Preparations Update

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Tonight, I bought something I’ve needed for a long time… a couple of analog thermometers. The ones I see at the box stores and wally’s are all digital. I got these at tractor supply. Both of them with tax, about $8. They measure temp and humidity.

When I moved back here there was one in the bathroom that had belonged to my grandfather. It made sense… it was the room furthest from any heat source in winter (wood stove). It gave him a good over view of his home’s ambient temp.

A few years ago I got my nephew to pull out my old bath tub and install a walk in shower. Somehow my grandpa’s thermometer got knocked off the wall and broken that week… a shame… It was from the 50’s or 60’s, a cigarette ad on the metal plate, Winston I think. I liked it.

Thermometer.jpg
 
Just made an online purchase of 14 cases of different kinds of canned goods from walmart. I pick them up on friday at my local store. You can only order 12 cans at a time.
Trying to get a jump on any food prices increase because of the floods out west. Or just the crazy weather everywhere ( heard celery is outrageous in price up in Canada now because of the weather in California).
Next I'll be looking at some canned meats. I've bought walmart's brand of roast beef in au ju broth and its pretty good. Makes great open faced sandwiches. And I use canned chicken for chicken salad and for quick soups
Of course I have spam and dak hams which are being rotated through lol ( saw a video where a lady made some garlic toast, fried spam and baked beans on top. looked really good. kinda made my mouth water lol)
Anybody have any idea of what kind of canned salmon is good? We don't like tuna but we do eat salmon in the can but I haven't bought any for a couple of years now. I like to make salmon cakes from it
 
At one time all the salmon canneries were owned by the same family. That's not true today. Any wild caught salmon is fine. I'd not buy nor eat farmed salmon. Farmed salmon get circling disease, the fish equivalent of mad cow disease, and their meat is mushy. One of my favourite bumper stickers is, "fiends don't let friends eat farmed fish."
 
Added to our preps with -
- a 100, 200, and 300mm post hole auger pieces and extension pieces bought cheaper as they were returns for a company who didn't receive the motors in their order.
- a 30 m x 3.66 m roll of shadecloth.
- 3.5 - 4 cubic metres of horse manure for building bulk and humus in our raised garden beds.
- a set wire netting clip pliers and netting clips.
- and another 2 cubic metres of ironbark firewood from a lightning downed tree we cut from a roadside rest area free of charge apart from a little fuel for the car and chainsaw and oil for the chainsaw. Yet to split it but we are starting to gather for next winters firewood and this firewood is still somewhat green due to the weight so will need to dry for a few months yet .
- Also added more multivitamins, probiotics, fabric bandaids, peroxide and island dressings to our medical preps too.
 
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I bought another 5lbs of flour to put in the freezer then vacuum seal. With the flooding out west I'm trying to think of what crops will be lost. I know corn,wheat and beef are some but not what else.
With all of the rain everywhere potato crops aren't being put in right now. Some out west are months behind so I figure to start adding those when on sale and the commercially canned type to the storage. I should also add more canned tropical fruits too since hubby likes them as dessert. We live in orchard country so apples, peaches, cherries and pears are no problem in obtaining

I've been doing the same.
 
Flour prices have just gone up here a little while ago by 15c per kilogram due to the floods and droughts here and another thing to think of stocking is grains as well such as rice, wheat and chicken feed as well.
yep and I'm thinking it will happen here also. Thats why I've been buying 5lb bags here and there freezing and then vacuum sealing. I figure if anything later on I can oven can the flour to get it to last longer still
I plan on buying more rice too and oatmeal
 
Also I might add that meat prices have skyrocketed after the floods and drought being minced beef $1 kg, whole chickens $1.50 kg, rump steak around $4 kg things that we use we notice more on the price changes. Rolled oats have held steady in price though and the cost of vegetables have gone up considerably. Can't wait to get our vegetable gardens in here to save us a bulk amount of money over buying shop purchased ones.
 
Went to Aldi and stocked up on nuts and freeze dried pouches of fruit. Also bought a bunch of breakfast bars and an aloe plant.

Added some masks and filters and tyvek suits to the med kit along with a blood pressure monitor. Also added a bunch of gauze and paper towels. Added a few meds as well including zyrtec, benedryl, and vitamins.

Bought some more ammo at WM. Also did some target shooting last weekend.

Topped off the propane tanks......should be good to go for the upcoming winter.

Cut a little bit of old fallen dried wood on our property for outdoor camp fires.

Bought a few bags of dog food. Pups should be set for 6 months or so.

Bought some new outdoor camp chairs........more of a spluge than a prep.:p
 
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Been buying rice and vacuum sealing it in half gallon jars
Did buy one can of salmon so we can test it to see if we like it and how it cooks up when I make patties from it
Looking into price comparing some freeze dried fruits from different online places

I've been making a list of things to buy to stock up on and one of them are the potato flakes in the envelopes. I forgot to buy some last time I was at the store. I use those to make potato cakes, thicken soups and to make potato soup with. Hubby doesn't like them used as mashed potatoes.
 
Topped up on over the last week or so -
- 4 x 100 pk paracetamol.
- 8 x shave sticks for DH.
- 3/4's of a cubic metre of cow manure free from a friends farm.
- 8 x 250 g of Philadelphia cream cheese, 11 x pasta and sauces, 4 pkts of nice biscuits, a box of cereal all on super good specials.
- 11 x 4.0 pkts of wool ceiling insulation batts each covering 12.1 m2 to insulate our ceiling roof cavity with which will save us money on cooling costs hopefully when summer gets here and keep us warmer in winter too.
 
Topped up today on -

- a box of 60 x 15 ml ampules of sodium chloride for a fantastic price saving around $25 on the box by buying in bulk and using our pharmacy 15% off discount membership card.
- We also topped up on 5 lts of two stroke oil saving $15.86 over buying an equivalent amount in other brands or in smaller containers.
 
I've been adding something extra to the cart when I go to the grocery store. It can be anything from rice to canned pineapple( for hubby) to coffee to soups. I'm glad I made that big canned foods purchase this month
Was watching a short video on the GSM and the flooding in the mid west and how crops are going to be short or not even planted. The point was corn is used for high fructose corn syrup which is in almost everything in the grocery store except the "organic" and produce section and that is one reason why food prices will go up.
Also saw where california has lost its cherry crop from storms and I believe some other fruits, so of course the price of those will be going up.

Anyone ever notice that the price of food will go up for whatever disaster ( weather, bugs,etc) but then when its over the price never comes back down even though crop harvests are fine again? That makes me angry
 
@WVDragonlady I have noticed that here on a majority of things although butter did come down in price by .15 c per 500 g which did shock me as we are still in drought and a lot of dairy farmers are struggling and either walking off the land or having their properties repossessed by the banks here.

I think people though are voting with their wallets here and just not buying the expensive products and they are forced to bring the prices back down again.

We are like you and others and when we see a super deal/special or clearance on something we buy it by the carton.
 
At one time all the salmon canneries were owned by the same family. That's not true today. Any wild caught salmon is fine. I'd not buy nor eat farmed salmon. Farmed salmon get circling disease, the fish equivalent of mad cow disease, and their meat is mushy. One of my favorite bumper stickers is, "fiends don't let friends eat farmed fish."
Thank you for this. I have thought about those who have ponds raising their own fish. If one of us farmed salmon, what would be able to do to prevent getting circling disease?
 
Topped up today on -

- a box of 60 x 15 ml ampules of sodium chloride for a fantastic price saving around $25 on the box by buying in bulk and using our pharmacy 15% off discount membership card.
- We also topped up on 5 lts of two stroke oil saving $15.86 over buying an equivalent amount in other brands or in smaller containers.

Sewing, I got some good deals on gauze, adhesive tape, peroxide, bandaides last week. Alcohol prices are really up now so didn't buy any. I had to re-supply my medicine cabinet.
 
I am very aware of how wet it is in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, but I am sure other states in the area are struggling as well. People who have been farming their whole lives find for the first time, cannot get in their fields. They have been struggling with drought for a while, and now this.
In Colorado, Mother's Day is the day that many have used as their guideline for planting their gardens. With the snow storm last week, many gardens are being re-planted. I imaging the commercial gardens are also replanting as well.

I am grateful for food storage. A can here, a can there, and it adds up.
 
I am very aware of how wet it is in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, but I am sure other states in the area are struggling as well. People who have been farming their whole lives find for the first time, cannot get in their fields. They have been struggling with drought for a while, and now this.
In Colorado, Mother's Day is the day that many have used as their guideline for planting their gardens. With the snow storm last week, many gardens are being re-planted. I imaging the commercial gardens are also replanting as well.

I am grateful for food storage. A can here, a can there, and it adds up.

I bought more flour last month from King Arthur than usual since the wheat fields are under water. I ordered 30 lb.s in 5lb. bags. Sealed them and put them up.
 
@Meerkat I am glad you were able to stock up your medical supplies and flour at good prices. That is the way to do it is to stock up when you see the sales as it does save so much over the course of a year.

We are noticing the larger supermarkets are not having as many sales and very few half price sales but the smaller independent ones are so we will shop wherever it is cheapest for the items we need to buy or stock up on. Our larger supermarket used to also have 16.66% off e-vouchers which they have now stopped too but we took advantage and really stocked up our food storage while they had it so it got us a long way ahead.
 
Just added 10 more boxes of pastas
4lbs of old fashioned oats ( rolled oats)
5 small cans of chicken breast
3 cans of coffee
5 envelopes of Knorr flavored pastas
3 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix
6 cans of pineapple chunks
1 jar of yeast
1 jar of wheat germ


Had annual physical
Eye exam in 2 weeks
 
Good on you @WVDragonlady on being prepared for any possible shortages due to weather conditions. Even if the shortages don't eventuate prices are always rising and you will be ahead anyway. We worked out the interest we get from stocking groceries here is better than bank interest due to inflation in prices or sort of another investment/bank/emergency kitty is the way we look at it.
 

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