From My Home to Yours
3/6/26
~ In the garden and pantry ... ~
It's been a week of temps in the upper 60's and 70's and I've spent quite a bit of time outside doing garden prep and a little planting ...
I worked on cleaning out each raised bed and container ... I didn't get them all done, but I'm over half way finished ...
I made more gardening plans, deciding what I was going to plant where ...
I up-potted the seedlings I started last week ...
In all my pantry reorganizing, inventorying and cleaning, I discovered I that we are almost out of home-canned pinto beans and navy beans. So, I pulled some of both (they were still in their dried state, of course) from my pantry and canned them up.
Hubby was given a big pan of home-made baklava at work. He brought it home and I knew I had to do something with it fast because baklava is very tempting to me! I divided it up into 6 piece serving sizes and immediately froze them. There was one piece left and I felt good about enjoying it to the last crumb! Maintaining a big weight loss is just as hard as losing it; I have to always be on guard trying to find the balance between enjoying yummy decadent foods and over indulging in them.
I completed another block in my patriotic quilt, worked on a repurposed item that needed a bit of tweaking and finished another cross-stitch mini pillow that was in my pile of unfinished projects. You can check out all of these HERE!
Ladies, the fourth lesson in our Bible study on Naomi has been posted. You can find it HERE! And now let's turn to our preparedness case study for last week ... Preparedness Case Study for week #3 ...
here's the scenario from last week ...
(it's 92 degrees outside and the weather is clear)
This time we have a woman in her mid 50's in relatively good health and shape ...
She spent the morning helping a friend that lives about 20 miles from her home ...
On her way back home, about 10 miles from her house, she hears something hit her vehicle and pulls over to check it out ...
She leaves her vehicle running with the door open and quickly does a once over check of the outside of her vehicle ...
Everything seems to be in order and she goes to get back in her vehicle ...
The door has swung shut and much to her dismay she discovers that the door is locked ...
All the doors are locked ...
Her purse, cell phone and emergency bag are in the vehicle ...
She is on an interstate highway and the nearest exit is 3 miles away ...
What would you advise this woman to do? Keep in mind that she is alone and safety is a factor. How would you advise her to be better prepared for a similar event in the future? What can we learn from this scenario to help us be better prepared?
Here's what you advised ...
If it is in a high danger area, break the back door window
and open front door. safe option but costs to fix back window.
I would advise the woman to look for a rock, wrap her arm up
in whatever she can (take her top off if needed) and give one of the windows a
good whack. Hopefully it will shatter into pieces, and she will be able to
access the vehicle and drive away. It's not ideal and will result in a cost to
replace the window, but I think that any attempt to walk for help would expose
her to more danger and leaving the car to do so might result in someone coming
along, and stealing her vehicle.
Unless a police officer came by and stopped which they don't
always do, she might have to try to get someone to stop and help her or at
least use that person's phone to call for help. I would feel very unsafe, but
sometimes we need the kindness of strangers.
Go back to main road which is 3 miles and an easy walk, but
only you know your area as to if it is safe.
Walk to a neighbor’s house you know.
For future preparedness: Make sure to buy a spare key and
attach it to the undercarriage of car for emergencies. Only get the key that
opens the door, not the key that is coded to starting the car.
Before ever getting out of the vehicle, ask yourself if the
vehicle is steering oddly or making odd sounds before you decide to even pull
over. Second, never get out and leave the vehicle running. Next, roll the
window down as you get out and take your keys, phone and purse. It doesn’t take
long for someone to stop and grab your purse from the front seat. If the
vehicle is damaged and can’t go on move away from it, many people have been hit
by other distracted drivers while waiting for help in or near their cars and
call the police.
What we learn from this is to take your key with you when
you get out of the car, but what to do is a big question. It is 92 and 3 miles
from the exit so walking would not be an option for me. I hope someone else has
a better answer.
I would advise her to look at her vehicle's manual and see
if there is a setting she could activate to stop that happening on hers or even
talk to whoever she takes her vehicle for servicing to and see if they could
advise her. Failing that, I would tell her to make it a routine to remove the
keys and hold them in her hand whenever she exits the vehicle, even if she is
just getting out to unlock her garage. If it becomes routine she is unlikely to
get caught out again.
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.
Here's our Preparedness Case Study for week #4 ...
In this scenario ...
the family consists of a husband and wife in their mid 40's with 2 children, 8 and 10 years old ...
both of the children have ongoing respiratory issues that are affected by their environment ...
the temp outside is fluctuating between 95 - 100 degrees daily ...
the HVAC unit has gone out ...
after calling the repair person, they were told that parts would have to be ordered ...
They were given a time frame of 5 days before parts would arrive and then another 2 days before the repairs could be made ...
With the unexpected HVAC repairs, this family doesn't have the funds to go stay in a hotel ...
In fact, staying with anyone has to be looked at closely due to their children's respiratory issues ...
money is an issue ...
What would you advise this family to do? How can they make it easier to tolerate the heat, keep their family fed and their children's respiratory issues controlled? 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 ...
~ quietly holding the home front ~
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
From This Heart of Mine
Mrs. Patsi on Instagram
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.
Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay.
If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting my work via one of the following ways. Your expressions of appreciation help me keep my pantry well-stocked and me motivated to keep on keeping on with my attempts to inspire and encourage you (Titus 2:3-5) through my writings!
.png)
Hmmm. As someone who has asthma and I’m very intolerant of heat-this is what I’d do. I’d find places that have air conditioning like the library or YMCA. Obviously you can’t camp out there but every little bit helps. I’d stay in the coolest part of the home using fans to circulate air. Drink lots of cold liquids. Make sure their stock of inhalers is in good supply. I’d start saving for a small window unit or portable a/c to go in one room for situations like this.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know it’s hard because it’s hard for me but try to get them slowly better acclimated to difficult temperatures. It’s extremely hard to do this. In 96 we were hit by hurricane Fran in September. Goodness it was blazing hot and humid. No power 8 days. Nowhere had power. We stayed downstairs since heat rises. I put a sheet on the couch to make it “feel” cooler. Take cooler showers. It’s definitely not what I want to experience again.
Lee Ann, there is no describing the intense heat and humidity that follows a hurricane is there!
DeleteYou've given some good ideas, thank you!
Maintaining a big weight loss is just as hard as losing it.
ReplyDeleteFOR REAL! I have removed 73 pounds over 4 years. I get on the scale every single day unless traveling. I allow myself a 5# range. When I'm up I hunker down to be rid of it. Our February travel brought me home with +7. I ate mostly protein, if I had starchy carbs-only before 1PM. It took a mere 6 days to get -7. The struggle is REAL!!!!
Happy Friday :-)
Elle, YES! YES! YES! to everything you said! I have to have parameters too!
DeleteSome heating and air companies will loan a small unit until the air conditioner is fixed, but their company most not offer this. Since they didn't get the use of a loaner from their HVAC company, they might ask and pass the word asking if anyone could loan them a window unit until the repair is completed. If there is a church in their area that offers help with heating and cooling they could ask them. I know my church with help with fuel assistance for heating bills, but I don't know about cooling. The stores that rent furniture would probably have air conditioners for rent too, but I don't know how much the cost would be. If they could cool one room the kids could camp out there for a week.
ReplyDeleteIf they can't get a loaner I would go with what Lee Ann said and find a place to cool off as much as possible. Lots of cold drinks and they can put a tray of ice in front of a fan and it will blow cold at the kids, but it is wet. Might run the car and sit there, crack a window, running the ac. Stay in the lowest level in the house.
Your jars of beans look wonderful. I did find some short date marked down hamburger. I will freeze most of this.
CindyD
Hello, Patsy. Another great post. Lots to think about. First, I was able to get .20 off per gallon to fill my car. We have a hybrid so it is a real gas sipper. I fill up maybe once every 4-6 weeks. I had coupons for a free box of crackers and also one for a free jar of peanuts. I found pork chops and bread on mark down so I bought and froze those for the future. I made 10 individual pot pies,chicken legs and pre cooked some hamburger and onions and froze them all for future quick meals. I reorganized my pantry and have been using things up that need to be used. As for this week's scenario I think I would suggest the family find a shopping mall to walk around in. Many of them these days have indoor play places for the kids, but even if the mall near this family does not they could just walk around or take some books and read with them on a bench there in the mall. They could also let their children go outside in the shade and play with toys, read books or play games. They might wear masks to help with any possible pollen. If the air quality is good enough maybe they could play in the sprinkler for a little bit. The public library is another possible cooling off location. Often they have story time for children of all ages. Again with their respiratory issues I would recommend they wear a mask.
ReplyDeleteCindyD, good ideas for our imaginary family.
ReplyDeleteI'm always on the look out for marked down meats and like you I freeze them asap
Thank you for your encouraging words!
We have COVID here. Stay safe and well.
ReplyDeletePraying for a quick recovery for both of you!
Delete