Day 4

Today is day four of being on furlough due to the government shut down.  I thought that I might share some thoughts here.  I will avoid (mostly) the politics.  We have been threatened if we talked to media.  It is punishable by fine or prison or both if we work during the shutdown.

I did not think that the shutdown would happen.  It is threatened every year so I was somewhat surprised Tuesday when we actually went through the process of shutting down the office.  There is something unreal about sending your employees  mid morning and then locking up the office and walking out about noon.

By Wednesday night it became apparent that the crowd in Washington doesn't know what a decision is, yet alone how to make one, we started thinking about what we needed to do in the case this drags on for an extended period.

The first thing has to do with food.  We have our food storage in place so there will not be much need to go to the grocery store.

Yesterday was a fun day.  We have had some unusually cool and wet weather here in the Southern Willamette valley.  It has been chili in the house.  So, instead of turning on the furnace, we cranked up the wood stove.  There is nothing quite like a slow burning and glowing fire.  It is really nice.  Not to mention, the electric bill shouldn't be big next month.

As for this morning's news, I don't see anything on the news that leads me to think this will end soon.  So, check back often.

The above was written on October 4th but I failed to post it.

The Q

We received our Q the other day.  It is an event that happens each month.

This Month's Thrive Q

This month it is three items.  A can of Freeze Dried Ground Beef, a can of Freeze Dried Green Peas and something we haven't tried before, a pouch of Garden Fresh Vegetable Pasta. 

When we first signed up for The Q I simply thought it was a budgeting thing.  So many dollars would be set aside each month for food storage.  That is true and has been a great help.  Before the Q we put up a good deal of food storage.  However, it seemed to come in large chunks.  We would buy things in bulk and can them up.  The expense would come in chunks equal to what we canned.

The Q has provided a very easy opportunity to greatly expand the variety of food we both store and eat.  This month, all three

The Vegetable Pasta is part of a relatively new line from Thrive Foods called Thrive Express. This is the first time we have ordered any.  We will let you know what we think.  A pouch of anything is a good way to see if it is something you want to eat.  If you don't want to eat it, there is not much reason to store more.

Storing the ground beef and the peas is an easy call.  The peas taste so very much like fresh peas straight from the garden.  They can be used in any recipe that uses fresh, canned, or frozen peas.

The ground beef is also excellent.  It is freeze dried in small crumbles.  Next time you need crumbled ground beef, no need to cook it or clean up.  Simply get what you need and put the can back in the pantry.  We have used it in many recipes.  Great stuff.

The other great thing about the ground beef and peas is that they are freeze dried so they have a 25 year shelf life.  There will be no need to go to the store for crumbled ground beef or peas until at least 2038.

Tornado

We have been watching the news coverage of the Oklahoma tornado.  What a devastating event. Our hearts go out to those who are victims of this storm. 

We have experienced tornadoes. We have heard them.  They really do sound like a freight train.  The sky really does turn a greenish color.  We have seen the destroyed homes and property.  We have helped people clean up and rebuild after they hit. We have also seen people rise above the occasion and come through the ordeal in better than they were before.  The human spirit is something to behold!  We are grateful for all the good people who are helping after this disaster.  Such events do tend to bring out the best of most people.

We talk a lot about being prepared.  Every family should have some food and basic emergency supplies stored away in case of an emergency.  However, looking at the aftermath of a tornado you will realize it doesn't really matter if you had food stored, or a water supply, or even a first aid kit.  Anything stored in a home destroyed so completely will most likely be destroyed or lost.
A 72 hour kit or bug out bag may be useful if you had sufficient warning but that is highly unlikely in the case of tornadoes.

If you look closely at some of the wide shots of the devastation pictures, you will see that homes just outside of the tornado's path are practically untouched.  Our thoughts have turned to those homes that were not destroyed.  We hope that those people are in a situation to take care of their own needs so other efforts and assets can be used to assist their their neighbors who lost everything. 

We live on a street with our home and eight others.  We have often talked about our food storage and our neighbors.  If some event happened here, there is no way we would turn away our neighbors in a time of need.  We hope that many of the families that live near the tornado's path have some basic supplies to assist their neighbors.  Isn't being in a situation that we can help others what we should all want to do?

Carrots in the Spring

Last year we grew some carrots in our garden.  We enjoyed them in the late summer and fall.  We didn't grow many so we didn't preserve any but enjoyed sweet and fresh carrots from the garden. 

A couple of weeks ago when we were perparing the garden for the planting we found some carrots we didn't harvest last fall.  It is somewhat amazing but they were still good.  We enjoyed a mild winter so the ground never froze hard enough to damage the carrots yet the cool ground kept them fresh all winter long.

We had to cull some of them out.  A few were a bit woody and some were quite gnarly.  They were not quite as sweet as young carrots but they were surprisingly tasty.  We enjoyed a couple of good meals with our carrots.  One was simply cooked carrots.  The other meal they added flavor and great color to a pot of soup.

We typically use Thrive Carrots for recipes that call for chopped carrots.  They are easy.  No chopping, no mess, no carrots going bad in the fridge.  Simply use what we need and put the can back in the cupboard.   However, it was a treat to have fresh carrots from the garden in the spring.

It is now time to plant some more!

The First Lawn Mowing

Late last evening, just as it was starting to get dark, Bret went out and cut the front lawn.  It is still a bit wet but it was the first chance all winter. 

There is something nice about the first ventures into the yard in the spring.

There is still oh so very much to do but it is oh so very good to get started.

Spring's First Daffodil

 
 One of my favorite days of the year is the day the first daffodil blooms. 

The pictures is this year's first in our front yard.

We can soon start working on our yard and garden!  Happy Days!

College Food

We recently arranged to have some of our food storage sent to our daughter who is in her Senior year in college.  She had specifically requested the freeze dried chicken that she really likes.

We don't know her recipe but it includes the chicken, freeze dried peas and corn and some dehydrated carrots.  All of which she can take what is needed from the can and then put the cans back on the shelf.  No refrigeration, no spoiling, no mess, no trouble.

She said is was really good.

Imagine that, food storage that is easy enough and good enough for a college student to make and enjoy!