Still Snowing

We have approximately 14 inches of snow and it is still snowing. I truly love snow. I think it is beautiful and fun to watch our animals play in it. The snow was so deep our chickens and ducks stayed in their coop today. They couldn't walk through the piled up, white, powdery stuff.

View out my back door. 

Playful, Max. 

Snow laden Cherry Tree.

As I'm sitting here next to the fire, writing this post the lights are flickering on and off. I'm sure the power lines, as well as tree branches are heavy with snow. In preparation for power outages, we have two more cords of wood, along with scrap wood, enough food to last a month and a half and all the laundry is caught up. We have all the the supplies we need. I can feel my survivalist attitude kicking in.

Snowy Peach trees. Near fallen lawn chair, the lump of snow is actually wood. 

My poor lilac bush. 

In my mind I'm planning for the worst. (It's kind of fun to think survival. The "I can do it" mentality) If the electric goes out we can put our food outside to stay cold. (Except we have skunks and raccoons which visit frequently; Maybe scratch that idea.) Hey, maybe if the electric goes out, the food in the refrigerator will go bad and I will finally lose some weight. Or I can feed the neighbors, before the food goes bad and let them get fat.

My other lilac bush. 

Since the worst hasn't happened, I will continue to plan, as I sit next to my fire, enjoying my husband's company and maybe a cup of hot chocolate. Have a great evening everyone and stay warm.

Return of Winter

The last couple of weeks we had beautiful, warm, spring-type weather. This morning, everything changed. Winter returned. We received approximately six inches of snow throughout the night. The weight of the snow knocked down power lines and a wide spread power outage occurred for several hours. The outage was extensive and schools had to be closed today because of it.

It is days like this I am glad I stockpile food (usually when a good sale is on), have a manual can opener (electric can openers don't work during power outages), have wood heat and thick warm socks. What are some of your favorite emergency preparedness items?

Snow covered Cherry tree. 

Peach tree on left, Cherry on right in backyard. 

Garden and Bar-B-Que area. 

Lilac bush 

Out my front door to the left.  

Out my front door to the right. 

Entrance to the backyard. 

Apricot tree. 

Backyard 

Knuckles the bunny's home. She was burrowed down this morning. 

Spot was in the coop too long with the heat lamps. He is cooling down.

Incomplete pole barn, tarp sagging with weight of snow. 

Our snow-covered firewood. 

Cherry Tree 

Cherry to far left, Apple tree and tips of Nectarine tree on right. 

Simple, Simplifying Plan

I met with my mentor, shared with her my goals of simplifying my life. Told her how overwhelmed I can become when I get off track from my life vision. I've come up with many ideas of things I'd like to do, learn or places to go and people to visit. It is easy for me to pile on tasks that I truly believe I can do and then in the midst of it all, realize I've taken on too much. Then I panic, trying to free myself from my self-made entrapment of committiments. Leaving myself frustrated, others disappointed who were counting on me and searching again to simplify my life.

Venus, my mentor, (not the planet or goddess) shared with me her God given view about simplifying life. She said "life is like going to a buffet. You can't have everything on the buffet. If you try to sample everything you become overwhelmed with all the choices and all the items on your plate. Having a full plate, also takes up space for the items you truly would like to have more of. We're not meant to have it all."

Not having the room for what you truly enjoy can leave you frustrated and empty. It is okay not to have everything. Scripture can help with making decisions on what to put on our plate. God has set priorities for our lives to help us decide. (Which you can read about here.)

God's Creation

When focusing on God and putting Him first, we can align with Him and do what He wants us to do. Our hearts and minds become more like Christ when we are in His word.

A full plate is a lifestyle of our society and our world today, not a peaceful life of God. Romans 12:2 NKJV reads "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." He doesn't want us to conform to this world, society, fast-paced life. He wants us to be like Him, a peaceful life, focused on God and having a relationship with Him. To read His word, to be "renewed" in our mind, to have the mind of Christ. Piling things on our plate doesn't leave much room for God, our #1 priority.

God wants to direct our lives, not control us but keep us safe and happy. Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV reads "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones." A life of not focusing on God leads to selfishness, pride and over commitment. It's a life that states "I can take care of myself. I can do all I want to," leading us to busyness, emptiness, frustration and feelings of failure.

God's beautiful handiwork. 

God wants a relationship with us. He wants our time spent on knowing Him, fellowshipping with Him, worshiping Him. He gave His all for us. John 3:16 NKJV states "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."All He wants in return is us. "Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord;" Exodus 35:5 NKJV.

If you have a willing heart and want a relationship with God, please note sidebar, 'Salvation Through Jesus Christ'. Then find a Bible believing church or a Christian believer in your home town to learn more.

Windy Day-Emergency Preparedness

As I'm sitting here writing this post, I'm listening to the wind. I can hear it rustling the trees, blowing the tarp covering on our incomplete pole barn and winging items like garbage and trash cans down the street.  We have kept our dogs inside today for safety from the flying debris.

Blown garbage. 

Blown garbage. 

More garbage.

Accuweather.com has a winter storm warning for our area. The winds are predicted to be 25 to 40 MPH with gusts of 60 MPH. I believe it. Predication for our snow accumulation, through Wednesday at 4:00 PM, is to be six to twelve inches and two to four feet in the higher elevations. I haven't seen any snow or signs of it yet, thankfully. We are just trying to deal with the wind and it's effects.

Fence knocked over by wind.

Windy weather can cause concerns for several reasons:

1. Flying garbage can obstruct a drivers view if it lands on the windshield or causes a distraction.
2. Large vehicles like travel trailers or semi-trucks can be turned over. Usually in our area the highway is closed or at least a wind advisory is in affect. 
3. Heavy garbage or other items can be blown around damaging persons or property.
4. Power outages can occur.
5. Trees can have limbs break off causing damage to surrounding buildings or persons standing nearby. 

To be prepared for windy weather:

• Ensure gates are fastened to prevent them from swinging back and forth or breaking off.
• Have trash cans either weighted down or placed out of the wind.
• Don't drive if you don't have to, if you do drive, drive slower and more cautiously. 
• Be aware of road closings, blockages from trees and advisories.
• Stay inside. Windy weather is not a time to be out doing yard work. 
• Check trees periodically for stability prior to any bad weather. If they are not stable, have them cut down or stabilized if healthy. Unstable or unhealthy trees are likely to fall in bad weather. 
• Have another source of power; generator, flashlights with working batteries, candles.
• Have a battery or crank powered radio for weather news.
• Check on elderly neighbors especially if a power outage happens to ensure they have heat.
• Have alternate sources of heat. We normally heat with wood, electric heaters in kitchen and bathroom to prevent damage to pipes in freezing weather. We are also set up for propane and natural gas.
• Have enough food for a minimum of one month. Especially if you live in isolated area as we do.
• If you have a well and an electric pump, ensure you have a source of back-up water. 
• Have an emergency kit in your car. Include a three day supply of water and food, extra clothes such as hats, gloves, jackets and a blanket. A flashlight usually comes in handy too if you are stuck on a road because of an accident or blockage. 
• Always have medical supplies such as bandages, antibiotic ointment, bandage tape, pain and fever relievers at home and in the car. Have prescription medications for a minimum of two weeks at all times too. 
• Make sure you have a working manual can opener for can food.

Rockett stayed in the nest box and protected everybody's eggs. 

Some of our pets weren't bothered by the wind. 

I hope these tips will help you in preparing yourself to handle emergencies. Many of these tips can be applied to all emergencies. Other links with emergency preparedness tips I use are; Red Cross and http://bepreparedcalifornia.ca.gov/epo/.

Yucky Muck!

Saturday was the day I chose to clean the chicken house. Weather and injuries have prevented us from doing it sooner. My wonderful husband assisted me because I'm still on crutches.

"What's going on in the chicken house?"

I cleaned the nest boxes, scraping away all the manure, brushing away the dust and stuffing fresh grass in. My husband pitched the old grass hay and chicken manure off the floor and out into the chicken yard. The chickens loved it. They scratched through it like they were looking for gold. New little grass shoots were growing in the mess and the chickens were gobbling them up.

Clean nest boxes. 

Floor before cleaning it. 

My husband helping clean the floor. 

"Yummy!"

"Munching fun time!"

We removed Rockett from her beloved home. She is not very social and tends to stay cooped up away from the other chickens. She attempted to hide behind the old grass piled up in the yard or behind the garden hose that hangs on the fence. (She definitely is not our brightest chicken.)

"I'm hiding."

"They'll never find me here."

I put down fresh grass hay on the floor about six inches thick for the ducks to nest in. Ducks are clean animals by nature and I'm sure they enjoyed the new fresh grass. They like to snuggle at night and wrap their necks together, resting their heads down on each other's back.

Fresh grass on floor for the ducks.  

Today the ducks were calmer. Must have realized what we were doing for them. 

The coop smelled and looked better after we were done. It was hard work and I had to ice my knee afterwards but I was glad we cleaned. I have to say, a simple life can be hard work.

Frugal Tips-Family Activities

Family activities are another area which can be expensive. We all need to have a little fun and family time in our lives, and it doesn't have to be expensive. Since my injury and being temporarily disabled, we have learned a lot of ways to have inexpensive family-time and fun.

Hiking with friends. 

• Talk together as a family.
• Play board games or cards.
• Have a guest over for dinner and games.
• Write a blog.
• Read someone's blog and leave an encouraging comment.
• Watch animals; yours, neighbors, wild ones.
• Read a book.
• Watch free TV shows on-line.
• Visit a neighbor.
• Study the Bible.
• Go to church.
• Join a women's group. Our women's group has a breakfast meeting monthly, cost is $3.
• Write a letter.
• Keep a journal.
• Help your children with their homework. You never know what you will learn or how close you will become to your kids.
• Visit the elderly. I visit a 91 year old lady a couple times a week. She has an outrageous sense of humor.
• Make a phone call to a friend.
• Borrow movies from the library.
• Bake cookies from scratch.
• Play in the snow.
• If you eat out order the $1 menu or kids meal. 
• Don't purchase magazines. You can borrow those from your library also.
• Our community college periodically has free concerts from local musicians. 
• Find out about free days at the local museums and zoo.
• Volunteer for local events which allow you free entrance to their shows.
• Have a picnic.
• Go on a hike.
• Use a digital camera and see what interesting photos you can take.
• Have a contest with your family to see who can make the best desert.
• Family trip to the local feed store to enjoy the new spring chicks and ducks. 

With these tips you can have some valuable family time while having fun. 

Simplifying Crafts and Extra Activities

In my quest for a simpler life I've had to look at my crafts and all the other extra activities I take on:  groups I'm wanting to attend, volunteer opportunities and animals. I have to decide how much time I really want to devote to these activities, how much I really enjoy them, and which ones I'm good at.

The volunteer activities were the easiest. I've limited my time with volunteering because I've always been busy with work and family. At present I visit an elderly lady a couple times a week, take her out if we decide to and usually give her a mini-manicure weekly. This doesn't take more than two or three hours a week. I enjoy visiting her and she seems to like my visits.

I also volunteer in our church nursery every eight weeks. I started this because the church had a need and I had "baby fever". It only takes about 1 1/2 hours each time. I like watching the kids but I'm not sure this is something I want to do long term. I will keep this commitment for a year and re-evaluate again in October or November.

Visiting the elderly.

Our town is located in an isolated area in Northern California. The people are very community-oriented and there are many groups to join. I haven't involved myself in many of them because of the time commitment required. Groups I like to attend are: Ladies Bible Study on Thursday Mornings for 1 1/2 hours, mentoring meeting one hour a week on Tuesday mornings, Women's Aglow meeting and lunch 2nd Wednesday of each month for two hours. I enjoy these meetings and feel I am growing in the Lord by attending. I would like to start going to our church's monthly women's breakfast also so I can grow in fellowship with other church members. (If I could just remember when they have it.)

Crafts are a big issue for me. I know many crafts: crocheting, embroidery, latch hook, macrame, an easy type of weaving (I learned from my mother, Not sure of the name), painting on glass and sewing. Others I would like to learn are soap making, candle making and knitting. The problem I have with crafting is I don't have a habit of finishing projects, they can be expensive and time consuming. The only one I can do well is crocheting. I have chosen to finish crafts I have begun and stick to crocheting when I do a craft. Crafts are the one area I have to be more realistic at setting my goals. I can get carried away with all my craft ideas.

As for more animals, we will have to wait. I don't even go to the local shelter to visit. We may get a few chickens in the spring, but we haven't decided yet.

Please visit your local shelter for your next pet. 

Goals this area of my life will consist of:
1) Continuing to volunteer at the same frequency, re-evaluating church nursery in the fall.
2) Continuing with Ladies Bible study, Mentoring (through May) and Women's Aglow.
3) Find out and write down a calendar date for women's breakfast in February.
4) Finish crafts. Work on them 2 or 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time.
5) I won't take on any new craft projects until others are complete. Then limit myself to crocheting.

What are your goals to simplify your activities?