Okay, September is over already. What happened to it anyway?
How did you do on your preparedness goals? Did you get something done? I'll have to be honest with you, I haven't gotten my boards on my shelves yet. We had a bunch of garden stuff that needed done, and the usual craziness combined with a spell of not feeling so well has really slowed me down the last couple of weeks. I've also started working a few hours at the school and taking sewing/alteration jobs that have killed some of my productivity but are adding a bit to the budget which never hurts.
So here's the deal. You all who committed to do something in the last post, let me know if you got something done in a comment on this post. I'll also need a way to contact you, so if your blogger profile doesn't have your email, just leave it in your comment somehow. I'm crafty enough to figure out the anti-spam coded emails like "joe at blahblah dot com" or whatever, so however you want to leave it is fine. I'll take comments on this post until this Saturday night, October 9th 11:59pm because I know not everyone checks this blog every day (and that also gives you procrastinators a few extra days to get your stuff finished!). Then I'll randomly choose winners for the very cool prizes and get you contacted.
Maybe I'll get those boards on yet, or maybe I'll just get the salsa and beets done and the bread made. We'll see how the week progresses. :)
Monday, October 4, 2010
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19 comments:
Well, I didn't get around to commenting on the original post, but it did inspire me to actually get something done:
I put together a comprehensive (for me) first aid kit for the family or for taking on campouts with the scouts... It fits into a tool-bag made by Rubbermaid:
http://www.tpoutdoors.com/product_images/e/838/RubbermaidToolBag_%281%29__09581_zoom.JPG
and I have 2 plastic organizer cases that fit just perfectly into the bottom of it.
http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/images/fullsize/standard/530_infinite.jpg
They hold a "cut-kit" in one (cleaning wipes, bandaids, antibiotic gel, tape, scissors, gauze, and burn cream) and the "meds kit" in the other (individually wrapped ibuprofen packets, sinus medication, migrane packets, antacid, and other stuff).
I tried to break it into the "Goes on you" vs "goes in you" boxes.
The upper/outside flaps of the kit holds cold packs, more gauze, splinter removers, scissors, ace bandages, larger triangle bandages, sports tape/wrap, and extra stuff that didn't fit into the organizers.
It looks like an EMT kit - nice and rugged.
I also worked on my EDC stuff - just thinking thru what I carry and why. I added a small LED flashlight to my pocket knife lanyard and it's been very useful so far!
Thank you for your blog! I've very much enjoyed following it!
Tim
(tim dot aman at gmail dot com...)
I actually got a couple things done last month!
Purged the basement of outgrown children's clothing and donated them.
Emptied canning jars of old questionable stuff.
Still working on the basement.
PLUS I gleaned 5+/- bushels of pears that are ripening as we speak. Hopefully they'll be ready to can next week!
Well, I didn't get the wood finished, but I did get the pickles done. Now I will work on pressure canning some beans, chili, and some beef. I love having stuff ready for when the power goes out.
I am hoping to also get a Stovetec Rocket stove this month or next to add to our camping/preparedness stuff.
OK, I didn't move the food downstairs that I wanted to. BUT! I did fill up the empty soda and juice bottles I've been saving with water and hauled them downstairs. So I didn't accomplish my goal, but I accomplished something useful. :)
Well, I got the laundry room cabinets installed and managed to paint the walls and even replace the cracked anti-flooding pan thing that the washing machine stands in. Only thing I didn't get to was hanging the broom, mop and steam mop. However, it did open up space for the 15qts of apple sauce we just canned this morning. Mission mostly accomplished.
I managed to get my inventory spreadsheet updated for most of my supplies. Papers/documents still on list to be copied and vacuum sealed for emergency egress.
I didn't get much done to get prepared. However, I did pick over 600 pounds of chestnuts to sell to our nut growers co-op. I did get all of my tomatoes and peppers in before the frost hit last week. I wish I could get more done and put aside for the future. But since we are trying to sell our home, I keep focusing on that for now. Hopefully I wont regret it in the future.
(hr_smith76 At yahoo dot com)
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well--I hope you feel better soon! (I haven't felt well, either, but it's for a very good reason that I'll be holding in my arms in about 7 months...). :)
Thanks to your contest, I DID get something done! I finally found someone online who has been helping me with my treadle sewing machine. I got shuttles and bobbins for it, but then we realized my shuttle carrier needs to be fixed. So now THAT'S on my to-do list. But I'm glad I got this far! Thanks for the motivation. :)
Also--loved the post on modern-pioneer-primitive. I think exactly the same way with that and recently expanded my preparedness thinking to how to live without electricity (hence, the treadle). There are so many levels to self-reliance, it's overwhelming. But so fun, too. :)
We got the case lot buys put away and the food storage organized. Actually my husband did it!
anne.vanhoose at gmail dot com
My goals in normal font and what happened in bold.
I still have 7 or 8 squash in the Fridge and just picked more tonight so now I'm going to make squash bread this week to put in the freeze.
Didn't get zucchini bread in the freezer, but I did make a couple cakes with them and another batch of Zucchini Lemon jam and a batch of pickled beets and froze 5 or 6 quart freezer bags of swiss chard
then we have to start cutting wood for winter heat. So I'm off to the forest service to buy a wood cutting permit at the end of this week so we can start hauling wood this weekend.
Only got one truck load of wood hauled due to bad weather. Still working on wood hauling though
I got several pieces of double paned storm glass from a local glass company who is replacing all the windows in my office building so I'll be making cold frames for winter gardening this year.
didn't get the cold frames built due to bad weather, It hailed last weekend and wasn't a good time to bring out glass.
Did get more hay for the horses hauled in, Bought more lamp oil at the store, started knitting some winter socks and crocheted some place mats for the table
I did accomplish my goal of restocking and updating our first aid kit, as well as creating a miniature travel one for my backpack that goes with me everywhere including vinyl gloves, a CPR face shield, an Epi-Pen, gauze, tape, and antibiotic ointment.
I also made enough concord grape jelly for PB&J sandwiches all year long :)
ichvorstelle at gmail dot com
Thanks to the challenge I finally managed to ask the bakeries at my local stores for buckets not once but 6 times in the last few weeks. I'd been putting it off way too long. I got them all scrubbed then used several in staging food from step to step in canning.
Since I got that done it got the ball rolling on a couple additional projects to go along with it.
I purchased 2 large heavy steel shelving units for my food storage. I had to re-arrange my entire sewing/quilting room in the basement to fit them in our tiny house. A feat considering I have a 10 foot quilting frame that can't move anywhere and limits what else can be moved. It took 2 hours just to move all the fabric off its storage shelves, shift it down 6 feet then move it all back.
I got all my canned items transferred to the new food storage area along with several dozen jars I found at a great garage sale last week. Now that I have a designated place to put stuff I have started to shop super sales for my storage.
Not bad considering I have two 2 year olds chasing me everywhere and "helping".
We did get our B.O.B. updated with fall/winter items. Want to purchase even more stainless water containers. Small list but we are also canning.
My binders have been purchased, the page protectors have been purchased, and slowly I am making the individual piles to go in the appropriate binders. I am glad for this challenge to keep this task on the forefront of my get it done list. Thanks.
I was able to print about 200 pages including recipes and "how to's" to put into Emergency Information binders.
I wanted to gather 2 weeks worth of water for my family of five but only got as far as 11 days. I need to de-clutter to make room for more water containers.
This month I hope to finish up gathering water and then start on bug out bags to give my family for Christmas. I have a few things gathered but not nearly enough.
Thanks for this contest, it motivated me to make a concious effort to increase our water supply.
Email is audreydief at verizon dot net.
We got the trim up and the nail holes puttied, but no painting and no additional hardware has been installed on the doors:(. I guess that's what happens when pesky business trips come up.
And while I didn't find somewhere to put the #10 cans of freeze-dried food I bought - the hall coat closet - it can't be permanant because we're gonna need access to the coats before too long.
Another month, the same old projects . . .
We are now in a freeze warning for the rest of the week, so I've had to harvest the tomatoes and squash. Today working on green tomato/squash pickle relish and anything else I can make with green tomatoes. Tomorrow is wood hauling day again and We loaded another load of hay in the Hay barn. Almost stocked on hay until spring need one or two more loads for a cushion to get through until next spring harvest.
Farwood-
I actually ended up putting in more time at work then expected.
Good for the pocket book but...
Still managed pick and dehydrate quite a few cherry tomatoes from my own garden and almost all of the hot peppers from my Mom's. However did not get as many of the the full sized tomatoes canned as I would have liked nor did we finish cutting and dehydrating the onions.
Our basement did get swept, shelves cleansed, and clothes racks set up but there is still much more work to be done there!
Camping gear ended up finding a nice home in our garage.
Hubby and I gathered more wild apples and found a few hickory nut trees. Only dehydrated one more additional batch of apples from the lot- the rest became lots and lots of apple crisp to share with the family. The hickory nuts tasted rather bitter but I'm drying some anyway to see if the flavor improves at all.
On a plus side while the extra work hours mean less time at home (an less access to internet thus missing the deadline!) it also has forced me to make and stick to meal plans and shopping lists! I will also be able to pay off some bills earlier then anticipated which is always nice!
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