From My Home to Yours
2/20/26
~ Two weeks ago ... ~
... we were dealing with frigid temperatures and 12 inches of snow! Today, our high is supposed to top out at 80 degrees! This week our temps have ranged from the low 60's to today's high of 80. It's what we call a 'false spring.'
The fruit trees in the orchard are starting to bud out with tiny leaves, our elderberry bushes are doing the same. The forsythia, not to be left out of the 'spring' business of waking up is following suit!
False springs are typical for us and I've been taking advantage of it by continuing my deep house cleaning and decluttering project. A house that's getting a spring cleaning coupled with warm spring temperatures is a combination that lifts the spirits after a bout of cold bitter winter weather.
We're still eating out of our pantry and not adding anything to it ... although I did notice in this weeks local grocery store ad that they had shrimp on a BOGO sale and Boston butts on sale for $.99/lb. I need to check my canned pulled pork and see if I need to restock. If I do, I'll purchase a Boston butt and can it up for the pantry. That's how we keep our pantry well-stocked ... we look for those sales and then get to work! Now about that shrimp, yes ma'am, I plan to add some of that to the freezer part of my pantry as well! Shrimp is a special treat at our house!
I stitched up another block in my patriot quilt project. You can take a peek at it HERE along with the other 3 I've completed.
I continued reading Dark Chaos, by Ginny Dye, book 4 in the Bregdan Chronicles and listened to Finding Us by Tracie Peterson on Libby. I had more listening time this week than I had reading time. Sometimes that's the way it works out!
Let's finish off this post with visiting our imaginary family in our preparedness case study series ...
Here's the one from last week ...
(this power outage occurs in the winter)
a family of 3 (father, mother and a new born)
no disabilities and in good health
they do have a well-stocked pantry
they are renting their home
they have a budget of $300 to spend
they do not have an alternate source of heat
they do not have an alternate lighting source other than flashlights and candles
they do not have an alternate way of cooking
Here's the advice you gave this couple ...
for heating purposes, a Mr. Buddy Heater or Kerosene Heater for a heat source,
purchase fuel for which each source of heat chosen ...
for lighting purposes, battery operated push lights or solar lights that can be put outside to recharge during the daylight hours or set in a window ...
for emotional support, candles and a battery operated radio ...
for cooking and boiling water purposes, a small camp stove approved for indoor use, or a small grill for outside use. Fuel for each of these options should also be factored in as part of the cost...
for bed or 'pallet' warming, fill hot water bottles with hot water, wrap in some kind of cloth and place in bedding to warm area, or warm bricks, wrap in some kind of cloth and use in the same way ...
for having warm beverages, quality thermos bottles ...
additional advice given: (1) curtain off or close door of one room and make it your main living quarters, (2) insulate windows with cardboard, newspaper or plastic wrap in your closed off room, (3) cover windows with heavy coverings, (4) set cooler outside and use for refrigeration purposes and (5) use Vaseline or something similar on lips to prevent chapping.
The care and protection from the cold of a newborn would require close attention. Baby wearing might be an option to consider.
I hope you've found something in this imaginary scenario that will help you in your real life preparedness preparations, that's the goal of this series.
Now that we've helped imaginary family #1, let's move on to our next imaginary family situation ...
Preparedness Case Study #2 looks like this ...
(we're staying in the winter season for this one as well)
a family of 2 senior citizens (husband and wife) in their mid 70's ...
the temperature outside is 23 degrees and dropping, there is also a breezy wind blowing and it's starting to rain ...
they are out in their automobile and run over an object in the road giving them two flat tires ...
they have a quarter tank of gasoline ...
their cell phone service is sketchy with hit and miss reception
no water or food in the automobile ...
they are about 2 miles from nearest civilization ...
no blankets in the automobile, but each does have a warm coat ...
What would you advise this couple to do? How would you advise them to be better prepared for a similar event in the future? What can we learn from this scenario to help us be better prepared?
That's it for this week, I hope you've found something in my ramblings that will help and or encourage you in the upcoming week.
Until the next time ...
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
~ quietly holding the home front ~
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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