This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you want to participate head on over to SouleMama

Yart

Freeze Yer Buns Off

Yep it’s that time of year again!

So who is in this with me this year!

I am pledging 63/56. How low can you go?

Yart

Wordless Wednesday

All taken at the Living History Museum Garden.

Yart

The End

I really enjoyed the time I spent working my way through “Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs” by Wendy Brown.

We always assumed that we would move out to the country one day. Well, this book made it clear that we need to make sure that we still make today a safe place to live, even if we do move in the future. Simply because we may not get out fast enough.

The book showed me that I am on a good path, but there is still a lot I could do.

It also made me get off my a$$ and check a few things out. First I contacted the city. There is no ordinance against bees. But I was told that if some one complained then I would be made to get rid of them… So I am going to be getting bees in the spring… Yes! Then I contacted everyone and their brother to see about putting a wood burner in the living room. We can do it…. the but here is that it is going to cost a lot of money and I would loose more space in the living room then I am willing to give up. So right now we will not be getting a wood burner. Maybe down the road if we hit the lottery then I will look into one of the high efficient wood burners… lots more money but I can put it closer to the wall.

I also realize now that I need to make more connections outside of the house. I’m not sure yet how I am going to accomplish this, but the first step is getting to know my neighbors a little bit better. Since I don’t even live near the town center it is hard to make those types of connections. I am on the outside corner of my town and the outside corner of two other towns… both of their town centers are just as far away as my own. But I really don’t think I will have to worry about the stores as they will probably close up shop in the event something like this does happen. So my best bet is still the neighborhood.

My biggest concern still is food and water. So I have continued to can up the bounty. This week I will be pressure canning a few more quarts of water to add to the shelf… ( I started do this because the canner wasn’t full and I was afraid that some of the jars would jump around and break…. so I filled up jars of water and added them in. ) Sterile water…. gotta love it! Just for the cost of a quart jar and lid…. versus $4.50 for 24oz at Emergency Essentials.

We have also been trying to eliminate all waste. I have been cooking and coming up with recipes to use the leftovers in. There is very little that is making its way into the trash. I am in the process of making toilet paper and sanitary napkins. ( I will let you know how that goes... LOL! )

Oh, and one more thing…

The opinions expressed here are my own. I was not compensated in any way for doing this review. It was a book that I purchased and thought would be interesting to follow the 21 days.

Yart

Day 21

Transportation

First of all, I can still walk…. Thank the Gods for that! But if that didn’t suit my fancy I do have a nice bicycle with metal saddlebag baskets. I also have one of the monster pull along buggy things, for hauling. I am also lucky to have a big ole dog. So he could pull the wagon if needed.

All of the monsters and Grim have good bikes. So if we needed we all could still go somewhere.

Grim’s job is the only thing that we have been talking about. How will he get to work? I still see a few things still working even in the low energy future. Police, Fire, Medical and the Railroad. Grim falls into the railroad profession. Items still need to get across the country and there are only so many that can run those big things. Even in the worst of times in our past the trains ran. So there is no reason to think other wise. So how will he get to work? I guess they will have to pick him up at the tracks and take him to the station. From there he would get on his train and go to work. To get from our house to the tracks he could walk or he could ride his bicycle. It is only about a mile and a half.

Come to think of it he is going to need snowshoes to make that trek in the winter! Gotta love the North!!!

Things to Get or Do

1. Get snowshoes for each member of the family (been thinking about doing it for a couple of years)
2. Look into getting a pull harness for the beast
3. See if I can put chains on the wagon tires… LOL! Just kidding

Yart

Day 20

Security

Everyone has there own opinion on this matter. It ranges from no weapons to a shit load of weapons. I think I fall in the middle. I have a good hunting knife and a really good compound bow as well as two recurve bows. Grim hunts so you can gather what he might have. Even though that item is not a personal protection item it could be used as such. He also has a really good hunting knife.

We also have a pellet gun. If the time ever comes that we need to hunt in the neighborhood we have that and the bows. Squirrel and rabbit, its what’s for dinner! There are even deer but they are about 3 miles away. But getting to them and getting one home would be difficult as most people don’t have the ability to hunt so they would want the deer.

Wendy Brown says that most people would not end up in the horde of zombies. But I disagree! A few years ago a new cheap grocery store opened up in a nearby town. The lines were horrible. I was there with my youngest who was still on the bottle. While inside the store a fist fight broke out between two women over nothing. Then when we had a blackout people were being run over at the gas stations, fighting over the last bags of ice and tv dinner. I believe that when push comes to shove and it will. People will do what they feel they need to do to survive. Even if it means doing things they never imagined themselves doing.

Things to Get or Do

1. Practice
2. Practice
3. Practice

Yart

Day 19

Networking

This is an area that we would have problems with. We know quite a few of our neighbors, at least enough to know some names and to say hello when we see them. There are couple of stores that know us and three restaurants. That’s it. The people that Grim works with all live other places. Even the monsters go to a school that is in a different city then we live in. With me being a SAHM, I have devoted my life to my family ( not everyone’s gig, just mine ), so I have no real life friends ( I use to, until they moved on ). So for all my online friend if the grid goes down… make sure I have addresses so that we can still communicate! ( You know who you are… LOL! )

Wendy Brown talks about how some people never even have met the neighbors. I can relate! Most of my interactions are done online. Even with my extended family. They have moved several times and I no longer have addresses. We just talk on Facebook. I know sad. But that just seems to be the way of life any more.

I am an only child, my mom came here to marry my dad. All of her family is in Canada. All of my dad’s family went the way of the dodo when he died.

Ok, who has the pork chop bone to tie to my leg so the dogs will play with me… LOL!

This isn’t suppose to be sad. But I am being honest here. My network is very limited. So I guess I need to get off the computer and open the door and make some friends.

Things to Get or Do

1. Make some more connections
2. Make some friends
3. Talk to the neighbors more

Yart