It’s been a nice week with really glorious weather. We’ve eaten dinner out on the patio and it’s been great. The mosquitos are coming out though so that’s a pain. Just when it’s getting nice enough to sit out after dinner, wham, mosquitos buzzing. I guess I ‘ll try and find the bug spray today.
The chickies are growing and going outside in a new cage on the grass but still coming into the dog crate at night. They have t least another month of going back and forth and then they will still need to be separated from the big girls for a while. Getting chickens is actually a lot of work. But by September we will start getting some eggs so that’s nice.
This week I have my doctor’s appt and I will be doing a video appt. I’m not sure how they set it up yet but should know tomorrow( Monday).
I went down to our Holiday market the other day when they opened( 7 am). Spent a small fortune but got some extra things for the prepper pantry. Ever since we moved to this area in 1975, I have been a bulk buyer. Beans, rice, honey, oats, etc. We had a small co-op in Auburn at that time and we could order stuff. We also did a buying club with what is now UNFI( That Barclay just retired from after 25 years). It was Mountain Peoples Warehouse then and you could order bulk things even dairy like cheese. Then a group would get together and separate out orders. I don’t think they allow buying clubs anymore but I could be wrong. Anyway, that’s what we did. Somewhere after embracing a minimalist house, I started backing off on having a prepper pantry. I still would buy Lundberg brown rice and a case of tomatoes from Costco but I had been trying to back off it. Then all this Shit hits with Covid-19 and yes, I am back in buying bulk in full swing.
A prepper pantry though just isn’t bulk rice but enough food that could last you anywhere from 3 – 12 months. Now I don’t want a bunker with guns and food but I do want to build up my pantry.
Some stuff I’m putting out in the barn on the restaurant shelves( stainless steel). Extra dish soap, laundry soap, canned goods are going out there. Some packaged goods are going in bins to store. I’m planning on buying a food preserver thing that seals the contents of the bag but I want to wait and see what Costco’s looks like before I commit to it.
So far my plan is to have a dozen boxes of Pasta, a case of kidney beans, a case of cannellini beans, a case of refried beans, a case of tomatoes, and other smaller quantities of condiments, sauces. Mostly stuff I know would eat normally. I did buy 8 freeze-dried meals but I’m not sure about doing that again as that is not something we would normally eat. I’ve been meaning to try one just to see how it is. Also a couple of boxes of tea and sugar. I keep some extra coffee in the freezer but in a shut down that wouldn’t last long. Maybe I’ll check into instant or freeze-dried coffee as a backup.
Right now the freezer is being eaten down and I haven’t bought a lot to replace things till I get to Costco which I’m thinking will be mid-May.
Dinners have been uninspired like spaghetti and sauce, meatloaf( I bought as I don’t know how to make a good one), rice and beans, grilled chicken, salad, and just normal stuff. Tonight I am grilling chicken outside and will make a potato salad I think. I made a nut loaf with brown rice yesterday so I will serve that to B.
Well, life goes on, or as the chaos theorist in Jurassic Park says” Life finds a way”.
Flylady has two zones this week. Living room zone and entryway zone. I did the living room already but still need to vacuum.
Tahoe Girl 
It’s been pretty cold in Michigan the last few weeks, mostly 40s. Today is mid 50s and sunny. We are watching birds at our feeders and we have a bluebird couple nesting in one of our birdhouses. So it feels like spring today.
I have never considered storing a stockpile of stuff but this experience makes me think about it. I do have an upright freezer and that is usually fairly well stocked with meats and fish and frozen veg.
I do have a fairly well stocked pantry with canned goods like beans, tomatoes, etc.
My grocery store frequently has 10 for $10 sales and I will buy 10 bottles of ranch dressing or spaghetti sauce, etc at a good savings. So I think we could survive for a month or 2 but I can see now that might not be nearly enough. I know, for sure, I will never get low on toilet paper again!
I love the idea of chickens but I really don’t want the work. We get eggs from our neighbor so that’s convenient.
I hope you Dr appt goes well.
Stay safe.
I forgot how much work they are really except it’s my daughter doing it all. She takes them out to their little outside pen and then back in at night. I think by next weekend they’ll be in the big coop but locked up in a smaller cage at night. Somehow I’m terrible at getting those sale deals. I don’t get newspapers so I never know when they’re happening. But that is the best and most frugal way of getting a pantry stocked. Next time I’m at Winco I will do a big shop and most of that will can and non-perishable food.
I have the same problem – when it’s warm enough to eat outside, it’s warm enough for mozzies to eat me. As well as mosquitoes, we have tiny things we call midgies that bite harder than mozzies. My lower legs are a mess of bites from sitting outside of an evening.
I wanted chickens but all the daily work put me off. I’m too busy in term time as it is.
Last night wasn’t too bad but I did find the bug spray:)
For your sanities sake do not go to Costco.
You’re probably right. It’s still a big if. I heard from a friend that at 7:45am the line was around the building.