by Elli O., Survival Blog:

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

ONLINE SHOPPING

To maintain our health we chose to order some items online to avoid the public stores when possible. Fabric for blankets, washable family sanitary cloths, and face masks, and Betadine wound cleanser/disinfectant were purchased. I also ordered and received a non-electric carpet sweeper.

ACTIVITIES AT HOME

Although the rest of the family is considered “essential”, all of my disaster preparation teaching has been postponed until future dates. This has given me time to complete more than a few projects around the homestead.

I have been cooking and canning the rest of the turkeys I purchased last fall. To explain: I generally buy 10-12 20# turkeys at a great price and then freeze them until I find the time to cook and can them.

This led to another project – that of cleaning, sorting, and organizing all of my empty canning jars. I found that I had many more than I realized and that we are now beyond the need to buy any more of them at auctions. Sadly, so is the opportunity to do so, with the order of social distancing in place statewide.

I have been interested in dairy goats since dairy is one area that is lacking in our food plan. (Our cattle are raised for beef.) I have been studying and researching all things dairy goats. I even built a milking stand, in hopes of someday soon having one. I also purchased goat fencing (something I have read is critical to keeping goats where you want them!) and goat minerals since they will be able to eat the grain we feed the other livestock but will need the addition of special minerals.

I painted my new-to-me hives and I am waiting for my bees to arrive. Hopefully this year will be the year for successfully raising bees for honey. If I do not have a good honey harvest this year, then there will be a yard sale of beekeeping supplies!

I have also completed several sewing projects after purchasing and receiving fabric through the mail. Five double thickness fleece blankets are finished and will be stored in tubs until needed. 90 washable flannel sanitary family cloths were made and placed into storage should toilet paper ever become impossible to get. 60 surgical style masks were made and some will be sent to those in need of them.

We have also been saving more “stuff” like plastic yogurt containers instead of recycling them. They are so useful for gardening and since we plan on doing more of that, these will come in handy!

REACHING OUT

We have found that this time of uncertainty provides many opportunities to discuss the importance of having extra supplies on hand for such a time as this. We avoid using the word “preppers” for several reasons. Firstly, there is the negative connotation associated with this term. Secondly, we are concerned with OPSEC and our preps. We will share some of what we have, but we don’t want our supplies taken from us!

Because we are followers of Jesus and make it a priority to meet as a church, we have had to make other arrangements. Thankfully our pastor is able to record and broadcast his sermons on the Internet so we can continue to grow spiritually.

This past fall when we processed our beef, we only sold half of what we had hoped. But my DH made the comment that this would allow us to give more of it away for those in need. And he was so right. We have been able to share more than 50# of high quality meat with those within our Christian family. This was done quietly and discreetly, giving the praise to God for such an opportunity.

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