Harvest Time! September is National Preparedness Month, Warranty Success With A Twist

Harvest Time! 

It's been busy, busy busy!!! Harvest time is always great (and) way too much at once. Our Redhaven peach tree was delayed this year because of our wacky late spring early summer weather and started ripening around the same time as the pears. Usually our Red Haven peaches are ripe in July well ahead of the other fruit trees. We froze, baked and canned some, gave some to my kiddos. Froze these on a cookie sheet, then vacuum sealed in bags for later-

 

Apples are done now, gave away some to both my daughters and their in-laws. I put canning on hold this year as I just don't have the time and some medical stuff going on. Also working a lot of overtime at work. Since we have quite a bit left over from the last two years we're good. We have lots of fresh apples stashed in both of our refrigerators which will last for months. They are delish! As a twist we have pretty much decided to actually cut down our apple tree. It is way too big and is producing way too much fruit for us. It was a tough decision in some ways but the right thing to do. Dave has a friend who's going to take the tree down for the firewood and in the spring we'll find a nice dwarf apple tree to put in its place. I canned peaches, pears got to ripe too fast with the heat so I didn't can any. Did baking and we are ate lots fresh! Pear crisp-

 

Tomatoes are coming in like crazy, finally! Our favorite variety this summer is the Black Prince tomato, a Russian variety, sweet and really delicate flavor! Smaller but amazing, will plant again-

 

Lots and lots on the vine too. I frozen some, have eaten fresh and used some of our bumper of crop cherry tomatoes to roast and pack in olive oil. They will keep well in the fridge through the winter. Elliott Homestead has some really good videos on Youtube for food prepping. I used her recipe for the cherry tomatoes. She has another recipe for sun-dried tomatoes (in the oven) and again packed in olive oil. I made those too-

 

 

Roasting

 

Freezing, used vacuum bags after this part

 

Roma's "sun dried" in the oven

 

Packed in Olive oil

 

 

In the fridge for winter

 

Fresh with our Basil and cukes! 

Swiss chard grew really well in a in a box this summer! The chickens love it so I give them some as treats-

 

Kind of so-so on our new little garden bed with radishes, carrots, and green onions. I think it's just been the weather since they've been getting plenty of water-

 

I bought really fresh, nice pickling cucumbers at a local farmstead to ferment again this year. One jar went to each of my daughters and the rest for me-

Made my 1st Chimichurri, came out great with my stored frozen roast and local roasted potatoes!

  

 

 

Eggs are in good production since Luna started laying again!

 

 

 

We're ready for Autumn!

 

Bonnie enjoying the ending summer light-

 

 

 

 

September is National Preparedness Month-

Speaking of storing and preserving food! September is National Preparedness Month (again). I can't say strongly enough I think things are going to get much much worse over the next few years before they get better. If you or your loved ones, or someone you know, is the type to thank everything will be okay they will be in for a very rude awakening. I HOPE I AM WRONG. I'm not trying to be negative, just realistic, and for those who are able to listen- store up extra foods, water, cash, fuel you know the drill. You can look back on my preparedness posts here or Google September National Preparedness Month for all kinds of resources in your area. Don't forget your pets and don't forget over the counter supplements, syrups, pain relief, etc. What if you had a bad cough and couldn't find cough syrup anywhere? Not a good scenario, but if you have a couple of extra bottle stashed along with other kinds of first aid supplies your set. Winter is coming and we've already seen the bizarre international weather events. This is the new normal. Just a good reminder to not rely on anybody to help you, EVER.

 

Warranty Success With A Twist-

I blogged a while back about how I found a used Stanley travel mug with (it turned out) a broken lid-

 

 

I replaced the lid which wound up leaking sadly. I called the Stanley customer service number which was an overseas call center. That was pretty well a nightmare. I looked on their website and anything over 30 days was NOT covered by warranty, shocked! I had bought the lid and stored it for quite a few months before I used it. I started thinking about a work-around. I went on to Amazon's website looked up the Stanley flask/mug that was similar and posted a question, since I couldn't post a comment. Mentioned that they had terrible customer service and was there a local phone number? Within 24 hours I got an email from Stanley to go to their website and fill out a form, which I did. I got a response within about 2 days asking for a photo of the bottom of the cup and a video showing the leak, which I did. Within a few days I was told that the lid is out of stock, but that they were going to send me a replacement. Not a replacement LID, which was what I asked for, but a full replacement mug/flask. They let me choose which of two colors, I went with Rose Quartz (almost Copper), so now I have a brand new Stanley travel mug/flask and lid that works! Item here- Stanley1913 Mug I will save the old one, just won't use in a bag, etc. Pretty funny, I spent $3.00 for the thrifted item, $10 for a new lid and I wound up getting a free, more expensive new flask. Always pays to be creative and think about your options. 

September National Preparedness Month/Is This Redundant? Autumn's Almost Here

 

September National Preparedness Month/Is This Redundant?

On some level I almost don't feel like even posting this. But since it is National Preparedness Month I thought I'd add just a good few reminders and links... Ready.gov Be Informed   Redcross.org Emergency Preparedness Checklist  You can check out my previous posts on this topic under the "topics" tab on the right side. Don't forget to prep for your pets!!! Ready.gov Pets

If you've been watching the national and international news you know that there have been major catastrophic crop failures, livestock failures, floods, fires, fuel shut offs, war, it's the perfect storm. Everyone should be really preparing for food shortages, exorbitant fuel charges and/or shortages. This news is from this week, time to stock up and maybe buy a turkey for the holidays-

Ohio Egg Farm Euthanizes 3 Million Chickens

 I recently came into a small amount of money and instead of putting it into my retirement account I cashed it out to buy hard goods. I bought about 6 months worth of chicken feed (now $25 a bag up from $12.99 a while back) to get us all the way through the winter and more pine shavings for the coop. Ditto for the cat food. I also bought more things to stash like OTC meds.  I saw a really great deal for a Food Saver vacuum system at Costco for only $75! It came with a starter kit of bags, a really great deal! My old pressure bag system was on its way out, not a surprise since it was pretty cheap. It's good to invest in those kind of food preservation items. I have had ZERO freezer burn with those bags!!! I felt it was a better $ investment than sitting gathering little to no interest for a while. In some ways I feel like cashing it all out and doing something different but I am hopeful that I will still be able to retire someday. If you've seen anything lately about people's thermostats getting locked up by the utilities- I think this is a preview of things to come. I know our local power company asked us to voluntarily sign up to have our power lowered during the hottest part of the summer days. In return they would give us a little bit of money at the end of the summer. We passed. We try to be conscious of our energy and water use. We do a lot of mulching, planting trees on our lot, but we still use/need the AC.  Having said that fuel charges are looking really gruesome in Europe. I think this is also a preview of things to come in the states. I bought some flannel sheets to stash and we have tons of bedding, kerosene and propane heaters. Some people still think that nothing will change, they may have something called normalcy bias. Everything will be fine because it always has been. 

From Wiki- Normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a cognitive bias which leads people to disbelieve or minimize threat warnings. Consequently, individuals underestimate the likelihood of a disaster, when it might affect them, and its potential adverse effects. The normalcy bias causes many people to not adequately prepare for natural disasters, market crashes, and calamities caused by human error. About 70% of people reportedly display normalcy bias during a disaster. The normalcy bias can manifest in response to warnings about disasters and actual catastrophes. Such disasters include market crashes, motor vehicle accidents, natural disasters like a tsunami, and war. Normalcy bias has also been called analysis paralysis, the ostrich effect, and by first responders, the negative panic. The opposite of normalcy bias is overreaction, or worst-case scenario bias, in which small deviations from normality are dealt with as signals of an impending catastrophe.

A classic example was Ukraine. People were warned to leave, Russia was surrounding the country for months and months, and most stayed. They really never thought Russia would invade, despite the obvious signs. The very wealthy never worry either. I heard this quote two days ago and it really stuck with me-

People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right- John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian Economist.

Autumn's Almost Here-

We have been under a Heat Dome like a lot of the West the last few months, with many many weeks and weeks of over 100° weather. It's been very smoky here the last week with multiple fires in Eastern Oregon and here in Idaho. We definitely had a much smaller crop of tomatoes, but green ones are still on the vine. Tomatoes won't set fruit when it's over 80 or 85°. I don't have enough to can this year but will freeze some. I already made some wonderful salsa. Not many apples at all, luckily I canned a lot and froze some last year! Lots of pears on the tree, probably ready to can next weekend. We hit our 43° morning yesterday! Finally getting down into the 80s this week and the 70s late next week. May be some rain, which we desperately need. We're fortunate we had plenty of water for crops and our animals, some are not so lucky. We'll be stashing some mulch and other gardening needs for next year. Those things are easy to store. I'm packing up the summer decor and almost ready to put out pumpkins! 

Big Snow! Birthday Ikea Trip/ Holiday Decor Downsizing, Preparedness & RX Shortages

 

Big Snow!

Our first big winter storm is arriving! Woke up to about 1/2" of snow and 21 degrees this morning. We're talking lots of feet of snow in the mountains in the next week. This is our first really big snow storm to hit. I've seen there's more weather problems up in Canada and Washington, sad. We usually get snow November/December, but it varies every year. So far nothing big down here in the valley, but look at the forecast! 

Birthday Ikea Trip/ Holiday Decor Downsizing-

It's that time of year! I started putting up our winter decor about a week ago since I like to take a break after Thanksgiving. I also had my birthday! I won't say which one, but a BIG one. I like doing something fun since I never had a birthday parties as a kid. I always got combination birthday and Christmas gifts, what a bummer. Dave and I did a one-day birthday drive to Salt Lake City Ikea so I could buy some holiday goodies for my birthday present. I did about 95% of the driving, perfect weather. I know it may seem crazy but I've wanted to buy some of their winter decor, and you can't buy it online. We never go to the Portland Ikea for family visits in winter. So we went! We never got a vacation this year or last year, so we didn't feel guilty. Just gas, a couple meals, and shopping. They were out of a few things but I got most of the fun holiday items-

Finally a Dala horse! And a Tomten with deer (ceramic)

Fox and tree candle holder, ceramic too 

I really wanted their 3-piece glass mushroom set, but were out. I found one on eBay for a bit more, I was thrilled! Three sizes, heavy glass with heavy clips-

 Red and white mushrooms were said to be the basis for Santa's hat! 

I added to my display, I love the nature look with the greenery-

Bigger shot here-

Also from eBay, an Ikea LED mini candelabra, battery operated, $10.00-

I stocked up on their amazing whole grain/Rye crackers, cookies and a little Swedish cheese. Got a mistletoe table runner, some mini star lights and some stocking stuffers. I really love Scandinavian folk art and natural types of holiday decorations. So there's a sneak peek of what we have out. Our Christmas decor will be coming out this weekend! 

Dining room farm window

Kitchen window, thrifted new prim snowman

Dining room

Living room

Entryway Gingerbread theme

Living room window

I moved my Jul decor to the living room this year! 

Holiday Decor Downsizing: 

Phase two was letting go of some winter  decor. I decided I wanted to get rid of at least one or two chunks. I always start off with putting winter decor out first. Then I add Christmas things a week or two later. First thing I did with the winter stuff was spread it out and open the totes which created quite the mess! Then I started going through things that I really love versus things that I was ready to let go of. Since a lot of my holiday decor was thrifted there wasn't a huge amount of financial investment. I looked at what do I really love, how much storage do we have, etc. I wound up emptying out one complete tote and donating all of it. Next phase will be going through all the Christmas stuff. The biggest part of that is our artificial tree, wrapping paper, ditto. The rest is tree decorations and tabletop things. Over time I'm liking something less cluttered looking, although my style might be more cluttered than other people's. That's okay. I think decorating for winter is my favorite thing because I've always loved snow! Probably from growing up in Southern California where I didn't really see any except way up in the Sierra mountains.

Preparedness & RX Shortages-

What's new here for preparedness. I have noticed some distinct shortages in the grocery stores and escalating prices. I saw some bell peppers for a $1.75 each, instant noodles ramen type of foods completely off of all the shelves. This was in a Walmart Market. I see our gas prices here are going down a bit which is good. I was happy to see the Walmart Market did have some canned Keystone meat on hand. I picked up a couple cans of chicken. Keystone meat comes really really highly recommended, it's affordable only meet in a lightly salted Brian no other flavors and big chunks. Still getting a few eggs here and they're usually about one a day, glad I had some frozen! When we were getting four per day in the summer I decided to start freezing them. I did also buy some sprouting seeds in case the quality and price of greens gets really exorbitant. I have noticed some quality issues with some things like romaine and spinach . Not sure if it's from the trucking shortage? I also found a nice deal on a bread proofing basket (Ikea) with a cloth cover-

I also bought an Ikea knife sharpener, has a well for water to wet the sharpening stones-

As for RX shortages- I'm hearing this from some of my medical employers insurance  members, more RX's are getting more backordered. This is a sobering list from Drugs.com Drug Shortages, what's scary is it's so long, and growing. Wondering how are you doing in your neck of the woods as far as availability of foods and products, prices? 

Our house

Coop's ready too! 

Independence Days Challenge/ Preparedness, Using A Kerosene Heater

Winter 2017

Independence Days Challenge-

We're ready for winter! It's been colder, in the 20's at night, but dry. The forecast is a wetter winter, so may be snowier than usual, time will tell. I put away the Autumn decor yesterday.  We had a pretty quiet Thanksgiving with just our daughter and her boyfriend coming over. Our one daughter went to her in-laws with her husband for turkey day. Our other daughter had a very sick grandchild and they decided to stay home. We're trying to break the cycle of having anybody over who's actively sick, we were on the same page with that. Still sad. We did send them over a whole bunch of hot food right before we sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, so they were covered! Consequently we have quite a bit of turkey left which is nice. Will probably be making some turkey noodle soup and turkey enchiladas. If we still have more leftovers it's going into the freezer.

Will be putting out indoor winter decor and our Advent wreath with candles. Dave put up the front lights yesterday, since it was mild, not turned on yet though. I like a break between holidays, we did add this outside-

Bring it on! I love snow...

I have today off (Monday), since I currently work Tues. - Sat. It's "open enrollment" for the insurance company I work for, but only for a while longer. I decided to take tomorrow off, giving me a three day weekend. Taking Friday off too, for my birthday! Dave and I went to McCall for our anniversary for two nights a couple weeks ago. He's been working really long hours, so it was a much-needed break! Not much snow on the ground, nice weather. Sunset Alpenglow over Payette Lake-

The next day- 

City park pretty empty, got snow the next week after

I found some fun thrifted items for our new granddaughter! She was born Aug 27th, with red hair! Fun to shop for a girl baby. The two grandsons are doing great too, very busy busy. It's nice we all live in the area and can see each other. Hoping everyone is healthy for Christmas!

Watching the news about Canada's epic flooding, with more on the way, it's a sad reminder how important it is to prepare. Prices still going up here, shrinkflation with packaging, some of the local craft stores had shortages and empty spots. Grocery produce is going downhill quality-wise. Worker shortages in businesses. My own employer is having trouble hiring staff, maybe they'll raise the pay!!! So here's what we've been up to-    

1. Plant Something- It's winter here, nope 

 

2. Harvest Something- Eggs, chives, herbs. Herbs froze but are still hanging in there!

 

3. Preserve/Store Something- Freezing butter, cheese, baking supplies, chocolate (heck yes!) storing extra chicken feed/pine shavings for coop. Dave just cleaned it, ready for winter with extra thickness to keep the girls warm. I bought some cracked corn for the really cold days coming. We're only getting about one egg a day, glad I froze lots!!! 

 

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- Got a new phone, mine was Galaxy 8S Active, 2G and 5 years old. Free with a slight plan upgrade, temporary for 3 years. Nice phone, got  a Galaxy S21, lots more photo options, although I love my DSLR. Buying extra cereals, butter, pastas, peanut butter, c leaning supplies, shampoos, various food items when I see a good sale. Got some clearance artisanal breads to freeze. Got a new 2022 wall calendar, two Amaryllis bulbs, one is already blooming, from a big box store! Only $5.00, had the stem 5" long when I took it out of the box! Added to my antique coffee pot, a gift from my cousin when I was young-

Red and white

Deep red blooms to come

Dave bought a MONSTER poinsettia from Costco, I have NEVER seen one that big! Going on the top of the entertainment center soon-

I also bought some more clearance priced seeds, .50 cents each.  More to store for next year, just in case. Bought more kerosene, in case we lose power. 

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe- Just discovered a new Foodnetwork show on our anniversary trip (hotel had cable!) Girl Meets Farm , lots of unique fun recipes, especially the fried turkey breast! I may try that. I love her old farmhouse kitchen re-do, with Grandma's old range too! It's nice they actually film in a real kitchen, not a set somewhere- 

From Behind the Scenes Girl Meets Farm

 6. Build Community Food Systems- Farmer's market closed.

 

7. Recycle/Re-Use- Roasted a medium sized decorative pumpkin for the hens, food time! Thrifted baby clothes, on sale/half off, got several outfits (new on the hanger) for .50 cents, WOW! 

Pumpkin for the girls

8. Skill Up- Did some new research on using kerosene heaters and learning more about emergency heating. I really appreciate some of the Youtube vloggers out there- Alaska Prepper, Canadian Prepper, City Prepper, etc. I edit out the politics and look for things I can use. We don't have a wood stove, for instance, but can use lots of other ideas. Thinking outside the box in the main thing.

 

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something- Bought some small cans of paint to touch-up the kitchen, main hallway and big bathroom, a few dings here and there! 

Using A Kerosene Heater-

I have a couple of kerosene heaters, including some brooder heaters. These are for emergency use for us. I thought I'd share my experience with these. So before we get started...

Here's my DISCLAIMER- Kerosene heaters burn oxygen in the air and release carbon monoxide. Kerosene heaters can also release other pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. To reduce the risk of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning, you must vent the room being heated! Crack a window or door, always have a working carbon monoxide. Safety first, don't burn down your house. Never leave a kerosene heater unattended/when you are sleeping, keep the instruction manual nearby, use clear kerosene, store kerosene in containers clearly marked. Refilling should only be done outdoors and when the unit is cool, keep heater away from all flammable and combustible items (such as curtains, furniture, aerosol sprays, and gasoline). Do your own research. Thanks. 

The large one above is a Perfection M525, probably from the 70's, info here Millesstair Perfection History. I bought is for about $15.00 several years ago at a thrift store.  I have another large one, an Alladin, I need to get it down to fill. I had trouble lighting it before, then read you need to fill and let sit for an hour, dry wick otherwise. DUH! Anyway, I filled and fired up the small brooder heater first, bought at a estate sale years ago, unknown brand, $10.00, like new-

Tips open to change wick

Open brass plug and fill

Nice, with the Mica window

I fill these up with WATER THE 1ST TIME, to check for leaks. Next, I filled these up outside, on the grass. Then snapped down the chimney. It got hot fast and you can adjust the wick as needed, very little odor and smoke! These were used to keep eggs and chicks warm in the coop, but an obvious fire hazard. You can find these on eBay on occasion. 

Now the Perfection, probably from the 1970's, in pristine condition! First you push a tab and open the top-

Fount in base

Silver tab to open and snap shut

open, take fount out

The fount-

Unplug and fill (outside) push plug back in, the cork floater will tell you if fuel is low-

Put the fount back in, light wick, roll up as needed, snap top down-

nice and toasty! 

I used this kerosene above, less smoke, recommended on many websites. This is an EXCELLENT website I have used, and bought wicks from, he really knows his stuff Milesstair.com Kero Fuel

Remember do YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!