never actually thought about looking for them. I may send DH out after it gets cooler and after he reads your post. He likes to go outside. I do not go outside except to get into the mall or Walmart. Oh sometimes I have to walk from the driveway to the front door of a friends house. And I go out on our screened in porch. Other wise I just like to look at the outside- from a climate controlled enviornment. See, this BF is going to have a BIG effect on me. Even as a child I never liked to be in the outdoors. Maybe I’ll just get some more water. I am such a wuss.
Who was builing a deck? I hope they have taken a break for this heat. Stay cool ya’ll, drink lots of water and don’t work too hard.
Good luck on the srping PBQ.
My poor family…I decided to try the 15 bean soup that you find with the dried beans over the weekend since it’s so similar to the broth concoction I mentioned earlier and my guys had to eat stew in this heat LOL. I did learn a few things though. It cooks faster than my usual pot of pintos and it has a very good taste without any flavor added but is easy to “doctor up”. I ended up adding some over ripe tomatoes I had and ground beef along with lots of spices….mostly chili pepper and beef boullion (sp?) cubes. It ended up very thick since that’s the way we like our stew, had a very similar taste to chili and my sons ate it on flour tortillas the next day. DH commented right away that it would be just as good if it had a gumbo flavor. My sister makes it all the time in the winter with smoked sausage, ham or chicken. Next time I make it, I’m adding rice since the original broth had it. Overall I was very pleased with it and like the fact that it is so versatile and also it could be stretched to feed a crowd with extra liquid and a few veggies and rice added so I plan to really stock up on this….and it’s something that we will enjoy anyway so rotating will be no problem.
It’s good to find a few things you and your family like to eat before you SIP. My DH likes those kinds of foods too. If this happens during the winter we won’t have a problem. It’s the summer that I don’t like to cook and DH does not like to eat heavy foods. No salads or cold cuts will be available so we’ll be eating lots of canned veggies I guess. Need to get more veggies. I played bridge today and one of the ladies has a garden and she handed out some veggies for us. I always have fun. The women I play with are a riot. We laugh all the time.
We bought a canopy (10x 10) yesterday at Target’s. That will help keep us warm if we put it in the living room and cover the sides with blankets. Our ceilings are so high that we could never heat the place without gas and electricity. I don’t think this will happen before fall of 2007 but I like to have all my ducks in a row before then. Finishing up up little by little. Sounds like you are making progress too.
PBQ-congrats on the canopy-should help you stay warm if needed. How’s your DH doing since his fall???
My son has been home on leave the last week and half, he will be going back to the war zone 09–05. This is his 3rd and last deployment, will be getting out right after this tour is finished.
Still prepping, have been canning on my days off.
I bet you have been canning your days off Arklatex. I had to smile because I read it like you were canning your a** off. I bet you have enough to feed all of us here on the forum!
DH is doing fine. He keeps running into the coffe table though. Maybe we should have his eyes checked.
How long will your son have been in the war zone by the time he gets back? What a terrible place to grow up. I can’t even imagine! When the kids were little my DH was in VietNam but this is worse because they send them right back. I’m so sorry for him. I feel bad because I complain about the heat here. What must it be like for him? One great thing about having 2 young men with handicaps is that they can never go into the service. (My DH is retired military.) Good luck to him and you. It sure puts it all into perspective doesn’t it? Tell us a little about what he has shared with you.
They have told DS that he will be there 8 months this time instead of 6. This will be his third Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthday that he will miss. I just keep remembering that when he gets home he will be out in a matter of days, unless uncle sam decides to not let them out. His commander called today and told him he passed his Sargents exam, he will never put on the stripe, but its nice to know that he passed the test.
As for canning, I have tried to do 2–3 canner loads on my days off. Last week I did 20 qts Veg. beef soup, 5 qts pork loin, and 6 qts barbeque pork ribs. Hope to do beef stew this week. I am trying to get recipes for soups, stews that I can can, that way we can heat and eat. I don’t like most store bought soups, they all taste alike to me. I am going to try chicken noddle that I will add the noddles when ready to serve, also have a fish creole recipe to can.
Wish I did have enough to feed everyone on the forum, I would feel much better.
Arklatex I’ve got to tell you I appreciate what your son is doing and I hope they let him out after this third tour. It sounds like he’s done more than his share and you too and let me say this “bless your heart” for the sacrifice you are making being seperated from your son during all the holidays and such. I know how it feels to have a loved away from home during those special times.
PBQ glad your DH is ok. I too have a handicapped son but he says he would gladly go to keep his brother from going. I don’t want the draft back but if things got bad enough who knows what would happen. Back during one of the world wars my husband’s great gandmother had to ship off all five of her boys at one time..I cannot even imagine.
Y’all think about me tomorrow because I’m going to the city (which I hate to do) to add to my preps. My sister is driving me but still I would rather just stay home. I plan to get sevreal cases of veggies at Aldi’s and whatever else strikes my fancy. Also, I plan to get more chicken to can. I would love to go to Sam’s too but in this heat, it’s gonna be as quick a trip as possible. My allergies are giving me fits with all this dust…so hot and dry…106 today. It hurt to breathe.
By the way, I will start a new thread this weekend if one of the mods don’t take pity on us and close this one and start a new one ;). Got to refresh my memory on that tiny URL.
Aunt Bee-Thank you, we are very proud of him too. I could not imagine sending all my sons off to war at the same time. She must have been a strong woman.
Good luck on going to the city shopping, pace yourself, it sure is hot. I try to do my shopping in the morning when I get off work. If its not open by seven fifteen they don’t get my money.
Here’s our new thread: