what a crazy week

Sorry it has been a bit, this last week has been filled with tornadoes and flooding rains.  My poor little plants didn't stand a chance.  After surveying the garden, it seems the only things that I definitely lost are 5 sugar snap pea vines (I a blaming the rains and Scarlett the hen - they seemed a tasty treat for her), & the blackberry bush.  Overall not bad.  We will see if anything else goes over the next couple days; 3 of the eggplant aren't looking so good.  the other casualty of these storms - my hen quit laying.  hopefully now that we are back in what seems to be a normal weather pattern she will start laying again.  I sure do miss her fresh eggs!!

Other than that, we came through ok; no property damage from wind, hail, debris or flood waters.  We are still under flood warnings for about 2 weeks as the Mighty Mississippi continues to rise, but I am sure we will be ok.  But don't get me wrong, we re prepared for floods or power outages.

What we have on hand "just in case":

bottled water - you want enough for each person to have a 2 liter per day. 
We have 9 2 liter bottles that we bottled ourselves, plus 2 gallons store bought

Canned provisions - canned tuna, chicken, vienna sausages, fruits (canned and fresh) & veggies (canned and fresh)  Canned meats may not be the healthiest thing on earth, but they don't need cooked and you need protein.  Don't forget a manual can opener or you will be screwed and hungry.

Candles & extra lighters - I always keep plenty of candles anyway, but now I have more and a stash of lighters my dear husband doesn't know about so I don't have to wrry about them disappearing.  We also have at least 1 working flashlight with extra batteries.

A stocked first aid kit - FEMA

We have a few more things together too, like a packed backpack of clothes and meds for each member of the family, but a full list an be found on the FEMA site listed above.


It felt so good to wake up this morning and see the sun peeking through the clouds!  It is still really cloudy, but the sun sure is trying to break through.  Hopefully things will dry out a bit over the next few days.  I still have quite a few plants that need to go in the ground.  The zucchini and squash are flowering now and I need to get them staked before they start bearing.

Anywy, I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods, enjoy the day Mother Earth gave you!!  And please check out FEMA's site and be prepared for a flood, earthquake, another natural disaster or the zombie apocalypse!!!