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



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?

Minden Flooded

My heart goes out to all the people who have had to evacuate their homes to the flood waters.  This is a picture of Minden Ontario , I live just south of here, and while I am glad I am not living in the flood plain I feel such saddness for those who have had to leave their homes.




Keep safe everyone.

April's Ice Storm

 
As everyone who lives here knows, southern Ontario was hit very hard with an ice storm that started on Thursday.   I was startled to see on the news today that the storm took down miles of hydro poles leaving hundreds of homes without hydro. Some of these unfortunate people are still without power and it might be quite some time before they have it restored. I was happy that we only got a touch of this storm and never lost our hydro, but friends and family not too far away were not as lucky. This question goes out to them. How well did you manage? and what has this taught you so you will be ready for the next time?

How prepared are we for an event like this to happen? I've said I am definitely not a Prepper in the sense that we see them on the TV, however, I do believe we should all be prepared for Mother Nature in a bad mood. Huricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, and just plain thunder or snow and ice storms can all leave us without the comforts we take for granted every day.

A lot of what I am going to post here is from a blog I found recently. I recommend this blog if you want a real honest read. She writes about all aspects of her life as an American but it applies to us north of the border as well.

This post   says we need to have all of our core needs looked after if we lose our basic services. These core needs are food, water, heat and sanitation.

Having a pantry full of food is not going to help you if you can't open a can or heat up the contents. And are you going to bed as soon as it gets dark or are you prepared with extra candles or even better some of these little homemade oil lamps. And when all that technology isn't available how will you pass the time. I think a few books or a deck of cards might come in handy.

Water is pretty easy to store. Everyone needs at least of couple of litres of it per person per day, and we often take it for granted because it is so accessable. I know they recommend that you fill your tub if you are in a storm watch situation. You can use this for washing or flushing. I rinse my 2 ltr plastic pop bottles with bleach and then refill them and store them in the top of a closet. They will keep for quite some time this way if you use clorinated water. If not just add a few drops of bleach to each bottle.

It also says that we should always use the rule of three. If I understand this corectly that means we should all have at least three different ways to cover our core needs. For example I would have my furnace as my number one way to heat my house. If the power goes out I have my wood stove for backup, and if for some reason I couldn't use that I would need to find a third way to keep warm, which might be a lot of blankets or some other alternative. I will have to think about this one.

There is no "this is how it is done for everyone" list here. Everyone has different needs, and different living conditions." Someone in the country may be able to build and outhouse as an alternative toilet, but how does someone living in an apartment in the city cope if you can't flush for 3 days. One way would be a five gallon bucket lined with a sturdy garbage bag and a seat. These might be items that you need in your emergency closet.

With all these things in mind I am going to make a list of the things I would need to get through a week without services and start getting those things together where I will be able to find them. Food, water, heat, and sanitation. A designated emergency closet is sounding like a really good idea. What are you going to do? If you have some good ideas for these please share.

Have a good day everyone and stay safe and warm.