September is National Preparedness Month, oh, and an update on the lemon tree...

Basically the blog went on (a very generous) summer vacation, but it looks like a good time to come back, since, as the post title mentioned, September is National Preparedness Month! I got an e-mail from an emergency preparedness expert in Utah, who has graciously agreed to let me post a portion of that e-mail, and here it is:

"September is national preparedness month.  Please let your neighbors know of this and other great offers you hear of.  We have a large number of new people in the area who may not be aware of the unique sales we have at this time of year.  The case lot sales have started with Smith’s and will continue with all of the grocery stores through the first week in October.  

All of the stores carrying long term storage items will have special pricing.  You will also be able to find storage containers and supplies at the lowest prices of the year right where you shop now.  Please check the web sites of the local businesses if you don’t get the papers.  The flyer with ads that comes to your mail box on Tuesdays will have some of the grocery stores’ ads, but not all of them.

The dry pack cannery always has good bulk prices.  Check the times open and those prices at providentliving.org.

 Other items to watch for include “needful things”.  Check the fabric stores for things like the $1 spools of thread on special this week.  Other items are “over the counter” everyday meds that are essential in emergencies.  Think of antibiotic ointments and antiseptic cleaners.  They can save you from nasty infections when there are no doctors immediately available or if the stores are closed because of power outages or delivery problems.

 Watch the hardware stores for good prices on canning supplies.  Even if you aren’t canning right now it would be a good idea to be able to if you have to.  Last week you could get a dozen wide mouth pint jars for only $6.99.  I am going to guess this type of sale will be frequent this month.  By October even  canners will be on clearance.  Half price is good!!"

Please bear in mind that this is from Utah, and I have not checked if the sales at Smith's are taking place in Idaho, so if you are interested, you might want to call your local Smith's before going there to verify that the same information applies. Since it is National Preparedness Month, I will now be looking around locally for any sales associated with it! Have you seen any good buys in your neighborhood? 

And, drumroll, please... I do have one, single, solitary lemon on my lemon tree, and I have to say that I am very happy about it...

It's there, about as green as the leaves, and right on top of the tree...yay!

Hope that everyone has had a fantastic summer! As usual for us, our pumpkins are set to be the biggest producers in our garden, but we did get some green beans, and our raspberries went crazy (though they are not technically in our garden). Also as usual, we have a wildly productive rhubarb plant, so life is good... :)

Thanks for coming back to read, and I hope your gardens/any other preparedness activities are going well!

Not making lemonade...

...yet.

Introducing our lemon tree! I am really excited because I would love, love, love to find a way to grow citrus, and when I saw this little Meyer Lemon tree advertised in a catalog, which claimed that you, too, can grow lemons without living in a tropical climate, I had to give it a try. Let's be honest, my expectations are not all that high, but apparently, even though Idaho is what is known as a 4 or 5 zone (and citrus is usually expected in a 9-10  zone) if you don't let it stay outside in the cold, it can grow in its little pot and produce lemons! Oh, the possibilities! Since it is only hot, say, oh about 2-3 weeks a year in Idaho, I hope that it loves being inside our house right next to our window with the best lighting, and we will let it sit outside in the sun whenever possible. I am very excited about this little tree, and hope that we have success growing it.

From the same company we ordered some blueberry plants, which we have not yet planted because I am a little worried about late frost around here. The weather has been nice around here for the past couple of days, so it is likely that we will get them in today or tomorrow. How sad it would be if they froze on the first night that they were out in our yard...

Hope all is well where you are--and that any planting/growing you do this year will prosper!

Our thoughts and prayers are with Boston...

...and all those affected by the events at the Boston Marathon. 

That will be $11.00, please...

...oh, unless you can find a Flying J.

Let me explain.

Recently we were on our way to Utah when we saw a car stopped on the side of the road, with a license plate that indicated that it belonged to someone that was not only from Idaho, but from a county near ours. Not far away from said vehicle was someone walking in the direction of the nearest town. My husband backed up our vehicle and got out and talked to the gentleman. Turns out that he had run out of gas, so my husband offered to give him a ride into the nearest town/city/metropolitan area, which was, I'm guessing, about 3 miles ahead. We stopped at the nearest gas station off the nearest exit. My husband figured the gentleman would go in, put a deposit on a gas can, fill it, we would run him back to his car, and voila, done.

Nope.

The gentleman came back out and said he would have to buy a gas can for $11.00. This happened at more than one station. (You know how sometimes gas stations seem to all be in a cluster, right? :) So all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11.00 was way too much, and figured that it would be cheaper to just go buy a gas can somewhere, like the local national chainstore, or the local national hardware chainstore. So we headed for the nearest national chainstore, and guess what? A one gallon gasoline container costs...drumroll, please... $11.00.

Aaaaaaaugh.

So, the gentleman decided to try one more gas station, and ding, ding, ding, we had a winner--the Flying J had the gentleman put down a $10.00 deposit on a one-gallon gas container. He filled up said container. We took him back to his vehicle. We drove away....

Yeah, a couple of things to be taken away from this experience, in my opinion. The gentleman didn't have a gas container in his vehicle for emergencies, and neither did we. Of course, you won't need one if you keep your vehicle at a set amount, (say, 1/4 or 1/2 tank) and fill it back up every time you go below your chosen mark. But, you might if you tried to help someone like we did.

It helps to know what the "going rate" is for something you may need to purchase in an emergency. As stated above, all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11 was way too high a price for a gas container, and that the first few gas stations were taking advantage of someone's unfortunate situation, when all they were doing was asking for an honest replacement price. It would have saved us at least a trip to the local national chainstore to know the correct price.

And now, for the disclaimers---I wouldn't have stopped to help the gentleman if I had been by myself. Don't create an emergency for yourself by putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation, even if your intentions are good. Also, for us, the Flying J in that metropolitan area was willing to lend out a gasoline can, but I have no idea if that would happen nationwide. But notice, when a store does something helpful, I don't mind giving them a little free positive publicity...

Here's hoping that you never find yourself walking to a metropolitan area, having run out of gas.And here's hoping that if you ever do find yourself on the side of the road, it can be fixed with a gallon of gas, or something easier--it was good in this case that running out of gas was the problem, and not something mechanical.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

My, how time flies....

Yup, it's been another month--thanks to any and all who have come back to read!

--One thing that I neglected to blog on so far this month is the fact that they have been clearing out winter clothing at some of the stores that I shop at. I haven't found much that I could use this year, but in years past I have been able to stock up clothing ahead that has really been an economic benefit for me. If you go looking at the clearance racks, I hope you find something that you can use--at a way discounted price!

If you are interested in more food storage recipes, you may want to check out the link on the latest post over at my other blog. As mentioned there, I haven't checked all of the recipes on the linked blog out, but so far I have seen some I would like to try...

My apologies about all the ads (mostly in the form of oddly highlighted words) showing up on my blog now--they are not of my doing, and made it impossible to even post a comment left on this blog. They were covering the comment up and I couldn't publish it at the point that I was looking at it. I will try again to publish and respond to it and hope that there is no banner and/or double banner in my way...

Hope everyone is doing well!

Sometimes in an emergency, what you need is...

...other people. Yup, sometimes there is just no other substitute.

Take, for instance, a recent experience in our home. I actually wasn't here, I was elsewhere in the neighborhood, but my husband and children were home. My husband injured himself (knee injury) and had one of the children call 911. Then he sent the children to find me.

Fortunately, my children did know where to find me, and I was informed that I was needed at home immediately. I made it home, watched my husband loaded into the ambulance, and made arrangements to meet him in the ER. Three hours or so, later, thankfully, we were home.

In this particular instance, I needed a number of people:

--The ambulance personnel who did so well in their job.
--The neighbors who so kindly were willing to watch our children at literally a moment's notice.
--The people who were able to take care of the knee situation so that my husband could come home.
--The relatives who were willing to come and get my husband home--that night was dreadful in the weather department, and I was afraid if he slipped on the driveway, steps, or elsewhere, that we would just end up back in the ER....They came and got him out of the hospital and into the house, so no worries.

Just something to think about:

Who would you turn to in a situation like this?

We're grateful for the neighbors who so graciously helped us (they know who they are), and the relatives who were able to provide some transportation while I picked up the children. And it's always good to have access to medical professionals when the situation warrants it. We feel blessed that we had so many people to help us that day.

And, changing the subject....

After blogging steadily for so long, I sure did give myself quite the blogging break. :) Thanks for coming back to read, and I hope everyone has had a great January!