2018 OCTOBER Update

Started the new thread.

I took a pattern off the internet and tried to make a bread basket to put goodies in for Christmas. It looks decent, but I think I'll alter the pattern some to make it much easier to sew. I will be making these baskets for the neighbors, who also gift me with treats.

Yesterday was neighbor-helping day. Building a good relationship with neighbors is important, because we all help each other out. I helped one neighbor with a sewing issue, another neighbor with a cell-phone issue. Also helped another neighbor take their dogs to the vet, the puppy is a bit much to handle at 75 pounds!

I have family visiting and we'll be going to the Amish store this week. I'm sure I'll be stocking up on preps...I mean, buying groceries!

Busy day today - I did some baking for my visiting family and sewing for Christmas gifts.

Husband got some new walkie talkies to put in the other faraday cage.

We've been using our old walkie-talkie set on the dog walk every morning - I take one dog one way, he takes the other dog another way and we chat back and forth testing the range.

Well, so much for a quiet Sunday, got 3 of the younger grandkids today. Daughter and son in law are going to some concert, I told them to listen to the radio instead, but dad, this isn't the 60's.

So, going to keep the kids entertained by hauling firewood, feed the chickens/cows and the one pig I have left. After that they'll sit around the firepit and I'll let them cook their hot dogs, burgers and marshmallows. After then I'll tell them some campfire lies just like my grandfather did.

Rotated out another 10 gallons of gas and cleaned off the solar panels (leaves are falling on them).
Have to cut the grass too and going to camp tomorrow.

As always we went to the local auction picked up some sewing items and a case of MRE's they are kinda old .but in a emergency it would beat having nothing...

I took the day off Friday for a twice annual rummage sale. Among other things, I picked up a backpack, kitchen items, an old heavy duty Kenmore sewing machine (still have to check model number to download the manual), a sickle, a pair of small sharpening stones, AA/AAA battery charger, candle-making supplies, some shelf stable first aid items (ankle brace support and a SAM splint) and a bunch of books.

After 5 years of looking for farm/livestock books at the rummage sale's book tent (large collection and organized by subject), finally someone else hadn't beat me to the livestock section. I scooped up about 5 books on chickens. I'm between raising chickens at the moment, but always adding more resources to my library. I also found several cookbooks including Amish and Mennonite cookbooks that had a few interesting cheese, jam, and preserve recipes.

I sewed two bread baskets for some commissions I received. Didn't plan on it, but hey, a little money on the side is always useful. I still have 3 more to do.

Had to go to a different town to find some sewing supplies I needed.

Husband found a new band for my slingshot and a sale on batteries, so he stocked up.

It's been raining off and on for 3 days here. The water harvesting system is full!

Got back from camp, had to stop at harbor freight on my way home. Picked up 6 more of their 250 lumens pop up lanterns, had a coupon, each was $5.49. Good x-mas stocking stuffer for the grandkids. Picked up another solar battery charger too.

I'm now charging the batteries I have stored, AA, AAA, C and 9v, with the solar chargers, I now have 3 of them.

Leaves from the maple trees are following like crazy, time to get the riding mower out and chew them up.

Our local weather guy said there could  be a snow flurry or two, lows will be in the 30's over the weekend. Bring on the winter, I'm ready.

Our temps are dropping down to the 30s this week. Winter is coming.

I'm still sewing commissions, so I've been busy.

Bought a 2nd cast iron bread pan, since Husband likes the new sourdough recipe I want to make and freeze for the future, too.

Husband got some equipment in the mail - a carry pouch and a charger for our walkie-talkies.

Dave58 wrote:As always we went to the local auction picked up some sewing items and a case of MRE's they are kinda old .but in a emergency it would beat having nothing...

Dave58, I got MRE's, hundreds of them that are 2 years past their julian date, once a year I get one of each and eat it, still good. Just make sure you keep them in a cool area and don't let the temperature change dramatically, you'll know if their bad once you open/smell them.

Rick I never thought about the julian date when the auction was going on I just bought 1 case. I am ashamed to admit that when i did check for the date they went out of date in 1995 so they will disposed of , just don't want to take a chance

Dave58 wrote:Rick I never thought about the julian date when the auction was going on I just bought 1 case. I am ashamed to admit that when i did check for the date they went out of date in 1995 so they will disposed of , just don't want to take a chance

Dave58, the julian date is the date it was manufactured. Here's a video on people eating a 30 year old MRE, go down about 3/4 of the page for video:


https://www.beprepared.com/mre-meals

Took the wife out to lunch today. Rotated out 10 more gallon of gas, have another 30 gallon to rotate out before the end of the year. Cleaned up some garlic to plant in the garden next week, even clean up the ones the grandkids gave me for them to plant.

It's cold outside, only 47 degrees, built a fire this morning before I went out to feed the cows. They're calling for snow flurries tonight, last week it was hot, muggy and 80 degrees, bring on winter.

Went grocery shopping today and restocked what we used. Also bought some items for the LTS.

There weren't any yard sales today - it's been raining for three days and the temps have dropped. Winter is coming.

I mailed off 2 of the commissioned sewing projects today, told the folks they didn't have to pay until they received it but they paid me online, so I got some money this evening! YAY! I also got 2 more commissions, so that's awesome.

Picked up 3-5 gallon buckets with lids and 7-1 gallon jugs at the local deli. Picked up a couple dozen 2X4's to replace the ones I've used up over the summer.

Taking the wife out to eat tomorrow and do some shopping (hunting clothes) for the grandson's birthday, he'll be a big 12YO.

Husband and I did our volunteer work today - a presentation at the rehab facility on our travels. Lots of pictures and it was very well received.

My boss sent me some Anazazi beans to try - I'll be cooking some, and the other half goes into the LTS freezer storage to plant next year. I'm hoping for a good crop next spring/summer.

Still making commissioned, fabric goodie baskets for Christmas.

Husband mowed and mulched the falling leaves. Our temps went from the 80s last week to freezing this week!

Just came in from planting my garlic and winter onions. The wife left for the store down town, big three days sale going on. She's getting:

2 dozen blue bonnet margarine for 59 cents a pound
2 dozen dutch farms cream cheese, 8 oz for 79 cents
10 pound of bulk walnuts for 2.99 a pound
10 pound of their store bacon for 1.99 a pound

All these will go in the freezer for use throughout next year.

She's also getting stuff to cook in the dutch oven for supper tonight, we're having a meeting with those (immediate family members) that will be here on the farm if everything goes south.

Grocery shopping and yard sales today.

Grocery shopping - restocked what we used. Found some men's pants that have cargo zipper pockets, bought a single pair to see if they'd fit - they do. I will be buying more.

Yard sales - Husband bought some kind of pulley thing for a couple bucks. I got a brand new, still-in-the-box manual meat grinder and sausage maker for $2.

Found an HDMI to VGA cord for my projector, so now I'l be able to use it for presentations, I hope. Bought the projector off our local Facebook Marketplace a few months ago, with the knowledge that it didn't have all the cords.

Wife and I will be going to the auction tonight. They have a White model treadle sewing machine that needs to come home with us. Love the auctions

Husband decided with our new water harvesting system (rainwater from gutters to water totes under our back deck) that we should consider the possibility of drinking it in a power outage...so...

He bought a Big Berkey. It's been on my list for years! So, YAY!

I am now working on the idea of permanently mounting both a manual meat grinder and my Country Living grain mill on a small table cart, with wheels. Husband has some ideas, so we'll see what we actually come up with.

Went to the city for my VA appointment, stopped at harbor freight and picked up a few things. Started cutting the field corn last night and will finish the last couple of acres after I post this. The wife tagged along so I took her to lunch, happy wife, happy life.

Sewed 3 more items for the consignment shop.

Husband is working on writing a manual for some of our prep items that work via common sense, but just in case we're not around to tell people how to do things, there will be instructions. He started with the water harvesting system.

Grocery shopping today. No yard sales.

Stocked up on a bunch of canned goods for pantry and LTS.

Used two gift certificate to get the dog's meds from the vet. Saved some bucks there.

Niece is coming to visit, she's a prepper, so I only have to clean house, no need to hide some of the stuff we've got laying around.

Went to the auction wife bought a large box of crochet yarn wants to learn to make doilies. Scored on a garden tiller for 10 bucks......

Took advantage of an online coupon to acquire some more antibiotics to make sure my fish are healthy and safe. Added 3 bottles of 250 mg Fish Mox (amoxicillin) to the stash for them.

Otherwise have just been reorganizing the preps to get ready for Christmas baking season, and topping off items that we've used in the past couple of weeks.

October is always a busy month with family obligations and the start of the holiday decoration season with Halloween kicking off the inflatable decoration season. This year there be dragons here. Next weekend the dragon comes down and the inflatable turkey goes up.

In the on-going process of winterizing the property, Husband mulched leaves for the past two days before the rains came.

I finished another half-done project from 2012 - a twin-size quilt. It's in the laundry pile now because I always seem to get them dirty when I'm quilting. I am working towards getting rid all my projects that have been started over the years, but never finished.

We upgraded our cell phone to get Husband a phone too. With his medical issues, I don't like him out and about without a cell phone, so now he has one.

We filled all of our property gas tanks, and filled all the cars, too. The weather is supposed to turn cold, so we want to be able to move about, if need be.