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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Not So Subtle Reminders...

Part of my never ending to do list includes things that fall into the category of preparedness. Its an area we've made improvements on, but still needs attention (can you ever be too prepared?).
I had a big wake up call late last summer/early fall when a series of wildfires nearly forced us to evacuate our little homestead (and many of our local friends faced evacuation as well during this very stressful 2 week period).

As is often the case when a "crisis" arises here on the homefront, my husband was working (nearly an hour away) & our closest family live an hour away as well. This meant I had to remain calm & clear headed while I nervously watched the smoke & flames advance & began to make arrangements for our animals, then prioritize what was most important to pack into the RV, all while trying to turn it all into some sort of adventure for my young children. I must say that we are fortunate to live in an amazing community (and we have amazing firefighters) that really pull together in time of need. That experience pushed us to build a cage for the back of our truck to transport our goats in. Prior to that we would borrow one as needed, but having a way to safely transport & evacuate your animals is a must for any homestead.
Another more recent development made me thankful for the efforts I've put into slowly building up our freezer & pantry stock. Recent changes in my husband's job, specifically a pay cut, forced us to really clamp down on the budget & cut expenses. Thanks to our food stores (of food we actually eat on a regular basis) we were able to save a lot of money in the food category the past couple months simply by using what we had. Its made me even more grateful for the fresh eggs provided by our chickens and milk (and the cheese & yogurt I make from it) from our goats as well.
While these events can be scary when your dealing with them, I do appreciate the not so subtle reminders they bring for placing more priority into preparedness.

1 comment:

  1. So scary, we will be praying for each! Please stop by my blog!

    http://theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com/2012/02/veggie-seed-give-away.html

    ReplyDelete