Hellooooooo out there. You probably thought I'd been abducted by aliens or died, didn't you ? Nope. At least, not yet. But it's been a challenging couple of years, I must say. Don't you love that sticker ? It's from Penzey's Spices and came in my first order from them. I was given a gift card from there for my birthday by a precious woman. And then there is this--I cut it off the outside of the box stuff was shipped in, because--well-- BECAUSE, that's why. I need to be reminded on a daily basis lately of where I need to turn my eyes.
All in all it's been a strange time of late and fear and despair are in the air. One thing I was taught was that I can take an action and change a feeling, and that's what's on my mind today.
SO. I just reread a post from June of 2014, when we had to really depend on the pantry to survive. We'd had a serious car accident and the Irishman couldn't work for three and a half months. No short term disability insurance. He got a paycheck and about half another one, as the company let him use all his vacation time, sick days and holiday pay he had left for the year. After that we only had my disability to pay bills. You can read all about it on this blog --June 24,2014 "Eating From My Pantry". It was the litmus test of all the things I had learned and planned for and feared. And we made it. By the time he was back at work and we were climbing out from under the whole thing, the pantry was almost bare. But it was almost garden harvest time too, so...win/win. And in three and a half months I had spent under 40 dollars at the grocery store.
Yesterday, I floated a question on my Facebook page about a project I'm considering. Would any of my local people be interested in a workshop built around building a pantry and preparing themselves for any kind of emergency so they could better care for their family ? AND, would they be willing to pay a small fee to attend ? I got about 20 very positive responses. So...I think a little planning is in the future. I'm always amazed at how many people don't have any kind of plans in place to help them get through any kind of disaster, be it economic, weather related, illness or whatever. I think that at any given time, I could easily feed my house for 45 to 60 days if I had to. Some of the meals might not be 4 star, but they would be nutritious and tasty and filling.
So, I am back to using this poor old blog as a platform for a start up, I think. I loved this blog when I first started it and I love it today. Lots of wiggle room for whatever kind of living stuff or recipes or canning or gardens --just everything. So look out--she's back...
