Prepping Update

I’ve been kind of slacking at getting things written here, but I’ve actually been busy, so here’s some of what we’ve been up to.  I got 33 pints of super hot salsa canned this last week with tomatoes I got from friends.  Those of you who know me know that anything spicier than ketchup is about too much for me, so why would I make that much super hot salsa?  Well, sweet husband likes it hot.  And now, so does my oldest boy so hubby gets to share.  Between the two of them, they’ll clean this up in no time.  The jars with white lids are canned with the Tattler reusable canning lids.

I was offered some more tomatoes, and actually had to turn them down.  I’ve been noticing lately that I’m not getting as much accomplished as I think I can so decided (extremely begrudgingly) that I needed to not take so much on, so the one sack of tomatoes went to someone else. This is completely against my nature.  I wanted those tomatoes, but needed my sanity.

Time is a huge issue in preparedness.  You really need to decide if it’s worth your sanity to do the extra work every time for things like gardening, canning, etc.  I’m not saying to skip learning those skills entirely, just don’t overdo yourself or you’ll end up being miserable or having failures that you didn’t need just because you didn’t have the time to commit to that project.  Like if I had taken those tomatoes, they would have likely ended up as chicken food because I didn’t get them canned before they went bad then I would have felt guilty about wasting that good food.  At least this way someone else has tomatoes to can.

I also hit a case lot sale at the store in “town” 45 miles away.  It started last Wednesday and I didn’t go until yesterday (Monday), so they were out of a lot of what I wanted to get, but still picked up some canned veggies and fruit.  Sometimes I miss living near civilization.  The case lot goods are in my living room waiting for the food room to get organized enough so they might find a space in there.  Did I mention I could use a bigger house?

Another item I picked up was a Coleman Portable Flush Toilet.  We know a couple of people who have these and really like them, and a place to potty has been a hole in the preps for a while (although, speaking of holes, digging a hole and putting up a tarp shelter isn’t too difficult in a pinch).  I still want an outhouse–decorative, of course ;), but that may take an emergency before it gets built at the rate construction projects get done around here.

Also, there was a gal putting together an order for raw honey in the area and since our bee experiment did so well (not) I’m ordering some honey.

And lastly, our city is finally hosting CERT training.  And wouldn’t you know it, one night of the three session course is during our vacation.  What a bummer.  I’d still like to sit in on the other two days and see what I can learn.  I’ve been wanting the CERT training for a few years now and of course it comes when I’m not able to be to it all.  Well, maybe it’s a sign that I should listen to myself about not taking on too many things right now!!!

So you see, I really have done something for National Preparedness Month this month.  What have you been doing to prepare lately?

Keep preparing!
Angela