STILL ALIVE AND PREPPING!

In the two years since my last post here so many of you have been busy reading! It has been amazing to come back and find that so many of you, actually thousands of you, have stopped by and read the blog. I realize now, more than ever, how many of us are constantly searching out information on emergency preparedness for ourselves, our families and our friends. It is heartwarming to think maybe a few of our experiences and ideas posted here have hopefully helped some of you and your endeavors to "be prepared."

Even though the posts here fell away for a while, rest assured our "prepping" hasn't stopped. Hopefully, in 2015, life will slow down a little and I can get back to posting here more information about what we have learned and experienced in our continued work in keeping prepared, as well as update some of the information links. If you see information on the blog that you would like to share with others (as Mrs Quilty recently asked about), please be sure to properly reference this blog's name and the blog's web link.

Keep warm this winter everyone, and our family hope's all of you have a safe and happy holiday season!

Why You May Never Decide to Prepare for an Emergency

When I began blogging here, I knew before I began that even if people read my posts and heard how it easy it is to prepare by making a plan and taking action, most would never do it. It's a fact I understood long ago when I first starting seeing more and more FEMA commercials. I would strike up a conversation with family members or friends and ask them if they had made any emergency preparations and every single one answered, "No." I struggled with a way to try and convince them but knew that like everything else, once people get set in their ways it's hard to convince them otherwise.

Maybe you're the same way. Maybe you're reading this post and thinking to yourself why should I bother preparing? Nothing is ever going to happen to me. Or maybe for you it feels more like a tug-o-war, should I or shouldn't I? I understand why you would feel that way. I felt the same way years ago, that is until my husband was laid off, until a blizzard trapped us with little food and no heat, until our basement flooded, until we had to file bankruptcy to save our home. We have all thought that nothing is going to happen to us UNTIL it actually does.

But what if I told you that the reason you do not prepare for emergencies is because your mind, your brain, won't let you?  Did you know that your brain actually has a propensity for forgetting the negative and only remembering the positive? So even if you live a town prone to tornados or earthquakes, for example, and you know that your chances are good for having one, you may only remember the positive information that your neighborhood has never had one. Remembering only that fact, because that's all your brain decides to remember gives you a false sense of security that it could never happen to you even though it could.

So when you begin considering whether you should become a prepper, or at the very least make an emergency plan and a 72 hour kit, remember your brain will want to talk you out of it. Your brain doesn't want to think about the possibility that something bad could happen, so don't listen to it. Making yourself override your positive outlook just long enough to make preparations for an emergency might save your life, or help you get by until help does arrive.

Finally, when the government tells us to prepare, we really should listen and not push out the idea that a disaster may or may not happen. Why? Because the government warns us for a reason. Everyday emergency agencies all across the country are battling to keep funding for emergency preparedness and every day they lose a little more. The "Ready or Not" report stated in November that our nation is facing tough challenges to keep us ready. You see if we do not do more to help ourselves, we risk relying on services and help that will likely be nonexistent, even if our brains want us to think otherwise. Here are their "key findings," to read the entire report go here.

• Fifty-one cities—located in 40 states—are at-risk for elimination of Cities Readiness Initiative funds, which support the ability to rapidly distribute and administer vaccinations and medications during emergencies.
• All 10 state labs with “Level 1” chemical threat testing status are at-risk for losing top level capabilities, which could leave the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with the only public health lab in the country with full chemical testing capabilities.
• Twenty-four states are at-risk of losing expert epidemiology support, which has supplemented state and local gaps in the past.
• All academic preparedness research and training academic centers are at-risk for elimination.
• Potential cuts to the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) mean the ability for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to mount a comprehensive response to nuclear detonation, radiological attacks, chemical attacks and natural disasters is at-risk.
• Forty states and Washington, D.C. cut their state public health budgets—29 states cut their budgets for a second year in a row, 15 for three years in a row.
• Forty-one states had cuts in state and local preparedness support through the Public Health Emergency and Preparedness (PHEP) grants from FY 2010 to FY 2011.
• All 50 states and Washington, D.C. had cuts in the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) from FY 2010 to FY 2011.

Need more information? Read and listen to more on why we don't prepare at the following links:
Living In The Century of Disasters
Your Brain Won't Let You to Believe...
Why We Don't Prepare for Disaster

Understanding Distribution Could Save Your Life

If you are new to emergency preparedness planning for yourself or for your family, you may find it hard to understand why our government instructs us to have an emergency supply of no less than three days of food. They have a good reason. It all comes down to distribution. We recently had a record breaking snowstorm in Colorado, and what was the first thing the news began to report on? Grocery store food shortages and fear buying.

You might have also been intrigued with last night's episode of "Doomsday Preppers" which showcased an American trucker who mentioned how critical the trucking industry would be if a disaster would strike. Unfortunately, National Geographic missed the opportunity to really explain what would happen if our country suffered a breakdown in the distribution of goods.

In America, the majority of distribution across our country is done by the trucking industry. In fact, the American Trucking Associations states that nearly 70% of all commodities, including food, are moved by the commercial truck trade. So what does that mean to you and me if there's an emergency in our county or even in our country? It could mean the difference between life and death if commercial trucks have no access to distribute food and supplies to local businesses.


Think about it. If you and I can't access roads, neither can truckers. If they cannot get into your community, your local stores won't be able to restock their shelves. So if you do not prepare ahead of time by having emergency food and supplies on hand now before an emergency, you will definitely put yourself or your family members in danger of going without water, food or even help for medical needs.

Maybe you think a disaster would never hit your neighborhood. Maybe you think you have enough food and water on hand right now to get by for three days. Maybe you think if something bad did happen your neighbors or family would help you. That's a lot of maybe's to count on. Even the American Trucking Associations, not just FEMA, says don't count on maybe, but instead expect that there will be shortages in the time of a crisis and that if there was a terrorist attack or pandemic the government's restriction of trucker's movement could worsen an already dire situation. In my opinion, three days is a good start, but even that might not be enough.

Need a reason to begin preparing for an emergency? Don't just take my word for it, or FEMA's word for it, listen to the truckers who deliver the supplies that our entire country uses every day. Below are some of the main points the American Truckers Associations say you should expect to happen in the event of an emergency. Then read more, go here for the entire detailing of "When Trucks Stop, America Stops."

Their report states, "The American Trucking Associations researched seven key consumer industries to quantify the potential consequences of restricting or halting truck traffic in response to a national or regional emergency." Here's what their tells us to expect:

• Significant shortages will occur in as little as three days, especially for perishable
  items following a national emergency and a ban on truck traffic. Minor
  shortages will occur within one to two days.
• Consumer fear and panic will exacerbate shortages.
• Consumer behavior during emergencies triples the rate of inventory turn-over.
• Supplies of clean drinking water will run dry in two to four weeks.
• Without truck transportation, patient care within the truck stoppage zone will be
  immediately jeopardized.
• Hospitals and nursing homes will exhaust food supplies in as little as 24 hours.
• Pharmacy stocks of prescription drugs will be depleted quickly.
• Hospitals and other diagnostic and treatment facilities will exhaust supplies of
  radiopharmaceuticals and oxygen.
• Service station fuel supplies will start to run out in just one to two days.
• Within days of a truck stoppage, Americans will be literally buried in
  garbage with serious health and environmental consequences.
• Uncollected and deteriorating waste products create rich breeding grounds
  for microorganisms, insects, and other vermin. Hazardous materials and
  medical waste will introduce toxins as well as infectious diseases into living
  environments.
• Just-in-time manufacturers will shut down assembly lines within hours.
• ATM and branch bank cash resources will be exhausted quickly.
• Regular bank functions will cease.

Their detailing of what to expect is a wake up call for all of us, but it shouldn't make us panic. That's why we need to be ready now. We cannot wait until the storm is at our back door for us to run to the store. So don't fear the worst, just prepare for the worst so you are ready now for any emergency.

Cost Nothing New Year Preparedness Ideas

Are all of you as stunned as I am that 2012 is already here and that January is nearly gone? I keep thinking that the older I get the faster the days go by, but I hope that isn't true because I have so many things to get done this year and I don't need time to zip by any faster!

The first few weeks of 2012 have been pretty busy around here. We have already started shopping for seed deals for spring plantings, and we have been doing some rearranging and recommissioning of furniture from other rooms to create more storage space for our food storage and supplies room. The addition of more shelving is something we have truly needed and we're committed not to spend a dime to get accomplished what we need to do.

Like everyone else we're broke and need every penny to get by for our bills and day to day needs and groceries. There are no expendable dollars around here to be used for elaborate shelving units. So whenever we're in a pinch like this we stand back and look around the entire house and the garage and ask ourselves what do we already have that could be repurposed into what we need, and 9 times out 10 we find a solution. This time it was a basement shelving unit whose items could easily fit on a garage shelf. Now we've freed up a whole new shelving unit (actually a really nice Rubbermaid four shelf unit we bought a decade a go that will hold a lot of weight) and we are ready to move it into our storage room this weekend.

I know so many people that want to get working on emergency preparedness but they say time and time again that they just can't afford it. I want to reassure anyone out there who thinks that they can't, that really they can do it. What you really can't afford is seeing your family suffer in a time of crisis. So stay positive and start prepping! Chances are many of the things you need to begin with are already in your house right now and it won't cost you a thing to start! Do you need some ideas on where to begin? Here's a list of things we've done in the past and still do, including our storage shelf repurpose that we are working on this weekend, and they are all things you can do right now, that cost nothing (but a little time) to get you more prepared in 2012. 

• Store your own water instead of buying it. Two liter pop bottles are what most people prefer to use when storing their own water and it’s what FEMA and the EPA and others recommend, but you don’t have to go out and buy pop just to have bottles to store water. Use whatever kind of bottles you have on hand such as plastic juice bottles, tea bottles, milk bottles even, but the key to using these bottles is IMMACULATE washing and disinfecting (with bleach water) and that the bottle you’re using is food safe! You could even use glass bottles but be sure they are stored in a safe place where they won't get broken. Then once the water is stored be sure to rotate and replace water bottles every 6 months to a year. Any water used after a year in storage should be treated or boiled.

• Clean out your food cabinets now and see what you have. Take inventory and start making a list of what you have and what you want to store. If you have any dried goods such as flour or rice that are nearing their expiration date but you don’t have money to replace them, put them in the freezer to extend their shelf life for months beyond their expiration date. However, do not freeze flour in only its original paper, always wrap it with plastic or place in freezer bags or seal it in a Foodsaver bag before freezing.

• Need storage space, don’t buy a shed or remodel, just declutter! Clean up your closets, spare bedroom, basement or attic. It’s time to clear out what you know you don’t need anymore and make room for your emergency preparedness items. When you’re finished, trust me, you will have the biggest weight lifted from your shoulders knowing you got rid of things you never used and you might find emergency preparedness or survival gear you’d forgotten you had which will save you from making an unneeded purchase.

• Don’t buy shelves unless absolutely necessary! We know numerous people who have spent hundreds of dollars on the shelving they use for food storage and we say don’t do it! Why? That’s money you can put into your supplies of foods, batteries, first aid or emergency radios instead spending the money on shelving.  Use of what you have! It doesn't have to be perfect, just functional. Any unused furniture could be used for storage such as two desks stacked to make shelves or an old set of dresser drawers, filing cabinets or a bookcase. If you have no extra furniture then make some yourself from found objects like shelves from free shipping crates often found outside manufacturing buildings, or use plastic milk crates stacked on top of each other. Even old wooden doors with cement blocks stacked between them can make a set of shelves.  

• Don’t go out and buy new backpacks for your get out of dodge (BOB) bag. If the time comes and you have to bug out or evacuate the only thing you really need is something durable and portable. If you’re kids are older but you still have an old diaper bag in the back of your closet use it or an over sized purse or duffel bag. If you’re husband plays hockey, use his old gear bag. I saw a great suggestion on You Tube recently where a prepper suggested a portable shopping cart with wheels that you often see people pulling behind them down city the streets, as it would be perfect if you're not strong enough to carry a bag. Even a plastic storage container or suitcase will work in a pinch as long as you can easily carry it.

• One of the best things you can do for free is get to your local library and get reading. Find first aid or boy scout manuals, books on foraging for food in the wild, you can even find some great survival and food storage books, as well as books on hunting, coping with stress and camping cookbooks. Remember knowledge is power and the more you know the more you’ll be able to cope emotionally during an emergency situation.

• Finally, don’t get obsessed or afraid, just get informed. Know what’s going on in your community and around the world. Keep up with current events so you know when certain food prices are on the rise because of bad crops or that gas is on the rise so you can fill up now instead of next week. Stay aware and know when bad weather may be headed your way. The key is not to get caught off guard and to be ready in case of any emergency by starting now, not waiting until the emergency is at your door step.

Remember, do what you can, when you can do it, and just keep prepping!

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas

To everyone, everywhere, no matter how you celebrate what the meaning of the season is for you, our sincerest wish is that you have a peaceful and love filled time with those you love!

May all your winter dreams come true!

Merry Christmas!

The Preparedness Step Everyone Avoids

As many of you already know, we recently suffered a terrible loss just after Thanksgiving when my husband's father passed away. It's been a difficult time, filled with memories, good and bad, and time to reassess our life as a family and as preppers.

The first lesson we have learned and one that actually has been nagging at all of us I suppose since the day we were born, is that in time we will all die. We know it, we think about it, but unfortunately we almost never prepare for it. Such is the case of my father-in-law, who though he had death benefits for his funeral never had them changed after he remarried and it has been difficult for the family to obtain them to pay for his burial. He never wrote a will. He had purchased his burial plots, but never gave any of his sons power of attorney so they could assure his wishes. It is something none of them expected, even though they all knew his passing would come some day.

This lack of planning has caused numerous financial problems for those left behind. He never talked about the day he might die, whether out of fear or denial no one knows, and he never made sure everyone knew his wishes or that those who would have to have the responsibility of his burial had all the legal means to see it was taken care of.

As preppers, we work daily to assure our family has adequate emergency supplies. We store food, water, first aid and fuel, but in all the years we have been prepping I do not remember once anyone talking about being prepared for their own death. We live each day knowing our last day on earth will eventually arrive and in knowing that we owe it to the loved ones we will leave behind to be prepared for that final day. We need to embrace it's inevitability and we need to take action while we're alive to see that that our death and burial is handled with dignity and does not become a financial burden to those we leave behind.

I urge everyone today to make a list. Write it all down and let your family know where you will keep the list so they know where to find the information about the decisions you will make about your own funeral. (Even if you have already made your plans your family needs to know where the information is kept.) Begin recording your planning by first deciding on where you want to buried. Do you want to be cremated or placed in a casket? Write it down. What do you want to be said at your funeral and who you want to oversee your final wishes? Write it down. Then once your decisions are made, look online for examples of wills and make one yourself if you cannot afford an attorney. Most insurance agents are or have a notary republic in their offices that you can use as legal witnesses to any documents you need to prepare. Then remember if things change in your life, you have a falling out or you get a divorce or someone dies, update your documents to reflect who will be in charge in that person's stead.

Then take action, have insurance that will cover your burial, or if you have land of your own that you want to be buried on, make sure that the laws within your county or state will allow you to be buried there. If you already have insurance or don't want to buy any then at least start saving now and as soon as possible purchase the plot where you will be buried and contact a mortuary to begin the funeral planning and making payments now to pay for your own funeral. Both are enormous expenses that need planning immediately, not after you die, so that you can pay over time if necessary. Once you are dead the mortuary and cemetery will demand their money upfront, they won't make payment plans then, and rest assured the sooner you do it the lower the price will be as costs go up every year.

Remember, the day you die will be an emotional time for your family. The last thing you want is for them to suffer not only the loss from your passing, but legal and financial hardships because of your death. Prepare now, it will be one of the greatest gifts you can give to your family in their time of sorrow.

The Flu and You

It's that time of year again. No not just the holiday season, it's flu season. Runny noses, coughing, and other unsightly things even I'm too squeamish to describe. If you're like me you can't afford to be sick. You have children to take care of or a job to get to each day and you just don't have time to be sick. Or it's tough just having enough money to buy groceries each week, let alone a doctor's copay and a prescription.

However, getting sick is more than just putting a drain on our time and finances, it can be outright deadly. The rising incidents of super viruses and bacterias puts us all at a greater risk than ever before. Science has done a wonderful job at helping us heal and fight infections, but it's been a double edged sword. By suppressing other viruses and bacterias we have increased the ability for new viruses and bacterias to grow and be more immune to current medications, thus creating new strains which are harder to kill.

In the news this week, the rise of a new Swine Flu has the scientific world buzzing and the World Health Organization on high alert. Luckily in most cases when a new strain is identified practices are put into place to help stop it from spreading, but everyday citizens like ourselves need to protect our families with another reminder that clean hands and keeping your hands out of your mouth, nose or eyes are some of the best defenses against you and the flu. This is especially important if you haven't had a flu shot or if you're concerned your flu shot won't work this year with recent reports that it's only 59% effective. If you'd like to read more about this year's flu shot visit Healthmap.org's article here.

So could a pandemic happen? The recent blockbuster movie Contagion gave us all a scary glimpse of the worst case scenario. But let's not find out shall we. All it takes is all of us being prepared for the worst but doing everything to keep the worst from happening. I've taken the time to make sure our family has plenty of over-the-counter medications in our emergency storage as well as reminding family members daily to be diligent with hand washing. We can't see the future as preppers but we can do our best not add to the problem if a crisis comes around. So when making your emergency preparedness plans, think outside the box of tornados and floods, remember an emergency could equal an illness and could be just as devastating.

Want to know how pandemics happen? Watch the video below "How A Virus Changes the World" from TakePart.com to learn more. Then share it with your family members, people at work and on your website or blog. Spread information, not the flu!

From Our House to Yours

(This is my favorite Thanksgiving hymn that I remember singing each year in school choirs. It brings back many dear memories of this day and gives me a sense of peace listening to it again.)

Stocking Up and Finding Resources

I apologize for the delay in not posting the last couple of weeks. We've had a stretch of good weather giving us a chance to work on our dwindling wood pile and take inventory of our food storage and emergency supplies. We always do this in the fall right before the holiday sale season. We use Kathy Harrison's OAR system. OAR stands for "organize, acquire and rotate." A few times a year we go through everything, especially in the fall, and it helps us to know what we have, what we need, and make certain we use our supplies on an ongoing basis by rotating the older out and the new in. Fall and winter are the perfect time of year to begin stocking up on emergency supplies. During the holiday shopping season some of the best sales of the year happen not only on food items because of holiday grocery sales, but also because it's hunting season and many sporting goods locations have sales on backpacks, dried foods, camping supplies and more.
Sharing about our life as preppers over the last few weeks has been so rewarding and informative. When we first started prepping years ago, there wasn't a large online community of preppers like there are now. There were a few sites here and there and message boards, but now the prepper community can be connected to instantly through social media and for anyone who is wanting to be more self sufficient and work on their emergency plans, it couldn't be a better time to start.

If you're reading this you already know the importance of blogging and how you can get more detailed information and a collection of sources right from one site. That's what we're wanting to do here over the weeks and months ahead. We want to gather in one place all the great information we've collected over the years and share the new things we discover as we continue to work on our own self sufficiency. We LOVE the idea of being able to get what we know out there so others will realize being prepared isn't hard and it's the best insurance policy someone could ever buy for their family.

If you're connected with us on Twitter then you already know what a great resource it can be. We love it because it's a worldwide chat room where we can not only read information about prepping, weather, news updates, homesteading, gardening and more, but we can communicate quickly with other preppers from all over the world. Hashtags like #prepping, #preparedness, #homesteading, #preppertalk, #survival and others can help you find resources you might not have considered or even knew about. You can even follow FEMA and Ready. gov, along with your local emergency preparedness agencies so you can stay on top of updates on what is happening in your neck of the woods.

(Update: I've had some questions about the use of hashtags. Go here to read a great article that will help those who are new to hashtags or for those who want to learn how to use them better. Remember, anyone can use a hashtag in a tweet even if the tweet isn't connected to the subject you're expecting to read about, so use caution clicking links just as you would use when evaluating spam in your email box. Also, note that hashtags can be used by anyone so you may see varying opinions on the same subject. Do your own research and if you don't like what another person is tweeting you can use block to remove them from your Twitter feed.)

Another great place to connect with people who are just starting out or who have done it for years is You Tube. We're a bit shy around here, but we're hoping in the near future to add our perspective about "sheltering at home" on You Tube as well. We're amazed at the enormous You Tube prepper and homesteading communities. If you're looking for information on food storage, bee keeping or home security, from A to Z, someone has done a video on it.

The best part of being a prepper is that you always come across people who are willing to share what they know. Preppers also have a voracious need to know. It becomes a passion so we can learn as much as we can to help our families which will in turn help our community if a disaster strikes because we'll have the resources we need right at our fingertips. It's like the old adage says, knowledge is power. So if you don't know where to start or maybe you have already made your 72 hour emergency kit and want to learn even more about prepping, then dive into social media and you'll find a wealth of knowledge to help you on your way.

Keep safe everyone and happy prepping!

Winter Preparedness: Protecting Your Family from the Cold

Living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains we're no strangers to tough winters. Winter storm warnings and October blizzards are things we expect. Even this past week when the first big fall snow storm hit us hard, knocking out our power for two days, we weren't surprised. What did surprise us is that so many of our neighbors and friends weren't prepared and we know they aren't the only ones. The effects of a nor'easter has east coast residents facing a similar situation today, but instead of 200,000 without power as it was in our state, there are millions without power and many are expected to be without electricity for at least a week. It's not hard to imagine that the vast majority of Americans have never thought much about how to survive without power for a few days, let alone seven.

If you know bad weather of any kind is headed your way, there are many things you can do last minute to prepare, but doing so puts you and your family at risk. Winter preparedness in every climate needs begin not as the leaves begin to fall or when the rains come, but every day through out the year. A winter crisis is the worst crisis. It is the time of year when we're the most vulnerable due to the elements. It takes a lot of energy to keep warm, so making sure that our family has everything it needs to get through a winter storm with no power is one of our first priorities as we continually work on our emergency prepping all year long.

Just as in every emergency situation you must have enough food and water on hand to keep your family hydrated and fed until the weather subsides and the roads are clear. In our situation last week, we had plenty of water stored but we did not need to use it. We took careful precautions to keep our faucets dripping to make sure our water pipes did not freeze. We  even had warm water because the pilot light on the hot water heater kept the water warm enough for hand washing. But when we realized the power shut off was going to be long term, we were glad to have quick and easy food to make. Not just because of cooking off the grid takes more planning and time, but because its important to conserve physical and emotional energy at the beginning of any emergency. So quick meals such as prepackaged snacks, PBJ's or the ability to heat canned food can make the first few hours easier to bear while settling into the fact you're going to have to tough it out, whether it's a few hours or a few days.

The following is a list of what we do to make sure we're prepared for winter emergencies besides our regular storage of water, food and first aid supplies to get through an emergency situation and what we do to insure our family is kept warm during the power outage.

• First, we notify our utility company immediately when the power goes out, no matter what time of the year. The sooner they get the report the sooner they'll get our power back on in most instances. Power company's work on large areas first and then whittle outages down to smaller and smaller areas. Do not wait hours to report your outage as your power might be out even if your neighbor's is on which will likely mean your wait time will be even longer if your outage is in an isolated area as compared to an outage that encompasses a larger area.
• Do mitigation now to reduce the chances of losing power by keeping your trees trimmed away from power lines. We recently had to ask neighbors next to our property to trim their tree that was growing over and under the power lines that lead to our house. In our case they ended up removing the tree all together. However, when we lost our power last week it was because someone else in our area had not trimmed their trees from the power lines and it affected our entire neighborhood when the snow laden tree took out the line. So know that even if you do your part, others might not be taking the same precautions you are.
• We keep a large store of firewood indoors, enough for more than 24 hours of continuous wood burning in case we cannot get outside to our wood pile. If you don't use your fireplace or wood stove often, make an instruction cheat sheet to keep nearby to remind you on how to start a fire and keep it going. If you have a gas fireplace remember you cannot use wood in it. We try to discourage any friends considering changing their wood fireplace to gas as it will not light if you do not not have electricity. (Below are some more ideas that will help if you have do not have a fireplace.) 
• We keep on hand an indoor cooking method such as Sterno cans in case the weather is too blizzardy to cook outdoors with the grill, rocket or camp stove. (Do not use outdoor grills or stoves indoors due to fire danger and the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Don't take a chance even if you've read others have done it successfully.) Sterno cans also pose a fire danger so be sure to read the can's warnings before using. Sterno does evaporate after a few months; replace and rotate older cans.
• We keep a battery operated carbon monoxide detector functioning at all times. Even the fireplace can kill you if not properly ventilated through the flue, so be sure to have your fireplace or wood stove checked yearly.
• Once the power goes out we refrain from opening any doors or windows leading to the outside unless absolutely necessary. Doing so lets cold in and heat out. If we do have to go outside to get additional wood for example we do it only during daylight hours when temperatures are usually warmer.
• We keep all family members to one main area in or near our heat source and close the doors of all other remaining rooms. Before closing off the rooms we move all bedding, pillows, sleeping bags, as well as books, toys, games, anything that might be needed or wanted from those rooms during the outage so that we can avoid having to open the rooms back up after they've been closed. Keeping family members all together in one room also helps keep the room heated and the movement of air in and out of the room to a minimum.
• We use clusters of 3 or 4 candles for light and added heat. (We also have hurricane lamps but use those only for a long term outage.) Candles or hurricane lamps are very dangerous, they can easily be knocked over so use with extreme caution and never leave unattended. We place them on study surfaces such as the middle of a dining table or on the kitchen stove and we make sure all are blown out before sleeping.
• We keep a drip going on inside water faucets, especially those furthest from the water intake to our house in order to keep water moving and thus keep the water pipes from freezing.
• We conserve battery power of cell phones by powering them on only when needed and only using flashlights when candlelight is insufficient. You can use a crank charger or car charger for cell phones. However going outside to the car means letting cold air into the house and should be avoided. We have opted to keep our home phone service even though we have cells because it will still work during most power outages and we may not have the ability to charge our phones at some point.
• Having an emergency radio, crank, solar or battery powered (combo ones are better so that you have more than one option) or a battery powered digital television;is important for weather and information updates. Though we have learned if your power outage is limited many local radio stations do not report updates and have replaced local news reporting with syndicated national news reports. This means you may not hear an update about your outage. If you're able to, you'll need to contact the electric company directly for more specific updates on restoration of power.
• We keep on hand disposable plates, bowls, and utensils in order to conserve water if necessary and make it easier to serve meals. The last thing you want to think about is a pile of dishes when your main focus should be keeping your family warm and safe. You'll also be exhausted after the emergency and minimizing your clean up will help you get back to normal more quickly.
• Most of all we don't panic. We keep focused on what needs to be done. Everyone has their assignments or chores, just as we do in our regular day to day life. My husband goes to the wood pile or splits wood if necessary. I tend the fire. We all help in meal preparation. The children sweep up ash and clean up after meals just as they would normally. We work together and remember to have patience knowing this is a temporary situation, and it's good practice for a time when an outage might turn into weeks and if it did we'd ready and know exactly what to do.

We'd love to hear what your winter preparedness plans include. Please leave a comment and tell us how you're prepared for the winter months ahead!

Sheltering at Home's Inaugural Blog Post

Today's the day, it's time to get blogging about our life as preppers and homesteaders. It's been in the works for a few months and now that the garden has been put to bed, the cover crop on the small bit of new tillage has been planted, and our winter stores of pickled relish and jams are now all put away we can finally get to blogging!

Our goal here is sharing. We're not experts, but we're experienced at what we'll share. We won't be selling anything or doing product recommendations, that's just not what we're about. (If you see ads on our blog, they are used to supplement our income solely to add to food storage and emergency supplies, and should not be considered an endorsement. We encourage everyone to research any company thoroughly before purchasing from them.) So Instead, we're hoping that by sharing our stories and preparations with other average American's like ourselves that we will help more  people realize that it is not that hard to be prepared for an unexpected circumstance if you just learn to incorporate "preparedness" or "prepping" into your daily life.

You might be surprised to know that the Red Cross says "only about 12% of Americans are reasonably prepared for a disaster." Maybe you are like how we were a few years ago. We were part of that majority of those families and individuals lacking in knowledge and preparation. We were probably a lot like you or someone you know, you think nothing bad could ever happen to you, that if you needed help maybe unemployment insurance, FEMA or the Red Cross will lend you a hand. Or maybe you lean toward what a Red Cross spokesman described as how many "think its too daunting, they don't know where to start or they do not have the time" to prepare for an emergency. Trust me, we've felt that way before, but after my husband lost his job a few years ago, after nearly losing our home, after 9/11 and Katrina, we quickly changed our minds. Just adding a few minutes a day in preparedness plans could help you and your family survive a disaster.

Our philosophy is that we do not prepare out of fear, we prepare out of our sense of duty. First and foremost is our duty to our family's livelihood and well being, then a duty to our neighbors who may need a helping hand. Disasters of any kind, whether it be a job loss, illness, blizzards, tornados, solar storms, or a terrorist attack, none of them will discriminate and all could have a devastating impact anywhere in the country. It will not matter if we're Democrats or Republicans, black or white, Buddhist or Christian, rich or poor, we will ALL be vulnerable. But we can lessen that impact by preparing and being self sustaining through food and water storage, making evacuation plans and emergency kits, learning to grow or make our own healthy food lessening our dependence on outside resources.

It might sound daunting, but believe me when I say it's not. What would be truly daunting, no the right word is devastating, seeing your children or loved ones go without water or food. So come along with us as we share with you what we're doing to keep our family safe in case of an unexpected emergency. We're all involved, me, my husband and our two sons. Stop by and visit again as you do more research, read other prepper and homesteading blogs like ours, watch videos, or read books. We hope you'll get digging and learning with us and share with us your ideas, recipes, gardening tips and emergency plans. We'll learn together from our own experiences and be stronger and fearless for doing it.

Finally, the Red Cross had a great campaign a few years ago, it said, "Do More Than Cross Your Fingers." That's just what we're doing. No finger crossing here, we're preparing, "prepping" our shelter at home.

P.S.
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