2019 - May Prepping Updates

Started the new thread.

Grocery shopping:

Restocked what we used

LTS:

Canned soups

Yard sales:

The paper showed a lot of yard sales, but when we got to town, it was raining hard, I guess most put their stuff away, there weren't even tables covered in tarps as some do. We did find one in a garage and while others found a few things, it was a bust for me. Ah, well, next weekend!

We went to the vet to get the dog's supply of Deramaxxx (an N-said for pain) and discovered it has gone up $50 in one month. This medication has been around for a while, and even when they stopped making it for a time because of a contaminated facility, the price didn't raise. It is now un-affordable for us, even with the coupon.

I have a week's worth of the medication for the dog, but I am tapering him off of it and will switch to aspirin (an N-said for pain and inflammation) and CBD oil. I did quite a bit of research and will be trying a CBD oil that is specifically marketed for pain for dogs. I will post results, if any.

The 2 remaining lime trees I started are about 5 inches high, hoping to get some good growth on them and keep the cat from eating them again!

My back deck garden pots are doing well with all the rain, especially the squash and mint. Basil, cukes, and tomatoes are growing too.

EDIT: Stopped off a the consignment shop to bring in some bowl cozies and a felt banner. Sold one of the bags I'd made. If sales do not increase by July (the one year anniversary), I will be pulling my stuff from this venue. It really hasn't been worth it.

Cinnamon wrote:
I have a week's worth of the medication for the dog, but I am tapering him off of it and will switch to aspirin (an N-said for pain and inflammation) and CBD oil. I did quite a bit of research and will be trying a CBD oil that is specifically marketed for pain for dogs. I will post results, if any.

I would be interested in reading what you find out! Our 10 y/o Belgian Shepherd is arthritic and we have him on a Dasequin regiment. Where do you get the oil?

ReadyMom,

I chose Green Mountain, their unflavored tincture. Someone did a comparison of many different brands, and said the pain relief from GM worked best. I don't have it yet, but by the time I get it, the dog will be tapered off and I can start him on it right away. I will post results.

Having to clean the solar panels everyday, too much pollin. Ran the generators for about 15 minutes this month, regular maintenance on them. Did the maintenance on the battery banks.

Ordered and received 100 oz. silver rounds from apmex.

Planted the oats and corn, in a couple more weeks should get the first cutting of hay. Planted the lettuce and cabbage in the garden.

Seems like I'm mowing the grass every 5 days, wish it was snow instead.

The dog has been on the CBD oil for 3 days. He seems to be doing fine - he took the front steps in a flying leap, stood on hind legs on the rail to bark at the neighbor's dogs, and is running around the yard, head and tail up.

However, some of that excitement could be due to the last 5 days of rolling thunderstorms, which upset and scare him. So these 3 days are not a fair test.

I will say, the CBD did nothing to calm him down during the worst of the thunder and lightning. Benedryl doesn't work, either. Husband and I haven't had a full night's sleep for 3 days due to his anxiety.

When the rain stops, I will give him the true test - his regular 2 mile walk. He takes it slow, and even stops to rest these days. I will update once we can start walking again.

Husband mentioned we had a lot of empty canning jars. I said, perhaps can some spaghetti since we had the ingredients, so he made a pot and canned 9 quarts.

I collected lilac blossoms off the neighbor's bush with their permission and canned 16 pints of lilac blossom jelly. Pretty tasty, too!

There appear to be 5 more lime trees popping out, after I'd given up on them. If I have enough, I will give every family a little lime tree at our family reunion.

The CBD oil is doing good. The dog is bounding about, not like a puppy, but more energetic than he's been in the past. He has done very well on the walks, no rest stops now, and while he is tired at the end, he doesn't seem to be in pain.

The other difference is that he used to twitch and shift position all night, not sleeping well, we think due to pain. With the CBD oil, he is sleeping like a log. The twitching has completely stopped, and he rarely moves around at night anymore. His daytime naps are also quiet. This is a HUGE improvement.

My sister came to visit and she forgot her CBD oil, which is a different brand. She tried the one I got for the dog, and she said it worked much faster for her arthritis pain than her CBD oil. She gave me money and had me order her the Sunsoil/Green Mountain brand as she claims being pain free lasts much longer (12 hours or so).

So...that's this layman's test on CBD oil for dog/human for anyone asking. Also - it is not made with marijuana, it is pure hemp oil, according to their website.

Sunsoil CBD Oil

We've grocery shopped and yard saled every Friday, as usual.

Grocery shopping was stock up on what we used, and re-building the LTS.

Yard saling I made some small scores.

1 Little Tikes play kitchen for $1
9 handmade burpcloths and 3 flannel blankets - $3
Some child sized play kitchen stuff - $50 cents
A glass quart pitcher with handle - $2
A small Coach purse - $3

The artisan sourdough experiment is going well. I made a loaf of sourdough bread, lots of sourdough muffins, and a pizza with this week's sourdough.

Recipe (can be doubled):

1 1/2 cups very warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 cup sour dough starter
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour (add 1/2 cup more if needed)

Stir and proof yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Add sourdough starter. Sprinkle salt in the mix, and stir well. Add the flour and mix together until absorbed.

If you choose to bake bread right away, shape into whatever form wanted, cover, and allow to rise for about 40 minutes to an hour. Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden on top, about 30 minutes to an hour depending on oven and type of pans. If using cast iron pans, grease them lightly, and then warm the pan in the pre-heated oven before putting the dough in the pan.

If you choose NOT to bake right away, put the dough in a bowl, cover, allow the dough to rise for 40 minutes, and then place in the fridge. When ready to bake, take whatever amount you want to use out of the fridge, shape as desired, place in greased baking pan, and allow to rise for 40 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes to an hour until golden on top.

For sourdough starter, I got this:

1847 Sourdough Starter

I followed the directions, but added an extra Tablespoon of yeast. I let it grow for 10 days before using, feeding it 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water every other day. It stayed on the counter until I filled the jar, then it went into the fridge.

When I need to use some sourdough starter, I take it out of the fridge, let it rise for 40 minute to an hour, use the amount I need, and then refresh it with whatever amount I took out. Let it bubble on the counter for at least 40 minutes, then put it back into the fridge until needed. You do NOT need to feed it every day while it is in the fridge. I keep it in a quart mason jar.

When I am passing it on, I pour 1/2 into a quart mason jar, leave it on the counter and feed it 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water for 3-5 days (until the jar is full) before giving it to whoever asks. It has been well-received and everyone loves it.

BTW, I use non-bromated flour (King Arthur unbleached or Wheat Mountain unbleached - both available at Walmart).

While this sounds complicated, once you get it all in place, it is very easy to use, and very quick to bake bread fresh as you need it.

The bread does need to be eaten within a few days, as there are no preservatives. We have no problem with getting it eaten quickly, as I only make enough for a day or two. If I do make a loaf, I put it in the fridge on the 2nd day until we've eaten it all (usually within 3 days).

Got the first cutting of hay cut, raked, baled and stacked in the barn.

The daughter and son in law picked up a new wood/coal stove (rancher, sr57e) brand new, still in crate for half price. So, I went over yesterday and put it together and burned off the factory paint (outside of course). This morning, I went over early and put a couple coats of high temperature paint on it and now I'll burn it one more time before we move it into their basement. That thing is pretty nice, has 4 burners on top for cooking.

The only thing I don't care for about it is that you have to put the fuel in by lifting one of the lids off and putting in the wood that way, no door except for the as door.

Started up the generators, ran them for about 15 minutes and refueled them up.

Put in the tomato and pepper plants, got down to 39 degrees last night but no frost. Picked a bunch of lettuce, so much I gave some to the neighboring farmer.

Rotated 15 gallon of gas and 10 gallon of diesel.

Hurray my garden is coming up... I was afraid I was going to have to plant rice so much rain

I've not done much in the way of prep the last few weeks, company kind of overrides stuff.

The walkie-talkies we've had for years are starting to have issues we can't seem to fix, so Husband ordered a new set.

We've begun walking the dogs again for real - been doing it for about a week now.

Husband opened the faucet to fill the rainwater roof gutter harvesting system - it filled up in a day. He has since released all the water on a dry day for the backyard, and is refilling the tanks. We've had so much rain it's causing the entire yard to be mushy and swampy, but it's finally starting to dry out. However, more rain is coming.

The neighbor's cat had 2 more kittens in our front porch cat house...sigh. They'll stay until they're able to function.

My deck garden didn't fare well with all the rain despite the fact we put most of the veggies under cover. While they didn't get beat to death, they still got too much water (slanting rain). I've placed them all in full sun, hoping they dry out and recover. The squash is the only thing that seems unaffected.

Found out that the smoker's weather cover wasn't water proof through last winter, but have cleaned out the water and have temporarily used an oversized garbage bag on top of smoker and under the weather cover to prevent further water infiltration. Will be searching for a better quality cover, but this is fine for now.
Pulled the trigger on a new batch of sauce powders in pantry (#2.5) and #10 cans and some more pantry sized milk powder cans just in case....between Ebola in the DRC and the Iran tensions I couldn't pass up a sale to fill in more sauces. Chicken bouillon, Beef Bouillon, Cheese sauce powder and Marinara sauce. Just hoping they arrive before anything goes sideways, if not I've got plenty of rice and pasta that I'll just have to eat with less seasoning.

Had a VA appt. yesterday, blood work and saw a the very young, new Doctor, he's not old enough to shave yet. My cholesterol was 178 and he wanted to put me on a cholesterol pill, I had to ask him if 178 was high, he said no but it could go lower on a pill. I couldn't pass up a non-political comment and told him to go back to med school to learn some basic medicine. That concluded my appointment at the VA.

Silver took a dive yesterday, so I had to order some more secondary, silver 1 oz., rounds. Just got my last order. My daughter asked what I was doing with all the silver, I explained to her about holdings in a financial system, that all that money is taxed (again) upon our death and physical (in hand) holdings are not, unless you tell them. So honey, you don't tell them.

Between county, state and federal taxes, plus the lawyers fee (in PA) is entitled to 5% of the estate, you lose about 30% of your estate and that is not going to happen to me. My wife and I don't even own this farm, it's all in the kids name, with the exception that we live here until our death.

rick1 wrote:

Silver took a dive yesterday, so I had to order some more secondary, silver 1 oz., rounds.

So ... I have NEVEr done this before. I got the APMEX home page and this is my starting point:



How do I know where to go next? Why? Help, please

ReadyMom wrote:

rick1 wrote:

Silver took a dive yesterday, so I had to order some more secondary, silver 1 oz., rounds.

So ... I have NEVEr done this before. I got the APMEX home page and this is my starting point:



How do I know where to go next? Why? Help, please

I go to the upper right hand corner (question area) and just key in what you want to look at, such as fractional silver, or 1 oz silver rounds. It will then come up with whatever you key in. Now, 1 oz silver secondary rounds are the cheapest. Now 1 oz, .999% pure silver is worth a little less than 1 troy oz, .999% silver. Meaning 1 troy oz weighs more than 1 oz..

Now with that being said, fractional silver (say 1/4 oz) is more expensive than buying a full 1 oz of silver.

All precious metal products are constantly changing, every second or minute, excluding weekends and holidays. And every company adds a few cents to the spot price of silver. For instance, if the stock market says the spot price of silver is 14.00/oz, a company may say their spot price is 14.08/oz. Now there are many silver companies out there, I deal with JM Bullion, JD Bullion and Apmex. It seems that Apmex is usually the lowest price.

I did a lot of research after Gunns and Swamp (APN members) convinced me about precious metals, especially silver, since it's cheaper to own.

THANK YOU!

You're welcome ReadyMom

CORRECTION: I said JD Bullion, it should be SD Bullion. Sorry about that but I got oldtimers illness.