Where Have I Been? Crazy-Busy Is Where I’ve Been!

Sorry I’ve been conspicuously absent the past few months. It’s been insanely busy in my house. The latest crazy event to take over my life is my oldest son’s wedding. It’s this Saturday, and most of my free time, when I’d normally blog, has been enveloped with making my future daughter-in-law’s wedding dress.  Lest you think I am an incredible seamstress, know that this is a knee-length dress (no train), and it is a simple design.  I’m not allowed to show you the dress itself, but here’s a glimpse of what I’m working on.

I promise to show pictures when I’m done (and after the wedding).  My mother tried to teach me to sew as a teenager, but I wasn’t particularly interested.  I regretted that when my first son (coincidentally the one who is getting married) was born.  I taught myself to sew so I could make him cute clothes, since the ones I really liked were expensive.  It’s much easier to find cute and inexpensive boy clothes now, but 23 years ago, it was not.  While I’m not an avid sewer, I am quite grateful to have developed this skill.  In addition to making my own clothes and decorator items (curtains, blankets, etc.), I can sew on buttons, fix small holes in clothes, and make basic alterations.  It is a big money saver and a worthwhile skill to develop.

While my mind has been filled with thoughts of a perfect wedding dress and stressing over the details of it, I am looking forward to the wedding and am quite busy with preparations, including preparing my home, because the happy couple are taking up residence in my husband’s former office.  That’s the way of the world now, isn’t it?  We moved away from extended family groups to nuclear families to families of all shapes, sizes, and configurations, but now many are heading back to the extended family model.  Not a bad thing in my opinion.  It’s nice to have family around to love and support each other.

Give a hug to those you love and send a note or call those you love who live far away.  They’ll sure appreciate it!

Take care, everyone!

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Well, Isn’t This Fine And Dandy? I Filled My Buckets, But I Need More!

If you have read my blog for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I am working hard to build up a good pantry and food storage.  Remember last week when I posted this:

 

Look at all that grain!

 

I bought all those bags of different kinds of grain for two reasons.  First, I wanted to experiment with different whole grains in baking, and this was the most economical way to buy them.  Second, I wanted to repackage most of the grain for long term storage (meaning mylar bags with oxygen absorbers in food grade buckets).  Last week, I started packing the food in mylar bags (see post about it here), and yesterday I finished.  It really didn’t take me a couple of weeks, in fact, it took me about an hour total.  However, with the insanity that accompanies the last couple weeks of school coupled with the general craziness of life, I just couldn’t find the time to finish up until yesterday.  And here they are!

 

10 buckets (including the 2 done last week)! Repackaged as they are, these grains should last for at least 20 years (unopened and stored at an appropriate temperature). I’m not planning to have them sit around that long, because I plan to rotate the grains into our regular diet. But it is nice to know that this food will last a good long while.

 

And did you see these? Remember I said that I wanted to experiment with some of these grains? Here they are in mason jars ready for experimentation!

 

I don’t know if you can see it from the bucket picture above, but I have a few more things to repackage (oats and white winter wheat), but I may just throw those in a regular food grade bucket without a mylar bag, because I use those pretty regularly.  I’ll let you know when I decide.

 

Why am I doing this?  Growing up, my parents had food storage in our basement as well as a full pantry.  I remember my mom grinding her own wheat and making her own bread in a time when processed food was all the rage.  Because of her hard work and dedication, I have a great love for whole, natural foods, and I want to include those in my family’s diet.  Having food storage on hand allows me the freedom to wait for a good sale on healthy food and stock up.  I rarely have to run to the store for “one thing,” because I have extras of almost everything in the pantry or my food storage closet.  It’s not a year supply of food as some recommend, but we would be just fine for a while if we experienced a job loss, extended illness, natural disaster, or any one of a number of regularly occurring “disasters” that people experience.

How about you?  What do you think about this food storage craze? 

Do you see any wisdom in keeping a well-stocked pantry?  If so, what do you keep in yours?

Can You Live Without Power For 10 Days And Still Be Happy?

A good reminder…

My Foray Into Food Storage

I watched Nat Geo’s American Blackout last night.  Yes, I know I’m a bit behind the times as American Blackout premiered last year.  Hey, I don’t watch a lot of TV.  This was on my “to watch” list, and I finally got around to it last night.  BOY!  This is NOT the show to see if you do not want to be completely freaked out!  I found myself wondering what I would do.  I have some supplies on hand as part of my earthquake prep, I live in California after all, but I am no where near as “prepared” as the prepper featured in the show.  He had over 2 years worth of food, months of water and fuel, and he still had problems.  Preppers prepare for unlikely situations, but one thing many forget is that preppers are also prepared for less extreme situations.

Some of you may be…

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