Missing in Action??

You may have noticed that I have seemed to be MIA lately. Well I'll update you on my progress. I have been getting my lawn (all 2.8 acres) mowed, drywall attached and have started substitute teaching. I have also finally gotten all of the building materials out of my living room and arranged the furniture in a way that I am still liking. I have been working on building keeping track of the standby recipes that my family likes as well as trying out a few new ones so that I can try to determine what I really want to store for my long term storage. I am also trying to finish off some more projects before my first out of town guest comes to visit. (Yea, Mom's coming). So while I haven't been very diligent in writing down all of my experiences and ideas, I have been working towards this goal. I really want to thank my good neighbor for mowing my lawn for me. It took a tremendous amount of time and really needed to not just be mowed but bush hogged. It was a wonderful gift. I have said it before and I'd like to say it again, this is a great place to live, I have great neighbors and friends. I am so grateful for my children who've been helping me through this rough allergy patch, in which I've had to take antihistamines, and decongestants enough where you get that medicine head and don't feel like doing much. I know I am blessed, and I am grateful. Here is a video of my property.

Weather

The last couple of days have been in the 60's, and temperature wise it has been super! It wont last I saw that we will be dipping back down to the upper 40's. Last night we had an electrical storm, it was very short. I only saw 1 lightening strike and heard the resulting thunder that sent my dog scurrying to the smallest, tightest corner she could find. This morning we've been getting wind gusts, that make me envious of those who own wind turbines.
Weather plays a big part in the life around here. We have snow days, and black ice to deal with in addition to the wind, rain, and such. I find checking the weather is one of the last things I do before heading off to bed. It effects decisions like when I go grocery shopping, or staying in.
I have been thinking about how weather would effect my emergency preps. For instance if I was forced to evacuate in a snow storm I wouldn't be taking the dirt road to my brothers house. How about sheltering in place, I know I want to install a wood stove because on one particular day last winter the electrical went out and without an alternative form of heat we would have been really cold. So I've been thinking what if scenario's like what if we had a week long power failure like they did in NYC. What if it was in winter, or summer? (Spring and Fall being relatively mild temperature wise). So after all my musings, I believe what I am saying is think things through. Maybe even experiment, see if you could survive a day without using electricity during winter, or summer. Then adjust your preparations based on what you've learned.

Forming your group

For me and my family it was a no brain-er about who would comprise our core group. We wanted all of our extended family to be together. We each recognized the value of having a plan and being prepared. Even my sister in laws were okay with it, maybe not as "gungho" as the rest of us, still supportive.
But what if your family isn't like mine. I'm guessing it isn't, how could you form your group? Well you have a few options. 1) You could be like the ant in the Aesop tale the "ant and the grasshopper" and save your grasshopper family by gathering enough supplies to care for them. 2) Take a little time and have a heart to heart with your family and tell them about the trends that you are seeing in Europe, or your fears of economic collapse, or your fear for some disaster and what it was like after Katrina (lots of footage online about that) and tell them it isn't going to hurt anything to be prepared, but it could be deadly if your not. 3) You could form a group of unrelated like minded individuals. This could be set up like a club of sorts.
Getting other people to desire to prepare for themselves is a huge undertaking, but worth it if you care about them (not to mention easier on your own budget).

Spring? Is it really around the cornor?

Being in a new area I've really been studying the weather and the averages for the next month. I know that people in my area have said that this year was warmer, but I've found it to be close to the averages with the exception of 2 weeks in January. This week is actually colder than the average. One thing that does seem to be different this year seems to be how dry its been this year. I was excited to see that my brother is getting the garden in CA ready for spring plantings. Soon I'll need to do that too. My first year I'd actually like to plant my small "orchard" and get my trees established because I know that it can take a couple of years to start producing a fruit crop.
Gardening in prepping is important because you are doing two things. 1) You are creating a food source for your family, and 2) You are learning the skills that are important to do the first part. If you only store seeds in your preps and don't use them then you wont learn your areas growing season, if and which certain crops are more successful than others. You need to learn to recognize weeds, and plants. How to deal with particular rodents, birds and pests. All stuff you can't learn unless you actually go out and do it. I'll let you know if I can find someone to plow up my front yard so I can plant my "orchard." I'm also going to challenge you my reader to plant something even if it is just an herb in a container on your kitchen counter top, good luck.

Heat

Heat has been an interesting topic for me this winter. My house doesn't have central heating, it doesn't have a wood stove. In fact it really didn't have heating at all. We've been using an indoor Kerosine heater. I had seen in the LDS preparedness manual, Kerosine for storage. I have determined that my family goes through about 1 1/2 gallons per every 8 hours. I usually only run it for 8 hours a day unless it is really cold, using about 10 1/2 gallons a week. The average cost of Kerosine at the pump here is about $3.99 a gallon, with about 16-20 weeks of winter (210 gallons for 1 winter, and & about $838 in cost).
Things I've learned: The wick is really important, try to get an extra one when you purchase your heater. Make sure that your heater is large enough for the sq. footage that you want heated. Insulation in the house will help you retain the heat longer. I don't need to take the heater upstairs, when I have the heater in the kitchen (near the stairwell)the heat naturally travels to the upstairs, making that one of the warmest parts of the house. When the heater is in the living room the heat stays pretty much in that room and the office which comprise the front rooms of my 1st floor.
My hope is to install a wood burning stove before next winter. I had originally thought that I would put it in the living room, but am reconsidering that now because of how well the Kerosine heater worked in the kitchen. Part of the reason I didn't want to install an electric heater is in case of a power outage. We did have one power outage this winter, and I was really glad we had an alternative form of heating. I think it will be nice to have the Kerosine as a backup. Since my brother owns land eventually I'll be able to get fuel from it; the cost of wood will be significantly lower for me in the long run than using Kerosine. Here in my neck of the woods it seems most people are using wood to heat there homes, and I've yet to see an alternative for this area that would be as effective and inexpensive.

Clothing

When I consider my extended family and the preparations that they appear to be making it seems to me to be more about the food than any other kinds of preparing. One thing I hadn't thought of myself but rather read about was clothing. Lets imagine for a bit that you are not working. The clothes that you own will probably last a year maybe even two. But I've started to notice my hems on my favorite pants start to fray and sweaters start to stretch on the cuffs, and stains start appearing. When you are not working then these are things that are harder to replace. If for some strange reason like a disaster were to take place and you couldn't go shopping, those items would be hard to replace. If there were crazy inflation or some other strange economic event then then clothing might be hard to replace. I can't really think of a good reason other than unemployment for this scenario- still having well fitting clothes that are appropriate for gardening, or other physical labor in your storage might be appropriate. I would also encourage extra jackets, gloves, hats, socks, and SHOES (consider water resistant/proof hiking boots- or shoes with good thick soles and treads on them; and make sure you at least break them in before an emergency).

Neighbors

I have read many articles that have suggested that you would need to hide your food storage from your neighbors, and that your neighbors can become your enemy in times of great stress like during Katrina. While that is a possibility, I want to have you think of another possibility. Why not cultivate a good relationship with your neighbors, at least some of them and if they are not preparing for themselves then plan to include them in your preps. The reason I think this might be a good strategy is because they will have property near yours that they too would want to protect. At the very least I think it would be good to "get a feel" for your neighbors. You might find that they are more prepared than you are, especially if they are farmers/ranchers/hunters like in my neck of the woods. And in the city increased numbers may offer some protection in the form of a deterrent, plus if you are organized the more likely you are to be "heard" or have authority given to you by those around you who are not. Just some more food for thought.

2012 New Year, New Goals- My Resolutions

When you are unemployed such as I am at the moment it's real easy to limit your focus to today and tomorrow, and ask how am I going to just make it this week? While in my situation that is important, I don't want to lose focus of my longer term goals either. My longer term goals include having a 1 year supply of food and being prepared for economic disaster like we are witnessing in Europe, since it appears that our government is trying real hard to emulate Europe. My situation right now means that it will take me longer to reach my long term goals but it is still possible.
I know that redistribution of wealth is not cool, and I really do wish we had a different system in place (ie. private groups providing for social issues)- but it isn't so now. I am on welfare. I know it is the redistribution of wealth they take it from my brother, and give it to me. Totally not fair, I know. If my mom did that- like take my brothers paycheck and gave me part of it then there would be a big problem, and a lot of fighting between family members. It really should be up to my brother to help me or not as the case may be. I'd rather be poor than be the cause of all that family fighting, but perhaps I'm an exception. Getting back to the point, on welfare you get food stamps and sometimes cash aid. The amount varies depending on family size. Food stamps are always generous. So I expect I'll still be able to work on obtaining my food storage especially now that I know more about food.
When you are poor it's easier sometimes to establish the things that you really need to survive. Shelter, heat- in winter, food and water. I used to think that Food and water would be on the top of my list. And it is in a disaster situation, but as in a being poor situation it is not. Food is still currently one of the easiest resources to find for instance there is food stamps, food banks, soup kitchens, church groups, ect. all trying to get food out to people. Shelter is harder to come by and hold on to especially with out a job. Most Shelters are first come first serve, and space is limited. Apartments want credit checks and work history, owning is harder because it is a resource that you could sell, but sometimes like now the market is so low that mortgages are lower than paying rent.
Fortunately I have shelter, so hopefully I can hold on to it. Things are both easier and harder with children. Services are easier to qualify for if you have children. It's harder because, at least in my case, I don't want my children to have to make hard choices like do we save our fuel for our car or go deposit a small check in town? It is not cool to have to make those kind of decisions. But I have found that it is best that we approach these problems together as a family. Understanding leads to more realistic expectations.
I started this post telling you how it is harder to stay focused on the big picture. It really can be harder. My advice, list the things that are really important to you. Think about what those things and what you want them to be like in 10 years. That is your long term goal, that is the big picture. Write it all down, because as the year goes on it will be harder to remember what that dream is. Writing it down will help you remember. Sometimes when I feel like I can't describe it with words, I'll sketch it out as a picture. (I'm not an artist- but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Keep it somewhere you can see it. It will help you remember your priorities or the big picture and you'll probably be amazed with how much you'll do this year. HAPPY NEW YEAR my friends!