Prep Tip Of The Day

Post quick tips you've learned along the way.

When walking the dogs every morning, I swing the arm not holding the leash in a circle, both backwards and forward for 20 reps, in an effort to maintain flexibility. I then switch to the other arm. It's a small thing, but I really believe it helps with muscle control.

Several years ago I purchased a small AC/DC refrigerator for the garage (4 liters) to keep a 6 pack of beer in it and run it off my battery bank. Last X-mas the grandson wanted on so I bought him a coca-cola one. It keeps items at about 5 degrees C (41 degrees F).

I bought it off a ebay and only cost $30.00.  This would be a good investment for someone who needs to keep medicine (insulin) in it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Mini-Fridge-Cooler-and-Warmer-Auto-Car-Boat-Home-Office-AC-DC-Pink-FH/162938324985?epid=923561864&hash=item25efe187f9:g:2TwAAOSwfXFao1KL

I like the look of that little fridge, I put it on my wish list as Husband does have diabetes and now takes shots. I like that it can be a plug in to the vehicle, too.

With all the rain we've been having, last month I wanted to see if diverting the water from my rain catchment system (55 gal barrels) to my pickup bed would work.

I have a small toyota tacoma pickup, 6 foot bed. So, I put a large tarp in the bed and diverted the water to the bed of the pickup for several days. It worked, the bed was about half full of water and it was heavy. I did some mathmatics and came up with this:

A gallon of water weighs between 8 and 8.34 pounds per gallon, depending on the temperature. One gallon of water has 231 cubic inches of area.
I measured the depth, width and length of the amount of water in the bed of my pickup and it came to about 135 gallons and weighed about 1107 pounds.

In the end, if you want more water or if you don't have enough buckets or barrels, you may want to try this. I plan on using it if a bad situation comes about.

That's a great idea!

That said, we have a small plastic truck tank that fits in our Tacoma.

Homemade weed killer and it works, mix the following:

1/2 cup liquid dish detergent
2 Tbl spoons of salt
1 gallon vinegar

Mix well and start spraying, it takes about 2 days to see results.

Quick oral rehydration solution:

1/2 liter clean water
1/16 teaspoon table salt
1/16 teaspoon salt substitute (Potassium salt)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar

Add a few drops of lemon juice to improve the taste.
Useful for folks who get dehydrated from illness or exertion. If patient can't hold liquids down, you can still give them small sips every few minutes and they will get some hydration.

For folks on restricted potassium diets you can use 1/8 teaspoon of table salt and skip the salt substitute, but if they are severely dehydrated they may actually still need the potassium...since potassium sparing medications don't keep the body from losing all potassium - just that the kidneys will remove sodium more efficiently than potassium. The things you learn when family has medical issues.

Here's a link on 45 uses of shopping bags:

I also use them for (the bigger ones) for emergency liners for my 5 gallon toilet. I also cut them into strips to tie up my tomatoe plants.

https://thegardeningcook.com/uses-for-plastic-grocery-store-bags/

rick1 wrote:Here's a link on 45 uses of shopping bags:

I also use them for (the bigger ones) for emergency liners for my 5 gallon toilet. I also cut them into strips to tie up my tomatoe plants.

https://thegardeningcook.com/uses-for-plastic-grocery-store-bags/

I cut them into strips and crochet them into mats! Our son wants one to put under a sleeping bag.

I thank my niece for this tip. Don't throw away your hole-y socks. She told me to send all mine her way. She has animals - horses, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats. She cuts the toes off the socks and the cuff, and uses them to hold bandages in place when she's doctoring the animals' legs and feet (and the occasional tail).

My dog has been licking a hot spot for a couple days, and I've tried everything - salve, bandaged it, tied it, then used tape...he kept taking it off within a few minutes. Finally, I put salve on, a bandage over that, taped it, and then cut the cuff off one of my socks. Slipped it over the bandage and he's not touched it since!

So keep a couple hole-y socks on hand (pun!) to use for holding bandages in place.

Cinnamon wrote:I thank my niece for this tip. Don't throw away your hole-y socks. She told me to send all mine her way. She has animals - horses, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats. She cuts the toes off the socks and the cuff, and uses them to hold bandages in place when she's doctoring the animals' legs and feet (and the occasional tail).

My dog has been licking a hot spot for a couple days, and I've tried everything - salve, bandaged it, tied it, then used tape...he kept taking it off within a few minutes. Finally, I put salve on, a bandage over that, taped it, and then cut the cuff off one of my socks. Slipped it over the bandage and he's not touched it since!

So keep a couple hole-y socks on hand (pun!) to use for holding bandages in place.

Oh ... I'm going to try this next time, we need to bandage our pups. NOW ... I need to find something that they don't take off, to protect their paws from the rusty algea stuff that grows for a couple of weeks, on our grass every year.

Metal (if you can find them) clothes hangers, they have many uses besides hanging a shirt or jacket on them.

I've used them to hang my extension cords on them, my wet boots/sneakers, etc., although you have to double them because of the weight. Here's some other uses:


https://www.instructables.com/id/11-Uses-for-a-wire-coat-hanger/

That's pretty cool about the metal hangers. I will keep that on file.

Prep tip of the day: If you are still on FaceBook, there is a column on the left side of the screen. In that column is a heading called "Marketplace." This is a compilation of online garage sale items available for sale in your area in a 100 mile radius. You can join a local garage sale online group and sell stuff you no longer need. You can choose to cross post it to several online venues, and it's free. Just like Craigslist, you have to make arrangements to meet the buyer/seller, and most use public areas such as the Walmart parking lot or even police parking lots. I've bought several prep items for less than they'd cost new, and sold stuff I no longer need.

When I was young, I remember my grandma and mom, on a Saturday or Sunday, take old blue jeans from the family members and cut them into strips and somehow make them into rugs, my grandma called them rag rugs. Here are a few things you can make with the old, holey jeans:

https://makeit-loveit.com/35-diy-craft-ideas-old-jeans

When I was young, I remember my grandma and mom, on a Saturday or Sunday, take old blue jeans from the family members and cut them into strips and somehow make them into rugs, my grandma called them rag rugs. Here are a few things you can make with the old, holey jeans:

https://makeit-loveit.com/35-diy-craft-ideas-old-jeans

There are many uses for used tin cans, I use the #10 cans to store my nails and screws. Also use them to make various sizes of rocket stoves, but here are some decorative ways to use a tin can:


https://www.momtastic.com/diy/416191-12-innovative-uses-for-tin-cans/

I keep my old newspapers, as I roll them into paper logs and burn them in my wood burner in the garage. Here are some other uses for your old newspapers:


https://friendsoftheearth.uk/natural-resources/34-uses-old-newspapers

Here's some YOUTUBE videos on uses for 5 gallon buckets:

NOTE: Nice one on how to catch mice (11 in one night)


https://www.ask.com/youtube?q=uses+for+old+5+gallon+buckets&v=8yeQU43i4SI

Here's an article on how to make your own pepper spray:

https://www.skilledsurvival.com/how-to-make-pepper-spray/

I use regular hot sauce mixed with water and black pepper for homemade pepper spray. Now for a container to spray the pepper spray, I would use a 1 gallon sprayer or one of those big squirt guns that shoots far. Of course, you can't put one of these in your purse so they would be used as a home defense.

Here's more uses for empty tin cans from askaprepper.com:

http://www.askaprepper.com/13-survival-uses-tin-can/

An equal mixture of water, vinegar, and a cheap medicine-y mouthwash like Listerine (or the Walmart knock-off) takes the odor out of most things, especially fabrics/upholstery. This is especially good for child and pet messes - poop, pee, and vomit.

Now that winter in upon us or soon to be, depending on where you live, here are some tips from the prepper journal:

http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2018/11/17/how-to-prep-for-cold-weather-survival/

Nice tips, Rick.

I need to get the cold weather gear back in the car, too. We loaned it out a few weeks ago and took all our stuff out so they could use the trunk. I've not gotten around to putting it back in, so I need to take care of that tomorrow or the next day.

Here's a good article on how to reuse items from carpet scraps to coffee grounds and more:


http://www.chasinggreen.org/category/re-use-it/

I have 2 new recliners in my living room and a new L-shaped couch. I've been putting quilts on them to keep pet damage down, but I'm constantly adjusting the quilts multiple times a day. The animals are too old to re-train. The quilts didn't match, and I don't have the money to buy new covers (good grief, they're expensive!) and I couldn't make them for less, either. The living room always looks slovenly, even when clean, because the quilts are always haphazard.  

One day, I washed the kitchen rug and draped it over the recliner so I could mop the floor before putting it back down. And it stayed and stayed...and I had an idea.

Friday, on our grocery run, I bought 4 matching rug runners  - 24 inches by 72 inches. They fit perfectly in the recliners and on the couch! And they stay put most of the time. A quick twitch and they're perfect again.

They also look nice. The living room now looks great, no slovenly, haphazard look anymore!

From the Reader's Digest:

Give your winter boots and other shoes a good coating of WD-40, which will stop water from seeping through to your feet. WD-40 can also remove ugly salt stains from leather shoes during the winter. Just spray onto the stains and wipe with a clean rag.

Keep your dog from getting the flu. Like any other member of your family, your dog is susceptible to the sniffles. Ask your vet about getting your dog the canine influenza vaccine. If your pup is unvaccinated, avoid dog parks, groomers, and doggy day cares or boarding facilities.

We’ve gotten our dogs the flu vax, when it was going around our area. They often get kenneled, so I just stay on top of circulation before deciding for that year.

Some other uses for disposable diapers:


https://www.instructables.com/id/11-Unusual-Uses-for-Diapers/

How to clean your cast iron cookware:

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/381-how-to-clean-a-cast-iron-pan

I use a $6 battery operated toothbrush. You can buy new brush heads for them to change out every so often.

Before you change it out, put some alcohol on it and use the old brush to scrub and sanitize sink faucets. It worked so well I think I'll get a new battery operated toothbrush and use it exclusively for cleaning hard to reach places.

I changed out the brush head, of course, before I used the toothbrush again.

I found this on growing trees from twigs, interesting to know. I have tried this with several pear/peach twigs, but they failed to grow:

https://homesteading.com/planting-trees-from-twigs/?utm_source=reembed&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=popular

Tip - try growing some of the more exotic fruits that you like to eat.

In my quest to become more self-sufficient, I have looked at growing more of the exotic foods. Husband loves lemonade, I make lime/mint water in warm months to drink. I have mentioned this before on this forum and others.

I bought Meyer lemons from Walmart, saved the seeds and planted them. I managed to get two of the seeds to grow. I gave one plant to my sister, kept the other. The lemon tree is now 6 feet tall. Not sure if it will produce lemons, but it's 2 years old now.

I bought key limes in the bag from Walmart (these are the little ones and the only ones with seeds that WM sells). In 2018, I got 3 plants to grow and the cat ate them. So when they cycled back into the produce section of WM, I bought more last fall - 2019). I planted many seeds and got 6 to grow. I gave one each to my sister and my niece. The other four are growing, they are only about 6 inches high. So far, the cats are leaving them alone.

The coffee plants I bought from WM suffered where they were at, mostly due to not watering enough, I think. I have moved them inside the house to keep better track.

My next venture is to try avocados and bananas. I'm thinking of buying those plants outright, I've never had skill growing the avocado from the seed.  

Our climate is too cold for these trees to sufficiently produce, so I have a plan of action to get a greenhouse in the coming year(s). If I can put them in the ground and keep the greenhouse relatively warm, I think they'll produce.

My 5 year old orange tree produces fruit every year, but because our season isn't long enough at the right temps/sunlight, they never ripen. I use the unripened fruit in my potpourris for now.

When yard sale season comes around again, start buying up any old candles that are reasonably prices (I stuck to anything 75 cents and under). Used, unused, scented, unscented, doesn't matter unless you are sensitive to scents.

Buy some twine, small washers, canning jars, lids, cheap pencils, and books of matches.

When you have a sufficient amount gathered, take a length of twine about 2 inches longer than the canning jar, tie a washer to one end, drop it into the jar, wrap the other end of the twine around a pencil and lay on top of the jar.

Melt wax over double boiler (to prevent fires), and pour into the jars, leaving 1 inch of head space. Allow to cool overnight. Usually, there will be a slight depression in the middle of the candle, you can fill it with more wax, if you choose. Trim the wick, throw a match book in on top, and put the lid on. Now you have emergency lighting and matches for those power outages, as needed.

I made a couple cases of them and have them in our LTS. I also have a few in a cabinet in the house for shorter duration power outages.

EDIT: For prepper family/friends these make good gifts. Both my niece and sister asked for a case of homemade candles as a gift.

60 ways to reuse plastic bottles:


https://foshbottle.com/blogs/fosh/60-ways-to-reuse-plastic-bottles

13 every day items Colonial Americans used:


https://www.history.com/news/colonial-america-everyday-objects

Love the history lesson, Rick.

BTW, I have a sampler framed in my sewing room that is dated 1895. The lady who did the sampler was Husband's grandmother's best friend. When she passed, the family gave Grandma the sampler, which then passed down to Husband.

I also made my own sampler when I was 16. I embroider the Serenity Prayer on muslin and surrounded it with flowers and butterflies I drew myself. I still have it.

Do you just hate to clean those sticky, crusted pots, pans and glass cookware. Well, I found this on the net on boiling water and using a dryer sheet:

https://www.today.com/home/how-clean-pots-pans-dryer-sheets-t121269