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Have you been following along with Annabel over The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm? I loved some of the things she had this week, as they are so important to have prepared beforehand, yet seldom are. Let's dive in!
This was an easy one for me as it was already something that I had in place. We have most our commonly used numbers taped to the kitchen wall (just like the old days!) This is as much for the kids' benefit as it is for ours. It's important they know where they need to go if they need to call for help as well. I think it's a skill that needs to be taught to children these day - learning how to read a phone number and how to dial an old fashioned phone. My kids are only just coming to the age of having Smart phones (though none do yet), and I would rather they knew what they had to do if any of the Smart phones were down or dead.
I also have an old-fashioned address book, in which I keep all my family and friends' addresses and phone numbers in. In addition to this, I keep my passwords securely written down as well, instead of just relying on my phone's memory to keep them all safe!
Day 11 - Foods to store that will last forever
Baby had never seen so much sugar together in her life before; she looked as if she would have liked to have been let loose in the great bin for an hour or two.
And the currants! There was a big wooden box brim full—about forty pounds, Mrs. Hassal thought when questioned. Bunty whipped up a handful and pocketed them when everyone was looking at the mountain of candles.
"Home-made! my DEAR, why, yes, of course," the old lady said. "Why, I wouldn't dream of using a bought candle, any more than I would use bought soap." She showed them the great bars of yellow, clean-smelling stuff, with finer, paler-coloured for toilet purposes.
Hams and sides of bacon hung thickly from the rafters. "Those are mutton hams," she said, pointing to one division. "I keep those for the stockmen." Pip wanted to know if the stores were meant to serve them all their lives, there seemed enough of them: he was astonished to hear that every six months they were replenished.
Seven Little Australians - Ethel Turner
I love this quote from this Australian classic, and often think of Mr Gillet and his keys to the store cupboard at Yarrahappini. Such a trove of food stored away! Although this amount is meant to feed twenty to thirty men every six months. Thankfully, we don't eat as much as thirty men (although teenage boys are proving to have a healthy appetite!), but still it's important to have a good amount of food stored away.
From Bunnings we bought food grade buckets which we use for our flour and our rice. These are the bulk of our long-term food supplies. We also have another bucket for sugar (though not as much as the flour and rice). We store powdered milk, oil (both olive and vegetable - though these need to be replenished), vinegar and small quantity of dried beans. Unfortunately, we have to keep our sultanas and dried fruit in the fridge because we kept getting pantry moths (despite the bay leaves!).
Day 12 - Cooking from Scratch / Making Do
I love the taste of homemade gravy compared to boxed gravy and will make this often too. All of our pasta and lasagne is made from scratch and tastes delicious! Soups and pies are another easy and delicious addition to the "made from scratch" repertoire and are often much cheaper to make than buying at the shops.
The Black Summer bushfires of 2019/2020 taught us many valuable lessons, as I know it did many of the readers of Annabel's blog! We were all caught unawares, and although we are in the suburbs of the ACT we were heavily affected by the smoke and many of the green spaces around us were considered possible ignition points. Ash flying from the main fires around us was the biggest concern.
We had bags packed (which have since been unpacked!) with essentials, plus food and water. Our important documents are always kept in one folder which is easy to grab in an emergency. It seems we need to spend some time this weekend preparing for the upcoming bushfire season. We have a lot of rain here at the moment, but that will make cleaning the gutters and the plant debris from around our property all the more essential. Every winter we also cut back trees to ensure there are no dead or dangerous branches during storm season.
Day 14 - Emergency Plans
This is a tough one, especially if you have animals and we have a small menagerie! We decided last summer that the chickens would have stay (with water on and around their coop) but we would take the cat, the rabbits and the budgie with us to my in-laws house. They leave very close to the centre of the city and aren't surrounded by as much green space as we are. If there house is compromised, then we are in a bit of a pickle! It's all well and good to be prepared to go - but where do you go??
Again, some great things to think about and another long re-cap from me! Thanks for sticking with me, if you made it this far! I love reading your comments over at Annabel's and the thoughtful ideas being shared.
Kirsty x
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