The weather has been HOT lately.  I don't mean just your average almost 100 degree hot, but 116 at 4:30 p.m. hot.  The kind of hot when you walk outside your skin starts shriveling up.  The garden is doing great though...cantelopes are ripening, and PH brought in SEVEN of them this morning.  Our 2 year old PS asked for me to cut one right away, and then he ate 1/2 of another before going to bed...Ah, diaper changing should be fun tomorrow...I wish potty training was advancing better.  Boys are so much harder to potty train than girls (sigh).

PH has been working on our new cabin.  This time a REAL cabin, and not a 45 foot long, 8 foot wide metal shipping container that this PW calls a cabin to make herself feel better. 

I did laundry today, and sometime around 7 p.m., PH noticed the small pond by the bridge was totally dry.  Confused as to why he went over to the well and fiddled around with it.  Soon PH popped up with a bunch of words I cannot print here, and almost looked as if he was going to cry.

Apparently, our well pump is not working, and we didn't notice this...our 1100 gallon water tank that was supposed to be our safe guard in case the pump stopped working was practically empty.  Because PH didn't know the main well wasn't refilling the tank, he had basically drained it dry (my two loads of laundry didn't help I am sure) while he was mixing cement to put the piers in for the new house.  There is a foot of water in the tank.  So effective NOW we are shut down.  We have no water for laundry or bathing.  Praise the Lord!  This PW had the foresight to purchase those big blue water storage containers and had them filled, plus several plastic jugs of water. 

I had also cleaned and added water to the above ground pool, so the water level is blessedly high and it's clean.  So, because we couldn't take a shower we went swimming.  I then washed my hair, while standing in the grass, and poured a bucket of water over my head (it's one of the kid's buckets to fill with sand at the beach).  PH looked at me like I was crazy, but he soon relented.  After working in the hot sun all day, he was fragrant.  And not with the sweet, smell of prairie grass, but a really great prairie funk!  He soaped up from head to toe, and poured a couple of buckets over his head, then went swimming.  Good thing we live in the country!  Wouldn't want the neigbhors shocked over flagrant
"nekkidness". 

On the agenda tomorrow after church, PH and I will head over to our town house (soon to be sold I hope) and fill up water containers.  Good thing the main pond is full.  PH had been keeping it filled for the horses, and the rain a couple of weeks ago, has the pond overflowing.  The horses and goats should be okay for awhile.  This will give us time to get the well fixed, and maybe God will send us rain in the meantime.

This is a good lesson in a "survival" situation.  If this was when TMHTF (The Manure Hitting the Fan) what would our options be?  Personally, PW (that's me) has been "gently" encouraging PH to install a windmill, solarjack or Bison hand pump, but PH believes that is a "STUPID" idea.  I'm not so sure.  If we had the windmill, it would still be turning, if we had the hand pump, we could take turns pumping it to fill the 1100 gallon water tank, and then we'd have a water supply.  (sigh)

So, for the next few weeks we will be using our travel toilet, and digging an outhouse.  Hauling water from the pond to flush with is no fun.  Been there, done that....NO FUN!

We have drinking water, and can bathe at the town house, or have a sponge bath.  I did get the solar shower bag out of the box in the kitchen, and will fill it and hang it up outside the door.  This will allow PH to rinse the dirt off and go to bed clean and ready for work on Monday.

Washing clothes will be in my Wonder Wash http://www.laundry-alternative.com/products/Wonderwash.html.  I received this for Christmas several years ago, and haven't had the opportunity to use it more than twice. 

This has caused me to look at my other preparations.  I noticed I am low on kerosene, and that I need new wicks for the oil lamps.  Burning oil lamps is necessary sometimes, candles don't give out a lot of light.  Candles are okay for washing dishes, but sometimes I need additional light to look for something, read, sew, etc.  An oil lamp is a poor substitute for a regular lamp, but I also have battery operated lanterns that I use on a regular basis.

Check back with us to see how we are doing, and if anyone has died from the "harsh" conditions LOL.  BTW our PDs (13 and 8) are staying with family, not because of the water situation, but because their PU (Prairie Uncle) is LOADS of fun, and likes to spoil them. 

 

Building and Preparing

PH and I are starting to build our house.  Well, no building has happened yet, but the dimensions for the house has been laid out with string, squared and 20 holes for the pier and beam foundation have been dug.  PH is scouting the best price for the posts he plans to use.  We will be getting them and the concrete this next week.

We are feeling some urgency to get more prepared food wise/self sufficient wise.  I've been too complacent the past year or so, raising a baby takes the focus off sometimes, the lack of sleep I suppose.  Being in my 40's with a baby doesn't help, I feel the brain drain ;-)

I re-organized my pantry this week, cleaned out old items (not many Praise God), wiped them off, and took a stock of what I need.  I have let things get seriously low (though my family still believes I am a food hoarder LOL!)

A few items on my list so I won't forget:

chocolate chips
baking powder
baking soda
powdered milk
milking bucket
strainer
cheesecloth
rennet
canning lids
flour (100 lbs on hand)
wheat berries (only 300 lbs left)
sugar (35 lbs)
cornmeal
shampoo
bleach
sewing needles
dental repair kit (6 of them)
herbal meds
firewood (only 3 cords)
new jar for churn
wash board
lye (I guess I could make my own)
shoes/boots
more seeds (never enough)
roofing nails
more tools
incubate more chicks
extra blades for bone saw

I've canned for awhile but only ever jam/jelly and pickles, sometimes tomatoes.  I have branched out this year, and have 3 quarts of pinto beans (LOL).  I use the pressure canner for the first time the other night.  Hoping to start canning some meat soon.  We'll be butchering another goat, and I plan to take the meat and get it made into ground meat.  I'll then brown it and can it.  I am not a big freezer person.  I have had one for only two years.  I'd like to stock it full, but realistically if I don't get most of it canned, I anticipate it going bad if I ever lose power.  It is something I think about every time the power goes out.  PH never has enough fuel for the generator.  That is our one prep area we disagree on.  He doesn't want to store fuel, and I do..So guess what, we don't (sigh).  PH needs a smack on the head. ;-)

Our congregation is working towards preparation, and using our land as a retreat if necessary.  I'll lay out the plans more in the next few weeks as we finalize goals/plans.  This is a big step for our congregation, as most have not supported the need for preparing, no matter that Proverbs 31 tells us to do so.

We've enlarged the pond/water holding area, so that there is water in each pasture now for the animals.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, sorry if I am repeating myself.  Living on the prairie in the hot, Texas sun is addling this Prairie mama's brain at times.  Ordering fish to stock the pond is on the list, and will be accomplished as we approach the fall.  Too hot now, and we want to give the little feeder fish a good start during cooler weather.

PD#1 has been working closely with me in the kitchen lately.  Part of her schooling/homemaking class.  We will start more intensely in the Fall.  I am ordering a new curriculum for her called "Above Rubies".  There is another prepping curriculum I am ordering too...

Off to work on my lists: clothing, tools, food, fuel and MORE...