It's Thursday...

I have realized that I have a very hard time keeping myself to a schedule.  I was so desperately trying to keep to the "baby steps to preparing for emergencies" by putting it together with "three things on Thursday" but things are just too darn unpredictable, especially when the kidlets end up sick on Thursdays.

Here is something interesting though:  if you are a regular reader, you may remember from my last "Thursday" post that I was trying to clear up the basement...at least get everything up off the floor.  That Thursday night, I finished off roughly 1/3 of the basement.  Every last bit was off the floor near the door that goes outside, and consequently, near the washing machine which, plumbing-wise, is the low point of the house.  Saturday morning, our plumbing backed up and partially flooded the basement floor.  The newly cleaned basement floor that just two days before had cardboard boxes full of "stuff" lying all over the place.  Pheee-yoof.  Close call.  So, there is # 1 for today - emergencies come in all shapes and sizes.  It's not the end of the world as we know it that I am preparing for, but all those little nasties that catch us unaware (not that I judge the preppers who do - more power to you).

#2:

I received this little booklet at work - from our insurance company, which I thought was pretty funny since most people I know don't give it a second thought.  It had a great suggestion in it, which I plan to do.  Since most of the important phone numbers I need are stored on my cell phone, I will be printing up individual cards with important numbers that we will keep in each evacuation bag, in my purse, and on the bulletin board in case of emergencies.   They suggest the following:

-adult workplaces
-ambulance/medical services
-children's school/daycare
-credit card companies
-dentist (this one is already on the bulletin board from the time that S smashed out his 3 front teeth- baby teeth thank goodness)
-doctors and specialists
-electrician (good one - I hadn't thought of this - ever)
-family, friends, neighbours (since these are in my address book, I am not sure I will include them)
-fire department
-home security provider (if applicable)
-hospital/ health clinic
-insurance provider (wouldn't have thought of this one on my own either)
-pharmacy
-plumber (you bet it's going on the list after the other weekend)
-poison control
-police
-provincial telehealth or health information hotline (I won't be adding this, since the 3 times I called they couldn't answer anything I asked - what, pray tell, is the point?)
-utility providers - gas/electric/water
-veterinary (need this, wouldn't have thought of it)

#3) Also from the little booklet:  they list some emergency preparedness resources.  I haven't visited them yet, but I will be doing so this week, hopefully:

St. John Ambulance
Canadian Red Cross
Provincial/Territorial Emergency Management Organizations
Public Safety Canada
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
Insurance Bureau of Canada
For kids:  Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada

So, how about you?  Any baby steps, or big giant leaps, getting ready for emergencies.  Please share.

Time again for Three things on Thursday.

I have something a little different today for three things on Thursday/ planning for emergencies.

This week, I did not buy or prepare anything for the evacuation kits, any supplies, not a single thing was added.  Instead I have been working on:
1) de-cluttering the basement
2) cleaning the basement
3) organizing the basement

...but I still think it applies to Thursday's "chat".  We have an unfinished basement, and all of our extra "junk" seems to accumulate there.  Baby stuff, kid stuff, craft stuff, "we'll need this some day" stuff...you know what I mean, right?  The thing is, it still needs to serve as our "shelter in place" since it is below ground.

During the spring, we actually need it more than you would think.  One of my children is terrified of tornadoes and severe thunder storms (severe to him, that is).  In the spring, every time there is a storm, we all have to go down to the basement until he deems it OK to come back out again.  The problem is that with all the junk down there, there is little space left for us.  Plus, we had some work done on the house and there is still construction debris all over the basement.  So this past week, and over the next week at least (hey, it's a big big job) I am getting rid of all kinds of stuff we really don't need any more, cleaning it properly, and organizing what is left.  Hopefully, by spring time, when we have to go down there for the next tornado watch, it will be a lot more comfortable.

By the time I am done, there should be a place for everybody to sit, all of the emergency supplies should be together in one area, hopefully everything will be up off the floor (the four houses on either side of us get spring time flooding - we are up a little higher, so we haven't yet, but why take the chance), and hopefully there will even be a little space left over for putting out candles or lanterns the next time we have to go down there to wait out a storm.

Incidentally, my child's fear of tornadoes is what got me started preparing for emergencies in the first place - kind of by accident.  Every single time it rained, every single time there was a lot of wind, he would panic (he might have been about 3 or 4 when this started).  We started collecting supplies under the basement stairs - blankets and pillows, flashlights, juice - just simple things that make a child more comfortable, and like magic the panic disappeared.  He still worries, and we still have to go wait out the storm in the basement, but nothing like the panic attacks he would get before.  In fact, many of the things in our emergency stash were his idea, we've just kept adding to it.

So, here's my question of the day - what do your kids think are must-haves in the emergency stash?

More baby steps to emergency planning

I took a little break from my "planning for emergencies" while I was preparing for the holidays, but once we got back into town, I realized we were missing a few things that I should get as soon as possible.

Our biggest threat right now would be power outage from a winter storm so I thought it was time to get my self in gear and collect the items to make these emergency long lasting lantern/candles:

picture taken from salt n prepper's DIY list

 which I found via Pinterest

I was able to find narrow lantern wicks at Canadian Tire, and the liquid paraffin is from Green Earth.  After I bought the paraffin ($5.99 for 500ml), I realized that although it burns cleaner than kerosene, it is still lamp oil, so if I need to refill them, I will probably stick with the kerosene as it is $6.00 for a liter.  I didn't buy the squat mason jars, as I have plenty plenty of mason jars at home.  I will be cutting the slits in the jar lids this week (hopefully) to fit the wicks, but as I read that the paraffin wax evaporates, I will only fill them when I need them.  I still have plenty of candles on hand to light the way long enough to fill the lanterns - thanks to my lovely sister who brought me a whole box full on her last visit.

# 2  While we were out at the mall (that's where our Canadian Tire is), I found $5.00 flashlights on sale for $1.49, so I bought 4.  One for each of our evacuation bags...something I had forgotten until my sister mentioned that on her visit as well. Oh, and I added a peanut butter jar of dried cat food to my own bag, for our furry little friend.

And #3:

This is something that I tucked into the boys' stocking this year - for camping I told them (sly).  The tutorial for the little pouch is on my sidebar if you need it.  I added a small floating compass that pins onto your clothes, a whistle and bright yellow bandana to attract attention should they need it, and a tiny knife (because they love knives, and I don't have scissors in the evacuation bags).  They have clipped it onto the strap of their evacuation bags, so that when we go camping we will know right where to find the pieces, at which point it can be clipped to their belt loop.  Since my husband already owns a compass, he just got the whistle and bandana (I think that will be used more for answering the boys' whistle calls than anything else, but you never know), and I made myself a little kit too, but mine is in one of the pockets of my backpack as the bag does not have a clip on it yet (very typical of me, by the way...to finish theirs but not finish my own).

What I'm finding as the weeks go by is that taking these little baby steps has actually gotten us ahead faster than I thought.  We still have a long way to go, but at least now it isn't as overwhelming as when we began this journey.

So...here's my question...are you doing yours in baby steps or a whole bunch all at once to get it out of the way?  Anything you would like to recommend to those who are following along?

Three things on Thursday - being prepared

1)  With so many people getting ready to travel for whatever holidays they celebrate (even if it's just holidays from school and work), I thought I would use this chance to remind people traveling by car to make sure the car is stocked with a small emergency kit.  Jumper cables, water, blankets, a candle and matches, flares, etc.  You can get a pre-assembled kit or make your own fairly quickly.  Also, if you are traveling in the cold, please make sure you take along a warm coat, boots, hats, mitts, etc.  Even if you are wearing your pretty party clothes, with the lovely high heeled shoes, it might be a good idea to take along your warm things (even if you are not wearing them) in case you get stuck on the road.

2)  I highly recommend printing off this list of 50 last minute things you can do if you have a bit of notice of an upcoming emergency situation.  The kind of thing you can do if you have a day's notice of a storm coming.
I had meant to share this a few weeks ago when I first came across it, but I misplaced it and only found it again this morning.  Print it off and store it in a safe place (where you will remember it) so that if you aren't prepared now, you can take the steps recommended to put yourself in a better situation.

3)  Stay safe, make some memories, take some pictures, spend time with family and friends and have yourself a good time.  Whatever traditions you keep, for whatever holidays you celebrate, make the most of it...you'll be thankful for it later.

Here is one of our favourites:

...And, as a bonus, I received a wonderful surprise the other day.  Someone very near and dear to me has finished packing her and her husband's evacuation bags!  Woohoo.  The best Christmas present I can think of.  Here's to hoping we never have to use them...any of us.

Three things on Thursday - getting prepared

If you are a regular reader, you will notice that posts have been sporadic at best lately.  I am finally ready to share in the hopes that I help someone else at the same time.

My father-in-law has been ill for some time with cancer.  A few weeks ago, he fell in his home and ended up having to go into the hospital.  He caught pneumonia, and because of his weakened state, he was unable to pull through it.  We had to say good-bye way too early.

Here is the thing:  He was prepared.  Since his illness began, he had time to "get his affairs in order" and it made me realize that if something happened to us (my husband and I), we do not have our affairs in order and it might leave the kids in a bit of a lurch.

So, for three things on Thursday, here is what I plan to work on as soon as possible:
    -we finally made our will a few years ago, but the executor does not have a key to our house, so no way to access it...need to fix that.
    -our lawyer said to have a chart of all banking accounts and financial information attached to it - we did that, but all of our information has changed since that time so it needs to be updated
    -we want to get a fireproof / watertight box so that all of the important information will be safe and sound

and here is an extra for this week: I really need to make copies of our licences, SIN cards, health cards, etc.  One copy to keep in the fireproof box once we get it, and one copy for the evacuation bag.

Not the most pleasant post, but if we get prepared, hopefully we will save someone a huge headache.

What about you?  Did you do anything this week to prepare for emergencies?  Any tips for us?  Please feel free to share in the comments.  Thanks.

Three things on Thursday - getting a prepared a bit at a time

I missed posting "three things on Thursday" last week but here is a little something I have been working on to continue getting prepared for emergencies a little bit at a time.

 I saw these on a website I found the other day and thought they would be a great thing to have in case of an extended power outage during the coming winter.  I have to say, I felt a little silly going to buy wood shavings when we composted some all summer long, but the bag ended up costing about 3 or 4 dollars, and I have made three of these so far.  There is enough left over to make several more, once I pick up a bit more wax.  They are supposed to be able to keep a small room from freezing, and if you put a grill over it, you could even warm up some food.  I haven't had a chance to test them yet, but I intend to before I make more.

I found a hurricane lantern at the Goodwill, for a whopping deal of $5.00.  It didn't have any wicks though, and I thought I was going to have to McGyver one, but after searching around town, I found some in the camping section of Canadian Tire - just a note to any of my Canadian readers who may be looking for some.  A six pack was $6.00 and I don't think I ever ever have changed the wick in my original hurricane lantern, so I am expecting them to last a while if they are only used in emergencies.

Lastly, I finally decided that I should indeed add hand sanitizer  to our evacuation bags, so I picked up the three small bottles of it.

How about you --- did you take any baby steps this week?  Please share your tips, comments, and helpful finds to help us all out.

Three things on Thursday - Adding to the food stash

If you have been following my blog lately, Thursdays have been all about preparing for emergencies (combined with Three things on Thursdays).

Last week's goal:  I did in fact by two jugs of vegetable oil (they were on sale -and the expiration date was 3 years...crazy!).  I also managed to clear away some of the non-food items from the pantry and put some of the dry goods into plastic totes.  They aren't air tight, but they should at least be insect and rodent proof.  For my third item, I picked up two cans of pineapple juice and one jar of buckwheat honey after reading   this post by Mackenzie at While the Water Boils last week...things to stock up on for cold and flu season...I didn't know about these two and added them to my stash.

I also added a tin cup -found at the Goodwill for next to nothing - to each evacuation bag (feeling very little house on the prairie...remember the one where they each get a tin cup of their very own for Christmas and are so excited they no longer have to share) as well as a bandana to each bag.  And I have partly packed a suitcase on wheels with spare camp bedding.  I say partly because it still needs sheets, but I don't have many extra of those...

This week's goal:
1) I noticed that I am running low on a few canned foods - corn, pineapple, and pears specifically, so if any
of those are on sale I will pick up a few.
2) I must get a photocopy of our important documents to include in the evacuation bags
3) I noticed our car emergency blankets were in the garage yesterday...don't know why, and my hands were full so I couldn't put them where they belong at the time.  Must remember to do that today.  Oh, and put the emergency candle back in there for the winter.  Won't hurt to check the whole kit while I am at it.

If any of you are doing this along with me...you might want to go back and check the comments on some of the older posts.  Some very good suggestions have been made there.

So...what are you getting ready this week?  Are you focusing on one thing, or adding to what you already have?  Are you starting out or completely stocked?  I'm curious how people go about preparing.

Emergency planning - the evacuation bag

When I first set up our evacuation bag, the boys were quite little.  Too little to carry their own bags.  So I set up an area in the basement with things I could carry in a tote, and then some empty bags in case there was time to pack some more items.

Recently, I was reading this post/article and it really made me think.  The boys are definitely able to help carry some items in the case of an evacuation (a very very real possibility in the area we live in - it's known as Chemical Valley, and with the number of incidents lately, I am fully expecting an evacuation in my lifetime).

So, a new plan was in order.  I found what I think looks to be a pretty good list for an evacuation bag over here.  I am using this as my starting point.  Obviously, the boys won't be able to carry everything on this list, and quite honestly either will I, so I am starting with the basics and I can add to it later.  After all, a bag with a few items is better than no bag at all, right?

 

 Dividing up the items for each of 4 bags..

In my "internet research" I have found guidelines saying that a child should carry no more than 10% of his/her body weight in a backpack.  I have also found guidelines saying that they can carry up to 25%.  N weighs about 65 pounds.  6.5 pounds of weight is really not that much, considering his school backpack outweighs that by quite a bit.  16.5 pounds, though is way too much.  I am aiming for around 10 pounds for his.

 So far, each of the 4 bags has the following items:
-2 bottles of water.  They say enough water for 72 hours, but come on now, how much will that weigh.  We also have jugs of water with handles that we can grab on the way out the door if we need them.
-2 fruit cups, one pepperoni stick, 3 small boxes of raisins, one sesame snack, and some mints.  I plan on adding more food but I have been having a hard time finding things that are shelf stable for a year - and realistically, I won't swap out the food more than once a year.
-utensil - one each fork, knife, spoon.  These came from our camping gear.  They are in here as per N's request, in case we can stop to buy food - but have nothing to eat it with.
-one rain poncho, one 2-pack of hand warmers, on chap stick.
-one roll of toilet paper, a few small garbage bags, some moist towelettes, a waterproof container with bandaids of various sizes, and one of those elastic wrap things for when you twist your wrist/ankle (actually, that last one is just in the boys bags - the adults have a roll of gauze).
-one mini deodorant, one toothbrush wrapped in aluminum foil (my bag has also a tube of toothpaste, a bar of soap, a mini bottle of dish soap, and a hand sanitizer that may or may not stay in the bag - I have issues with hand sanitizer but this one was already in the house "gifted" to us by a friend), and two wash cloths.
-a variety of mini glow sticks and a candle in a jar with some matches - as per N's instructions.  This is a family project after all, and the idea of an evacuation bag kind of freaked him out.  Adding his input really helped.  My husband's bag also has a hand crank flash light that is also supposed to charge a cell phone battery.
-two or three pairs of socks.

I still need to add to each bag:
- a couple pairs of underwear, and a few t-shirts.
-some more food - some type of cracker like product, some dried fruit, maybe some nuts.  I am struggling with this part as I am unlikely to rotate it out very often.
-our pertinent information - photocopies of health cards, licences and such...I had some and was about to put them in when I realized they were all expired and I need to do them again.
-a small blanket of some kind.
-the boys want a plastic drinking cup added.

TIP: If you have a child that has been toilet trained for less than one year, I have read that you should include some training pants in here as well, as the stress of the situation is likely to make them regress.
TIP: Although I usually try to avoid shopping at the Dollar Store because it's all over-shipped, over-packaged, and I over-spend,  I went there for this project.  Several of the things on my list were bought in a package and divided up (bandaids, glowsticks, matches, etc)

I also plan on making up a plastic tote with overflow items like a proper first aid kit, flashlight with batteries, cat food, etc.

This is a portion of my pantry/food storage - lots of non-food items have ended up there and need to move.

For three things on Thursdays, I am continuing to fill in the holes in my stored food supply.  If you have not yet started to collect, I found a list over here that breaks down a 3 month adult supply of food into 52 weeks of preparing.  Obviously, it can be tailored as you wish, but I love reading other people's lists as a starting point.

Last week's goal update:
-I did in fact follow my plan and purchased an 8kg bag of rice.
-I have been struggling to find plastic containers for food storage, but recently read an article on Pinterest where they were storing food in 2L plastic bottles.  Now, I will be looking out for those - we don't buy them, but some of my friends do, so I will see if they will collect them for me.  I did manage to empty two plastic totes that I will be putting the dry pasta and bags of grains in.  All right for now, while I continue looking.
-I had planned on buying a couple of jars of cocoa powder. I bought one and found it rather pricey, so I also added a jar of cocoa mix and two boxes of the herbal tea N loves because they were all on sale half price.

This week's goal:
-I need to buy a bulk size container of cooking oil of some type because I have just finished mine off - I pour it into smaller bottles to use it.
-I need to tidy up my food storage area - it is in fact our pantry area (in the basement) but non-food items have found their way there and I need to move them all out to make room for this plan.
-an extra bundle of toilet paper if there is any on sale this week, or garbage bags, or batteries...this will be my flexible item.

I know a few of my readers are working on this too.  If you have a tip, idea or suggestion, kindly leave a comment.  What is in your evacuation bag?  If you were left without power after Hurricane Sandy, what is something you found helpful or wish you had already stocked up on?

Three things on Thursday - Planning for Emergencies - Part two.

Last Thursday was the first post in what I intend to be a weekly series on planning for emergencies - the (three) weekly baby steps I am taking to get myself and my family prepared to make it through a power outage, an evacuation, a Chemical spill, etc.  Kind of timely in the face of the storm that has been all over these past few days.

We were lucky this week!  We lost power off and on Monday evening, then lost it all through Monday night until about 8:30 Tuesday morning.  Just long enough for the boys to have their school cancelled as the school was without power as well.  Power was restored to our street early and life returned to normal for most people.  Although several branches and a few half trees fell on our street we have no damage.

I learned a few things - where my plans are lacking...
Heat - Although we have several walls in our house - only our second story has doors.  Even if we had some sort of heat source in the case of a power outage (which we don't at this point), it would be pretty hard to heat an area of our house.  Something we need to figure out.  Also, we would be able to heat food with our gas cooktop - but only if our gas line was not shut down as well...something else to look into.

I had actually spent a few hours on Sunday making up some candles in glass jars in case of a power outage (PS - I don't watch the new, so at this point I was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a huge storm heading our way - I knew about the hurricane, but not that the winds were expected to reach us here).

I like candles in jars because of the kids - I like that they are self contained - and also, they have lids so when we are not using them, the wax doesn't get all dusty.  I had been saving glass jars for a few weeks and had some wax ready to be melted down.  I had big problems getting the wicks to stick to the bottoms of the jars, even with the metal pieces sold for that purpose, so it took me a couple of tries before I figured it out.

So far, I have 6 candles that I plan to keep stashed away for power outages only, although when I get to the vehicle emergency kit, I might snag one for each vehicle.

I also tried to make some taper candles in this antique candle mold I have, but all I ended up making was a huge mess.  I had to melt the wax to get it back out because the candles were just simply stuck.  I have to figure it out before I make some beeswax candles in it - although in the meantime, we might just dip some beeswax candles instead.
Note:  all the information I could find on the internet agrees - the way to get wax out of clothing is with paper towels or paper bags over the wax and then iron it with a clothes iron - I will be doing that this weekend :)  I did say I made a mess.

N enjoyed the wax melting, but ran out of patience with our many failed attempts at filling the jars.  I think he might enjoy the dipped candles a bit more - so he can see the progress.


I had planned to look into the evacuation packs but I couldn't find the backpacks.  The boys say that I brought all of our old backpacks to the Goodwill.  I don't remember doing it.  So my "non-food" goal for this week is to find some bags to use for the evacuation packs.

Now for the three things:
My goal for this past week was to buy soy sauce, popcorn seeds and honey.  I bought one of each (it's bits at a time).  I found out our favourite popcorn seeds are "unavailable at this time" which is why I only bought one.

This week, I will be looking for one item in bulk (probably a big bag of rice), some sort of container for storing dry goods (a lot of good a large bag of flour will do me if the bugs get into it) and cocoa (I just learned that it has an extremely long shelf life - years and years, so that will be a good one to have.  Cocoa with sugar and canned milk - I think that will work).

I know a few of you are thinking along these lines now as well - what are your plans for this week?  PS - I know the prepper sites all say that you should keep your preparations secret but I say we help each other along instead.  Please leave a comment with the steps you are taking - make it anonymous if you wish.

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

Planning Ahead

Some of you may know that I am a "plan for disaster" kind of girl.  I have an evacuation pack in the basement (I recently read that each member of the house should have their own, so I will be looking into that), our basement is stocked with canned food to last a few weeks in case of disaster, we have some large bottles of water stored (not enough, but we do have some).  You know what I am talking about , right?

I should explain that we live in a small city in Ontario referred to as "Chemical Valley".  Everybody here is recommended  to be equipped for a shelter in place in case of a spill/leak/disaster - most ignore it, but I cannot.  Tornadoes in the county are not unheard of.  The power goes out on a regular basis in the winter.  You get the idea.  So I have always tried to keep things on hand in case we need to dash quickly, or in case we have to shelter in the (unfinished) basement for an extended period of time.

Where am I going with this?  Although I have a good stash of food, I am nowhere near the 3 month supply that is recommended in case of a pandemic or other equally disruptive major disaster.  Because I have most of the things outlined by the Canadian Red Cross, I thought I was pretty prepared, but realistically, if something is going to happen here, it is going to be BIG.  So I thought I should maybe do a little more investigating.  I came across this pretty comprehensive list over here and decided I need to get my butt in gear.  Plus, it has been pointed out that I haven't done "Three things on Thursday" in a while, so why not combine the two.

I figure picking up 3 things a week will get me well on my way to completely setting ourselves up without causing too much strain (either time, stress, or money).  So here is what I started with this week:

Water.  We used 4 jugs of our water stash this summer when we rented a cottage that had no drinking water.  I finally replaced them this week.  We now have 6 4L jugs of water.  We obviously would need more than that, but I don't like buying water in plastic jugs, especially since we have to use it and replace it every year to keep it within date.  I am working on my conscience on that one.

Yeast.  I hadn't thought of stocking up on yeast at all, but it was on the comprehensive list I mentioned above.  It's brilliant actually, because we get get so so bored of canned food.  I use enough yeast in a year to keep it rotating through anyways.  I bought one spare jar for now, and I will pick up another jar some time later down the line.

Sugar.  Same as the yeast.  I now have one extra bag in the basement, so each time I finish the sugar in my kitchen, I will buy a new bag as usual, and then rotate out the bag from the basement.  Plus, sugar would go a long long way in a disaster.  you could even barter with it if you were so inclined.

Because I have most of the basics already stocked up, I will be trying to stock up on things that would make us just more comfortable in the case of a disaster.  We do have children to keep in mind and little things could go a long way in helping maintain family harmony.

This week, the three things on my list are soy sauce (this will go a long way in flavouring bland foods), popcorn seeds (we eat a lot of popcorn, and it has a very long shelf life, so we can easily keep this in rotation), and honey.

What do you say - want to come along for the ride?  What are you going to try to pick up this week?  Do you have a suggestion for something we should all have in our "bunker"?