Enjoying Spring!

Hi,

Today I am watching S. as I type. She is swinging in the side yard, reading a book, and keeping an eye on the dog and puppy. I can't imagine swinging and reading at the same time--I get a little carsick just thinking about it!

Spring is really here. C. got out the riding mower yesterday, gassed it up, and took a few experimental swipes down the lower yard. I'm a little concerned. He mentioned that he is planning to mow in stripe-like sections, alternating which ones he mows each time. Honestly, I think it looks horrid! I know he is doing it to save on gas and we do live out in the country at the end of a dead-end road, so who will see, but still.....

Are concerns about the economy, etc. bothering any one else? I have to confess, I am a bit of a survivalist at heart, and some of my minor alarm bells are starting to ring. Are we like the proverbial frog--at what point will we realize that our pot of water is about to boil? Are the current troubles a forewarning of things to come or are troubled times already here and this is just the first few waves before the oncoming tsunami? Or is all of this just a temporary glitch and all will be well again soon?

I always keep a fairly presentable pantry. We live far enough out that it is inconvenient to go to town more than once every one or two weeks. Also, with the dirt roads around here, too much rain or snow can make it dangerous to travel sometimes. So I keep about 3 or 4 months of most non-perishables on hand. It saves a lot of money because I can shop sales and buy in bulk, not to mention saving the $10 per trip it now costs in gas to get to the nearest store. It is also nice to be able to satisfy the odd craving without going to any trouble. (C. will say, "Remember that black bean chili dip you made that one time, I'd like to try some of that again," and I can just go to my shelves and find all the ingredients I need.)

But now I am trying to slowly up my supply from 3-4 months to 6-8 or even a year. I do have at least a year's supply of staples like flour, rice, sugar, etc. We wouldn't starve, but it would probably get a little monotonous after 6 months or so. I am deliberating on whether to plant a big garden this year or whether to do more of a seed saver ark type of patch, just to continue the viability of my seed stock.

I am also starting to work on an inventory of my medical supplies. S. goes through bandaids by the pound! Again, I tend to have a fairly decent supply because it would take the squad a good while to respond to a problem here and so I have tried to be somewhat prepared. The problem with the medical stuff is that most pharmaceutical preparations have a limited shelf life. You can only stock so much and then have to faithfully rotate it to keep it fresh. I can't afford to keep buying expensive antibiotics and then throwing them away when expired. We practically never use them, but I like to keep them on hand for that once in a blue moon emergency. I have been dabbling in herbal medicine and will try to give that more of my attention this summer. If things get really bad, we will have to rely on renewable resources anyway.

As I hinted at with the mower, gas prices are getting to us. It costs C. $50 per week just to drive to and from work. I have tried to cut out unnecessary driving. I doubt Mom's pasture will get brush hogged as many times this summer as she would like. As a result of high transportation costs, everything else we buy has gone up. Chicken feed costs a whole lot more now. I expect hay to be outrageous this year. If I can find any really cheap, I am going to buy it up. If we don't get any llamas, we can sell it for our cost and be a real blessing to someone else next spring. Food prices have gone up. We can plant a garden, but as anyone who cans can tell you, home grown is not cheaper. Tastier, healthier, fresher, but not cheaper. We will also try to fill the freezer with meat as soon as I can save up enough cash from my weekly grocery allottment. We may be eating more venison this winter, which by the way, cans great.

I'm thinking about going to some of the urban thrift stores before long and buying up some clothing essentials, especially for S. During the Great Depression, farmers didn't go hungry but they didn't have money to buy anything. I feel that if I can cover some of those other needs by being proactive, then we will be OK.

So, dusting off my tinfoil hat,
Lori