Day 4 of No Water: Laundry

Filling the tub with warm water, soap and clothes.

I've been trying to update this post since last night, but blogger has been having fits it seems, and keeps having an "error while saving".

I'll try and make this short.  Yesterday, I woke to a busted pipe in the bathroom, the one connecting the 1100 water tank to the water heater.  We were saving the last few gallons for flushing, but a fitting came apart flooding the house.  It was so special...on the up side the bathroom is clean ;-)  I've been wanting to clean it for a long time, but haven't been able to work up the motivation.  Unfortunately, I had prayed this past week for the Lord to motivate me.  I hadn't planned on his letting the pipes burst to do it though.  FYI:  please don't pray for motivation or patience.  You have been warned.

I did  manage to get two loads of laundry done in the Wonder Wash.  Primarily PS2 teensy little under pants.  We are potty training, and I have to wash these daily.  We only have 8 pairs. 

After swimming we came in to get ready for bed.  I put PS2 on the futon in the living room area, and we watched "Finding Nemo" (again) until he fell asleep.  At this point, I put in one of my "Stargate" DVDs.  I have five seasons on DVD, and tend to watch them a lot, along with my "Jericho" DVDs.  Primarily for noise while I type, or work on the girls' lesson plans for their schoolwork.

Off to bed, it's after midnight.



Day 3 of No Water - Dishes

Heating up water on the stove to wash dishes

We are on day three of no water to the house.  We have about 400 gallons left in the tank, and I did get about 10 gallons from the town house to have inside.  We are saving the 400 gallons to flush the toilet when necessary.  PH felt that at his age he didn't want to be digging a hole for an outhouse in cement hard dirt, UNLESS he absolutely had to..

I've been able to wash dishes today and make laundry soap.  Tomorrow PS and I will do laundry while PH is at work.  I'll try to remember to take pictures of the Wonder Wash in action.

PH was able to sell some items and come up with the money to fix the well.  He even looked at the Bison Pump information on line, and asked me to contact the representative to ask a couple of questions, and email a picture to see it will work with our well casing.  I was so excited.  If we are going to have to pay a couple of thousand for a new electric pump, I'd rather have a non electric one.  PH looked at the Solar Jack pump also.  It will be a little more work, but you have no idea how I have been wondering about what to do for water "just in case".  I knew PH would be able to come up with some way to get water, but I still worried a little (ok, I worried a lot!)

In keeping with my plan to cook from my storage, or what I have on hand, we had baked potatoes with butter, bacon, onions and cheese for dinner.  Drank raw milk from the local dairy.  Man I love that milk!  We had plums for dessert instead of cantelope.  PH picked seven the other day, and we are really tiring of cantelope.  It will be back to eating them tomorrow before they go bad. 

Did I mention one of my hens is broody again.  She is sitting on one egg.  She gets really flustered when I open the nesting box door to check on her.  The other hens aren't laying.  I assume due to the extreme heat (103 today).  My incubator eggs are due to hatch this week, I can't wait. 

Asked PH to check on getting some used fork lift batteries at his work.  I'd like to use them to power the house (t.v./dvd/computer/modem/lights) by charging them with the generator.  We don't have solar panels yet, just a few solar lights/lanterns.  Often I use the car battery and inverter, but it runs the car's battery down really quickly. 

On a different note...what is up with our tattle tale "Commander in Creep".  Everytime I turn around the man is on television trying to convince the citizens of this country that he is not to blame.  What happened to the buck stops here?  He is "in charge" (snicker) so it is his fault.  Just like blame or praise could be laid at the feet of any of the past Presidents.  I hesitate to use that word, as I do not consider the current man occupying the White House to be "my" President.  Out here on the Prairie we didn't vote Democrat (or Republican either), and because we don't  believe he is a legal leader we do not acknowledge him..We are rooting for the Republic of Texas, actually, the Nation of Texas is a better fit ;-)  I truly hope no one is buying this schmuck's white wash...

 Please keep your eyes open, with the S&P downgrading the nation's credit worthiness (with just cause, should have been lower), the possiblity of hyperinflation is in our future.  I am praying that the Lord spares us at this time, but I am not confident the Lord will, it may be our time.  It is for certain our dollar is even more devaluted, so I look for price increases to be rampant, as well as, loans being even harder to obtain.

We went swimming again tonight.  I love swimming in the dark.  Floating there while looking up at the night sky.  The moon and stars are beautiful.  We saw one meteor streaking across the sky...the height of the Perseids isn't here yet, but every now and then you can catch one.  PH was excited to see one moving rapidly from South to North.  We need to break out the telescope again.  I don't believe we have used it since last summer! 

Off to bed, we'll be up early to get the laundry done and on the line before the heat of the day hits us.

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. 

 

Chickens

Prairie Son #2 - 2 1/2 years old

PS2 is shown here giving a tour of the newly repaired chicken coop.  We haven't used it in over a year because it was in a sad state of disrepair, and the dog kennel (supposed to be chicken coop) had been built around it.  The coop weighs at least 400 lbs, and was very difficult to move out of the kennel area to it's new home under a tree. 

We put a dozen eggs in the incubator yesterday, so it will be around August 13th when we expect a hatching.  We are praying that most will hatch out, and that we will get a good division of hens/roosters.  We plan to add the hens to our laying flock, and butcher the roosters.

We hatched out two little chicks a couple months ago.  It wasn't a good hatch rate, but it was our first incubation experiment.  This time we have an egg turner to turn the eggs for us, and we don't have to do it by hand ;-)  So much nicer.  I continue to monitor the temperature and humidity, making adjustments when necessary. 

I am inventorying my pantry and working up my grocery list.  The "plan" is to make a grocery run next month.  I haven't been for a couple of months.  Due to building our house, I have slacked off on replenishing our pantry, a bad "no no".

PD2 made the comment to me yesterday that she doesn't think we'd be able to eat out of our pantry for a year.  She was worried about it, and asked me what we were going to do.  This makes me smile, as she has been learning something after all!  She will be 14 soon, and so far she still thinks "I know it all" or maybe she thinks that I am a "Know It All".  Not sure which LOL!

She also asked me today if I was the only one who thought the way I do, about prepping.  I told her NO!  There are people more prepared, and others not as prepared.  She asked me why.  I had to be honest with her and tell her that many people like to hide their heads in the sand, and while they may be Christians, Christians are human.  Obedience is a struggle for all, though some find it easier to obey. 

Unless you think I am being "self righteous" like the Pharisee, that is not the case.  I firmly acknowledge that I struggle with obedience.  Most of the time I am not aware that I am needing to obey on some issue until it is brought to my attention.  Once I am aware, I struggle to comply.

We talked about the end times, and she mentioned that she is scared to die.  I told her we all are, but while being scared of pain and death is natural, she needs to make sure of her salvation.  I encouraged her to ask me, our Pastor or a good friend of ours for advice.

Keeping with the theme of Chickens, we had Chicken and Dumplings for dinner.  I am so proud of myself.  On Friday, I roasted the chicken for the girls dinner.  On Saturday, PD1 ate more chicken, PD2 ate tortillas we made, and PH and I had chicken ranchero tacos on homemade tortillas.  Today, I boiled the carcass, adding another 1/2 gallon of chicken stock I had put up last week, and we had some great chicken and dumplings.  PD2 helped with cutting the dumplings (she turned 8 on Friday).

Chicken Ranchero Tacos

Cut cooked breast meat from chicken.  Reheat in cast iron skillet (use a little olive oil), add homemade salsa (amount to your taste), stirring to heat salsa and coat chicken.  Take a couple handfuls of  cheddar (we use organic white cheddar) and place on top of chicken and salsa mixture.  Let melt.  Scoop onto flour tortillas and enjoy!  Add tortilla chips and more salsa to plate or make Spanish rice and you have a great meal.

We use the tortilla recipe off of the Hillbilly Housewife website www.hillbillyhousewife.com

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...

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!  I am so thankful to live in America.  Even with all of our governmental problems, this is a great country, made great by the Constitution and our wonderful citizens.  This evening PH cooked on the grill.  I had planned a simple meal for us, since we were staying home, with no company coming over.  Due to the burn ban we were unable to do our annual firework get together, and there weren't any displays allowed in the state as a whole from what I gathered from the news.  Kind of sad really, but safer, fire wise.  Today's menu looked like this:

Grilled Chicken
Hamburgers with homemade buns (lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup)
homemade bread
homemade dill pickles
home grown watermelon fresh from the garden
Blue Bell Ice Cream (It's a TEXAS thang!)

I didn't have to go stand in long lines for any of our meal items, other than ice cream, we had everything on hand to make.  The buns took the longest as I had to let them rise TWICE!

This weekend was a great weekend, very relaxing for our family.  PH was off from work today, but was still up early to mow the front field.  Yes, we could actually mow!  We've been a drought since like forever, but received 2 inches of rain two weeks ago (about that), and the pastures are looking great.  PH and I had been watering like crazy people, and our electrical bill shows it.  I am thankful we don't have to pay a water bill, because our electric bill was high enough  I am trying to save my pennies for a solar jack pump, but it seems like I need more and more pennies lately, and I need to divide them among a lot of projects.  (sigh)

Project 1:  House
Project 2: Fencing
Project 3: Well/Pump
Project 4:  Pond Expansion
Project 5:  Water Catchment
Project 6:  think up new projects

I have been on a kick to only cook from my food stores.  It makes it very difficult when PH and the Prairie Kids (PKs) are fast food junkies.  I can no longer eat fast food as I get sick every time.  I wonder if it comes from eating healthier, organic food?  My body just can't process the "yuck" anymore.  Oh, it's a good thing (for me) but it makes it difficult when my spendthrift Prairie Family wants to eat out.  This normally amounts to once a week, when PH gets paid. 

Anyway...this weekend I have been trying new bread recipes.  I am on the never ending quest for "the" perfect sandwich bread recipe.  I've also made homemade doughnuts for breakfast, drop biscuits and canadian bacon, made hamburger buns for our lunch today along with a small mini loaf of bread.  I only made six buns because the PKs don't eat (or won't eat) hamburger, and one PK has to eat gluten free.  So, I had PH take the bone saw and cut an organic, pasture raised, locally grown, roasting chicken in half.  I rubbed each side with Olive Oil and PH cooked them on the grill.  I made 4 hamburgers with 1 lb of organic beef.

In case I haven't shared about our new eating habits.  We have been working on our long term storage pantry since 2006, but recently due to health, financial, political, religious (okay really ALL kinds) concerns we have switched to eating healthier.  We buy local from friends and area farmers for our beef, honey, and poultry.  I purchase raw milk from the local dairy and we make our own butter from the cream.  This tired PW has been canning up our harvest.  It has proven difficult to get all the vegetables we wanted canned due to the drought, but every little bit helps.  In the past, we stored up using store bought canned goods, though I did make wild mustang grape jelly every year, as well as, strawberry jam.  This year I canned up 2 dozen quarts of a seasoned tomato sauce, 2 dozen jars of dill pickles and 2 dozen jars of sweet pickles.  I also canned about 5 quarts of jalapeno salsa, and put a bushel of corn in the freezer.  All in all, I have far short of the number of quarts I wanted to put up from the garden.  Our green beans did NOTHING.  We are getting ready to plant our second garden, so we will see how it turns out.  Next on the agenda is to begin canning meats. 

**WARNING BUTCHERING PICTURES COMING UP**



We butchered our first buckling this weekend.  He was a little young (4 months) but one of our dogs attacked him and damaged his mouth beyond fixing, so we didn't want him to go to waste.  PH followed a YouTube video to get the job done.  We are such high tech, red necks! Ha, ha, ha...
After hacking the carcass into 8 different pieces, I wrapped up each piece in white butcher paper in placed in the freezer.  I'd like to make some stew from the meat and can it, but I am still working on the logistics. 

Our little prairie cabin isn't getting any bigger, and large canning processes will need to take place out of doors.  PH helped get me started on my outdoor kitchen today by moving one of the HEAVY metal picnic tables behind the cabin/container, arranging the gas and wood grills plus additional prep tables in the shade. 

More later! 

Prairie Chickens and Produce

We have new additions to the homestead.  I have had chickens on a regular basis, but our "lovely" Pyr likes to kill them.  He is contained now, and I am again free to have chickens.  Prairie Husband (PH) and I will be raising chickens to butcher.  Like a good little PW I have been wanting to do this for awhile.  With the rising food prices, it is proving to be a must at this time.

We bought an incubator today to hatch out some chicks.  We have an assorted flock of Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpingtons and two little bantys.  The "plan" is to hatch out the chicks, raise them to a good size, then butcher and can the meat. 

Our birds currently free range.  That wasn't in the "plan", but they escaped from the original coop, and I haven't caught them yet.  Trying to lure them into the new coop is proving to be a comedy of errors.  Two hens will go in the coop, but the remaining hens and rooster, sleep nearby.  This is preventing me from locking them up.  I need to consult my "Super Prairie Wife Guide to Tricking Chickens" to find out how to get these little buggers in the coop.  I'd love for them to free range, but too many critters around here like the taste of chicken (dogs, possum, racoons, badgers, and cats (not the local mountain lion, I think they like bigger prey).

PH is taking over the garden this year.  Which is a big relief, because this PW has a black thumb.  Black Thumb is highly contagious, especially to vegetation that we would like to eat.  Black thumb normally causes produce related vegetation to wither and die, with no hope of resucitation.  Since we plan to can a lot this year, to keep us in food this coming year, something drastic had to be done.  So, the garden was turned over to PH, who is a many generation farmer (at heart), and a certified horticulturist from a college and everything!

Our eldest PS (Prairie Son) has luckily inherited his father's gene's, and is learning at the feet of his PP (Prairie PaPa).  My FIL grew up on  a farm in Alabama.  His father grew cotton, plus they had the house garden that they canned up. In the 30's and 40's, if you didn't grow it or raise it, you likely didn't eat it. 
My FIL is a wealth of knowledge, which I try to tap, but he isn't too forthcoming. 

PS1 is currently living with his grandparents and caring for them in their later years.  He planted a large garden for me there, as they don't have goats.  So my main food source is about 10 miles from here.  We planted potatoes here, as well as, two different types of green beans, cantalope, cucumbers, and mescullin.  PH and I will be adding additional items, and planting subsequent crops this year, all in the hope of canning at least 200 quarts of food.  I'll let you know how THAT works out.