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I'm sorry to hear about Charles' infection. It's good to hear he is improving.  

I'm thinking I will can water to store.  Although I have a hand pump on my well, having clean water right at hand would be most helpful for such things as eating and drinking.  

I've been discouraged about my garden lately.  I found nematodes have attacked a second raised bed.  I will keep at it, but the UFAS website has made it clear that getting rid of them is difficult.  They say the old remedies, such as planting certain marigolds, only work with certain types of nematodes, and apparently, there are a number of differing types.  I'm not ready to give up, however. I will be adding compost, as nematodes dislike it, but I will have to buy it and it may not work all that well.  I've never had much luck composting myself- I always end up with fire ant nests in it, even using a rolling tumbler.

We recently celebrated a family birthday, and I fed a group of seven adults and four children with one small chicken; I made old fashioned chicken and dumplings, which the birthday honoree loves.  My grandmother, (born 1896) always made them from just flour, salt and hot broth from the bubbling pot, then rolled the dough out thin and cut it in strips, and I learned that method from her.  It's an old way to feed more people with less expense but more labor, which I am willing to do.  I am looking at making more of other recipes that we used to eat more often because they stretched the food budget so well.

I am developing a few more old-time routines, but my best routine still so far is avoiding the dryer.  It's automatic these days for me to use the line outside or use the indoor racks.  I think I have used my dryer twice this past year.  I also hand wash much more than I used to and use my portable wringer to wring out the hand-washed laundry.

I'm still working away at improving my sewing skills.  I also took an herbalist course a few years ago so that I know how to make some things such as elderberry tonic, fire cider and how to use yarrow to stop bleeding.  I grow as much of the ingredients as I can.

I recently learned to sharpen my own knives.  The places near me that sharpen knives charge up to 75 cents per inch of blade, and I have six kitchen knives I use a lot, so that would be quite the expense.  I am pleased to see that I am improving and now sharpen them regularly.  My late DH was very handy with many things, but he never learned to sharpen knives for some reason, so I never learned from him.

I have some new projects to start in addition to getting my kitchen redone, so the next couple of months will be busy.  I will continue to stop by here for inspiration.  I hope everyone is doing well.

We've been thinking about storing water too! We needed to change our plan since we don't get water delivered anymore. I have a few large-ish jars we fill when the electricity goes out, but it's far from enough. I read that it's recommended to have a gallon of water a day per person, with a 14-day supply on hand. For us, it means nine 5-gallon bottles, but the first thing I did was buy a waterBOB. It's a food-grade plastic liner you put in your bathtub when the power goes out, and you cross your fingers and hope the water stays on long enough to fill it from the tub faucet to get it full to (allegedly) 100 gallons of water. It comes with a pump to get the water out. It only cost $35, so I thought it was worth the money. Naturally it's no good if a disaster knocks out the water first thing, but for $35, I thought it was worth taking a chance on, since that's a lot of water for washing clothes and things. 

My husband wasn't particularly impressed with my waterBOB, though he admitted it could be useful. He wanted those nine 5-gallon bottles, filled and waiting. I told him how much 5-gallon glass bottles cost, and after he got up from his faint, he liked the $35 waterBOB more than he did before. Literally after I hung up the phone from having this water conversation with him, I went to the mailbox and there was a refund check from the insurance company because when we replaced our hail-damaged roof a couple of months ago, we put on the hardened kind of roof, and now we get a discount on our policy. So I called my husband back and told him that the insurance company just paid for our first four water bottles. Except that two days later the price had gone up $12 a bottle, and we could only get three! But it's a start. My husband suggested filling them at one of those water machines, so I found one in the next town over, and it's only a few dollars to fill each bottle. We came up with a plan of rotating our filling once we have all nine, so we didn't have to keep doing it all at once. And how we would use our bee wagon to get the full bottles from the store to the car. 

We still have to buy six more bottles, but at least we've got a good plan. I feel more secure. 

The video about Eva was so touching! 

And this from the 2017 post:

"There are droughts, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, pest attacks, epidemics, unexpected job losses and the threat of terrorism and war going on all the time.  We all need to arrange our priorities to keep a stocked pantry even if we do not have a pantry because we can find a place to put the stock.  Keep a stocked first aid kit and medical needs stored and have drinking water stored (especially important) and not put off doing these things.  Have an evacuation plan to where if we must leave our home we leave with provisions and shelter (we keep a tent with our evacuation supplies)."

It was written before the wars and covid! Before the US ran out of money and AI became a danger to us! I don't even want to think about what it might be like ten years from now! Grandma Donna has helped us to become so much more prepared. Thank you, Grandma Donna, for all of these posts you've written over the years. 

Stephanie G. - I fill empty gallon bleach and vinegar bottles with water and store in the basement.  That is washing and flushing water.  I have something like 24 dozen boxes of quart jars that I do not use and am slowly filling with water and canning.  I'm reusing lids for this project because lids are expensive and they are working.   If a jar comes unsealed, no financial loss.

I recently purchased an electric pressure canner and did 8 quarts of water while learning how to use it.  I had to replace my kitchen stove in July and quickly realized I could not safely pressure can on it.  The two front burners are very high BTU and do not go low enough to safely can without turning the burner off and on to balance the heat which isn't a good idea at all.  I'm not at all happy with the new stove as the front burners are too hot ... browning ground beef was done with the burner halfway between medium and low.  Cremation is the only use for high on those burners and that is something I try to avoid while cooking!  There are several other bad design features on the stove which leads me to believe whoever designed it never cooked in his/her life.  I'm stuck with it because $962 means it won't be replaced.  Fortunately, the oven works good.

I read the post from 2017 and you mentioned biscuits.  I'd been trying to  think of a snack for my grandchildren who are here everyday. I'll be making them tomorrow. 

They need snacks everyday and I have pretty much used whatever I had on hand but I need to be more intentional on this and actually add making homemade snacks to my routine. They have opinions on what they like for snacks for sure but we'll be working on that! Lol

My mother's illness & death in the past year found me relying on store bought too much. But now I'm getting back to filling our tummies with homemade goodness and it feels good!

I've been enjoying the fresh apples from the orchard near here. And hope to get more soon! Saving the pumpkin purchases for mid to late October.  I'm trying to focus on one seasonal produce item for each month as something to look forward to for that month and really explore how to best make use of it (going beyond my usual recipes).

Routine is something I have been paying close attention to lately. It helps with focus and reduces wasting time.

I pray that the infection that Charles has clears up quickly. May all go well as he continues to heal.

I'm so sorry to hear Charles' hip got infected. I'm so glad he's mending. My husband's knee replacement got infected this past June after having his knee replaced 1-1/2 yrs ago. It wasn't good. He's clear now so far, but they won't give him an "all clear" for another two months.  

I almost died when I filled up my gas tank. $30 more than normal. It really is starting to irk me, the cost of everything. My stove is on the fritz as well, and I ordered another coil top, only for it to be delivered damaged and they don't know when more will be in stock. So here I sit with burners that boil or stand still and won't sit level, I really don't want a smooth top.  

Eva... I just loved listening to her.  I wish I had her "happy." I'm learning to make peace with what is and learn not to be so anxious, but it's difficult after having so much going on since June for us. This summer has been a real test that I think I've failed. Grandma Donna, I go back to your posts so often, because they give me so much joy and peace.  At what point do we just no worry anymore and let the Lord lead the way?  Definitely working on that.

AZ is just so difficult to live with a garden or pots. It's just so hot. And with a husband that won't eat most things, I just don't deal with it.  The stores have such garbage. There is one that the furthest away from me that is the best of the 3 remotely near me. So I go there for organics.  I do make dried chickpeas which is a wonderful snack. My neighbor makes sour dough bread and sells it and my husband wants her bread he told me yesterday, but he won't eat mine. STING!   I need a dose of Eva's happy!    

My Ninja Flip on my counter bakes better than my oven does. The only thing I haven't made in it is bread, because the Flip is too small for my Dutch oven. Our washer, dryer, and fridge are 17 years old. The stove was a cheap $350 model and it's 13 years old. The stove's coil burners are starting to heat too hot, except for one in the back that is too cool. We've decided not to buy a new stove when this one goes. We're going to get a larger countertop multi-function oven like our Flip and some individual induction plates. In fact, we've been trying to decide what to do with the space the stove would leave! I've been looking at new washers just to see what's out there. Our dryer should keep going since we don't use it that much. We've already replaced the heating element twice and know how to do that. If something happened to the drum, we'd figure out how to fix that. As far as the fridge goes, I'm keeping in mind Tea S's ideas about cooling food!

Our bigger concern with replacement is our car. We don't think we'll be able to afford another one after this one goes (it's got plenty of years in it right now). My husband got some inheritance money recently and wanted to get another motorcycle since he sold his last one when we moved to this house. It's his money, so he can buy whatever toys he wants! :) And, no the inheritance wasn't enough money to put away for a new car. Not even as seed money. We ran those numbers. He bought a used trike and I took him to pick it up, and was honestly amazed. It's really solid and stable, and it has lots of storage. My son has had a learner's permit for a car before, and knows the road rules backwards and forwards, but finds that driving a car makes him very nervous. We had to give up on getting him a car driver's license. But he loves the new trike! He feels much more comfortable on it. He's going to get his learner's permit for the motorcycle, he's already passed two practice tests, and we're now trying to find reasonably priced leather jacket and pants for him. They are necessary for safety and not just for looking cool. :) 

The trike has solved my son's transportation problem because on a job application you need to be able to say that you have reliable transportation, and we're beginning to come around to the idea that this is our replacement car when the time comes. Motorcycles last forever with the right maintenance and are much cheaper to maintain. My husband has had to rent cars for his job, so we know how much that costs, and it would be cheaper to rent a car for a week or two for long-distance travel then bear all of the constant expenses of another car. Since I'm stocking my pantry mostly with delivery stuff and we have a garden, we don't buy much at the store anymore, and what we do buy would fit in the storage compartments on the trike. My husband thought he was buying a toy, but instead it turned into a solid household problem solution! :) 

Not sure why, but that picture of your water catchment looks so peaceful.  Had to go read your older post also.  Isn't it funny (not the right word) looking back and remember how we were thinking at a certain point in time.  You sounded tired in the older post.  You sound more refreshed now - maybe busy but more at peace.

I just began wrapping up the garden yesterday.  It doesn't happen over night ~ still some harvesting to do.  This year was not a good garden year, but will take what we can from it and try again next year.  Glad to have what we got.

Blessings to both of you ~

This blog post was very nice as usual, and I enjoyed reading all the comments. 

I don't have much to add today except that I'm thankful Charles got through the infection and also to agree that routines are very important. 

Have a good week, everybody!

I’m wrapping up a month of extremely low screens, no social media, no news, no YouTube, no forums, etc.  It has been wonderful and I will continue, with only a few things allowed back in.  I was more successful than last October when many of us on the forum did a low tech challenge, probably because I feel better.  Wearing an analog watch has cut my phone pickups to almost nothing unless I need it — I can go hours without even thinking about my phone.  This has become a bit of a problem, as I have missed some calls and texts, but I also learned it isn’t the end of the world if I do.  I am back to never checking my phone if I am with another person, and not even having it in sight.

Ann W. I am also getting back into making everything I can from scratch.  I’ve been baking bread and cookies most of 2026.  For snacks I bake cookies, brownies, and muffins, but I also finally made good dairy free biscuits that we all can eat.  I use palm shortening for the fat, and water for the liquid.  They taste much better than they sound!  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that until very recently human beings wouldn’t have had access to milk or buttermilk year round, because the milk cow has to go dry and they didn’t have refrigeration for fresh milk or factories to make milk powder.  Biscuits certainly were made with lard and water!  My son won’t eat lard, so I use the palm shortening.  To get a good price I bought 33# of it, so I use it in a lot of baked goods.  My son can’t have dairy and it’s nearly impossible to find dairy substitutes I can tolerate, with nut and soy allergies plus intolerance of many of the thickeners and such they add.

I am reminded that in the Little House Cookbook, the author writes about how Ma Ingalls and Mrs. Wilder would have made very different cornbreads.  Ma’s would have been made with water, cornmeal, and salt.  It was a dough rather than a batter.  Flavoring would come from the kind of fat was used to grease the bake oven and whether it was served with something like molasses or prairie hen gravy.  Mrs. Wilder was far more affluent and lived on a prosperous farm, so hers could have eggs, milk/buttermilk/cream, butter (if she wanted).  Here in the United States now we live very affluently and our everyday recipes reflect that, but there was a time when many of our recipes were simpler and more frugal.  I’ve made the Tightwad Gazette tuna cheddar chowder for decades now, and it calls for one can of tuna.  One time I looked it up online and saw the recipe posted to a blog, calling for two cans of tuna, but still crediting Amy Dacyczyn.  I pulled out my well worn copy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette and confirmed the recipe indeed calls for only one can of tuna.  People have been upping the protein in everything for several years now (hello protein seltzer water), so I think that may have been the reason for the change.  The recipe has milk and cheese in it, so I see no need to add a second can of tuna for more protein.

Good idea getting motorcycle trike.  Our weather would not allow use for a good part of the year so not a solution for Iowa.   I have a 32-year-old grandson who got a learners permit and knows how to drive but has never gotten a license.   He walks miles every day for work.  

My garden was a failure this year and if it ever stops raining, I will clear it off.  There are still tomatoes, but the bugs are decimating them so not worth messing with them further.  Peppers are not ripening due to lack of sun and cool weather, but the plants are loaded and look wonderful.  I may leave them and hope we finally get some sunny 70º days.  Today is only the second sunny day in two weeks and rain returns Tuesday through Thursday.  In fact, the weather service has issued a flash flood watch since all rain will be falling on saturated soil.  Between 3 to 6 inches (and maybe more) between Tuesday evening and Thursday morning.  

Farmers are very concerned about crop damage and when it is going to dry enough to harvest.  A lot of lost acreage already due to ponds in the fields.  A combine stuck in a field is a dangerous and expensive problem to solve.  Even older combines cost upwards of $100,000.00 and I don't even want to think about what a new one costs!!

I used my new electric canner this morning and canned 4 pints of chicken in broth.  I think each jar is about 2/3 chicken and 1/3 broth.  I also did a quart of water to add to my preps.  The canner holds 5 pints, but I was able to fit in a quart instead of the 5th pint.  It's a learning curve, but I'm liking the canner.  My old Presto canners are wonderful and have served me well for 65 years however, I've been struggling opening and closing the lids.  This new canner is much easier on old hands.

This was my 3rd year container gardening. The 1st 2 years were a disaster. I had tomatoes & potatoes & basil which did well this year. I have a very shady yard so I am limited on where I can put pots.  I have spied a couple small areas for next year that might have enough sun. Until I tried growing plants I didn't pay much attention to where the sun might be. 

I'm learning to be patient. In years past I would've been frustrated & just quit. Now I'm learning to enjoy the process, too!

Kimberly F I desperately need to get back to no screens. I can definitely see my attitude shift. I had surgery 3 weeks ago and am not able to go to my chiropractor until I heal, which means I can't move well, which means I'm grouchy and on my phone more than I want. It has really not been good for me. It is just so toxic even if you think you're finding funny things.  Thank you for the reminder!!  

Stephanie G... interesting on the Ninja Flip. I looked it up as I've not heard of it. I use my sheet pan for many things so I don't think it'll work because of size, but I definitely appreciate the idea!  I follow another lady who only uses a tiny two burner smooth top "thing" built into her counter and a toaster oven.  I don't think I could. LOL!!! 

Grandma Donna, that bowl in the photo. Mmmm so pretty. I love pretty things. 

So funny. I'm sitting here with no power since 4am. It's almost 4 hours later.  I'm thankful for our propane grill and camping coffee pot. Only, I find I need the clear bubble top kind of coffee pot lid. Between the rain hitting on the metal patio roof I can't hear if it's perking; seeing it would be better.  I am wondering if a propane stove would be better. It's quite a loser grill - a tailgater I guess. Pretty useless. It takes almost an hour for the grill to heat the water.  Anyone know?   

I normally drink 1/2 caff, but made full caff for my husband who is going to work. 1/2 a cup later, my head is pounding.  Now I can do things faster with more energy, but can't do anything without power. LOL.

I do have a lap top with hot spot, which is why I'm here. A battery powered charger for the phone. Thankful for the battery power!

We have non potable water stored on our patio, usually the unopened jugs left over from the water we can no longer drink as it expires and we can't keep it in our house, because after a duration they tend to leak. (manuf home, no basement so it sits on a hot patio enclosure)  We are on a well, so no power means no water and no water means no flushing toilet either. However, enough jugs to flush toilet if needbe. 

Waiting for the huge radar red storm to go through  shortly, so I guess power won't happen for a while.  I'll just be sitting here. LOL.  So what do you do with yourself when the power goes out?

:) 

Ann E, I hope your power has come back on.  You asked what would we do?  I would continue on my day and switch over to my solar bulbs if needed, sew on my treadle machine, wash my laundry by hand, filter the stored rain water if needed.  Cook on my propane one burner stove, we love that little Coleman stove and use it often.  I would have put the kettle on first thing and just do a pour over the coffee drip filter.  Over time Charles and I have made our home to where we keep going in the house with or without electricity.  The only thing would be if it is hot and we do not have air-conditioning but even for that we have hand fans and foot tubs to sit with our feet in cool water that comes from our rain barrels.  We also have two Tractor Supply water tanks, a 35 gallon and a 65 gallon that we fill with city water and we change that water out every six months if it has not been used and water the garden.  Grandma Donna :)

Yes, it came back on about an hour ago!  We have power outages quite often.  I looked into the single burners but then I thought it may be easier to have our larger grill tanks attached to a double burner  rather than having to always get those smaller propane bottles for a Coleman since. The grill is really quite useless. I takes almost 1/2 hour to seer a slab of ham on it. lol.  Anyway, it's really something to think about. Grills just take forever to heat up.   

AC is always a problem with an outage here. We end up closing everything up tight with drapes drawn, but sometimes it doesn't help when it goes out in the middle of the night. We can deal with cold since it doesn't get that cold, although there was that one time.... lol.  The foot cooling thing is really a great idea!  I haven't thought of that, but I do now remember you mentioning that.

I also like the water tank idea. It would be useful for a slew of things.  

It made me think though, when the power came on and the expectation of some really bad weather coming (which changed and didn't hit us) whether or not I should have filled the tub with water to use in case the power went out again.  Ever done that?

We've had generators- 3. They all were ruined from the gas put into them (and lawnmowers and chainsaws) since we can't get straight gasoline.  So generators isn't my thing. I suppose it would need to be solar, but seems a pricey alternative for now.

Ann E, Glad your power is back on.  We did not have good luck with gas generators, but natural gas is as good as is propane.  

What do I do when the power goes out ... wait 3 minutes for the Generac generator to kick on, then continue life as normal.  Even without the generator I have natural gas stove, water heater and city water.  Generator will not run a/c, but it will run fans and the furnace in cold weather.  Number one reason for having the generator is no drains in the basement so sump pump must run power loss or not.  I could run the washer if nothing else was going at the same time and dryer is natural gas so low draw on electricity so could run that.  Generator covers deep freeze and refrigerator.  There are a few plug-ins that are not on the generator, but that is an easy work around.  

No water is a bigger issue which has happened many times in the years we've lived here and other than the tornado usually is back on within half a day although usually with a boil order.  I have two Britta filter pitchers full on the counter at all times, a 2-quart kettle I keep on the back of the stove and bottled water for drinking and lots of gallons of washing/flushing water in the basement so I'm okay for a while but that lack is what I feel the most.  When we lived in the country on a well, I learned to keep at least a decent amount of drinking water on hand at all times.  Ironically, we've been without water more often in town!

I do the same with stale water, move it from "drinking" to washing/flushing.  Any time the water goes off, I know a boil order will be coming, so the minute water comes back on I boil my large soup pot full of water.  Often times we will have advance notice of an outage coming, and I immediately fill a couple big pots and get them started boiling ... it takes a while for the water to cool enough to use so a head start is good.

Wow, Ann W! You have had way more to contend with more often. I've never had to boil water.  We always have a gallon on hand in the fridge for drinking. We definitely have plenty of stale water from unused purchases for emergencies, plus if it's raining, we do have some garbage cans where the downspouts go into the can, but it's all non drinking.  And honestly, the cans outside I'm not sure I'd want to know what's in it. It all gets tainted so quickly due to the elements here - living and non living. LOL.  

Anyone sort of like the lack for a while? I feel a peace, with myself and outside - no hum of power. Isn't that weird?  My husband though gets pretty ansy.  But having an outage often enough makes me want to streamline more every time it happens. For some reason it always gets put on the back burner.  The toilets though... I need a flush.   The evenings without power, I find it peaceful.  

But your line here:  "... wait 3 minutes for the Generac generator to kick on, then continue life as normal"  gave me a chuckle.   I think my want for camping made me rather enjoy the peace of "not having" this morning. But I do think I'll break out the Coleman stove and check it out then go from there. I do know the grill isn't cutting it.  A girl must have her coffee. 

It's pretty odd how we so rely on things people never had.  It's kind of sad really.  With all the inventions and technological advancements (some which are great) we seem to be at a loss when they are gone for such a short while. Makes me realize that I really need to make a list of "powerless" things to do and like Gr Donna says, to be prepared.    I will say though, we have power outages enough that the insane quantity of digital clocks on every thing we own, don't get set. :)

I definitely need a routine or a to-do list because If I don't have either I fritter my time away. I mean I still get things done but sometimes not in the right order....like vacuum and clean the kitchen floor and then make a bit of a mess making noodles or rolls...flour can make a mess.

I also feel better if I know what to expect and I am also not one that likes any sort of surprises. I do better with a sense of "order". 

I bake in my large roaster, have done for years.....my oven works but being a very old (1920's) stove it just sucks the propane. I can use my roaster for anything even cookies one tray at a time. I use parchment paper and just slide the hot cookies off with the parchment and add the next sheet of parchment.....I have a system and it works for me. I can bake 2 loaves of bread at a time in it.

I need to keep working on my water storage, I think I am okay on flushing/washing up water, but need some more drinking water stored. I am using sales to stock up. I hate the idea of buying water but don't know how else to do it. I don't have a basement but am storing the flushing water in the crawlspace and the little closet that leads to the crawlspace hatch. I also have some in the utility room for easy access.

I probably should get some paper plates for emergencies but I really hate the idea of buying them. I will get a small amount for just in case.

My garden this year was a total bust but family gardens have all done well so we have been canning and preserving.  Family wants me to just grow with them but it seems weird to not have a garden. There is always next year so I have time to decide.

Ugh! A boil order when the water comes back on. I never thought about something like that, since the only time I was without water for an extended period was because the plumbing broke. Thank goodness that because of the years of reading Grandma Donna's blog I am ready with my extra water and basins and things for washing, because I wouldn't want to take a shower under a boil order! I would rather use my rain barrel water for washing than the city water on a boil order. 

Last year we had another bad freeze and some relatives sent us a propane heater because they were worried about us. I immediately went out and bought all of the little propane canisters that were left in town in case we lost power. We didn't end up needing the heater, and it makes me ill anyway. After Grandma Donna described continuing on with her day with no electricity by using her Coleman stove, I bought one because we still have all of those canisters of propane. 

What I like best to do at night when the power is out is read by a solar light bulb. During the day, I try to continue on with my normal things, using the solar generators and our manual use tools. That is, if we're not huddled in blankets trying to stay warm! 

Solar bulbs. That's what I should invest in.  I was using candles and oil lamps, the latter of which I love and like, but I just did some research on my Yankee Candles (which I don't use for power outages due to the smell), but they're toxic.  I don't want toxic in my house. And cheap no smell candles are even moreso. I did order some votive beeswax candles, but I think a solar bulb would be helpful. 

I also did a deep dive into my spidery shed and unearthed my Coleman stove. Also found 2 propane bottles packed away in our camping gear.  I'm going to test that this weekend. The stove seems so small from what I remember camping with as a kid. Don't really want to spend more than necessary either.  If I can get by with that and get a coffee percolator with the glass knob to see what's going on, I'll be good with that.  

I've been wanting to have a small grill (that works) with a burner. To me that would be optimal since it's always connected and the burner would do better with coffee and water heating if needbe.  So I'll research that a bit.

I'm putting solar bulbs on my list. Anyone have a recommendation?  

I don't know if you would want one but I have a wind-up radio/flashlight...have had it forever and you can also use batteries in it. I have 2 solar lightbulbs, I love them. I have them hung in windows so I an grab them anytime and they are always charged up.

Here's what I learned about storing water, and what I am going to do. I'll wash my 5-gallon glass water bottles with soap and then soak a mild bleach solution in them. When they are filled with water, and we're going to use our Berkey water for now, I'll add the Berkey biofilm drops to increase the water's shelf life. That way I don't have to change the water every six months. Once a year is a comfortable number for me. Our garage has too many temperature fluctuations, so the water will go into one of the walk-in closets in my bathroom. 

I forgot that the water heater has usable water in it, so that's more drinkable water. The waterBOB will keep debris out of the water, unlike water just sitting in the tub, and that can be drinkable water too, if I can get the BOB filled in time! We'll have our rain barrels hooked up again next spring, and that's drinkable water in a pinch, if we run it through a filter first. I even found the closest spring to me in case things really got bad. Whew! I feel good about our water supply. :)

For other prep, I have my solar bulbs, a larger solar light, and we can run lamps off of our solar generators. We have some beeswax candles, and I know what you mean about the Yankee Candles, Ann E, I had to throw mine away! I'm trying a lamp oil called Wolfard because it's supposed to be the cleanest. The regular lamp oil made me sick, but I have two oil lamps I can use if I can get some oil I can tolerate. I feel good about our light prep. With the new Coleman camp stove, I don't have to worry about draining our solar generators from cooking. They are still excellent for heating water, and we'll use the generators for that because we transfer the hot water to Thermoses so we don't have to keep heating water! We have a ceramic covered grill too, so I feel good about cooking. We have plenty of food in the house. I have a battery-operated fan for cooling, and we're still fiddling with trying to run the window AC off of the generators. What I need is some more medical supplies and a potty. Probably some more thick gloves too for moving storm debris out of the yard. We're having trouble finding a dump station, so I need to do some more research there.

Joyce C, good idea on the radio might as well get that while I'm getting bulbs. As silly as it sounds I'd never think to hang the bulbs in a window.  My house is mostly  in the shade so I was wondering where to store them. But I realized one window does get sun and it probably would be enough over time to charge them. 

Stephanie G, I'm glad you mentioned springs. I looked at a map online a few years ago. There are some within driving distance to me. We actually live close to a river but I'm thinking fresh spring water might be welcomed in a difficult situation.  I'll have to print out that map for my binder.

If my power goes out it is usually out only 1-5 hours and I manage. But I bought a dual fuel generator for longer outages. I had propane installed because gasoline is hard or impossible to find before, during and after hurricanes. Having 3 hurricanes in 13 months showed me that!  I bought a single burner kerosene cooker and fuel that I can use on my screened porch, a pitcher pump on my well and a store of emergency. I keep 2 five gallon buckets to hold water for flushing, watering the dogs, handwashing and more. I also have a windup radio to hear announcements. 

It’s always hot during a hurricane so keeping cool is my problem. My generator is not whole house but it will run lights and fans and keep my food cool.  During outages I will read, do light housework, do what I can by hand and work on the mess in the yard as soon as I can, if the outage is due to a storm. 

But those are the exceptional times. For me it is even more important to be thoughtful about how I live everyday.  I want to be more self sufficient, intentional and less wasteful. I also want to recognize that there are some advances I am very grateful for, but some have complicated our lives instead of making our lives easier. For instance, I have a television that I watch now and then using Roku. The other day my visiting family wanted to watch 2 football games. It took three grown people 15 minutes to pull up and  log in to several of the channels they subscribe to in order to access the two games they wanted to see, and they nearly signed me up for a $65 a month fee by accident. I told them that in my youth, we just turned on the three free channels to find which carried the game and the one-time purchased antenna brought it to us. 

When I lose power, I am grateful for the quiet. Thankfully we don't lose power often, but it does happen. Just don't want it off too long LOL

It's amazing how many of our regular household appliances make noise and we don't notice it until it's gone. 

I have a gas cookstove no electricity involved, and in the cold weather I have my woodstove but no fan to circulate the air except for the fan that sits on the stove. I am tempted to get another.

I have a river about 1/2 mile from my house, could use it IF I had to.

Stephanie G For an emergency toilet, you can use a bucket and cover each usage with sawdust or kitty litter.  I personally don't like the bucket even with a toilet seat on it because it's too low and too tippy.   Toilet seats for buckets are available for purchase.

I have a commode made for sick rooms with adjustable height legs.  They come up at estate sales for $1 or maybe free and I have two.  One is deluxe with padded seat, back, arm rest and a transfer bench on one side.  They were "thrown in" with something else I was buying.  Once I got them home, I realized they were perfect as an emergency toilet.  You can line the bucket with plastic trash bags for easy disposable.  Before you say you shouldn't put that in the trash, realize that both baby and adult diapers go into the trash so same thing only without the diapers.  Again, sawdust or kitty litter between uses.  Some sewer systems do not work without electric power and, of course, if you don't have water you cannot flush.  Also, if an outage is longer, you do not want to waste water flushing a toilet.  Our community has a lift station on sewage lines and a huge generator to run the pump but again in a SHTF situation, how long will the pump have fuel.

Joyce C It's not quiet if a generator is running right outside your door!  Mine is quieter than a portable generator, but in no way is it quiet.  When the power comes back on and the generator stops, I relax when the noise stops.  I don't realize how tense I've been due to the noise.

Joyce C... That's it!  No appliance humming!!! Wonderful quiet, even though needful. What gets me is all the beeping from the digital nonsense.

Stephanie G A travesty with Yankee Candles.  They once were on the list of non toxic, but I guess that wasn't true. I did toss a few years ago; gifts but horrible smell - many now smell like men's bad aftershave.  I will do the same, but I must keep my MacIntosh and open the windows. LOL. The rest will have to go. That closet they're in is horrific smelling! Like the laundry aisle at Walmart. Yuck.

Joan S I probably shouldn't start on the complexity and ridiculousness of tv.  As mentioned I went through that with a CD player with everything having to be on (like I need to see "Track 1" on my tv, but we just bought a cable and bypassed the bluetooth nonsense. You really can't make this silliness up. The settings are crazy and no one even knows what half that stuff means.  Not worth it to me. Plus there's nothing on anyway - which is why we're dumping the the tv I'm hiding in the kitchen armoire. ;)    Technology can be good, but it seems to be getting more and more ridiculous with the time it takes to deal with the simplest things.  And my phone, it must stay on silent due to the amount of spam calls and I even have one of the number 1 data removal  subscriptions (more money spent) and Norton. Oh.... I covet the earlier years.

We’ve lost power at least four times that I can remember since we put in our solar electric system, two were short outages, one was about 8 hours and one ran 24 hours or so.  For us we are already either using electricity we were solar generating or electricity stored in batteries, so we didn’t even know the power has gone out except for a notification from the system.  Before we had solar we used our portable solar generator for the house refrigerator, plus rechargeable fans and lights.

Even with solar electric we need to know how to manage without power, as a power outage could occur during winter when our production is much lower.  Last year we did manage our needs with the solar, but this year looks to be rainier which means less production, and we prefer not to use the grid if at all possible.  We have the campervan which has both a gas generator and solar panels, although the solar is small and we need the generator for A/C.  A full tank of gas can run the generator for about 80 hours but we don’t leave it on all of the time, just when needed, although for one power outage I slept in the van with the generator and A/C running since the daytime temp had been 108°F and it didn’t cool down enough at night to sleep comfortably.  The van has a propane stove as well, and with the generator we can also run the microwave or various electric cooking appliances such as a rice maker, pressure cooker, or electric frying pan.  My 40 year old Stanley thermos still works perfectly so I boil water and fill it.  I am accustomed to the van galley as my second kitchen so it’s not a burden to switch to using it.  The propane system also powers the heat.  Also, when we purchased our solar generator we chose one that has an input for our van’s electric plug.  We have an 800 watt folding solar panel system for the solar generator, whereas the van only has about 150 watts in rooftop panels.  The solar generator capacity with the expansion battery is a little over 5kwh.

As for activities when the power is out, I read, knit, embroider, etc.  We have 10 year old Kindles which still work fine and make it possible to read in the evening with just one small battery light in the room for everyone.  We wouldn’t choose to read on phones since they use more battery vs. a Kindle

We've started harvesting our winter squash. We have twelve small squashes, about the size of pie pumpkins, so one for each month until the next crop. These squashes did really well on the arch trellis, so I am going to save their seed so that we can have free squash next year. :) The last two years have been very moist and we've had problems curing. In fact, we lost our whole bulb onion crop this year. No longer can we cure things on a tarp on the ground, so when the squash were ready, my son and I snitched the frame my husband was building for garage ceiling storage because it was the perfect size and height for a curing platform. My son stapled a couple of layers of chicken wire to it, and now our curing squashes have about a foot of air flow beneath them. :) 

Twelve little squashes might not sound like much, but that's how much squash we eat. They are very heavy little squashes! We only plant eight rutabagas in the fall because each one gets big enough to use multiple times. I used to plant too much of things, but I've learned that it's better to plant what we actually use. 

I finished shelling the dry tepary beans today. They were a disappointment. I have a small amount in a jar for adding a handful to soups. They are pretty, though. There's brown wrinkly ones, fat buff-colored ones, and little spotted beans that look like the precursor to pinto beans. They are considered half-wild beans. They're little. We are going back to the Grandpa Mackay's cream peas because they produce and produce! 

The asparagus love the langbeinite! I guess they were really lacking potassium. Hopefully we'll get a nice crop next spring, but after the siding workmen cut it back and stepped on it, I don't know. 

Stephanie G, congrats on your winter squash!

We had big rain so we had to harvest the entire pomegranate tree so the pomegranates wouldn’t split.  Our tree is an Utah Sweet and not the kind used for deep dark pomegranate jelly.   The tree produced far too many pomegranates for us, so we’ve been sharing them with our neighbors.  The older I get the more I learn how important neighbors are, both as friends and as the people we rely on and care for in an emergency.

I suppose at this point we are city dwellers through and through.  I do my figuring and then buy already canned/jarred things.  We go through about 2 large jars of applesauce per month, so when it goes on sale again I will buy 28 jars — the 24 I expect to use and 4 extra in case I underestimate.  While I think home canned applesauce is tastier, it’s just not economical to buy the apples and process them myself.  Even not on sale, there’s just no way to compare with paying $2.75 for a 47.25 ounce jar of Treetop unsweetened applesauce, and on sale it goes down to $2 (but I haven’t seen a sale in about a year — fingers crossed it will be soon).  Some things like marinara we use the Great Value generic version and I’ve never seen it on sale so I buy enough to last until we are at Walmart again, usually every 2 months or so.  I could buy enough for a year but then I would have to store it.