Coffee is a necessity

 We've have been really lucky this winter and have had no power outages. Everyone around us has been hit really hard with ice storms and high winds, and had to endure some long stretches with no power. We've had a ton of snow but our power has stayed on.
One of the things I hate when it does go out is having to make instant coffee.  Coffee for me is a real staple. And the instant stuff is really awful. 
I've been making a list of things that I would need to get through all kinds of emergency situations and this percolator from Amazon is on the top of the list.

 

  It might not be the most important thing to most people doing their own emergency preparations, but for me it's right up there. During an emergency its important to have all your basic needs met, but it doesn't hurt to have a few things that just make you feel a little less stressed as well.

 I grew up with the smell of coffee brewing on the stove top,   in a pot just like this one, every morning, and there's something about it that just says home and comfort.  So the next time the power does go out I want to be able to make good coffee.

What's on your list of things to get you through an emergency? and make you feel a little less stressed.

 

Bye  for now....and have a great day



DIY Hand Sanitizer

 We are right in the middle of cold and flu season.  We do our best to avoid getting sick. We get a flu shot. We wash our hands as often as possible.  When we're out and about we use hand sanitizer.

I wanted a to make a good hand sanitizer spray with the  added benefit of essential oils. Something that would  give  those nasty germs an extra kick in the you know what. 

I gathered together the items and  made up a spray in about 5 minutes. Honestly it takes longer to write about it than it does to make it.







Hand Sanitizer Spray
1/4 cup Witch Hazel (I use one with Aloe added)
1/4 cup of alcohol
 1tsp of vegetable glycerine  and
1tsp of vitamin E oil   for a little protection  for the skin
10 drops of Lemon essential oil   

10 drops of Clove bud essential oil  

 10 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil  

10 drops of Cinnamon  essential oil  

I put the ingredients into a spray bottle and gave it a shake. 
These oils combined have great antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Use the links to see for yourself what they can be used for.

As well you can add these oils to a spray bottle with alcohol and water and you have a great spray to use around the house to kill germs in the air as well.  I add a little Tea Tree Oil in my spray as well.
Using this spray around the house should help during those times when everyone in your house seems to have some kind of a bug. Here's hoping we can all stay healthy this year.

Bye for now... and have a great day.

Diaper Rash Salve

Extremely cold weather like we're having plays havoc with your skin. Spending so much time with my kidlets means I wash my hands about a million times a day and that creates even more damage.  Usually by  the first of the year I have dry cracked knuckles that are actually bleeding and sore.
I have tried all sorts of creams and salves and get a bit of relief but nothing really prevented it completely. 
This year my hands are healthy.

I made a wonderful Calendula oil salve for using on the baby's bums when I change their diapers.  It is really amazing as a preventative for diaper irritations and I've used in an the tiny patches of eczema a few of my kidlets get in the dry cold weather with great success.  I love it the most for what it does for my dry hands.  They look just as good now as they did in the middle of summer. No dry patches, no cracked knuckles, just healthy.





Here is the recipe I use with links to earlier posts for making the ingredients.

2 parts Calendula  Infused oils
1 part Dandelion infused oil
1 part Coconut oil
1 part grated beeswax
1 tsp of vitamin E oil
5 drops of Lavender essential oil
3 drops of Tea Tree essential oil

Add the infused oils , coconut oil and beeswax together in a bowl (I use a small mason jar) and warm in a pot of hot water until the wax is melted.
Remove from the heat and add the Vit. E and essential oils

Stir until it is well blended and pour into small sterilized jars.  Stir in the jars a few times while it is cooling to keep it a bit on the creamy side. This goes a long way so you just need to use a tiny bit.




disclaimer:  I am not a medical expert in any way.  As with any product always try a tiny bit first to check for reactions. and always do your own research before making and using your own products.
This is my go to site for information about essential oils.


Bye for now ..... and have a great day

No Water .. No Flushing.

We got up this morning and we have no water.  We usually open all our lower cabinets on really cold nights to let the heat circulate. 

Of course last night was the coldest night here so far and we left all the doors closed...  Oh well.   Things will thaw out. 
A few weeks ago the system that supplies our neighbourhood with water suffered a broken pipe and it took the better part of a day for it to get fixed.  Then we had a boil water advisory for a few days.  I don't know yet if today it's a town water problem or we have a  frozen pipe.  Whatever it is, it's nothing more than an inconvenience. 

Think about the thousands of homes in the Toronto area, that have had no power  for the last couple of weeks because of the huge ice storms. I wonder how they all coped. I really feel bad for them.  I think it's way easier to get by when you live in the country than it is when you live in the city. 

The first thing I really miss when the water is off is not being able to flush.  What if you had to go without any power for a few weeks. If you live in an apartment building or a home without an alternate heat source,  pouring water down your drain will only freeze. 

This article  has a good instructions on how to put together a homemade compost toilet that could be used in an emergency. It can be used in any type of home.  All you  need is a five gallon bucket, some heavy duty garbage bags and some kitty litter or sawdust.  Line the bucket with the garbage bag and after each use cover waste with sawdust or litter. 
Everything can be stored in the bucket until it's needed, and with any luck you will never need to put it together. 


You could take it one step further and make the milk crate cover so you can have a luxury unit like this one. Click on the picture to read the article.
I hope this idea helps a few people be a little better prepared for what ever happens next.

Bye for now.. and have a good day.

52 Week Money Saving Challenge

Happy New Year and welcome to 2014.

I don't know if you've seen it or not but the 52 week Money Saving Challenge is all over the internet right now.  I have no idea how one would go about finding the original post for this idea because there are just too many of them.  Do a search and you'll see what I mean.
 
The concept for this plan is that if you make yourself a savings jar and put in $1 the first week you have started the plan. 
Each week you add one more dollar than the previous week. Week 1 deposit $1,  week 2 deposit $2, right up to week 52 depositing $52.   If you follow this plan at the end of the year you have saved almost $1,400.

I think it's a great idea and decided this would be my New Years Resolution.  There is one big drawback. I never have an extra $200 in December. I don't make a set amount of money each week because the number of children I care for fluctuates ...... and December is always the slowest month  because of  Christmas. I had to adjust the plan if it was going to work for me.
 
 
I found this chart  at www.savingadvice.com  and liked how it was more flexible with the deposit amounts. At the bottom of the chart it has the amounts from $1 to $52.   


Each week I put my deposit into my jar and cross off the amount I used from the bottom.   If I have a short work week I can deposit one of the lesser amounts and in the summer months when I  make larger paychecks I can make the larger deposits. In the end I will have the same total because all the deposits are in the jar. 

So that's my New Year's resolution... to work on my savings challenge for 2014.  Did you make a resolution? .. and if you did ,  did you come up with a plan to make it work?