Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: March 21 ~ 27, 2021

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Morning, All! We've got beautiful sunshine today. It's supposed to warm up into the mid 60's - and there's no rain in the forecast until Tuesday. As soon as everyone is finished with breakfast, we are going to be putting on chore clothes and heading outside. Hubby may be able to escape some of the work by keeping an eye on the little one while he rides his motorcycle - he spent a few hours on it yesterday. I may have to keep a closer eye on Hubby, though - he's teaching him bad habits, like riding up the 'hill' of rock that's waiting to be spread. Boys and their toys :lol:

Plans for today are to get some mulch put down on the north side of the raised beds in the front garden; we'll have to carry the bags in as it's still soggy out there, but I want the mulch down so I won't track mud into the house from emptying the compost pot. Sounds crazy with what may be coming down the pike, but I'm going to make that garden about 6-8' narrower - I want to be able to get something bigger than the buggy between the garden and the east field just in case we need to plant the east field - it's been mostly in deer crops though we couldn't get in to plant it with the everlasting rain last year, so it's a mess. After that, I'm going to dig out some weeds that have popped up in the area where the raised strawberry bed is, and get down something to keep the weeds from growing up in that area as well.

The rest of my week is going to be chaos, at least until next Friday - I'm just gonna grit my teeth and stomp through it while hoping for a good next weekend off work!

You folks all take care out there - stay safe!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Beautiful sun shiny day here, supposed to be in the high 60's. Overcast tomorrow and rain forecast (LOL) for several days after that.

Reorganizing and rotating food. The canned lentils I mentioned in hard to find foods, well, I'm good on them. It was one of the foods I prepped 52 cans on, so I'm good on those for a good while. There are other bands of canned lentils but these taste the best to me, especially at 1.00 a can. The date on the cans is two years out, so I have awhile for those.

I'm listening to southern gospel music this beautiful Sunday morning, always brings tears to my eyes.

Looks like DH is having ribs today, I'll have something else and save them for him, I'm easier to please. Baked beans for him too.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Most of my stimulus money went towards property taxes, but I bought a new "everyday carry" knife, meaning it's a folding Buck knife, not a tactical switchblade or fixed defensive knife. My other one was nearly 25 years old and no longer holding an edge, not worth trying to refurbish.

I truly wish I had done that a lot sooner! It's spring, and I use a knife for a lot of things around the the house. I've been using a box cutter, but an actual medium-sized, sharp knife is a lot safer.

Just felt like sharing. This is not something I'm going to talk about in the real world.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Most of my stimulus money went towards property taxes, but I bought a new "everyday carry" knife, meaning it's a folding Buck knife, not a tactical switchblade or fixed defensive knife. My other one was nearly 25 years old and no longer holding an edge, not worth trying to refurbish.

I truly wish I had done that a lot sooner! It's spring, and I use a knife for a lot of things around the the house. I've been using a box cutter, but an actual medium-sized, sharp knife is a lot safer.

Just felt like sharing. This is not something I'm going to talk about in the real world.
I love my pocket knife, and I use it all the time. I don't understand why more women don't carry a knifem probably because they wear girley clothes, I always wear denim with pockets. I also carry a small swiss army knife because of the scissors, they are perfect for cutting a hang nail. I also have other things in my pockets. When I worked in an office my dress pants had decent pockets, I only carried the swiss army knife then.

I would like to have a switch blade too.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I carry a small multi-tool when I'm at my work: my knife wouldn't be allowed. When I'm home, I grab my toolbox, but it's nice to have a knife on me, again. It's been saving a lot of time.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Beautiful sunny day here, today, too. 68 for our high, today. More rain moving in on Tuesday along with more storms. Our yard is still too wet and mushy to be out doing anything, although, our grass needs mowing bad. Neither Cary nor I can use the lawn tractor to mow even if it was dry enough. Doctor's orders. Neighbor's tree is still in our yard, and no way to clean that up for another month when Cary's light duty is over.

I placed orders to Sam's and Walmart. I haven't decided what day this coming week to do my shopping. Cary still isn't up to going, and I don't want to spend the day in town by myself. I'll probably just do a run to the Dollar General here locally, and let that be it. It all just depends on how I feel on any given day, and whether it's raining or not. I'm having lots of issues with my back. It's getting worse, and I can't do much, myself. Told Cary this morning that I wish we could do ALL of our shopping online, and have it delivered right to our gate.

If we were rich, we would have a maid and a grounds keeper! I don't consider ourselves to be too old, but our bodies just can't seem to keep up like they once did.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
We split a lot of wood yesterday. We have a few more rounds to split yet. Hubby's back was really hurting when we stopped and mine was too. He sits beside the splitter and does the splitting, which involves repositioning the block after each split. I roll the rounds to the splitter and get it into position for the first split. We may have 2 ricks when we are done. We still have to stack it in the shed. I am not too sore now that I have been up a bit. I was pretty stiff earlier.

We had a neighbor come give an estimate on removing some trees close to the house. They have really grown in the 30 years since we built. The trees will make some more good fire wood for us. They should more than finish filling the shed.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Went to a party last night and slept in this morning. It was nice, although parties really aren't my thing. However, I would hate to have one and nobody show up, you know? I was the only one from work there. (It was a party for a co-worker).

Promises to be a busy week - I have medical tests due, and 3 days to work. I've managed to do a Kaiutt yoga workout 2 days in a row. I am so out of shape, and I think yoga will be the best choice for me. I used to do it a lot, but haven't in a good 10 years. I figure at least a month of consistent work for each year I've been out of shape - we'll see how this year goes!!

Today I plan on making bierocks, so DH can take some to a friend that is having surgery on Wednesday.

Forgot to add that I have a 'wine and stuff' promotion that is being put on by a local woman to showcase local businesses - and she chose me!!
 
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aviax2

Veteran Member
It’s a beautiful day here today too! The kids and grandkids should be here in awhile. Not sure what Sunday lunch will be as I didn’t have to plan it LOL. I think chicken is on the menu but that’s all I know. DH has been putting together a feed bin for the cattle and he’s to the point he needs hands on the inside and on the outside so son-in-law and grandsons will be put to work for a little while.

The ground here is so soggy and messy, DH and his uncle have had to stop cutting/splitting wood until it dries up. I’m not sure how much we have on hand for next winter but we should be good.

I haven’t decided what I’ll be trying to get done this week prep wise.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
I flip from purse to work bag so often that I keep certain things in a baggie that I just move from one to the other - my pocket knife is one of the things in the baggie, along with a small multi-tool. I probably have a couple of dozen of the small razor blade type knives - the ones where the blade snaps off - that Harbor Freight has at the check out counter roaming around - I love those things! Pretty sure there are 2 or 3 in the van, about the same in my work bag, emergency bag, etc...
 

Digger

Veteran Member
I forgot to add that a friend told me she saw cases of off brand jars for sale locally that had rings on the jars but no lids. I can't imagine any company selling them without lids. I did not see it. I wonder if they might have been included in a cardboard sleeve in the case. If we go to that store I will look but right now we don't need anything from there.
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
It's a beautiful day here, too. I'm working on fixing up one of our small sheds for waterfowl housing -- hopefully will get the goslings and ducklings moved out there this afternoon. They've been in the house too long!

Kathleen
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
This week is super busy, but I plan to get some veggies planted and row covers up. I think I may order some more fruit trees and some more berry bushes.

Good for you! At one time, we had a nice little orchard in our back yard. Plums, peaches, grapes, muscadines, pears, apple, fig, mulberry, tame blackberries, and elderberry bushes. All we have left are one peach, one apple, one fig, one mulberry, and the muscadines. Blight, plus late frosts and freezes have killed all the rest. I would like to replace, but Cary doesn't want to.

The only garden we plan to have are a couple of bell pepper plants planted in big flower pots on our back deck. We're just not up for it another year.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
Beautiful day, group hike went excellent! 6 other adults and 4 kids plus us two and the 3 we brought. Lots of hiking, cooking, laughing, especially the kids had a terrific time!
They learned several ways to safely start a fire and how to extinguish it safely. What trees, plants, wildlife in the area. Other fun activities. The kids are loving learning survival and the adults were packed and prepped too.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Good for you! At one time, we had a nice little orchard in our back yard. Plums, peaches, grapes, muscadines, pears, apple, fig, mulberry, tame blackberries, and elderberry bushes. All we have left are one peach, one apple, one fig, one mulberry, and the muscadines. Blight, plus late frosts and freezes have killed all the rest. I would like to replace, but Cary doesn't want to.

The only garden we plan to have are a couple of bell pepper plants planted in big flower pots on our back deck. We're just not up for it another year.
I kinda feel the same way, we planted so many things last year (DH is a seasoned gardener) and hardly anything took. Neither of us likes peppers, but we will plant several tomato plants. And DH has planted strawberries in a 4' tall raised bed, last year he planted them in the ground and the ants got to them. I also planted garlic and onion buds late last fall.

Dh had 48 eggs in my cousin's incubador and he picked up 28 nice looking chickies, the 29th one looks pitiful and won't make it. They are all kinds of colors as are the eggs we get. The only thing I don't like about having chickens is the poop, I hate chicken poop. DH uses the poop on his strawberries.

It won't be long before he has honey from his bees and his peach tree is filled with blooms.
God is good all the time

Judy
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
I stopped by CVS to use some gift cards and bought a couple boxes of latex gloves and some bags of candy. It is outrageous what they are charging for candy nowdays! Over $4 for a regular bag of jellybeans!!!

I then popped over to Publix to take advantage of some BOGO sales. Stocked up on multigrain crackers and froot loops :) Also found their organic brand cans of pinto beans for 50 cents a can and bought several. Bought another box of my tea bags (not BOGO, but on sale), and 4 boxes of orzo pasta for soup (it was BOGO). Kind of a "this and that" day, but plenty to add to the pantry. Oh, got some brownie mix for BOGO as well and made one tonight. Good stuff and can't beat the price.

Will hit Walmart tomorrow. We need distilled water (about 5 gallons) and I need to get some quick lunches in the freezer and some more canned roast beef. We will also hit Petsmart and do another stock up on cat food. With 5 cats, we go through a lot of cat food.
 

philkar

Veteran Member
Today we trellised our recently divided thornless blackberries. Getting ready to cut the grass this week so those berries needed to be upright! The irish potatoes are about up about a foot and we will pull dirt to them sometimes this week. Have finally finished pulling the dirt away from the onions...hate that job! Greenhouse stuff looks great but appears we lost a peach tree in the orchard over the winter. Like everyone else we continue to add to preps if needed and review every task that we do to see if we have everything we need. It can be overwhelming can't it?!
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I don't live in the South, but whether it's boiling hot or bone-chilling cold, if you're without power, you have to prioritize differently. For example, a lot of work is done very early in the morning and late in the evening when it's cooler. There are just going to be times when the best option is to find the coolest spot and conserve energy. If you are healthy, you will get used to the heat to some extent, but that doesn't mean you can do out and work like your great-great grandfather did. You aren't used to it!

I've known a few people who switched over to night shift during longer power outages. They found the coolest spot possible during the day and slept through most of it.

I don't know . . . I think I'd find somewhere else cooler to be if I were stuck in a long-term outage. Maybe go visit some friends or relatives farther north?

Some things I do in August to keep the cooling bills down:

- eat in season veggies, often a lot of salads that don't need cooking
- I drink more smoothies, too -- keeping up hydration helps
- no running the clothes dryer -- hang everything outside on the line
- use thermo drapes over the windows during the day -- open them at night. Open what windows I can if no power.
- sleep in my basement
- use a window a/c and just cool the bedroom
- be somewhere cool between 11 - 4 -- don't try to work outside
- wear proper clothing and use sunscreen
- do any cooking early or late and use a toaster oven or outside grill instead of the oven in the kitchen
- if the humidity is high and there's power for a dehumidifier, run it. That makes a huge difference!
- hang out more at the lake or in the woods. it's cooler
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
One tip for those who have been spoiled by the softer/ smoother results from clothes dryers, but who would like to havectge savings from using a clothes line...

For permanent press stuff that got a bit creased from the line... toss in the dryer on medium with a dryer sheet for 5 minutes. Remove the garments and immediately hang on hangers.

For the "why did I spend $20 for a bath sheet, only to feel like I'm drying with a giant sheet of sandpaper?" question, toss the stiff towels into the dryer. Add a couple of CLEAN running shoes, or several tennis balls. Add a fabric softener sheet. Run on low to medium for 5-10 minutes. (Check at 5 minutes)

Yes, you use a bit of energy running the dryer, but a heck of a lot less than you would have using it for the entire process. And it might help keep family members on board.

Summerthyme
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
Question...for those of you that live in the South...if no electricity how will you handle the heat? I have been reviewing what people did before AC. Sleeping porches. Summer kitchens. Anyone with other ideas?
We don't live in the South, but we lose power a lot. We have a whole house generator and window a.c. units if the heat is unbearable. We also have a pool. Our home is in the shade. I would open all my shaded windows and hang wet sheets over them. All cooking would be done outside.
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
We marginally qualify as the south, I think (south-central KY), and we've survived three summers so far without AC. In a house with a black metal roof (who in their right mind puts a black roof on a house in a hot climate?!?). The house has some shade on the south and west sides from deciduous trees -- they are black locusts, so the shade is thin, but it does help. Basically I do stuff early when it's cooler, and we sit in the house or outside in the shade during the hottest part of the day. At night I have a fan blowing on my bed upstairs (and both attic windows open); if we lost power, I have a small rechargeable fan and solar rechargers to keep that and several other items charged. I should get a couple more of the fans, probably. We have ceiling fans in the downstairs rooms, and would need to replace those.

Since we are on a well, we'd lose our water in a power outage; I've got a solar powered well pump to use in outages.

Kathleen
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Living in Mississippi all my life, I guess I'm climatized to the heat. Being the frugal person I am, I don't use our a/c any more than I have to, so being without electricity wouldn't be too much of a problem for us, at least where the a/c is concerned. Meemur gave a very good list. We do most of those things already, and we survive. The heat isn't too much a problem for us. It's the humidity that can make us miserable.

Our home is shaded by 5 large oak trees that form a canopy over our house. That keeps the house in the shade most of the day. That really helps to cool it down.

We do all of our outside work in the very early hours of the morning, or later at night. I can't handle the hot direct sunlight, because of health problems, so this works great for me all the way around.

I do most of my cooking outdoors on our grill or fire pit, but mostly eat sandwiches and salads in the summer. No soups, stews, chili, or other cold weather foods. Drink lots of cold beverages. We limit our coffee to early morning.

I hang all the laundry on my clothesline outside. If it's a rainy day, I use 3 wooden drying racks to dry indoors.

Even though, no direct sunlight comes in through most of my windows, I use window blinds for all of them. The windows that do get sunlight, I keep those closed.

Our house has an open floor plan. I can open the front door and the back door, a breeze blows through the main part of our home. Raising the windows also helps catch a breeze.

We wear proper clothing. The looser it fits, the better. No tight or binding clothing. I'm not one to wear shorts. I like loose sundresses or pool loungers. I hardly ever wear pants during the summer. Bras are optional, whatever you feel comfortable doing. I never wear one.

Washing up by taking a cool sponge bath throughout the day helps, or just using a wet cool washcloth to wipe down.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope it helps.
 

philkar

Veteran Member
Thanks for all the ideas. The wet sheets over the windows is a new one to me. We do have whole house generator but in a when TSHTF I am sure that propane will be limited and highly valued which is what powers our generator. We are Southern lifetimers so we think we tolerate the heat but are finding as we age we have to be more careful. Thanks again. And Sheree you are right the humidity is the killer.
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
Thanks for all the ideas. The wet sheets over the windows is a new one to me. We do have whole house generator but in a when TSHTF I am sure that propane will be limited and highly valued which is what powers our generator. We are Southern lifetimers so we think we tolerate the heat but are finding as we age we have to be more careful. Thanks again. And Sheree you are right the humidity is the killer.

The wet sheets over the windows will only work in a dry climate, not in a humid one. In a dry climate, it works really well.

Kathleen
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The wet sheets over the windows will only work in a dry climate, not in a humid one. In a dry climate, it works really well.

Kathleen

True. I should have mentioned in my post that drying wet clothes indoors on the drying racks takes forever to dry, because of the humidity in the summer. The wet laundry or the wet sheets over the windows will just add more humidity to your already hot and humid house. I try my best to do laundry on the days that I can hang outdoors. The dry wood heat during the winter dries the laundry in no time.
 
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school marm

Senior Member
While we also got a bit of snow this weekend--4 inches--it was on the heels of warmer temperatures. So fortunately, the snow didn't stick to the driveway and I don't need to shovel. But it covered up the grass and the garden we just started. (Had we known we were going to get snow, we would have kept the plants inside a few more days.) That snow we got was supposed to be just a good chance of rain. So this week will be focused on cleaning and cooking, and perhaps trying out some bread recipes.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Last summer when Hurricane Laura came through here we were without power for a week. We had two generators going that powered all the freezers and two window a/cs, lights, tv, internet. I thought I was going to die. One of the window units is in my 10x12 walk in closet off the bedroom. That ac kept the bedroom temp low enough to sleep okay in.

The generators are duel fuel, which I highly recommend. We ran one ac about 18 on one 7 1/2 gallon propane tank. Now we have a 250 gallon tank. We could use a larger capacity generator, but I'm not sure we'll get one.

We have a screened in porch with you have to go outside to enter. We have two cots but did not set anything up on the porch because we were sleeping well enough.

Except for my youngest child hood I've lived in ac and am spoiled. We have an older mobile home that DH has added rooms on each side, although we don't have the kind of windows that give us any kind of cross ventilation. In yesteryear my relatives around here had dog trot style houses with the center hall. Growing up we had attic fans, which brings a lot of breeze in the windows. We have a couple of ceiling fans but DH doesn't like them.

In a survival situation with out ac we will most likely adjust, but kicking and screaming along the way.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

philkar

Veteran Member
True. I should have mentioned in my post that drying wet clothes indoors on the drying racks takes forever to dry, because of the humidity in the summer. The wet laundry or the wet sheets over the windows will just add more humidity to your already hot and humid house. I try my best to do laundry on the days that I can hang outdoors. The dry wood heat during the winter dries the laundry in no time.
No problem Sheree. Have lived in the South long enough to know not to EVER add humidity to an already hot day!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Picked up one of the commodities we get. Sometimes we get a lot and sometimes its seems like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Although I'm always greatful for whatever we get it was pretty much the bottom of the barrel. One package each of frozen meat, one was porkchops (nice) and the other was chicken legs (my favorite). My freezers are jam packed so it was nice to get less. Things from the bakery, french bread (it will be nice to make garlic bread) and sliced creamed cake (nice and moist) rice, some canned foods (they've started to include the same brand of chili that DH likes) and some type of granola bars. Nice haul, thank you Jesus.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
Canned and dry cat food is really getting hard to find, at least the kinds we use. A trip to Petsmart led us to note that the shelves were pretty bare. Walmart had more canned cat food than last time, but not what we use. I did get two bags of dry. Seven pounds of dry now costs what the old 16 lb bag used to cost. With five cats we go through a fair amount of food and do stay several months ahead. We've noticed that the food situation has been declining, and is not getting any better. It's been at least six months since we have had a decent selection, even ordering from Chewys.

Also in Walmart, I got the canned roast beef and distilled water I was looking for. When I went to get a couple of frozen things, it looked like the freezer section had been stripped. It was pretty bad. I wasn't there too long as I had somewhere I needed to be, but the freezer section kind of shook me up a bit.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
*** Implications of Delayed Shipping Traffic ***

If you read on main, you may have seen that there is a barge blocking shipping. This event will potentially have a number of implications on the Just In Time inventory system. You've probably been buying/storing imports (or finding work-arounds) but things like electronics and even eye glasses could be impacted and later other types of local shipping if things like food or drugs are prioritized.

Thus, if you are putting off car work, fixing electronics, etc., it might be better to do these things sooner rather than later.

If you are mail-ordering anything and have been putting it off, that might be a consideration, as well.
 

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
*** Implications of Delayed Shipping Traffic ***

If you read on main, you may have seen that there is a barge blocking shipping. This event will potentially have a number of implications on the Just In Time inventory system. You've probably been buying/storing imports (or finding work-arounds) but things like electronics and even eye glasses could be impacted and later other types of local shipping if things like food or drugs are prioritized.

Thus, if you are putting off car work, fixing electronics, etc., it might be better to do these things sooner rather than later.

If you are mail-ordering anything and have been putting it off, that might be a consideration, as well.
I wonder if this event will have any impact on the USA at all (Europe -yes). Most China to USA shipping is across the Pacific to our west coast. Plus the blockage was one or two days.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I wonder if this event will have any impact on the USA at all (Europe -yes). Most China to USA shipping is across the Pacific to our west coast. Plus the blockage was one or two days.

Per an offline friend who works in air shipping: Yes, there will be some sort of impact, although exactly how much will depend on how long the blockage goes on. If it's a week, expect some problems, the actual extent unknown at this point.

My take: don't panic and run up the credit cards, but if there was something in the budget anyway, like a new tablet or glasses, go for it! Lots of hard goods are in the stores right now, at least in Central Iowa, but that might not be the case a month from now.
 
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