The countdown starts...

Well, here we go again...looks like I'm going to be pretty busy the next 5 days or so as we prep and wait for Hurricane Irene.  She's set to hit us darn near directly as of this morning, and not as a wimpy Category 1 storm either, she's expected to make landfall as a Cat 3 or even 4, which would be devastating for anything in her path.  I've been through it before many times, and it's not the storm itself that I worry about, but the aftermath.  The downed trees, no electricity (we've gone up to 9 days here before), no fuel or ice to be had... that's the stuff that I worry about.  I hope you can bear with me the rest of the week as I get behind on reading everyone's posts and blog about random stuff since I probably won't be doing any gardening or fall planting until after she passes.  Hurricanes are like hired help in the fall garden, I've had all my summer stuff not only knocked down, but completely ripped out and blown away so I don't have to do it, LOL!  The important part is to clear the way for her, so I'll be ridding the garden beds of piles of tomato cages, stakes, and anything else that might appear later as jewelry sticking out of house siding or people's limbs.  

Know what's going on here?  

Popcorn popping is a real treat in this house, since the smell of it makes me ill it doesn't happen too frequently, but when I say "ok", it becomes a major event.  As soon as Sprocket hears the air popper start whirring, she takes her place... our popper is known for shooting popcorn all over the kitchen LOL, great fun for neurotic herding dogs with no sheep!

I went outside this morning to try and get all I can harvested before Irene takes them for herself...

I have loads of Ancho Peppers and Butternut squash that is still out there ripening, I figure I can give them until Friday evening before they need to come in to be put up somehow before the storm.  Now I'm off to gather "stuff"... we're good on all things pretty much thanks to my prepper personality, but things need to be organized like putting lamp oil and candles in strategic places and packing the car with camping supplies, water, food, dog food, important papers, fuel, etc should the need arise to leave.  Leaving here is not generally something we do since we essentially live on an island with only tunnels and bridges leading to higher ground, so anyone evacuating will most likely be stuck in traffic and run out of gas before they get anywhere LOL.  Plus, the bridges and tunnels are the first things to close due to high winds, so any evacuation orders are usually made too late, or way too early.  Will be busy doing outside prep this week like hauling out the generator and locking it up with cables, filling as many fuel cans as we can and lashing down things like trash cans and lawn furniture.  

Maybe if one good thing can come from all this, the blighted soil and the insect laden plants will blow away and I can start the 2012 summer garden with nothing evil harboring within LOL!

Yesterday was a bust...

Once again I was foiled in my plans to spend the day outside working!  This time it was grocery shopping.  Some of you may know, but I hate this chore with a passion.  My grocery shopping tactics have changed in the past few months, the kids are getting older and eating more, I am preparing more things from scratch at home, and those facts combined with my hatred of the weekly shopping run have forced me to rethink my strategy.  I have become a club-store shopper, yikes!  It's the equivalent of the mini-van driver, only in the kitchen :)

My ultimate goal is to have a 6 month supply of everything in my house, and I'll probably post more about that project this winter.  Ideally, a year's supply would be great, but that won't happen in this little house with no closets, no garage and no basement.  So far we could live very comfortably for about 30 days and after that it's hit or miss, so I have a ways to go.  Our financial situation dictates that we build this supply over time, by shopping sales and using coupons, although at least we don't have to worry about the veggie stuff! Consequently, you may find that right now I have a good supply stashed of things like dishwashing liquid and pasta & beans, yet not enough coffee or flour, etc.  It will take time, but I figure 4 months of shopping like this and we'll be set.  

So anyways..... after pleading with the kids for over an hour to get them out the door, we didn't arrive to the store until past 10 am and it took about 2 hours to shop "smartly" with kids in tow - I can't wait until school starts!  I'm trying to look through my list, stack coupons with sales, and mentally figure out where to store things the whole time my normally well behaved boys are making me crazy.  I even had 2 different people comment on how well behaved they were LOL, this always amazes me.  I will say that they are oodles more well behaved than most kids I see in the store, but yet they still make me crazy.  "Erratic" is the word that comes to mind, they just move and jerk around too much LOL.  I even gave Loch a notebook and had him round up the price of each item and jot it down (buying bulk adds up before you realize it), but yet he still had time to poke Finn with the pencil, make a paper airplane, etc.

Don't get me confused with those crazy people on 'Extreme Couponing' - that's not me, I don't think I have enough time in the world to do that and I don't really use much of that garbage they stash anyways, but I do try to be smart when I can.  Apparently, that's not good enough for Loch.  Upon checkout, my total was $204.00 and the cashier brought it down by $15.00 through my coupons, Loch looks and says "$15 bucks?  That's not very extreme, mom."... Maybe I have found a calling for this kid LOL, I'll put him in charge if he can do it better!

So after that and lunchtime, it was then 1 pm so I figured I'd better scratch working in the garden and straighten up the kitchen and unpack everything.  I did have time to use up some cream I had in the fridge in 2 batches of ice cream...

Strawberry from some of my freezer puree stash

Finn cleaning up my vanilla mess...

Before I knew it, the day was about over and it was time for dinner.  Some of you have asked what do I DO with all those pickles and peppers I make?...

Busy night dinner can be fresh, too!  

Veggie burgers on toast with Brandywines, marinated bell peppers in oil, pickled pepperoncini and pepper & onion relish!  Then as a "side dish" I slapped down some chips and salsa - this goes to show you that us gardeners have healthy "fast food"!  

It's 10:30 am now and I should really get out to the garden and start bushwhacking a path through the grapevines to find my old pathways instead of prattling on about my grocery trips LOL... send in search and rescue if I'm not back in a day!

The rest of the post!

Yes, the happy ending to the day!  I did get some birthday presents after all, and exactly what a gal like me wants most!

If this thing is half as Bad A$$ as it looks and feels, I'm going to be a very happy girl!  

I'm now the proud owner of an All-American canner, built right here is the USA, in Manitowoc, WI.  This thing is built for generations to come, it's simply unbelievable unless you are already familiar with them.  I researched the heck out of it but it still didn't prepare me for the quality and heft of it.  A really nice manual & canning guide came with it.  I purchased it from Amazon at the best price I could find at $179.99.  I can't wait to use it, I feel like canning the world, LOL

The other gift was from my hubby!  I have been using a PDF version of this on my computer since my printer is dead, but now I have a real hard copy to flop down on the couch with and mark up to my heart's content!

But why does hubby have to spill random coffee or hydraulic fluid on it before it even gets to me?!

For those of you that might wonder, no, we aren't LDS, but some of you may be familiar with their ideas on preparedness.  They advocate preparing a year's worth of stores, almost require it even of their members, and have lots of good material on the subject, as well as a few websites out there devoted to it.  I guess we could call ourselves "cultural Mormons" in that we value family, preparedness and a few other of their ideas.  Their doctrine states that although they should not drink alcohol, provisions are made for alcoholic drinks made at home, ha!  So I guess we are doing that :)  It actually stems from the fact that they were persecuted and sources of alcohol and other food items could not be trusted as safe, so they highly recommend home gardens and canning as well.  Too bad about their views on gays and gay rights, otherwise they might be able to convert me :)  I better watch it, they probably have people trolling the blogs and they'll be over here tomorrow morning.  That's okay, I'll listen intently and then turn the tables on them, they'll be my interns by noon at the latest.

Gosh, I sure am having a ranting kind of day, aren't I?  But check out the items covered in the manual, pretty neat stuff.  There's also tons of checklists, self tests on supplies and other things not always thought of, like ways to store water, fuel and cash.

Do I feel bad about hubby using his work printer to get this for me?  Nope!  I figure if he has to work 80 hours a week and be gone for half of the year supporting a war for a government that occasionally threatens to pull the paycheck out from under us, well, a little "preparedness guide" is just what military families need!  Am I a little weird for liking these kinds of gifts?!

Hurricane and disaster prep: it's more than just having enough beer on hand!

Warning: several long videos here! Some may find it enlightening, educational, some of you Gulf Coasters will find it repetitive, and some of you may just find it amusing! Welcome to my other side: prepper and novice survivalist! - and YES, I'm a girl! :)

I will cover some necessities for riding out the storm at home, a bit about what you would want to bring should you evacuate by car, and then lessen that even more to what you want with you in the event of a bugout (insert general mayhem/disaster here)!

Not meant to be all inclusive, there are many extras here as well as some things missing but I am constantly learning and this is what works for us thus far. You can really get into it more by visiting youTube and the internet and it gets to be quite fun actually finding out how little you can survive on, but that's another day.

Today we're talking about the art of successful hurricaning!

Battery Full! Continue on to Part 2...

I neglected to cover the first aid kit...

Are you asleep at your monitor right now? Surely not!

This idea actually came about because there are a number of spouses from our squadron that have never lived in a hurricane area before and might be a bit freaked out or unsure about what to have on hand. So to my fellow VFA-32 Gypsy gals, remember that some of what you see is geared towards all-around survival - you may not need everything here but make sure your basics are covered: food & water for 5 days, make sure you vehicle is fueled up (although in our area there will be nowhere to go!) and if in doubt, head to a shelter! If you need company or the kids are scared and you don't mind the whole bucket toilet flushing LOL, my home is always open to you, just remember to get here before the storm so as not to endanger yourselves by traveling, in the event of a direct hit, there will be trees down, water everywhere, and power lines could be in the street/water - just use your smarts and be aware! I know our guys are very proud of us and are counting on us to see our families through this and you know we'll do it - we are Navy wives, after all!

*Of special note to the Gypsies: if you do decide to evacuate, make SURE someone knows where you are headed. We will most likely be without power so try a cell phone or call and email/Facebook- something! - as soon as you get where you can safely do so. Ideally, you will tell the Ombudsman before you leave, in the event you cannot reach her or one of us, email your sailor from your location so that the info can be relayed back once power is on again.

Be safe everyone & Happy Hurricaning!

Tomorrow: Part 2 - Hurricane Prep for the exterior of your house!