The summer solstice arrived yesterday in blues, with sunny skies and hydrangea blooming. It’s been a long winter and in looking back at my earlier post, I haven’t updated since the first of the year. We had an intense winter with not only a few weeks of bitter cold weather and burst pipes, but my mother getting more frail and needing more involved care. She passed in the late spring and while the loss is deep and painful, we have the comfort in the life we shared and that she is joined by friends and family in a better place.
I thought for this new summer season (and a new season in my life without the role of caregiver) I would start a new Sunday series where we share our weekly preparedness accomplishments. Sometimes, just having a community to share what you did and to see what someone else is doing, is so motivating! I belong to a preparedness Facebook group, and I’ve noticed from that a need for sharing and marking what you have done, be it large or small. So stop back next Sunday and share what you’ve accomplished, and I will tell you what we did!
Our big accomplishment this week was getting the water barrels filled! I purchased the blue water system barrel from Thrive after the crisis in the Philippines made me so aware of how important water storage is. What I like about it is that it has a pump that comes with the system and instructions on how to store the water. I was so excited to see how we simply put the pump in, squeeze it, and out flows clean, pure, water! We put the barrels on a wood base as you don’t want to store water directly on the ground. (There is a reason for that, I just can’t remember it now!) The white one we bought through a regional preparedness group, it had 7-Up stored in it so we washed it good with a vinegar water solution. Yesterday we stored over 150 gallons of water. It feels good to be a little more prepared!
The raspberries are ripe now and grown locally at a farm near our house. I purchased a flat of them and made raspberry jam. Have you ever read the labels on jam? It is hard to find jams and jellies that don’t have high fructose corn syrup used for sweeter! The jam has a beautiful color, and a fresh sweet taste. This jam makes a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich a treat. I also found enchilada sauce on sale and bought 10 cans. A small thing, but it is the little things we do that add up.
Please join the discussion and tell me, what have you accomplished this week, even the small things, to be better prepared?
The Prepared Pantry 