Posted on 01/11/2013 11:28:59 AM PST by Kartographer
There are some GREAT projects here.
Composting Toilet Plans
homemade survival bars
Are two I liked
(Excerpt) Read more at foodstorageandsurvival.com ...
“AMEN!”
Storing preps is an art, using every possible space so you don’t have to sit on your preps or it is in the middle of the floor. I have seen on TV where preps are kept outside in a garage or in a hot attic or under the floor of a house on piers instead of on a slab. Those preps won’t keep.
I envy those with a cool basement. We don’t have basements here due to the high water table. We would have a swimming pool instead of a basement.
I don’t remember, if I knew - do you have a basement?
Flu shots never. Now he had a chronic lung disease brought on by smoking 3 packs a day and asbestos exposure in the Coast Guard during WWII, but he still refused. He felt there was more danger to taking it than not, but was not able to explain it to me, since he had expressive ephasia from a stroke.
He did get the flu from time to time, but always licked it. In the end, though he broke his hip and was exposed to an anitbiotic resistant infection of the lungs while in the hospital. So for him, the flu shot would not have made a difference.
I have to go to the doctor’s office next week. Not so sure that’s a good idea. I am thinking about calling and asking for a phone consult instead.
IIRC, age does has something to do with it, but I am not sure what exactly. Dr. Low Dog (Native American) was a speaker about women’s health a few years back. One of the things she stressed was the incidence of insufficiency of vitamin D in the population at large.
She talked about Drs perscribing meds for osteoporosis, and other stuff, but not even bothering to make sure that the elderly people especially had adequate vitamin d. After doin quite a bit of research on it, I started the supplements.
Since then, I have not had the flu or serious cold even though I spent several years staying with my Dad and sister while they were hospitalized, including during flu epedimics.
My doctor told me he was not a big believer in mega vitamins etc. I told him I wasn’t either, but I didn’t consider a multiple vitamin and vitamin d mega doses. I did not take any this summer, can’t remember exactly why, but I was slightly deficient at my check up this fall. So, I started taking it again. Now I make sure to take the vitamin D3 daily during this winter. I hope my immune system is up to snuff now.
LOL. That’s what we have been doing too. In addition to sales. Checking the freezers to see what we need to use, and what can be preserved using the canners.
I just throw everything I can into the freezer from the garden, then can at leisure in the winter when I appreciate the heat so much more than in the summertime heat. I am hoping to get most of that done this month.
I also want to try out several recipes for jerky since grand daughter loves to eat that stuff from the store. Hoping to make something she will like that I can send in her lunch besides PBJ. LOL.
She knows the sound of the UPS truck before it gets to the house and runs to the glass door and starts flipping around, going nuts. The truck goes to the end of the townhouses and she is waiting there for it to pass again. If it stops in front of the house, she totally freaks out, spinning and bouncing. The UPS drivers know she does this so they look over at the door as they pass by and laugh their heads off when they stop and come to the door.
Well, today (Friday), the UPS driver stopped the truck and Prissy did her usual spinning, turning, bouncing. He came to the door and said the package was for next door but he had told his wife about this little dog that loves the truck and the drivers and her bouncing around. He asked if he could film her to show his wife and asked me what kind of dog she was. So, Prissy was in the movies.
She will probably get an Academy award for the cutest dog in the world. And, I'm not paying her a salary.
Yes we do have a basement. Most of it is finished. The family room is downstairs with the TV my husband bought me for my birthday and Christmas. The kids and grand kids and I like to watch various marathons during the holidays.
Anyway we also have a 1 bedroom / 1 bath apartment downstairs. We put it in when the girls both moved back in with their kids and got divorces. Now that they are all back out on their own, I use the kitchenette for the canning. We figured if we ever needed to we could rent it out for extra income.
Hubby has a Marcy gym and exercise room. It is not heated, so we are using 11 feet on on wall and about 13 feet on the other wall for shelves for the pantry. I am also planning to get some of those 3 or 4 inch risers to put the really long term stuff under the beds.
Hubby did a good job building the basement. We don’t have any water issues or dampness, and with the kitchen down there, it’s perfect for bringing in our garden produce, growing plants indoors etc.
His homebuilding skills meant we were able to build a really nice house with plenty of expansion room in the basement cheaper than a small ranch with no basement would have been.
I designed the floor plan, and he bought the architecture books, electricity etc. He studied and we planned and drew and planned and drew for about 4 years, till we had everything just the way it needed to be. Then he built it.
He did have someone else blow in the insulation in the attic, and put in the furnace and airconditioning unit and help with hanging the drywall.
I read up on wallpaper, and took care of that. Oldest daughter carried hod while he layed the brick. It was a true family effort. LOL.
LOL. That’s a great story. One of my grand daughters got married and left her dog with my daughter. What started out as daytime dog sitting has turned into permanent residence.
She is a combo rat terrier and Jack Russell terrier. Incredibly she spends the day sleeping. When the bus comes or the UPS she gives a half hearted alert raises her head and pricks her ears, maybe even gets up and walks to the kitchen.
Just let her outside and she goes crazy running around and barking like crazy. Anyone comes to the door she just wags her tail maybe once in a while a low growl that you can barely hear. So not much of a watch dog, but very good natured.
I prep more for hurricanes ,ice storms ,tornadoes and I've lived through more than a few of these. This coming gun grab has me worried , because I don't know how it will play out.
ain't gonna be pretty
country boy can survive
Re-organizing the upright freezer is on the to do list this week. All my nice organization got jumbled to make temporary room for a neighbor. I used to designate shelves - top shelf for chicken, second shelf for beef, third for pork, etc. I swore by that for years. Dumb, dumb. There was always something getting lost and freezer burned. Now days it's top shelf for oldest dates no matter what the item is. Second self for the next oldest date, third shelf for a more current date and so on. You're not alone. I overdid on the canned green beans but underdid on the corn. Need to readjust.
Oh wow, I need to ask the guys in my building what happens to the old gear. Sure would love to have one of vacuum freeze dryers, myself!
We like this basic jerky - beef roast sliced thin, dunk the slices into some soy sauce with a wee bit of sugar stirred in, let soak for a minute, place meat onto dehydrator racks and sprinkle on black pepper.
Have you tried the dry canning method for meat? I can see how it’d work but would think the meat not in the liquid would turn. Frankly, for emergency preps I’d think you’d appreciate having the regular canning liquid since it doesn’t take up anymore space than the dry canning. A jar doesn’t change it’s shape or space it occupies. In an emergency, liquid/water would be precious so why not just leave the beef stock inside your canning jars?
Thanks for the picture ... it reminded me to pick up more TP
TT
That’s some of them .. There are a bunch of youtube vids on meals in a jar ... went out this morning looking for yard sales (for jars) but there weren’t any ... guess I’ll have better luck when the weather improves. (did bring home some firewood)
Another project for this weekend is recycling dryer lint and plastic peanut butter jars ... mix a little Vaseline with dryer lint and it makes a great fire starter ... stored in a old peanut butter jar with a bic lighter. I’ve tested this at the Beach it works very well.
TT
Dryer lint & Vaseline sounds easier than the boiling liquid wax & lint method; safer too.
Thanks! That’s simple enough. I love simple.LOL
I am not sure what you mean by “dry” canning. I can meat in a pressure cooker with about 1-2 inches of water in the bottom.
With the meat, I like the raw pack because it is so simple. Just cut up the chunks stick them in the jar, add a pinch of salt and process.
The meat makes it’s own broth. Sometimes, if the meat is very lean, I add a little hot water up to about a quarter of the jar, just so most of the meat will be immersed in liquid.
Ground meats should be cooked before hand and then filled with the broth and water added as needed before processing.
bump for later
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