The Big Snow of 2008

We don’t get snow very often where I live. Every few years we get to see the white stuff and it’s pretty exciting. If we’re lucky we’ll get a few inches that lingers for a day or two. But since we are not accustomed to snow, few people know how to drive in it. Consequently everything shuts down. Seriously. All of the schools close, and many businesses. Even though I have a 4x4 vehicle, my employer lets me stay home when it snows. It’s great fun actually. I get to bundle up and go outside with the dogs. They love to play in the snow and I love to watch them (or play with them)!

But in December 2008 this happened.

It was the biggest snow storm Oregon had seen in 40 years. I think I was off work over a week. It was amazing and spectacularly beautiful. However, I live in a tiny town with one small grocery store. When it began to snow the shelves were wiped clean. No bread, milk, eggs, chips, butter, meat, pop, etc. In 2008 the last thing on my mind was being prepared for an emergency. What was I thinking? I wasn’t. Lucky for me, but not so lucky for him, my husband knows how to drive in the snow and never misses work because of it. (Thank goodness he doesn’t work anywhere near where I work!) Anyway, he was able to find what we needed. We were fortunate in the sense that there was just the two of us and the dogs. We had meat in the freezer and a little food in the fridge and pantry. If we had lost power for any length of time during that storm we could have been in a real pickle.  Without power we have no water.

Then a month or two ago I ran across an article on EMP’s and preparedness. When confronted with the question of being able to survive for any amount of time I was dumbfounded.  Why had I never considered this before?  I thought I was always "ready" for anything.  Not so.  Needless to say, it really got my attention.

Since then we have done our research, cleared a storage space and begun the process of actually storing food and supplies.  At this point I'm ready for the next snow or ice storm. I'm even ready for a loss of power, but not for too long.  We have quite a ways to go but at least we are on the right track.

I hope and pray we never have to rely on our storage for anything other than a snow storm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had the meal at our house this year.  We usually do.  Turkey in a bag, as usual.  But this year Tim and I made the Pumpkin Pies!  Neither of us have ever made a real pie before and this is as close to real as we could get for a first try.  We bought the crust, so I guess we cheated a little, but still - we did it!  It turned out okay.  We did a deep dish and a regular dish.  The deep dish is the only one I have tasted and even though it was okay, I've tasted better.  Next pie we make will be with our own crust.

I am slowly making friends with my kitchen. Now that I have reorganized the cupboards it is much easier to work in.  I have caught myself actually enjoying it!  Tomorrow or Sunday we are doing our second big "shopping for storage" trip.  I got some money for my birthday and have decided to buy a food dehydrator.  Dried foods keep longer and better, and in less space.  I also want to buy a water bath canner but I really need a winter coat so what's a girl to do????  Oh well, the canner can wait.

The Cabin - Part One

My grandparents had some land in the mountains of Utah, and in the early 1950's they built a cabin there.  They did most, if not all, of the work themselves.

 Now when I say "cabin" I am not talking about a one room rustic box.  This was a two story, five bedroom, one bath  log cabin on the river.  It even had a dishwasher and garbage disposal.  (It also had a Bat living upstairs at one point, but that's a post for another day).

After the first couple of years they realized they wanted a patio in the front (there was already a nice one in the back overlooking the river) so they tore out the bay window and built a covered patio.  But they still had the problem of only one bathroom.  They had large parties and a lot of family.  One bathroom just wasn't enough.  So they built an outhouse.  Yes, an outhouse.

From the front patio they built a covered stone pathway to the "outhouse".  From the day it was finished it became the "facility of choice" for every visitor.  My grandmother had a wonderful sense of humor and designed the building herself.  The fixtures were ornate gold, the chandelier crystal, and the flooring and counter top had real gold flakes suspended in them.  And of course the room was quite large with a shower, two sinks and a toilet.  But the fun part, and so typical of my grandmother, was the wallpaper.  It was little drawings of a Victorian woman in an antique bathtub, or wrapped in a towel, painting her toenails, etc. 

That's where I got my love of the country.  I grew up in the city, but spent every summer at the cabin.  Rivers, mountains, and Aspen trees. Hunting, fishing, and learning to shoot.  Pot-guts, Chipmunks and Deer.  And learning to drive the jeep. The pink jeep. (Someday I'll do a post just on that jeep!)

The picture above shows the original cabin in winter. I was never there in winter although my brother often was.  Inside that large bay window was a seat with storage underneath it.  The seat lifted up and on one side my Grandfather stored extra wood for the fire.  The other side was filled with toys and games.

There was a large old player piano that we all learned to play and sing along with.  That piano is now in my Mothers house and will someday belong to my younger sister.

This picture shows the new patio as well as the pink teeter-totter and wishing well.  To the left of the cabin is the covered walkway to the outhouse.  You can see part of it behind the teeter-totter.

This shows part of the outhouse building.   Someday I will ask my Mom if she has any pictures of the inside.  It would be nice to record them here for the family to share and remember.  The cabin now belongs to my cousin, whom I have not spoken with in many years.  Sadly, my grandchildren will never get to experience the cabin that holds so many of my life's memories.  I would have loved to share it with them the way that my Grandmother shared it with me.  Hopefully this blog will give them a glimpse into the past.

More to come!

Those Spices Are How Old???

This is my furlough week for November so I decided to make good use of it.  I decided to clean out my spice cabinet for starters.  I found out that spices are only good for about a year.  I threw away Paprika from 1995, Ginger and Ground cloves from 1996.  Seriously!  By the time I was done I had three paper grocery bags full of spices and food to throw away.  It's amazing the things you don't know when you can't cook!  All the more reason to learn.