preps, preps and more preps!!!

everyone who knows us here at the interwebs already knows that we are preppers. you can't really live out in the middle of nowhere and not be a prepper. but one thing that we usually don't go yakking about is our food storage. there are tons of other interesting sites out there that talk about food rotation, food storage, etc. - and since we follow the normal standards in regards to those kinds of issues - us talking about expiration dates of medication, etc., would just be us repeating what most of you probably already know...and it would be boring to read about that here...and i know that all of you come here for exciting sky pics that i take for my sweet sister Helga. like the one below:

however, a couple of weird circumstances have happened in the last week or so. maybe not "weird-weird" but weird enough for me to take notice. call it "the heavens aligning" or something.

when we first got involved in the American Preppers Network and the Canadian Preppers Network several years ago, one of the first people that i might who i felt had much to teach me is someone listed on our blogroll, SciFiChick of the Bacon and Eggs blog. if you don't already follow her, you really should. we met so many warm, interesting and funny preppers and survivalists on the APN and CPN - there are just some really awesome folks out there on the webs! but SciFiChick and her husband seemed to be on the same path as jambaloney and i were on - all of us were working towards a common goal of getting on our own land and then learning to become as self-sufficient as possible. i am happy to say the both she and i are living on our land now and i am sure that she and her husband feel just like jambaloney and i - waking up everyday and realizing that we are living our dreams.

anyway, she did a re-post of  one of her previous posts the other day that really got me thinking. her post, here (please go and read it),  provides a grocery list, a recipe if you will, for one year's worth of food storage for under $300. most of us never have $300 dollars laying around, especially if you are on a fixed income, so it may be out of reach for most people. but we try to live as frugally as possible - and it's easy when you live in the middle of nowhere as we don't have an entertainment budget, nor a clothing budget - bahahahahahha! and we stick to the basics, we try to grow as much of our own food and preserve that food which cuts down on our grocery budget. and we try to save money every month to always have emergency cash on hand for - you guessed it - emergencies.

continuing on, we had to take our truck in for some repairs and to get it safety-ied (we have to safety our vehicles every 2 yrs here. Craig/Mayberry, if you are reading this, i know that i just made you groan and put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. sorry buddy!). because we always have our emergency money, we are able to pay in cash. however, and here is the big windfall, the stars aligning and all of that jazz....our warranty covered waaaay more than we thought it would, so we had some extra money that had already been accounted for. i call this "found" money. and what do you do when you find money? you buy preps!!!!

and although i don't normally show pics of our preps and whatnot, i wanted to share with you all what we purchased. because the recipe that SciFiChick provides on her blog is attainable and does provide some good staples (in conjunction with your other food stores of spices, preserved/canned fruit and veg, etc.). and it is waaaaay more than a year's worth of food for the both of us (in conjunction with our other food stores).

the above food cost $161.16 - not a normal food purchase for us at all - but this was "found" money!!! i love "found" money!!! (and we were able to put the $8 additional bucks back into our emergency fund - woohoo!)

pictured above is:

17lbs of sticky rice
9lbs of basmati rice
17 pounds of calrose rice (for a total of 43lbs of rice! we eat a lot rice - we love rice! but that is waaay more than one year's worth of rice for 2 people!)

12lbs (at 2lbs each) of Maritime Grown Jacob's Cattle beans, Yellow-Eye beans and soldier beans.

12lbs of kidney beans
12lbs of chickpeas
8lbs of navy beans
and 2lbs of green lentils

12 cans of kidney beans
and 12 cans of chickpeas

all for $161.16!!!! waaaay more than enough food for a year in conjunction with our current food stores!

the point of this post is - a lot of people think it is difficult to stock up and store a year's worth of food. it isn't - you just need to change your mind-set. stop buying your daily coffee and put that money in a jar - do it everyday! don't eat out - bring snacks with you when you are out and make delicious home-made meals. if by not stopping at McDonalds (gross!) will save you $12 - put that money in a jar. and if you follow simple steps like these - that money will very quickly grow into $100 and then you can very easily go out and get yourself a year's worth of food. and keep adding to your food stores - if you only have $10 extra dollars this week - buy some dried beans or spices or frozen fruit or whatever. add it to your food stores. when your income tax checque comes in or you "find" money in another way - spend it on your food stores!

it brings great relief to me to know that we have several years worth of food stored. great relief. thanks SciFiChick for re-posting the recipe - it was the first thing i thought of when we got our money back!

what a gorgeous day - this day definitely was memorialized in the gratitude jar!

we had such a gorgeous day yesterday...and i think i overdosed on vitamin D which is why i have been up all night and not able to sleep...have a look:

 

 and here is out front:



 (both of these pics were taken for my beautiful, sweet sister Helga. and for a few of my other blogger gurl-friends - you all know who you are!)

by noon yesterday, it was so sunny and clear, even tho jambaloney was working on fixing the basement door and i was busy making roast and all of the fixin's...i decided it was "down tools" time and time for us to go and make some vitamin D. jambaloney cleared off the front deck, layed down the black blankets that our movers forgot, and we promptly stripped down to nekkid and suntanned for 2 full hours - it was glorious!!! the temp was about 6-7C (which is close to 40-45F, i think) but with no wind and no breeze it was a beautiful suntanning day! imagine - in the middle of january. suntanning nekkid?!?!!?!?!? oh thank you Lord for such a nice treat! jambaloney of course fell asleep - he always does when we are nekkid suntanning! i just kept praising the Lord and enjoying the sounds of the birds and the silence...it is so quiet here, it is breathtaking!

as usual, much good food has been enjoyed at the Manor since i last wrote. here's some deelishous french toast with maple syrup that jambaloney's step-dad makes....the best maple syrup on the planet, i might add. and some defrosted frozen blueberries that jambaloney picked last summer at our friend's blueberry patch. they are some seriously deelishous berries!

and of course, some more cabbage rolls with tons of sauerkraut. i love cabbage rolls and can eat them for 6 or 7 days in a row. jambaloney is less interested after 3 straight days - bahahahahah! but not me!

this pic is for my friend Mystic Mud - it was a gorgeous, balmy evening and a sliver of a moon was shining between the trees. i tried to get a pic from the hottub, and showing the hottub, but the steam from the hottub blurred the pic.

so i actually had to get out of the hottub in order to get the pic. i know that she appreciates my freezing my butt off!

here's a yummy steak that jambaloney cooked up on the bbq for us. that's his and still bleeding. i like mine to be cooked to the consistency of old combat boots. some grilled peppers and onions, a sprout salad and some apple round out the meal.

yummy bean salad with sprouts - we love bean salad! with olive oil, apple cider vinegar (with the mother), lemon and crushed garlic as the dressing - so filling and so delishous!

with my leftover steak we made wraps. i like mine with cheese, steak, avocado, grilled onions and peppers...and of course...tons of sour cream.

jambaloney likes to pile his up with cheese, avocado, tomatoe, onion, cheese and hot peppers and then heat the whole thing in the oven.

is there anything on the planet that is better than fresh sheets, pillow cases and blankets on the bed? we think not. we have been moaning and groaning for the past 2 nights while climbing into the monster Framboise Manor bed. and no, i DO NOT iron our bedding.
 

here's some home-made, from scratch macaroni and cheese with bean salad - a to die for meal. my friend, JUGM, also makes a mean mac and cheese!

and of course, the weekly roast. if i don't have my roast and smashed potatoes with gravey once a week..i get a little...well...cranky! i love roast and smashed! and gravey - oh i love gravey!

this last pic is for Winston. he is always sending emails asking about Mankley, Frankly, Frankie Blue Eyes...our newest member of the family. Winston is sweet like that.

anyway Winston, Mankly Frankly is still eating 246 cans of food a day, has gained about 49lbs, and loves to show off how long he can stretch on the poles out in the yard.

it is 5 to 8 in the am...i have been up all night...jambaloney and all of the cats are sleeping...my friend Stephen is still awake...and probably Jane too....i hope that wherever all of you are, that a beautiful day is dawning. and i hope that you all have a wonderful day! (gosh i hope it is as sunny and warm today as it was yesterday! if so, it will be another "down tools" and let's get more vitamin D day. although, like i said earlier, i think i overdosed yesterday.)

another trench update - imagine that!

jambaloney here!

this is the final episode of the trench this season. theses pics go back about a month and change - we are in a holding pattern with the trench now - working VERY well, here's why...

first off... helga - this was the last spooky sky pic i could get out front - early december - enjoy! ;-)

ooohhhhhh - look  - are those drainpipes?? why yes - yes they are!!!

and this is free rounded gravel/stone  i got @ morrison's beach ...

and here it is in the bottom of the trench!!

all 70 feet of it ;-)

next up:  lay the pipe!!! this was waaaaay easier than digging  - hah!

now for the trickier part - first we need some of the rocks that were a byproduct of the trench.. i picked medium sized rocks...

back to the lobster crate... i mean drain pit in the basement (see last post).. that small section of pipe sticking in at the top....

comes out here!!!!

here is all 70 feet of pipe looking out and down... THIS was the reason i dug the trench on the first place ;-))

back in the basement, i filled in the area around the drain pit with med sized rocks so there is a lot of room for the water to leach in...

i had to add another cart of them...

then i used the rest of the free beach stones to fill in the top and level the basement "floor"...

here is the beginning dirt on the pipe right by teh foundation..

here is the gravel i excavated from the basement by digging the drain pan hole - it will be used later - you'll see!

here is the pipe part way buried - it took a few days to fill in the trench..

THIS IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT - a day and a half after a major rain, there is still a small trickle of runoff - the basement is much drier and the sump pump hasn't come on for 2 months now - success!!!

here it is all buried except for the last 2 feet..

up by the house - the trench looks like it did a year ago...

and here is the sump hose and the gray-water hose lying on top of a much shallower trench. i am going to let the winter settle the soil, adjust the downward angle and fill the rest with beach stones, then rocks, then beach stone to level it off. this will yield an old-fashioned French drain that all surface runoff can be diverted to... 2 mints in one!!

other angle for the above shot - you probably get the picture by now ;-))

leftover rocks for spring - time to say "bye" to the trench 'til spring - huzzah!!!

we have new visitors this winter - evening grosbeaks - they are like big goldfinches - always a treat to see a new species @ the feeder!!

cheers all, thanks for stopping by!!

Welcome wonderful 2013!!!

okay - i know that 2013 has already been here for a week - but what can i say - i am always a day late, a dollar short and all of that jazz. so far 2013 has been wonderful! check out our first staying snow from this morning:



beautiful isn't it? we have had the occasional flurry over the holiday season but no staying snow. this will only last for today as tomorrow and wednesday will be above zero and sunny. then more snow on thursday but that will be gone by friday/saturday. i love that we get a few days of snow, then it melts and we see green for a few days, then back to white. i will let you all know when we get "true and proper staying snow" that stays for at least a week.

anyway - a recap of our crazy holiday season. it was awesome. filled with food, fun, friends and family - we love our Framboise family so much. we visited with our family and friends, were fed and given so much food it was almost sinful. our friends' son turned 19 and we had a blast of a party on the 22nd that started at the Fourchu hall and ended at our friends' house....at 4:30am!!! i am not ashamed to admit that i have only been drunk out of my mind twice in my life....and once was on the 22nd - bahahahah! we all had such a good time! Christmas day and dinner was spent with our Fourchu family - much good food was enjoyed and then we all went to our other friends' basement to play pool and dance. thankfully that party ended at about 1:30am and i kept to only a few glasses of wine. the next several days were spent visiting family and friends and just all around good times. we rung in New Year's Eve at the Framboise hall - i think we had 40 people but all of them good people who we love to spend time with - we had a blast!!! after all of that partying and visiting - we needed a couple of days off, followed by more visiting. and now the holiday season is officially over and we are looking very much forward to 2013.

here's a beautiful sky pic taken a few days ago for my sweetest sister Helga.



and another:

 

 hey kymber - what's in the jar? teehee.

 

that's our new "gratitude" jar. i used to keep gratitude journals for years - basically i would write in my journal before bed about something that i was grateful for that day. doing that everyday kept me grounded and made me have to reflect that even if it had been a horrible day - there would have to be at least one thing during the day that i was grateful for. i stopped writing in my gratitude journal shortly before we moved here and haven't picked it back up. so for 2013, jambaloney and i decided we would make a gratitude jar. we write something on a scrap of paper at least once a day, sometimes more, and then drop it in the jar. next holiday season we will open the jar and read through all of the things that we were grateful for this year. we have been doing this everyday now and it really feels like a good ritual. it makes me happy!
 
there's been lots of good food over the holiday season when we weren't out at someone's house being force-fed a 5th and 6th plate of food! here's a romaine, tomatoe and cucumber salad with a fresh-made balsamic vinaigrette - yummy!

nothing like a delicious plate of spagetti and meatballs!

a snack to share with your baby as you cuddle on the couch watching movies.

this salad is really good for you if you have spent a few days eating too much! romaine and pomegranate seeds with a light fresh-made dressing of tangerine, olive oil, ginger and garlic.

here's our New Year's Day supper, turmeric-cream chicken with a nice light salad and sprouts.

and another light snack for cuddling with your baby - ham,pickle and sprouts on a lettuce leaf.

one last pic of a beautiful sunset a few nights ago. of course for my sweetest sister.

i am off to make up some more cabbage rolls - i love those things! jambaloney is in the basement building book shelves. once the cabbage rolls are in the oven, we are calling it a day and spending the rest of the day reading and hottubbing!

i hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! i will make the rounds to all of your blogs later this afternoon! no worries - i always back-read any posts that i missed!

and that's me out of here!