# December 2009 Prep Journal



## Guest (Dec 3, 2009)

I've got a head cold this week so I'm slow off the mark getting this month's prep journal posted.

The economy continues to molder from everything that I can see in spite of what the government says. Gold has now topped 1,200 an ounce, the dollar continues to founder, and no matter how many Christmas decorations are put up it seems everyone around me is struggling to find any holiday spirit outside of a bottle. 

On the other hand maybe it's all just these cold meds I'm taking that makes it seem that way...

Prep wise it's been a bit slow in the Hagan household as it is every year about this time due to holiday spending. I'll make another Sam's run this weekend and I recently sent in my Walton Feed truck pool order. I strongly prefer to buy locally for whatever I can, but there are a few things that I cannot find in the area for which things like the truck pool comes in handy.

How is the prep month looking for you folks?

.....Alan.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Canning the rest of the pie pumpkins this week. Cutting up an oak tree this weekend (going to TRY to get it done, anyway). Other than that, it's all about trying to recover from last month! Although...we spent just 1/2 of what we budgeted. :banana02: Which meant that we could pay for the doggie surgery that cropped up. 

It's always something, isn't it?


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Finishing the HM Christmas gifts and the yearly ornament for exchange. Making extra cookies for the freezer to use during Jan - March. 

Looking at the stuff in the house. Mentally preparing for a through clean out in Jan.


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

Must finish some Christmas shopping - I'm buying some copies of Rawles "Surviving TEOTWAWKI" for family members as an introduction to prepping. They already think I'm nuts, why not go all out?

Finished harvesting carrots - lots of carrot themed things going on - making and freezing of carrot breads, muffins, shredded for use later, etc. Will probably try and blanch some diced carrots this weekend and freeze them for later use in soups and stews.


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

I don't buy seed from catologs. I have found that I can buy seed at 1/2 price during the begining of the year at big box stores and many farm stores. Saves more money to buy a fruit tree or two. The Catologs are fun to look at though and have a few ideas. 

I also need to go through the garlic bulbs again and use up the ones that are getting a bit of mold. Go through the onions, potatoes, and carrot bin. Make a great potatoe soup for dinner. That sounds good with fresh ground grain bread. Yumm.


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## jehoshaphat (Feb 13, 2004)

Trip to local Amish bulk store to get herbs, beans, hot dogs, sausage patties & cheese horn(1.39 # for muenster). Have gotten extra honey as I could. Walgreens has a 32 oz for 3.99 lim 3 oer order. going to try to get pie pumpkins canned this week. have about 8 of them left. not much but every little bit helps. found that leftover baked sweet potatoes added to homemade sp sauce is good! i run it thru processor anyway so no chunks. i have seen where carrots are added for sweetness & health benefits so thought why not. my dd named me the sneaky cook many yrs ago so i need to live up to it! i need to check for markdown sw potatoes @ local stores. heard some were about .19, wow! to help store our supplies, took over a large closet used to be for grands toy room. installed shelves & am excited to see it in use. kids now have our huge front porch for their toys. (its our front porch but we use back door to enter so it confused them when i told them their toys were on front porch. they looked & said we cant see them where are they?) we have to put a heater out there for them when they come over but they dont mind. its a cool to touch one. keeping them happy is a good prep. dgd age 7 has been very affected by all of the changes in our lives this past yr. she watches the news when its on & is very sensitive to it. she can hear the important stuff over the fluff. she is very astute to the troubles brewing. she prays for people to not get piggy flu, that they wont die in war & be safe like her unca unca who spent 2 terms over seas. he is now stateside. we are doing what we can to protect them. that should be a priority for all who have youngins around them. keep them as protected as we can. dont lie or sugar coat it, they can smell trouble & liars. but share with them in a way they can relate & ask for their advice. they can & will amaze you with their insight. guess that's all for now. Patti


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## skwentnaflyer (Mar 9, 2009)

finished cutting up deer--we got on the meat exchange/road kill list and got two deer from some trophy hunters from out of state---they cut the heads off & gave us the rest....happy dance for sure!
Bagged up all the scraps, gristle, etc in serving size bags & froze for the dogs.


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## TheMrs (Jun 11, 2008)

We made a visit to Sam's Club this weekend and stocked up on real maple syrup and extra virgin olive oil. 

Other than that, not much. Still working on getting this house sold and our homestead bought. Been dealing with home inspections, appraisals, financing paperwork, insurance estimates and such. We have been stockpiling moving boxes...does that count???

If everything goes as planned, we should be closing on both properties on December 14th. Moving to our homestead should begin on December 15th.


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## vickie (Aug 8, 2002)

This is around about. But we are dry walling a bed room in the basement. it will be rented with the loft apt above it as a one bed room and loft. My daughter and hubby live there right now. until they find the house they want. They just sold their house in Virgina. So they are looking. I will have to have the bed room done this month to rent it out when they leave. So it will bring in more money to use for preps. Canned up two turkeys. 14 pints of turkey. and 20 Quarts of turkey broth. I was Walmart, i needed meds and they are $10.00 for 3 months so i was there last night and they had 10#/$2.50 for potatoes. bought 20# and canned up 9 Quarts this morning. My potatoes didn't do well this year, too much rain. Vickie


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

I did a seed inventory, and a wish list. Also sterilized and stowed the incubator for the winter, loaded up the shed with hay from my neighbor. Stocked up on rock salt, replaced a snow shovel and purchased a bunch of canned goods on sale cheap from Thanksgiving (broth, cr of mush etc) We have a local mom and pop grocery closing their doors for good, all is 25% off. I got a ten lb wheel of pecorino romano for $39, and bought out the stock of gold canning jar lids. I plan to stock up on some stuff I never get cheap, like artichoke hearts and tahini, that many folks would not be interested in. Also a couple stacks of sardines. They pack well for a snack or BOB, and dont expire for a long time.


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

making my seed wish lists out. Added 4 plum trees to the orchard. cleaning out the strawberry beds. snow predicted for us this weekend which is VERY rare. Got a 20% off coupon for CVS for next weekend so I will be restocking the med. cabinet and first aid kits. My 14 year old son gave me a clothesline today for my birthday it is made from drill stem so it will last a lifetime. And he is ordering 2 bee hives for himself so he can start getting his own honey and to help in the orchard.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I've been cutting wood with my new chainsaw - we have so much standing dead wood and deadfall around that needs to be cut and stored before it rots. The woodstove is keeping us cozy, but now I worry about the pipes freezing under the house. Need to get under there and make sure everything is wrapped. 

Backstory there is that for years, the crossover between the 2 halves of the house has been down and crushed pretty much closed. Means we only had heat to one side of the house, which was not really a problem with an open floor plan, and that just a little heat leaked out under the house and tended to protect our pipes under the house. Now, without the furnace running, I am afraid that we might have a pipe problem, so I need to be closing up any open spaces between the house and foundation (manufactured home), and wrapping the pipes as needed. I have 3 cans of the spray foam to get me started. 

Other than that, Christmas preparations have taken the place of long-term preps. I am, however, taking full advantage of having the Christmas totes out of the storage room. I have enough room to move around in there now, and am sorting through and trying to get rid of "stuff" again, making room for needed preps and organizing what I want to keep. Maybe I'll find my missing Christmas cards while I'm at it.


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## Homesteadwi5 (Mar 16, 2008)

Skun out two deer today,will cut up tomorrow,hauled in another load of wood from the cache in the mtns.Finally broke down and rewired the LP furnace,I hate running it but it's handy when we're gone overnight.3 days of blackpowder deer season left,hopefully pick up 1 more deer.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

On the last remodeling project of this year and it's the new back door being installed. It's a double door that had to be specially made because it's replacing two old patio type doors. All the food inventory is logged and being checked off as used. Probably won't be another bulk food buy until February of next year. All the meds are in stock but thankfully not being used. We've stayed fairly healthy so far this flu season. The wood stove and chimney are perfoming well and have a good supply of wood for this season, although would like to have more to stockpile. This last cold weather should just about finish the kale and mustard greens. All the turnips have been harvested by us and others. Still need to clean out rest of the garden and bed it down for the winter. No cover crop this year due to late garden. We left a crop of broom corn in the garden for the birds to feed on this winter. Got all the fruit trees pruned and chopped up the cuttings for using in the smoker. The mower has been serviced and put up for the winter, along with the garden tiller. Hope everyone has a good holiday season.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

Today I prepped by getting my mamogram and an EKG that the pain center wanted me to get. I wanted to get a grip on finishing up this testing for the year so that I will have it behind me. They did the EKG in our little hospital's ER because they were using the machine down there. While I was there, I got 3 pkgs of steri-strips and 10 of the temp-dots that you can put on the forehead to check for fever. DH and I got some more buckets and lids this week for free from the local grocery store bakery, so we organized the rest of our preps that needed securing in buckets. This is the first time in 3 years that we have extra buckets put aside to put preps in as we catch them on sale.


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## Getting There (Mar 11, 2007)

Finally finally got in the basement and did some organizing. Found things I'd completely forgotten about, labeled bins more clearly, consolidated bins, wonderful things like that. It's motivated me to organize other smaller areas of the house, too.

FIL offered us a whole deer if he shot two, but he didn't even get one. Rotten rifle season this year in general.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Store had 93% lean ground beef on sale so I bought 20 lbs. to can. I ended up with 26 pints. One didn't seal so 25 pints for storage. I also replaced my 30 year old kitchen stove. The new one was installed yesterday. A test run with two large canners today went very well. My dh said the men that delivered & installed kept telling him we needed microwave shelf above the stove. Never going to happen -- could not use a canner with that set up. 

I asked dh if we could get rid of the non-working dishwasher and put shelves in that area. I think he'd prefer replacing the dishwasher but I'm dead set against another one. We've been stalemated over this for several years so I'm not holding my breath.


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## Hobbes (Apr 1, 2008)

Working on getting my fireplace built and a ceiling put in to hold heat better.


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Finished reading Alas, Babylon. I now have a 4 page list of things I feel I still need.


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

rose2005 said:


> I have just ordered that book.


I think you'll like it, Rose. Well written and realistic. Not too heavy on the testosterone like some others. A good read.


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

Well the National Weather Service is calling for a snow level down to 500 feet tonight and tomorrow here along the coast. Since I live at 1,800 feet in elevation above mean sea level, I believe I will see snow tonight here on the hilltop. I hauled out the ashes from the woodstove, stocked an abundant amount of firewood on the porch, and made sure everything is inside the outbuildings here. Now if I can make it out thru the snow and down the hill to my industrial and VA medical appointments this coming week..

If I do loose the electric power, I am ready to 'rough it' as if we have had an Earthquake. I may even pull out my collapseable Coleman oven, and bake some goodies on the Coleman stove. I have not had much success using the collapseable oven on top of the woodstove. It is difficult to regulate the oven temperature that way!! One of these years, I am going to switch out the household appliances from electric over to propane!

Yesterday I went down to town, and stopped at Walgreens to get several raincheck items, that came in while I was in Detroit. I got four seperate Bic lighter 5 packs with 2 extra free at $2.50 each. So I now have 28 new lighters, besides what is in storage here along with a stockpile of matches - no having to play 'quest for fire' anytime soon.

I was glad when I got home from Michigan to have a full pantry, so I did not have to go down the hill for a few days. But due to the forecast of possible heavy snow in the next few days, I did grab a few comfort items in case I do get snowed in up here.

Rose, I did my all of weapon maintenance last month before I left town and then they went into the gun safes.. Yet I did have extra loaded magazines waiting, for when I arrived home and removed the semi-auto pistols that I had traveled with from my checked baggage. I do that to make it easier going through security and dealing with the T.S.A., so I do not carry ammunition with me while flying - even though it is legal to do so in your locked checked baggage!


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

Gonna be canning up gristle/bits/bones for dogfood that a friend was nice enough to give us (for the dogs) tomorrow. Hubby hasn't been able to hunt yet, but will be this coming weekend, hopefully he will get a couple. I have no problem with gutting/skinning/butchering, just can't kill anything. You'd never guess I was an expert shot when I was in the Army, lol. 

Still bargain/coupon shopping for the pantry. Doing pretty well, made $30 at CVS so far this week. Will make another $30 later in the week, and use the profits to continue to add to our medicine/hygiene stockpile. It's getting there. Got a years worth of some stuff and almost none of others, but should be sitting pretty in these areas within 6 months. 

Oh, I CONSTANTLY get free (after ecb's) blood glucose meter start-up kits there. I've gotten 8 in the last two months. I give most away (to people who have to pay for test strips/meters) but keep a few in our stockpile which I will rotate everytime I get more. These things are normally $60+ each. I figure that they will be handy if TSHTF. Just a thought for ya'll. 

Still haven't butchered the Flemmy's yet. Hubby hasn't had time, I figure I'll just start counting them as part of my pantry the way they are. In two weeks either they (the 4 month olds) will be butchered or I'll be building a REALLY large pen for the next batch of buns that will be weaned. Thinking about growing a couple out to 15+ lbs to see how big of a roast they will make. 

Gonna be organizing the pantry this week. It took 1/2 hour to find a jar of canned venison yesterday.....hopefully it won't take all week.......I'm getting rather proud of my pantry stockpile, just gotta get it organized. When we moved all the food stuff got stacked everywhere in the new pantry/room and I can't find anything. 

Got rid of my reallllllly old upright freezer (huge electricity hog). Gonna keep canning as much of the meats/freezer stuff as possible and hopefully won't need to get a new one.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

We decided to go on and order a front door and have it installed in the next few days while we still have the workmen available. We can sit in our recliners and see outside through the cracks between the door and the frame, and it's facing north. It is high time we get a better door. 

I've been digging out the comforters and wool blankets. It got down to 17 degrees last night and we haven't been keeping a fire going through the remodeling stuff, so the house and me is chilled. I also put Tigger cat's new comforter in her bed in the shop. She is one happy cat tonight. I also fed her that free can of Fancy Feast cat food. I think she smiled for me.


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## SLD Farm (Dec 19, 2007)

Canned 7 qrt of potatoes today,made & froze hash brown potatoes and am currently dehydrating some too. The rest I'll put in the cellar to eat as it. 
I added some more canned food and cold medicine to the pantry. I don't want to be hunting for meds if we come down with colds or flu this winter.
Made a deal with a neighbor too. He is buying an old grain gravity wagon. He wants the chasis but is going to give me the wagon box and mount it on an old wagon that I have here. We are then going to split deliveries of 3ton of grain for our stock. It will save me approx $118 a ton for grain by buying it in bulk this way and I will be able to have a nice supply on hand at all time. In turn I will winter (and kidd out) 2 of his does that he purchased from me this summer, he'll supply the hay too!


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## jehoshaphat (Feb 13, 2004)

Was able to add to the kids supplies by shopping deals @ local Walgreens & CVS. Tooth brushes, shampoos, body wash, bandaids, contact lens solutions, & a few other items cant recall @ moment. Also got some for us to add to our own. Have been examining gift ideas with the idea of not using batteries, elec etc but instead the person using their own body energy. Got harmonica for dgs age 3, mouth harps for older dgks, marble(shooters & players) for all the older kids incl adult kids. Printing off directions & game rules to add to gift. Patti


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

I'm admiring how nicely thought out my house is for it's place in the world. It's a 70's a-frame vacation cabin, so it's open and the only doors inside are on the bathrooms. It's got a belowgrade basement(north and east side). It stays 50' down there with no heat despite it being 19' out right now with wind(12' has been the lowest with a pretty stiff wind which made it below zero and it still stays 50' as long as the stove above is going, though I'm sure it wouldn't go much below that if the stove wasn't going). THough I bet if we put in some double paned windows it would stay warmer--and ofcourse the dog door is a nice open hole in the wall too. ANyways, I think 50' is pretty good for drafty windows and a drafty dog door? The pipes downstairs are run in the below grade walls, so no freezing there. The Aframe roof has no windows on the roof/walls which are on the north and south sides. THis keeps the house pretty warm , or cool in the temp extremes. There are also a row of fir trees that were planted that shade the house. The snow slides off the roof and piles up to help keep the house warmer(but we dont' get a lot of snow). The sharp pitch also helps preserve the roof, it's 30 years old and NO leaks! Also the sharp pitch helps deflect falling trees, one tree has fallen on the hosue and no damage was done because it was more like the tree was leaning against the hosue, instead of falling down on it.

There are double paned windows on the main level which do a great job of keeping warm(even though one is cracked for ventilation). 

This morning the pump switchy thing froze(hub forgot to turn the heater on in the pump house), but the pipes didn't freeze, out there or in the house, they are buried or the extra air space of the slanted roof helps keep the pipes warm in the house under the roof. But we turned on the heater and in a half hour got water. I have a bunch of water stored in that extra space under the ****** roof. 

Anyways, just was appreciating how the builder took time to think about how to orient the house and make it roadworthy. I also got to actually know the builders, one is my next door neighbor(norwegian) and the other(his BIL, from Yugoslavia) has died and his wife is in a nursing home. Great people!


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Picked up a 5 gal gas can, extra undies and matches. Also bought lye and lard, I'm planning to try making soap this week. Added some canned goods to the cellar, things like tropical fruit, pineapple, tuna and soup.


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## Catshooter (May 11, 2009)

I've been trading work with a neighbor, so to fulfill his end he came over with a tractor and an eight foot wide rototiller and trippled my garden. That was after he dumped four loads of two year old sheep manure and stall sweepings in it.

Garden is now 35 by 65, all tucked up for the winter.

Now I'm working on inside projects, insulation here and there, got the snow blower mounted on the lawn tractor. Casting & loading, working on guns, reading.

Life is good.




Cat


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Frozen pipes! Not under the house, but in the pumphouse. Found a few flaws in my preps with this latest deep freeze. First, if you send your dd to the pumphouse to put a heater in it (to supplement the heat lights that are permanent installations), specify that the heater must be plugged in and turned on high. Otherwise one finds that said heater was merely PLACED in the pumphouse, not doing a bit of good against near Zero temps. Second, if you send dd out to place the heater, check her work and make sure it was done correctly - even if dd is nearly 18 yo and should know better than to not plug in and turn on said heater. :grit:

Even with the heater now on, the water is not running yet, so we likely will have damage to the pipes in the pumphouse and probably under the house as well with no running water to keep the pipes thawed. Not looking forward to seeing what I'm going to have to fix - at least I have a good supply of PVC pipes and joints, teflon tape and pipe glue on hand. Need to get more insulation for the pumphouse walls - we just don't have enough to handle weather this cold for more than a day or 2. Need to replace the door, too, as it is letting in more cold air. It is a homemade one by the previous owner and is falling apart. I'm sure I can do better - it's just been too far down the list up until now.

So, negatives: no running water. Positives: have enough stored water to meet our immediate needs and water the animals for the next few days while I get the water system going again and repair any damages.

More lessons in the learning phase: I'm still learning how much wood we need to supply the wood stove and I do not have enough cut and split at the moment. I have the wood stove cranking heat, into a Super Good Cents home and it is just keeping up. We are going through a lot more wood than I thought would be needed this time of year. I have plenty more wood to cut up, and that's on the agenda today. I will need to spend more time getting a wood pile stocked than I have so far. Thankfully, I have a few more days off to get this and other cold weather related jobs done. We have an electric furnace, so it's not like we'll freeze if we run out of wood, but I'd sure rather burn free wood than pay for electricity. So, now that it's light outside, I'll be bundling up and heading outside with the chainsaw soon - want my coffee first. 

Took a stock up trip to WM and Winco the other day and picked up a number of things we needed. WM was closing out kerosene heater wicks for $5 each, so I picked up 4 of them. I think they will fit my heaters, but if not, I'll list them on the barter board. I'm sure someone on HT would like to pick up a spare for their heater. Need to pull the heaters out of the barn today and check the model numbers against the wicks. I also picked up more of the expanding foam insulation, some door sweeps, and other insulation/cold preps there, and found NIDO (full fat instant milk) in a 3.6(?)# can, so I picked up a can for our preps. It's a little pricey, but mixed with instant non-fat milk, you can make milk that tastes very much like fresh 2% milk. If you only mix up a bit at a time, it lasts a very long time and ends up being cheaper than buying gallons of fresh milk and drinking unlimited amounts. The goats will start freshening in about a month-6wks, and then we can go back to drinking unlimited milk.

I stocked up on case lots of canned goods on sale, ramen noodles, and more at the grocery store, so the pantry is looking good. The freezers are full, the pantry shelves are fairly much the same way, and I think I'll be changing my focus to laying in more wood and finishing up plugging holes in our cold weather preps (pun intended). It is early for it to be this cold here - this is more like January/early Feb weather for us. I thought I would have a little more time to finish up these jobs - a good lesson learned, or at least I HOPE I have learned from it.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Forgot to add - while I was counting the Pyxis (drug dispensing machine) at work the other night, the nurse I was counting with let drop some major hints that she was a like minded prepper. After dancing around it a little bit, we discovered we were on the same page ideologically. She is not one that I had discussed preps with before, although we'd talked about our mutual love of garage saling and thrift shopping. Another one in the circle, lol!


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## homesteadmama (May 30, 2002)

manygoatsnmore,
I feel your pain!!! Made it until yesterday morning in the pumphouse, then the pump froze. I thought I had it under control and I am weeellllllll over 18!  At this point I am not eager to see what the end result of all this will be, but thankfully am well stocked as you are with pipe and such!! :0 As far as the wood splitting goes we seem to be on the same learning curve-- I have a lot split, but it is going by way too fast! I love the cold sunshine, but am anxious for the rain to come back so I can see how much damage needs to be fixed! Guess the motto needs to be keep on truckin until we are back on top!! Lynn


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## michelleIL (Aug 29, 2004)

BBQ turkey meat in the canner now! Will be good for samiches sometime


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Made my first batch of old fashioned lye soap, today. Always good to learn something new.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

homesteadmama said:


> manygoatsnmore,
> I feel your pain!!! Made it until yesterday morning in the pumphouse, then the pump froze. I thought I had it under control and I am weeellllllll over 18!  At this point I am not eager to see what the end result of all this will be, but thankfully am well stocked as you are with pipe and such!! :0 As far as the wood splitting goes we seem to be on the same learning curve-- I have a lot split, but it is going by way too fast! I love the cold sunshine, but am anxious for the rain to come back so I can see how much damage needs to be fixed! Guess the motto needs to be keep on truckin until we are back on top!! Lynn


Yup, gotta keep on, keeping on.  Have you managed to get your pump thawed? How cold is it getting at your place? It looks like there is a chance of snow or freezing rain over the next few days - I'm sure hoping for snow! Gotta work tomorrow night, and I'm charge, so I really need to be there. I don't mind driving in snow, but I sure don't like skating 60 miles to work and back, lol! I've got 4wd and chains, but it's still not that much fun.

I've given the pump house a check and it is well above freezing in there, no sign of split pipes, and it looks like it is the wellhead itself that is frozen. This has happened before, and I *thought* I had it well enough insulated for this winter...but we've never had it get this cold, this early, and for this long. It was 5* again this morning, 4th night in a row it's been 4-5*, and it's a week since we've been above freezing for more than an hour at a time. I guess I'll be building a bigger little house over it, with room for heatlamps in it without catching it on fire. Good job for this afternoon. I spent the morning splitting wood, stacking it near the front door where I can reach it quickly. I am discovering muscles I haven't been using, and that I am not a kid anymore.  I used to split wood regularly when I was a teenager, and when we (ex and I) had wood heat in my early 20's...that was, ahem, a few  decades ago, lol. I gave up around noon and came in to rest up. I took my ibuprofen and a Vicodin and I think they've kicked in enough to get back outside and work on the well head house situation. I'm looking forward to running water again. Washed my hair in about a quart of water (thank goodness it's short), then swabbed down the rest of me with the shampoo-ey water, then used it to wash up the bathroom. Feels good to be clean. I've been melting ice from the drip line buckets on the woodstove - that will water the critters a few more days before I either have running water again, or I make a river run. The ice did split a lot of the bottoms out of the buckets  , but they were mostly cat litter buckets and I have several good sources for more. I can still use them for planting, or cut the bottoms out and use them in the spring to protect tender seedlings from frost.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Running water is a blessing! The well head is thawed, with no broken pipes. We had enough stored water to last a week or more, for the animals and house, even though we were only frozen for 6 days. Should have been a lot more stored drinking water, but Abby had been drinking it and not refilling with fresh, filtered water. So, learning from the last week. I'll be rachetting up the water storage again. 

Learning to crochet is coming along well. I've finished hats for all the grands and for myself, and scarves for myself and one dgd. Still using very basic stitches, but I'm pretty happy with how the finished projects look. I'm thinking on crocheting slippers next - hardwood floors can be cold and warm slippers are soooo nice.


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## homesteadmama (May 30, 2002)

Manygoatsnmore--It hovered around 9 degrees up here, and this morning we have " tah-dah"--ice covering everything!! I am working today on hopefully fixing the crack in the pump--if not successful will end up replacing the pump--not my idea of the greatest Christmas present:flame:--but at least it is fixable one way or another! I need to get on the firewood situation as well--and also need to put the insulation board in all the places in the house I thought might need it before we went through this cold snap! There is no longer any thinking about it--it definitely needs to happen. Want to be a little better prepared for when the cold hits again! Keep warm!!!!


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Canned 7 quarts of chili and put away 25 lbs of flour.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Well "stage 1" of getting a pantry filled is done and we are well into sage 2, our 72 hours BOB is done, so this month we are looking at car kits. 

I did some price shopping today while doing the "pay day" shopping trip. Found that I can get mulit-tools for a better price online. Bought some tuna salad "kits" (the made salad and crackers altogether in a box) to stick in our bags. Found stocking caps for $1, so I got 8 - 4 for each car (we are a family of 4). Found 10+ hour hand warmers 4 for $1.20, so I grabbed enough of those. Came home and made up some GARP to seal in bags to keep in the car. Couldn't find flares!!!! May have to hit an auto parts store for those. 

Later this week I'll put in our online order for muli-tools, a wool blanket, shake lights and a few other things we couldn't find locally at a good price.

Maybe next month we should go back to unpacking??? Still haven't found my cookbooks, LOL!


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

I've got a mental list a mile long, that I am determined to put onto paper over the holiday. 

And, I have a list of things I need to learn how to make, such as soap, and vinegar. THese I will need to print out and then try over time. 

I still haven't figured out how to build any sort of an oven as an alternative to fossil fuels. I have a wood stove so hot coals are not an issue, just need to ponder out some way to actually bake using them. So far, the only thing I can think is to use my medium sized BBQ as the "oven" and put shovels full of hot coals in the bottom......


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

Pouncer said:


> I still haven't figured out how to build any sort of an oven as an alternative to fossil fuels. I have a wood stove so hot coals are not an issue, just need to ponder out some way to actually bake using them. So far, the only thing I can think is to use my medium sized BBQ as the "oven" and put shovels full of hot coals in the bottom......


Would this help?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=895626


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

Well checking out the sales papers - I have stocked up on additional butter, flour, baking powder,and other holiday sales items. One of the local supermakets have 5 pound hams on sale for $9.77 each. So I had one sliced by the meat department, and left one whole. 

I spent this last weekend making candles. All of the candle supplies such as the molds, colors, scents, wax, wicking, etc. came from Freecycle or Craigslist over the last few years. So now I have my Christmas Presents made, plus a large quanity of candles for barter or other uses. I just wish that I had more of the old style sheet metal molds, for pillar candles.

For baking when I loose the electrical power, I use my dutch oven on the woodstove, or at the firepit. Or using my collapseable Coleman oven, on the Coleman propane stove out on the back porch. I have toted those items around many miles, when I was camping while doing my fisheries biology working along remote rivers out in the boonies.

I have learned that my order with The Sportsmans Guide for a large amount of 9mm - 115 grain Winchester White Box ammunition that has been on back order, is now expected in late Feb 2010. It's not like I am low on ammunition for that caliber, but I have been hanging onto this order, due to the sales price at the time of ordering it well over a year ago.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Pouncer, rather than put all my eggs in one basket re: cooking, we bought a SunOven solar oven that heats much more efficiently than a homemade version. This was about 12 years ago before they were so pricey. I put ours outside about 30 min. ago, 14o ambient temp right now but cloudless sky, and the oven is already to 250o, plenty warm enough to simmer a stew during the peak sun hours. I use it year round but really appreciate it in the summer when I don't want to heat the house to cook. I have reached temps as high as 375o in the summer so it's more than adequate for baking. Another nice thing about SO's is that you don't have to watch them closely and there is no danger of fire because there is none. If you want something to cook longer, check the aim of the oven towards the sun and readjust it every hour or so. I also use it to pasteurize water in extra quart jars using recycled lids with a ring. I leave the ring on the jar until the temperature drops creating a vacuum in the jars.

http://solarcookers.org/

I also use a Dutch oven on the wood stove to bake as outlined in _The Country Journal's Woodburner's Cookbook which is out of print. I found my copy at a used book sale. You can also use a DO in the conventional manner with coals piled on the lid. I keep 2 galvanized "oil pans" with my DO tools. I invert one and set the other upright on it to make a safe cooking area. The air space under the inverted pan insulates the surface upon which it sits while the rim of the upright pan keeps hot ashes contained. 

http://www.idos.com/_


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Wrapping up x-mas gifts. In addition to their "normal" gifts several of the readers in the family are getting a paperback copy of One Second After. Also giving all immediate familiy members mini-emergency car kits that include 1 MRE, water, poncho, hand warmers, emergency blanket and mini flashlight. Fits in a glove box. Figure it's non threatening to the sheeple and at least a start. They'll be better off than having nothing. Daughter that doesn't live at home is getting a full blown GHB with three days worth of food, etc. to keep in her trunk.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

I'm jumping the gun a bit posting this today, but will be adding several blueberry and blackberry bushes to the garden tomorrow. They are freebies from a berry farm that is going out of the berry business.


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## fostermomma (Feb 26, 2007)

I am so excited. A friend of mine got us thru her job enough formula to last us at least six months. Her job s no longer going to keep the formula on site to give to people and is switching to a voucher system so she was told to find someone to give it to that was not one of the clients her company works with. So praise God.


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## Vashti (Dec 22, 2006)

Alas, Babylon just came in the mail..I've only read the intro so far, but I'm really looking forward to it after all the great reviews here. I bought a used pressure canner, in great condition, with almost 50 jars and plenty of lids. Came complete with a manual and the Ball canning book all for $25 thanks to a very generous neighbor. I've tried getting ahold of the local extension office to have them test all the seals & stuff, but those buggers aren't answering their phone. Very frustrating! I'm really looking forward to learning to can...and to finally butcher all these extra roos we've got running around!

Hubby has been reading up on rocket stoves for alternative heating and cooking. Our home is smallish, and we've no place to put a wood stove. We do have a chimney that runs through the house, venting the furnace that's in the basement, and we're hoping to plug into that with some kind of alternative heat source. I'd really rather have a wood stove, but with four (almost 5) children, it's tough to squeeze one into a small home and still keep all those little ones safe.

We've purchased quite a bit of extra food this month, thanks to a windfall. We've even put together a small (about two month) supply of food for my folks that we'll be packaging up for them for a christmas surprise. They're also preppers, but don't feel that they have a whole lot of money to dedicate to the purpose.

Bought hubby a 12g shotgun for Christmas! His birthday is in March, and he'll be getting a 30-06 for hunting. He's never hunted before, so I called the DOW to arrange for a hunter safety course and found a few friends that hunt that are willing to take him out and show him the ropes. I'm so excited!! 

I've been planning a garden for the spring, and brainstorming our first bit of an orchard. Just now realizing that I need to plant some of this stuff NOW, I'm in a little bit of a panic thinking of what to order and from where. We're wanting apple trees, almonds and some berry bushes (probably blueberry to start, and maybe some blackberry). 

On a less-fun note, our septic took a turn for the worse, so we've got a lovely hole in the front yard, new pipe ready to be fitted and a call into the pumpers. No fun + yuck.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Here we are working on ajusting a little each day. We were fortunate to see what was happening to the economy far enough ahead of time that we set aside extras to get by on. So now its a case of keeping the supplies topped off and adding new finds from thrift stores. Right now I am working on either replaceing and backing up my electric appliances with manual ones. 
Learning how to make bread from hand with out a mixer. And cooking it on a old wood stove is one of my current projects. I am thinking some thing like an english muffin or flat bread may be the best option.
We bought 2 cast iron waffle irons off e-bay for Christmas, rather than replacing the electric waffle maker. Stayed out of the stores that way and we know we have something that will last for awhile.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

I got a layaway from Fred's this week. It included the last 16 boxes of canning lids that they had in the store for $1 each. Today was the Christmas party at the Senior Citizen's Center. My group of seniors took up money and gave it to me for Christmas. I put it in the bank this afternoon and tonight I ordered the Stainless Steel Steam Juicer I have been wanting from Amazon.com. I am so excited. This will allow me to go to another level and make more jellies and put juices up. I also found nice flour sack towels for $1 each, so I got myself 8 of them this week.


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

I just started reading "One Second After."

This book is completely freaking me out. ...and lighting a fire under my hiney to step it up.


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

DreamerTheresa said:


> I just started reading "One Second After."
> 
> This book is completely freaking me out. ...and lighting a fire under my hiney to step it up.


Yep, it'll do that to you. 


I picked up more canning jars and lids today. Grabbed some fruit fresh and pectin, too.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

This month we added 6 pounds of butter, 15 pounds of flour, 15 pounds of sugar, 6 bags of chocolate chips, 17 lbs of chicken, a case of evaporated milk, 6 cans of condensed milk, 2 pounds of dry milk, 5 pounds of mozzarella, 10 cans of frozen juice and a box of salt.

I also found 4 new canning jars at my local Rescue Mission store, a brand new softsided hot/cold cooler and a heavy glass candle holder with a lid.

Our family gets together the weekend before Christmas to celebrate so that we can all be in our respective homes on the actual holiday. We received a few items that we consider to be prep items. My sister made us all those tied polar fleece blankets and another hot/cold cooler! We all received some LED flashlights and my parents always give a gift certificate to the grocery store. My favorite gifts this year are a small hydroponic grower and a food dehydrator. The dehydrator will really step up my ability to store food in small spaces.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

DreamerTheresa said:


> I just started reading "One Second After."
> 
> This book is completely freaking me out. ...and lighting a fire under my hiney to step it up.


You are not alone in the "completely freaking out" part. Many people (including me) have had the same type of reaction after reading the book. In my case, I listened to the audio version of One Second After which gave the story and characters a different depth and view then what can be felt through reading the book. 

I have stated in previous posts that the scenario portrayed in One Second After is not something that is high on our threat list. Nonetheless, it has caused us to review and ramp up our preps to a one year and beyond level.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I lucked into 6 full dozen and a 7th partial dozen canning lids at Goodwill - got them all for 1.77 plus tax.  They are older lids, with good thick sealant - original prices on the boxes from .25 to .39 a box! They had a good sale going on, and I was also able to get a new warm zip sweater for dd for $2, and several books on gardening, as well as the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, quite a lot of yarn, too.

At home, I've finished 4 sets of hats and scarves for the grands and gave the first sets out today, and I made myself another hat, as well as finishing my scarf this month. I'm thinking on how to make slippers and think I may have it figured out - I plan to sit down tonight and try out my plans. 

Filtering more water and filling all the jugs and containers we have is ongoing since the ice thawed, and we have more big totes under the dripline of the barn roof. Still trying to get ahead on cutting wood (not easy to do, it seems), and learning more about cooking on the top of my wood (heating) stove.

Decided to invest in getting my older Nissan p/u fixed up and running again. I hit a deer in it 4 years ago last summer, and it's been sitting ever since. It's always been a really good rig, and started right up with a new battery in it, so it's worth it to me to fix it. Having an extra vehicle around that gets decent mileage and can haul something means that ds can borrow a truck and leave me with one to use, too. Still have one more p/u to fix up after that. I figure on running the vehicles I have for the rest of my life. Fixing what ails them is a lot less expensive than ever making car payments again.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

Planted our first new batch of Spinach and Swiss Chard today. The seeds are in pots and will be started indoors for a couple of weeks then moved outdoors under shelter where last year's plants are over-wintering. 

If we have good winter/early spring weather, we will be eating fresh Spinach and Chard by the end of March again this year.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Been a good day here. Our Emergency Essentials Group order came in and all parties have picked up their portion. We added mulit-tools to our car kits and a can of tomato powder and a can of margarine power to the "store house". And the big event....with the kids away and grandma and grandpa's.... DH and I sat down and inventoried our storage pantry!! OK, we wimped out and didn't open the freezer to see what all is in there, but we know what's on the basement shelves, now. Since we are just starting the build back up, it's not a full year of anything....but we have a better idea of where we stand now. 

Now back to the seed catalogs. Kids and I will have to spend the next week planning this years garden so we can get our order placed.


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## cowboy joe (Sep 14, 2003)

Dear Santa,

I've been a bad boy as I have been ignoring my preps during this holiday season. Honest, I tried but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. While I'm at it, I have to admit that I've been sneaking out to the grocery store under the cover of darkness to buy 'canned' vegis and other non-essentials for Christmas dinner even though the root cellar, canning shelves and freezer are full of tasty home grown & home made food. Please don't put me on the 'naughty' list...well, not for this anyway. Still hoping to find that pony under the tree this year.

Best regards,

CJ


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

I've been making fudge and toffee. Figure that could be considered a prep because I'm adding an insulative layer to my thighs. Will help keep me warm when the power goes out.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

Today I picked up a few neat preppy items from the after-Christmas sales. I got 4 pkgs of 4 plastic divided plates and 4 pkgs of 4 plastic bowls for 50 cents each. These will last when the china would break. I also found DH a 7-LED headlamp for $2.50. I got a 2 foot Rosemary "Christmas" tree on clearance for $2.50. It will be a great herb addition in the greenhouse and a green terra-cotta "boot" pot with thyme seed for 87 cents.


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## FrontPorch (Mar 27, 2008)

Received a Vitalmill for x-mas. Bigger than I thought it would be. Haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Found a metal and glass shelving unit at Goodwill - it was marked 32.99, but was a red tag, and all red tag items in the store were .99, so I got a good set of shelves for 1.07 including the tax! They are just far enough apart to place a Rubbermaid 18 gallon tote on each one, so I won't have to shuffle totes to get to the one on the bottom (at least for these 4 totes, lol). Now that I know that the .99 tag prices include furniture, I'll be watching for file cabinets and other shelving units to store totes, food, etc in the back room. Cheaper and easier than building them, if not as nice as having matching shelving units.

Butter's been on sale for under 1.50 a pound, so I've been buying as much as possible at that price. It goes in the freezer for now, but I'm planning to try canning it in the new year.

I thought I had a major water system repair on my hands when I came out to go to Christmas dinner and heard water pouring out of the pump house. Turned off the water and all the breakers in the pumphouse, so we were on bottled water for 24 hours (I had to go to work that night). Found out it was just a hose fitting to the back flush from the filter unit, so it was an easy fix - only needed to pop it back on and tighten down the hose clamp. It was nice to know that I did have everything on hand I needed in case it was an actual broken water pipe, though!

I have sharpened my chain saws for the first time! Another job I can add to my list of skills.  Nothing like a sharp saw chain to make a job easier. I got a lot more wood cut up yesterday and today. I'm also using empty Rubbermaid totes to hold tinder and kindling sized wood - after decluttering, I have quite a number of empty totes. I have a lot of small brush that just snaps easily into stove lengths, and fits upright into a tote, so I can store it dry. With 6 acres of wood and brush, roots and trash wood, I can use a lot of the smaller stuff to get the fire going hot, and save the bigger split wood for when we are going to be away or at night, to keep the fire going longer. I hate to waste whatever fuel I have - you never know when it might be needed.

I've also been sharpening up the hatchets and extra axeheads, splitting mauls, etc. I need to buy a couple handles for the maul and axes - I thought I had several spares, but can't find them - I guess they walked off somewhere. :grit: 

I crocheted my first pair of slippers - didn't follow a pattern, just eyeballed it, and they turned out quite well. I took them along on Christmas to show to my sister and dsil who crochet, and to get a lesson or 2. Accomplished both. They both said I was really doing quite well for just starting out - and neither one is likely to spare my feelings when there is teaching to be done, lol. Made me feel good.  Found out that I was not doing a proper double crochet - the Expert Village video expert, wasn't! Now I know better and will be practicing it the right way. The next thing I want to learn is how to fix a hole in an afghan. My dsil made me an afghan some 32 years ago, as a wedding present. The marriage didn't last, but the afghan has worn like iron, all but a small place where it is trying to unravel. I want to fix it before it gets any worse.

While I was having lunch with my dsis and bil yesterday, I found out they are joining a food co-op in Ephrata, not too far from where they live. I haven't found one here, so I will probably be making an order through theirs - good excuse to go over and visit them. 

Looking forward now to the new year...I'm working on my Goals and Projects for 2010, with a lot of them going toward preps for the future. With only a few days left in this year, it just seems the time to get more serious about our prep goals for the next year. Anyone else doing this?


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