With all the solar activity this past week and more on the way we are going to continue some options for living off the grid, just in case. A major concern is always water. For those on a well this is crucial to survival and for those relying on municipal systems there may also be days or weeks when the treatment plant is not operating or not operating at full capacity. After hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes, tornadoes etc. there will be time when the water is flowing but has been contaminated. No problem, unless there is also no power to boil before your drink.

Have you heard of the SODIS method? Solar disinfection (SODIS) was developed in the 1980’s to inexpensively disinfect water used for oral re hydration solutions used to treat diarrhea. In 1991, the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology began to experimenting with the SODIS method to treat water in third world countries where water was often tainted and making the population sick. The World Health Organization has now approved this method of purifying water.

A combination of UV rays and heat causes the destruction of disease causing organisms.

SODIS is a simple and inexpensive method of purifying water using solar light. Purifying water can be expensive if using propane to heat water to boiling. During an emergency using precious bleach may also not be a viable solution. SODIS water disinfection needs only plastic bottles and sunlight, making this a task you can even delegate to children.

SODIS method steps:

1. Clean clear PET bottles. Get into the practice of storing some of your water in clear plastic juice bottles and you have this covered. Even individual commercial water bottles can be reused for this purpose so do not discard them during an emergency once they are empty.

2. Filter water through a clean cloth or cheese cloth to remove any foreign material, insects, debris, etc.

3. Fill bottles with filtered water and tighten cap.

4. Place bottles in direct sunlight for at least 6 hour if sunny or two days in cloudy situations. To increase efficiency and water safety place bottles on a reflective, metal surface. A mylar survival blanket works well for this purpose.

5. Store water in these bottles and drink from the bottle or pour it into a clean cup.

Simple. Be sure you leave bottle in the sun the entire time as there is never a guarantee that all organisms have been killed. Err on the side of too much sun.

Benefits of SODIS are:

Proven reduction of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa in water

Proven reduction of diarrheal disease incidence in users

Simplicity of use

No cost

Water tastes good

Drawbacks of SODIS are:

The need for pretreatment, filtering water.

Length of time required to treat water

Only small amounts can be purified at one time.

Need to prepare ahead and have bottles and a reflective surface on hand.

Not 100% effective if every step is not completed.

SODIS will not remove chemicals from water so never use this method if you suspect there are any chemicals in your water source.

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Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010

My discussion with Doctor Prepper all about food storage part 1. .http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show

Doctor Prepper show all about food storage part 2. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/20/doctor-prepper-show

Talk with Halli: food storage and current financial outlook. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/idahotalk/2010/07/16/hfalli-friends

The Tax Foundation was established in 1937 to help Americans understand the implications of tax legislation and to understand tax codes. There website says:

“The Tax Foundation has launched a “Bush tax cuts” calculator at www.MyTaxBurden.org, which allows taxpayers to compare their 2011 federal income tax liabilities under three scenarios: if all the Bush tax cuts expire completely at the end of this year, if they’re all extended into 2011 or made permanent, and if President Obama’s budget is adopted, which includes a combination of expirations and extensions.

Taxpayers can type in basic information-such as filing status, wage income and number of dependents-along with optional more detailed information-such as capital gains and dividend income, state and local taxes paid and other itemized deductions-and determine what their federal income tax burden would be in 2011.”

As an example of what the elimination of these tax cuts will do: a couple making $100,000 per year will pay $12,500 in 2010…2011 the tax will be 15,700 or an increase of 3,200. For a couple with two children making $100,000 the taxes will go from $8,600 this year to 12,600 next, or an increase of $4,000. The alternative tax code requires tax payers to calculate their taxes two ways and to pay the larger. If this code is not adjusted one in three taxpayers in the country will have to calculate their taxes in this manner. Please check out the calculator for yourself to determine how this will affect you. Bottom line, taxes will go up for all Americans not just the wealthy on January 1st if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire.

It’s time to add another non food item to our General Store. With all the discussion about water in our yahoo group we are going to prepare for water shortages by stocking up on paper cups this week. Add a minimum of 100 cups per family member. This may sound like a lot of paper cups but that is figuring only one per day! It does not account for those who may just, drop in, when they discover their preparations are not sufficient. We all have a list of those we have tried to counsel and we know when the crisis hits, they will come. Consider those as you plan. Also, consider if the crisis we are facing is not contaminated water or a power outage causing water shortages but a severe pandemic you will want more than one cup per ill person per day as you will be discard them after every use. When dealing with a pandemic you will not have the energy to care for the ill and also wash dishes and continue with all the other household chores. Disposable cups will be an absolute necessity.

I would advise you to store both cold cups and cups appropriate for hot drinks. I have started storing more hot than cold because they are more versatile and can be used for serving hot foods like beans, soups and stews, as well as drinks. They will also hold up better for a full days use.

Finally purchase only paper cups. If we have an extended power outage we may be dealing with a major disaster and may not have trash collection. Paper products can be burned, plastic will emit dangerous gases and will be a danger to your family.

For those who are just beginning the food portion of their General Store we have added fruit. Today we are adding desserts. Yep, start with the important stuff…You should have asked your family about their favorite desserts so this week add the ingredients to make eight desserts. This could be as simple as a cake mix or the individual ingredients for your favorite cookies. Consider some that could also be made if the electrical grid were down. There are a few recipes for Dutch oven desserts in the April 2010 issue of the Totally Ready newsletter. This week…store eight desserts!

****Win a Consultation!***

To help motivate you to share I am offering the chance for you to win a personal one hour consultation. This will be a phone call where you can ask any questions you may have. You may even ask a group of friends to join you on a conference call or just using your speaker phone. To win one of five  consultations just refer five friends to blog.totallyready.com and our yahoo group. Have them mention your email address when they log into the yahoo group and leave a comment on any blog post. Ten friends and you get two chances to win. Fifteen friends and I will call you, guaranteed! It’s that simple. Watch for other special offers as we progress. I know I don’t want to look back when things get worse and think I could have done more to help you.

Subscribe to our Newsletter: http://blog.totallyready.com/announcing-the-totally-ready-newsletter/

Join Our Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/

My discussion with Doctor Prepper all about food storage part 1. .http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show

Doctor Prepper show all about food storage part 2. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/20/doctor-prepper-show

Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010

Talk with Halli: food storage and current financial outlook. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/idahotalk/2010/07/16/hfalli-friends



Did you miss me? I have had the worst time trying to post while I was away from home. I finally gave up so here is the post from last Friday and I will revise and post today’s tomorrow. Sorry for the delay here and on the yahoo group but now I’m back in the groove!

It’s so easy to run and turn on the tap and expect clean water to flow. Unfortunately that is not always the case. There are dozens of reason we could find ourselves thirsty and desperate. This is just one experience we can learn from:

On Friday night, instead of doing the dinner dishes right away, something on the television caught my eye and I sat down to watch it with my husband. Before long, it was time to go to bed, and when I walked into the kitchen to put my glass in the dishwasher, realized that a sink full of dirty dishes was still waiting for me. What made that even worse was that when I turned the faucet on to start washing them, nothing came out!

We live on property with a well, so we knew that we weren’t “out of water.” With flashlight in hand, my husband went to check on it, and discovered that the pump wasn’t working. There wasn’t anything he could do, so we decided to go sleep in our RV. We’d just returned from a trip and the fresh water tank was full, so we knew that at least we could use the bathroom and shower until we got the pump fixed.

Next morning, we called the man who works on our well. He came out with everything he needed to repair it, but the damage was beyond repair. We needed a new pump and he would have to pick one up and come back the next day to install it.

That meant going another 24 hours without water. Water is one of those things you just take for granted until you have to do without. You just turn the faucet and water comes out, right?

Fortunately, we had bottled water stored for drinking, and some quick hand washing, but not enough for bathing. If it hadn’t been for the RV, we would have had to go to our daughter’s house for at least our daily showers.

We did, however, discover a couple of other resources for water:

1. Having a two story home means that you have lots of water pipes and they’re full of water. You know this because generally, when you turn the faucet on, water immediately comes out. I took three empty food storage barrels to the ground level and turned on the outside faucet. I was able to capture enough water to fill all three of the buckets. We put one in the kitchen and dipped water out of it with a measuring cup to wash hands. We put another in the bathroom to fill the tank if necessary.

2. We have a water softener system with a tank under the kitchen sink that filters the water. This water comes out of a smaller spigot – similar to those that produce hot water on demand. This tank probably holds about 5 gallons of water, so I was able to use it for cooking. That came in handy for meal preparation and I didn’t have to use the bottled water.

3. The hot water tank is another source of extra water. We didn’t have to get into it, but at least it was there.

We survived thirty-six hours without water without too much inconvenience, but it’s making me think about what I could do to make it even easier if it ever happens again.

What we do now:

• The 55 gallon barrels in our shed that are meant to hold water are now full. Because we have the well, we’ve never been too concerned about filling them up. I wouldn’t want to drink the water out of them, but we could have used it for bathing if we had more than a simple pump to remove the water. That’s definitely something I’m going to be checking on this week.

Sometimes it’s good to have a minor emergency just so you can figure out a way to become more prepared. It’s even better if someone else has the emergency and it helps make you more aware. Take some time to assess the water situation in your home and come up with a plan you can implement now in case you ever find yourself without water. Even if you have city water, you might have your line temporarily shut off in the event that a main line is cut or has a leak. It’s always better to come up with a plan before you need it because you can think more clearly, and generally have more options when you’re not in emergency mode.

****Win a Consultation!***

To help motivate you to share I am offering the chance for you to win a personal one hour consultation. This will be a phone call where you can ask any questions you may have. You may even ask a group of friends to join you on a conference call or just using your speaker phone. To win one of five  consultations just refer five friends to blog.totallyready.com and our yahoo group. Have them mention your email address when they log into the yahoo group and leave a comment on any blog post. Ten friends and you get two chances to win. Fifteen friends and I will call you, guaranteed! It’s that simple. Watch for other special offers as we progress. I know I don’t want to look back when things get worse and think I could have done more to help you.

Confused about the solar storms NASA is anticipating? Take some time and listen to my show with Halli.

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My discussion with Doctor Prepper all about food storage part 1. .http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show

Doctor Prepper show all about food storage part 2. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/20/doctor-prepper-show

Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010



Just Getting Started with Food Storage or Restarting?

Purchase any item: an ebook, newsletter subscription, newsletter archive or product,  from Totally Ready and receive a free Guide to a Three Month Supply in 52 Weeks. Take advantage of this offer today and get an easy to understand and implement system to get you Totally Ready for whatever comes….

Yesterday we added water to our general store. Today it is time for you to determine just how much you should be storing for your family. Following are a few guidelines to consider:

Drinking- normally 8 glasses of water per day or or about 1/2 gallon person.

Flushing: Each flush can use as much as 2 gallons of water. Most people flush 5 times per day.

Laundry: If you have make a bucket washer you will need 3 – 4 Gallons of water for washing and the same for rinsing each “load”.

Cleaning and hand washing: 1/2 Gallon per person per day or plenty of hand sanitizer. Some of both is the best.

Cooking: If you are using canned fruits and vegetables you can use the juices and water they are packed in for cooking purposes and you will need less water. If you are using dehydrated or freeze dried foods you will need three times as much water for reconstituting. Again, you should calculate about 1/2 gallon per person per day under normal circumstances.

Pets: They are family members too and will need water for drinking and bathing. Observe how much they consume each day and add a little extra as you may have to resort to feeding them foods they are not as familiar with and will need more water to digest.

Bathing:  You can handle this like our great grand[arents and share bath water or you can plan on bathing using just a wash cloth and a basin of water or a camp shower. Whatever the plan you will need water. Only you can determine just how much.

We have often been told 2 gallons per person per day but you know how I hate generalities. Only you can really determine your family’s needs. Take a little time now with a paper and pencil and do a little calculating for yourself. Remember it is always better to be over prepared for an emergency than to be under prepared.

For information regarding storing water please read the post post  Water Storage and More

For information regarding finding water during a crisis and water when living in an urban environment see: February 2010 and May 2010 Totally Ready Newsletters

****Win a Consultation!***

To help motivate you to share I am offering the chance for you to win a personal one hour consultation. This will be a phone call where you can ask any questions you may have. You may even ask a group of friends to join you on a conference call or just using your speaker phone. To win one of five  consultations just refer five friends to blog.totallyready.com and our yahoo group. Have them mention your email address when they log into the yahoo group and leave a comment on any blog post. Ten friends and you get two chances to win. Fifteen friends and I will call you, guaranteed! It’s that simple. Watch for other special offers as we progress. I know I don’t want to look back when things get worse and think I could have done more to help you.

Confused about the solar storms NASA is anticipating? Take some time and listen to my show with Halli.

Subscribe to our Newsletter: http://blog.totallyready.com/announcing-the-totally-ready-newsletter/

Join Our Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/

My discussion with Doctor Prepper all about food storage part 1. .http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show

Doctor Prepper show all about food storage part 2. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/20/doctor-prepper-show

Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010



The one-day increase for June 30 totaled $165,931,038,264.30 – bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year 2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care bill will produce over its first 10 years. The figure works out to nearly $1,500 for every U.S. household, or more than 10 times the median daily household income.

Daily debt calculations jump and fall, and big shifts are common. But all three of the biggest one-day debt increases have occurred since February 2009. I don’t want to appear as the face of doom and gloom or to be accused of fear mongering because you all know I do believe determine our own destiny. We need to vote. We need to study and prepare for hurricanes, earthquakes, wild fires, floods, tornadoes, burglaries, house fires, job loss, economic downturns, and even terrorist attacks. Many have lots of things in common such as the need to evacuate quickly or the need to clean up after. You need to decide which are most likely to happen to you either while at home or while vacationing.

We need to build a General Store within our own homes. We all need to eat, drink, bathe, take care of our sanitation needs and wash our clothing even during good times. Emergency preparedness or Emergency management requires other items, but items that are just as important to be in our stores. We will need disinfectants and trash bags to clean up after floods, earthquakes and during a major pandemic. You will need paper plates and flashlight batteries for power outages. Yes, it is a long list but we can do it one week at a time.

The point, we just don’t know what our challenges in life will be but we do know they will come. If I seem to be beating the economy drum right now it is because that is the crisis everyone can see coming or is already suffering through and for those who may never have seen the need or understood the wisdom of food storage and disaster preparedness this may be the information they need to become motivated. I also don’t ever want to hear…”why didn’t you warn me?”

You have been warned, now it’s your turn to warn others.

This week I am going to spend time posting info about water so today we are going to add water to our General Store. I normally don’t encourage you to purchase water but it is always a good idea to have a few flats that you rotate through. Individual bottle of water are perfect if someone becomes ill and you want to make sure they don’t share their germs. this is especially true if they are ill during a power outage when sterilizing may become much more complicated. It is also important to have water that can be grabbed and carried along with your 72 hour kits to add additional water to that already in your kit.

For those working on the non food items in Our General Store, and you all should be even if you have not completed the food department, add at least one box of large plastic trash bags. These can be used for everything from rain slickers, to shelter, to a porta-potty liner. We have talked in the past about the need to garbage as well as waste disposal in case of an extended power outage but we may also need to provide our own methods of dealing with these problems after a natural disaster if the infra structure fails. You can not have too many plastic bags. I would venture a guess that these will be another great items to barter with.

****Win a Consultation!***

To help motivate you to share I am offering the chance for you to win a personal one hour consultation. This will be a phone call where you can ask any questions you may have. You may even ask a group of friends to join you on a conference call or just using your speaker phone. To win one of five  consultations just refer five friends to blog.totallyready.com and our yahoo group. Have them mention your email address when they log into the yahoo group and leave a comment on any blog post. Ten friends and you get two chances to win. Fifteen friends and I will call you, guaranteed! It’s that simple. Watch for other special offers as we progress. I know I don’t want to look back when things get worse and think I could have done more to help you.

Confused about the solar storms NASA is anticipating? Take some time and listen to my show with Halli.

Subscribe to our Newsletter: http://blog.totallyready.com/announcing-the-totally-ready-newsletter/

Join Our Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/

My discussion with Doctor Prepper all about food storage.http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show

Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010



First, thank you to all who have sent me survival stories. Please keep them coming. It is great to learn of all the things you have discovered through real life experience. I will compile them and share them in a newsletter in July. If you haven’t already shared your survival tale please do so. Thank you to all who have let me know about the can organizers you have purchased. For any who may have missed my requests last week, I need to know if you have purchased can organizers after clicking on the link on the blog. If so, when and how many, thanks, it’s important and I appreciate your help.

I have often wondered why we don’t just do our water bath canning in our large stock pots. The water gets just as hot and will cover the entire jar. Now Ball has done it. The Canning discovery kit includes a polypropylene rack and jar lifter combo designed to hold 3 pint jars and fit in a stockpot, and also includes 8 simple recipes and  canning instructions. I think this is a great way for those who have never canned to get an idea of what is involved, and just how much fun it is, without all the expense. It would be a great gift for anyone you are encouraging to get involved in canning. How handy when you have just a few peaches or just enough fruit for one batch of jam and don’t want to drag out all the equipment.   Check it out.

Since we have spent time recently thinking about what might cause an extended power outage and how we would survive, I would like to stick with that theme in stocking  Our General Store this week. Now is the time to add a plunger. If you did not see the post about a assembling  “Washing Machine” for use in a power outage then you may not understand how a plunger helps during a power outage. Check out the post. I purchased my plunger at the dollar store so this is not a huge investment. When you get your plunger home be sure to label it “laundry only” and add it to your emergency supplies in the garage. If you don’t already have a plunger for your bathrooms now may be the time to add one or two. During a crisis we may need to use our stored water to flush. As we will be trying to flush with as little water as possible, the need for a plunger will certainly arise.

Add matches to your store. Wooden matches are inexpensive and a must have for any good storage plan. They should be included in your go kits, auto kits, 72 hour kits and of course on your General Store shelves. For storage, other than on the shelves in your home, place them first in a waterproof container or wrap them in plastic or foil to keep them dry. There are many ways to start a fire but the easiest by far is to use matches. Don’t skimp in this area.

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That’s right, I’ve decided to hit the road. I have heard so many times over the past decade, “I just want you to tell me what to store and I will do it”. After hearing from so many that they have stored a year’s supply of dehydrated foods or even worse, a year’s supply of grains and powdered milk, I have decided it is time to do something more. For the past year and a half I have been encouraging readers and friends t0 create a General Store in their own home which would meet the needs of their family. You may have noticed that I never tell you to buy corn or peaches or tuna. Instead I ask you to buy cans of vegetables and fruits or pounds of protein. I would hate to be stuck cooking for an extended period of time with the foods some websites tell you to store.

It has been a real wake up call, or it should be, that there are already lines for food handouts along the Gulf coast due to the recently oil spill. It has been a matter of days and already families are out of food in their homes. What will they do when the relief agencies give them bags of food that they may not be accustomed to eating or that they may lack the skills to prepare? Food storage MUST be customized to your family needs and preferences.

This week I began in home consultations. I will be meeting with you in your own home and when I leave you will have a list of foods and other items to store specific to your family needs. We will walk around your home and I will help you discover places to store food that you may not have considered. I will help you learn how to plan shopping trips, how to afford food storage no matter what your budget and give you tips for rotating. I will leave you with an interactive inventory system to keep track of what you have, what you still need, and will also aid you as you use and rotate your stock.

I would love to be able to travel the country doing this but naturally that will not be possible. I am currently scheduling appointments in California and southern Oregon. The price for this service depends on the distance traveled and the number of appointments scheduled. I would also be happy to do telephone consultations. As I travel for other reasons I will let you know and if I am already in your neck of the woods I will be available for in home meetings. I will be in Houston the beginning of June and I have a few days available for consulting during that trip. If you are in the Houston area and would be interested please send an email and we can talk about the specifics.

As I watched the DOW plummet for a few minutes today, and everyone concerned the exchange would close to prevent a total melt down, I was reminded just how fragile our economy really is. The Greek economy has completely failed and there is rioting in the streets as government programs are canceled. These are the same type programs we have become so dependent upon, food stamps, education, police and fire, health care, all those mandated programs the state and federal government has put into place. I remember watching an Oprah when she interviewed women in Denmark and declared them the happiest in the world. Right…they pay 70% of their income in taxes and the government provides education, jobs, medical, etc. What happens when their economy fails and the people have no skills and no concept of how to create and make do? Riots like we are now seeing in Greece. That will happen here should we have a similar failure of our system. The Euro was devalued today by 10%. That is huge! What happens when foreign governments can’t repay their loans to us and we can’t repay our loans? Rioting and civil unrest as services are cut.

Am I concerned about EMPs and Solar Storms? Yes, but I am far more concerned about the economy and food supplies. Food supplier in many countries, including the United States, are subsidized by the government. What will happen when those subsidies go away as budgets become unsustainable? Last night I appeared on the Dr. Prepper show on blog talk radio. We discussed EMPs and Solar flares and he asked me what would be the first thing I would advise people to do. The answer, get your food and water stored. No matter the cause of a disaster the things we will always need are food and water. With all the concerns about world economies, natural disasters, terrorism and just plain life challenges, the bottom line remains the same. We must eat and drink to survive.

If you know someone who could use a hand with their food storage please let them know I am now consulting and I will leave them with a plan they can, and will, follow because it will be easy and it will make sense. If you have a loved one in California or southern Oregon and are at a loss for a gift why not give them the gift of an in home consultation. If you would like a telephone consultation just let me know.

Just a reminder, because of my concern for rising food prices,  I will send any new subscribers to the Totally Ready Newsletter

a copy of our March issue which includes the information you will need to store a nutritionally balanced three month supply

designed for your family’s needs, not a generic list you may find other places.

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Free Movie and Cheap Pizza for Date Night Tonight:

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Download your free app to your iphone or android today and enjoy tonight!!

Clean drinking water is a huge concern no matter where you live during an emergency but for city dwellers it is more of a concern due to the amount of space needed to store water and also the inability to just walk to a river or stream to get more.

Most just don’t have the space required to store the volume of water needed. This is a key reason I never recommend, in fact I strongly recommend against, storing dehydrated or freeze dried foods. Dehydrated foods need four times the volume of water to food to reconstitute. In other words for 1 cup of dehydrated food you need 4 cups of water. Now, you may be thinking freeze dried foods taste good without reconstituting but that is very dangerous. These foods need to be reconstituted to digest so if you don’t reconstitute them before eating your body will draw water from your cells for the digestion process. This leads quickly to dehydration and if untreated, to death.

We talked about where to find space in the first post of this series. We talked mostly about storing food. When storing the foods we eat food=water. Think about it. As you use those peaches you can use the juice to cook your oatmeal or to reconstitute powdered milk. You can use green bean water to cook your pasta or to add to the flour for biscuits or bread.

Collecting rain water is an option and should be considered in your planning. consider how you cold rig up plastic sheets, tarps, buckets, even a kiddy pool, to collect water. A small pool could be loaded with food and other supplies and slipped under a bed until it is needs. The rice stored in a 5 gallon bucket could be poured out into a pillow case and the bucket used to collect water. If you have a balcony this is much easier than if you don’t. Do you have access to the roof of your building? Could you work out a system with a neighbor across the alley to tie a tarp between your buildings? If you park on the street do you have a hard sided car top carrier that could be opened and allowed to fill with water during a rain?

Purchase a water purifier. Some urban areas have lakes and rivers near by. You can not drink this water directly from the source so be sure you have a good water filter available. Remember it takes time to purify the water so you will need to be diligent.

If you can get water but you do not have a purifier you can purify water in many ways (see your February Newsletter). One of the easiest in the city is to use clear plastic PETE ( look for a triangle with a 1 in the center) water, juice or soda bottles. Keep a few ready to go by removing the label, washing them with soap and water and rinsing well. Fill with clear water. If your water contains debris or dirt filter through a clean cloth first. Fill the bottle with clear water. Place the bottle on a piece of metal in the full sun, in 6 hours UVA radiation will kill viruses, bacteria and parasites in the water. If there is no sun then hopefully you are collecting rain water. On a cloudy day you will need to leave the bottle out for at least two full days.

Think about your options today and walk around your home to case out the possibilities. Once you have done this it is time to purchase any items which will help you provide water during a crisis.

The book Life As We Knew It was recommended to me a s book that depicts life after a disaster and as one that is a good conversation starter.

The other book which is a great way to start someone on preparing is One Second After

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Wednesday someone in the yahoo group asked about EMPs and solar flares wondering if they are really a serious threat to our safety. I spent the night and yesterday doing some brush-up research so I could discuss this armed with the latest information. While there has been some great info shared in our yahoo group, I have decided it is time to deal with this issue in a bigger way. Beginning Tuesday and continuing every week, until we have most of the answers, since you never have all of the answers, I will attempt to help you understand and prepare.

For those in the city food storage can become more of a challenge. Last week we looked at our homes and discussed how to make room for our preparedness supplies before we bring them home. If you missed that please go back and review it. Room seem to be the biggest obstacle for those living in a city.

Don’t fall into the trap of storing cans and cans of dehydrated or freeze dried foods believing these will provide you a way to store more in less space. There are three big problem with this approach.

First, they are very expensive.

Second, dehydrated foods require four times the amount of water to ingredients to reconstitute so, one cup of carrots takes four cups of water to prepare. During a crisis, especially a natural disaster you may be without clean water and would need to conserve the water you have available. As you know from the  my ebook  Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now, I believe in storing the foods we normally eat. The calculator in the book will help you formulate  your storage plan.AS you store canned foods you will be increasing not only your food supply but also your water storage. You can cook your oatmeal in the juice you have saved from canned peaches. You can drain green beans and use the water to cook pasta.

Finally, these foods take a long time to cook. Again if you are without power these could not be cooked adequately in a few minutes on a barbecue grill or alcohol/TP stove.

We have seen from past disasters that food supplies can be cut off, and store shelves remain bare, for weeks after a disaster. Should we be hit with an EMP or solar flare or should the power grid be down for any reason supplies will be scare for many, many weeks. Food cannot be delivered to city stores if there is no gas. Gasoline takes electricity to pump. I always advocate a three month supply of the foods you eat but I realize for an apartment dweller this may not be possible.

It’s time to make friends. Now is the time to become acquainted with your neighbors. I would recommend talking the those who live in the same building as you, or in the building next door or across the street, about emergency preparedness. Any further away and sharing becomes a problem. Try holding a neighborhood meeting, maybe under the banner of a neighborhood watch. Feel out the guests about their concerns about disaster preparedness. Contact those you feel would be good partners after the gathering and see if they would be interested in planning together. You would now have allies. During an emergency you may want to gather together into one home making food preparations and keeping warm more efficient and also safer. There is safety in numbers. During a crisis if everyone brings the foods and equipment they have stored to one apartment who cares if the place has cans and boxes of oatmeal everywhere?

If you have a car, hard to believe but some city residents don’t, remember your trunk. The trunk of your car should always have a good car kit but if you lack space you may consider storing your 72 hour kit and some non food supplies in the car. Many supplies would not be appropriate for trunk storage, such as liquid medications. If you are planning to evacuate to a friend’s home outside the city consider storing items in the trunk that would be a welcome addition to their storage. For me, TP!  Toilet paper takes up a great deal of space but it is an absolute necessity in a good storage plan. It will be a great item to trade in addition to the obvious need. So, think trunk!

Back to food storage. Begin this week to store canned foods and grains which are easy to cook such as oatmeal and pasta. You may want to follow the plan we followed last year to fill the shelves in our General Store. You may just want to look and the spread sheet and calculator in Mother Hubbard and jump in. I would begin by getting a complete supply to last three weeks and then increase to a month…and so on. Remember to have the strength necessary to meet the demands of an emergency you will need a well balanced diet. No matter how you begin, just begin.

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Our yahoo group has been having quite a good discussion about water filters the last few days. Most have agreed that the Berkey water filters are the best. If you have been considering a purchase I suggest you check them out. As we have seen in the horrible images of the victims in Haiti people need food but they become desperate when they have no water. Be sure you are prepared.

As I promise I have included a few recipes today that are great for freezer meals. I made split peas soup today and will put half of it in the freezer for use on a cold winter night when I am just too tired to think about food. Guess I’ll have to make sure I have warm homemade bread on hand too!

Waikiki Chicken

2-3 lbs. chicken pieces or boneless chicken breasts

1/4 C vinegar

2 T brown sugar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Salt

1 8 oz. Can pineapple chunks with juice

½ tsp. Ginger

½ C Catsup

Brown chicken in 2 T oil. Place chicken in oven proof dish. Combine all other ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake covered (350 degrees) 15 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until chicken is cooked. Cool completely and transfer to gallon freezer bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal. Store flat in freezer until frozen and then store on end.

Meatza Pizza

2 lbs. Ground beef or combination of ground beef and ground turkey

2 eggs

½ C Italian bread crumbs

1 jar spaghetti sauce

mozzarella cheese grated

Combine meat, bread crumbs, eggs, and 1/4 C spaghetti sauce. Press into pie plate and form well in center. The meat should be shaped like a pie shell. Bake 350 degrees 15 minutes. Remove from oven and drain fat. Fill center with remaining spaghetti sauce and top with mozzarella. Return to oven and continue baking until meat in cooked through and cheese is melted, approx. 20 min. Cut pizza style and serve with pasta and salad. To freeze, drain any fat and let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze. To heat remove plastic, replace foil and bake 350 degrees 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until heated through and cheese melts.

Split Pea soup

2 C Split peas

1 lb. Diced ham and or ham hocks

1 Med. Onion cut into large chunks

2 Large carrots dice

Rinse and drain peas. Add ham and carrots to 2 quarts of water and cook until carrots are tender. Remove ham and carrots. Add and onion to water and simmer until beans become tender and soup begins to thicken. Mash peas with a potato masher or blend in blender if desired. Add ham which you have removed from the bone and diced. Add carrots. Reheat and serve.To freeze: cool completely and place in gallon freezer bag. Freeze flat and when frozen store on it’s side.

Now it’s your turn. Where are those recipes from you?

I have become accustomed to people thinking I’m a little Kooky and over the top. One example of that is that I have been telling friends, family and you for a while now that the power could fail during a pandemic. Now everyone knows the flu will not cause a power outage but many other events can, and who would fix the problem if everyone had the flu? Well…

While we have been focused on fighting the H1N1 flu things have happened. There were earthquakes in Mexico city, southern California and China, Mount Redoubt in Alaska has spewed ash in huge amounts, a firestorm in Santa Barbara has destroyed homes and has been out of control for over a week, thunderstorms have killed in the midwest and tornadoes have killed in the south. Yes multiple disaster can, do, and will, happen and one may happen while we are quarantined due to a pandemic.

So lets change our thinking just a little for this week. Are you prepared for the other disasters which may hit you? An earthquake, fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, wind storm or blizzard?

If the flu returns as expected in the fall we will be headed into hurricane and ice storm season. Earthquakes can happen any time and they are years overdue in many parts of the United States. Consider how you will deal with a loss of services should a second disaster strike.

Think water. If your water supply is contaminated or interrupted due to a power outage or broken pipeline can you survive for a month or more on your reserves? If you have been stocking your General Store with us each week you already have some “water” stored. There is water in your canned vegetables and syrup in your canned fruits. Naturally, you cannot count on this for your survival but it is a big part of the reason to store canned and not dried foods.

Since I have written before about storing water please take a few minutes to review the following posts. There is also water storage information in your Mother Hubbard book if you don’t want to spend time checking out the posts.

You cannot survive more than a few days without water and if you are battling the flu you will need even more water than usual. Remember the leading cause of death from the flu is dehydration.

http://blog.totallyready.com/?p=327

http://blog.totallyready.com/?p=15

Very interesting info today:

Scientists say air travel is a single largest reason why the deadly H1N1 flu virus has now infected 6,500 people and killed 61 in 33 countries. About two billion people travel by air each year.

A study done earlier when the world was preparing for a H5N1 avian influenza outbreak had confirmed how restricting air travel may slow the spread of flu. A study published in the journal PLOS Medicine found a noticeable drop in the number of people travelling by air following the September 11 attacks in US which in turn had an effect on the start and spread of the 2001-2002 US flu season. During the 2001-2002 flu season, it took 53 days for flu to spread across the US, 60% longer than the average time of 33 days.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Search-on-for-15-flyers-with-H1N1-symptoms-/articleshow/4531337.cms

Sounds like grounding planes is not out of the question during a second wave.

It seems many others are now thinking the way we do. Last night we got a mention on Webby! Please go check it out and add a comment! We want the world to know that there is simple, easy to follow, yet accurate information that will help anyone and everyone prepare not just for the second wave of the H1N1 flu but for any disaster that may come our way.

http://www.webbyawards.com/webbyconnect/blog/?paged=7

I will continue to post  answers to  questions as long as you have them. I had been posting suggestions for saving money each Wednesday but right now I feel it is more important to get you real emergency prep information. We have talked about the collapse of infrastructure during a pandemic if there is noone to repair a problem. The infrastructure can fail during any crisis so today we take a look at water…

Part 1…Part 2 tomorrow

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I recently watched a national morning television show where the topic was emergency preparations. The “expert” gave some really awful advice about water storage. Some straight talk is in order.

Water storage is absolutely essential to a good preparedness plan. In an emergency, it may be too late to go to the tap and expect clean water to flow. One gallon per person per day is the minimum you will need to continue living the way in which you are accustomed.  You will need at least two quarts for drinking and the rest for cooking, cleaning, flushing toilets, and personal hygiene.

When planning your water storage, don’t forget your pets.

Water may be stored in a variety of containers:

1. Heavy duty plastic containers with a spout or a pump for dispensing water. Water is heavy, and you need to consider this when choosing containers. Five gallons of water weighs 42 pounds. Containers should be manageable for one adult to lift, or they should be equipped with a pump. Make sure when using plastic containers that they are approved for food use. Chemicals are available to add to storage containers, preserving the water for five years.

2. Plastic bottles. Water may be stored in well-rinsed bleach (hypochlorite) bottles. Begin by cleaning bottles with hot, soapy water. Completely clean the inside and the outside of the container, including the handle, the lid. Rinse well with plain water. Finally, rinse with clean water. Once you clean and sanitize the container, fill it with water you know is safe and screw the cap on tightly. You may want to fill containers with your own tap water. Water in different areas tastes different, and your family will be accustomed to the taste of your own tap. Before using, open the container for several hours. Pour water back and forth between two pitchers to add air back in and improve the taste. If the water appears cloudy, treat or use it for cleaning and bathing but not for drinking.

3. Soda Bottles. Liter soda bottles with screw-on lids work well for storing drinking water. Colored bottles are the best because they filter the light. Sanitize by rinsing inside and out with a solution of one-half teaspoon of household bleach per pint of water. Rinse well with plain water. Finally, rinse with clean water. Once you clean and sanitize the container, fill it with water you know is safe and screw the cap on tightly. Again you may want to fill containers with your own tap water. When using your own tap water, you do not need to treat your water, simply fill and cap your bottles and you are good to go. Liter bottles are also great to have on hand to grab quickly if you need to evacuate. They can be carried easily by an adult with the use of a lanyard type bottle carrier.

4. Mylar water storage bags . These are impermeable to gases and are usually sold in bulk cases for easy stacking. Individual pouches can be purchased for storing in 72-hour kits and in your car. These pouches are not rodent-proof, so check them often and place small pouches in a rodent-proof container.

5. Glass jars . As you empty your canning jars, sterilize them and the screw on lids, and fill with water until you are ready to refill them with the “fruits” of your gardening efforts. They are already taking up space, so put them to work! Glass jars should be stored in a dark place and preferably in a cardboard box. Water can also be canned by processing for 20 minutes in a water bath or steam canner. This is not necessary if water is rotated on a regular basis.

6. Picnic coolers . Fill with water between uses.

7. The bathtub . If you know a storm is approaching and there is even a remote chance you may be without water, fill your bathtubs and sinks.

8. Pitchers and pots. Drag out grandma’s silver pitcher, pot, canners and anything else that can hold water. All of these items will hold water that you can safely drink. That is huge!

9. Swimming pools . Use for cleaning and bathing only.

10. Water heaters. Make sure you turn off the power (or gas) before you attempt to drain. To get a free flow of water from the hot water tank, open the valve at the top of the tank as well as the faucet at the bottom of the tank. Increase the water flow by turning on any hot water faucet in the house before draining water from the hot water tank.

11. Waterbeds . Use water from these for cleaning and bathing only.

12. Liquids in canned fruits and vegetables are good for cooking. This is one reason we recommend you have canned foods as well as dried foods in your emergency food supply. Peach juice is great for cooking oatmeal. Rice and pasta cook well in the water from canned vegetables.

13. Melted snow. Be sure the snow is freshly fallen and clean.

14. Rain water should be collected away from trees or structures, which could contaminate the water. Mylar blankets; new, unused 5 gallon buckets; new unused garbage cans — all work well to collect water.

15. Fruit juices should be included in every emergency storage plan. They are not only useful for drinking but also adding flavor foods such as oatmeal and disguising the taste of medications.

With the drought continuing in California, Texas, Florida and other places water is a real issue this spring. Today another water district in northern CA placed water restrictions on residents, and it’s still the rainy season. Residents are only allowed to water two days a week. That is barely enough to keep the landscaping alive, dead landscape costs money. There are a few ways to save water that will also save you money.

Purchase a low flow shower head. If you can only afford one then everyone needs to use that shower. I grew up in a home with one shower and it didn’t hurt us one little bit to share.

Purchase a low flow toilet. If you don’t need a new toilet you can make yours more efficient by placing  a plastic bottle of water, clean rocks, or a freezer bag filled with water inside the tank. Be careful not to overdue as you still need enough water for an efficient flush. If you need to flush twice to accomplish your goals you have done no good in conserving water or money.

Water at night or early in the morning. The ground will retain the water longer, slowing evaporation, which will help your plants stay healthy on less water.

Turn of water during the day. If you have a fountain in your yard turn it off when you are not actually in the yard and leave it off until the sun goes down. All outdoor water should be shut off unless you are actually there to supervise it’s use.

Turn off your sprinkler system when there is a forecast of rain. I really get a little annoyed when I see sprinklers running during a rain storm. This water will be lost to run off and just make it’s way to a river and then drainage systems but will not add to water storage in reservoirs.

When you wash your car fill a bucket with soapy water. Rinse the car, turn off the water, soap up the car, rinse again and turn off the water as you dry and clean the inside.

Collect the water that you run in your sinks and showers while you wait for the water to get warm. Use this water to water plants, wash the car, wash the floor, or even do dishes. It is, after all, straight from the tap.

There are so many more but this should give you a good start. Think water conservation and save money on your water costs and save water to keep your gardens alive.

Since I am still dealing with limited typing and I have been receiving so many questions, I have decided that until I can type again I will forgo the posting schedule I had and just answer your questions and deal with immediate concerns. Thank you so much for all the questions and comments. I am sure when you have a question there are a dozen people out there with the same question who just haven’t asked it yet.

Water storage:

Water should never be stored in milk jugs. There are two reasons, first, they are porous and chemicals can easily leach into your water. Milk jugs are designed to begin biodegrading as soon as they are manufactured. This leads to the second reason they are poor containers for storage. They will leak. I knew this and I purchased some water in milk jug type, containers to have on hand when we were anticipating a power outage. We had the outage but I failed to use all the water. You guessed it, one day I went into the garage and the bottle had biodegraded and leaked all over the sewing machine cabinet on which it was sitting. Lesson learned.

Speaking of leaking, if you have read the section in Mother Hubbard on water storage you know that water should never be stored on concrete. Just in case you haven’t heard that before it is worth a mention. Plastic containers, any plastic, should not be stored directly on a concrete floor. Always place a wooden board, a few layers of carpeting, an old metal rack, something on the floor first. Concrete absorbs water from the ground beneath it. Concrete contains many poisonous chemicals and as it absorbs ground water these can leach into plastic containers. You would not taste them when drinking the water or when using it to prepare foods but they could make you sick.

Storing water in hard plastic juice containers and soda bottles is fine. They are constructed in a higher grade plastic and are good storage containers. Be sure to clean them well and if you ever open a container that has mold or particles floating in it use it only to water outdoor plants or to flush a toilet.

Storing water in old detergent containers and using the water to wash your hands is a tricky question. If you have small children I wouldn’t risk it. No matter how well you labeled the bottle for hand washing only, I would be afraid a child might drink it. Gosh, they’ll drink the detergent! If you are all adults in your home I don’t see a problem with doing this, just label it well, for two reasons, you don’t want anyone drinking or cooking with it and you also don’t want to assume you have a supply of detergent when you really have water.

55 gallon drums…It is very, very difficult to get syrup out of a drum. You will need to clean them several times and let the bleach sit in the barrel for a day or two before you rinse it out. Fill the barrels about 1/4 full with a bleach and water mixture. Rotate the barrels and be sure you turn it upside down and let it sit, as it is really hard to clean inside the top. I would not count on this water for drinking or cooking. It should be reserved for cleaning, toilet flushing and watering a garden. If you are purchasing used water barrels be aware that the barrel will absorb the flavor of the item originally stored in it, so, a pickle barrel will leave the water tasting like pickles, etc. NEVER, NEVER store water in a barrel that has been used for anything except a food ingredient.

The best way to store water is in glass, which is why I recommend filling your canning jars with water as you empty them. I know someone is going to send me a note and say glass breaks in an earthquake, yep, it will. If you live in earthquake country you should have your jars stored in boxes and you should have strips on your shelving to hold the boxes on the shelves.  Where is earthquake country? Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, the Virginias, New Jersey, New York and New England…Did you know that? Naturally some are more prone to earthquake than others, but some faults move so rarely residents are not aware that it can happen there also.  One of the most dangerous faults in the US is the New Madrid which would cause massive damage in all those states surrounding Kentucky.

Speaking of canning jars…I understand there was a shortage of jars last year in some places and if you missed it, Jeanette commented that her stores were well stocked right now with jars. You may want to think about stocking up. It would be a good time to send an email around to all your family and friends and ask if anyone has any jars they are willing to part with before you purchase a bunch. I gave away lots a few years ago when my family started shrinking. Some older women may be willing to give you jars if you just return a % of them filled. As we prepare to garden we also need to think about how we will preserve what we grow.

Keep those questions coming and I will try to keep up with the answers.

First let me thanks you for all your encouragement and well wishes. My finger is healing but still throbbing and I am still typing one finger, hunt and peck, so this may be another week full of random posts but we will survive. I’ve had lots of time to think about what our week 2 should involve as we build our store. I intended to follow the order in my Mother Hubbard ebook when building our “store” but the times seem to have sent me in another direction for the moment.

This week we looked forward to rain in California. I have been warning you that the effects of a drought her will effect everyone who eats anything growing California. Our much anticipated storm was not much of anything and the next storm looks like it will pass around us. For those of you who don’t understand the water situation here let me take a second to explain.

There has been some rain in Southern CA this week that you may have heard about. The problem is that they have never built dams and reservoirs  to hold the rain when it come so it just drains into the ocean. They get the bulk of their water from the northern part of the state. Local officials are already warning that there will be severe water restrictions this year.

Ranchers normally receive water allocations each year and any additional water they need they purchase. This year in some areas the allocation is zero, yes, zero. Any water they need to raise crops, livestock or orchards will have to be purchased. As an example in the almond industry: In a normal year ranchers would make about $3,215.00 per acre, this year they would make $1,375.00 per acre. Quite a difference. The other costs of raising a crop will, however, remain the same, pay the ranch hands, pay for sprays to prevent insects, mold and fungus, pay for the gas to run the tractors, pay for tractor maintenance, purchase the packaging materials to get them ready for shipping, pay to have the almonds harvested and processed and pay the broker who sells them, a commission. In other words, if you own almond orchards you will be in the hole after harvest. Our extended family grows grapes. Water has been cut to them this year also, and if they have to pump their own, they have wells, not everyone does, it costs $8,000.00 a week. So what is being done? Many of those we know, who raise nuts and fruits, are only prepared to spend what it takes to keep the trees and vineyards alive. Many will not spray, harvest or process next year. Farmers with row crops, tomatoes, beans, corn, peas, etc. will not plant at all. There may be more opportunities for those of us living here to glean but what will the rest of the world do?

No tomatoes means expensive prices for imported tomatoes to be eaten fresh, and we all know imported tomatoes just don’t taste the same. With few tomatoes there will be less to process into canned and spaghetti sauce, ketchup, ans salsa, making that more expensive. Just remember how the price of corn has jumped the last year as more was diverted to making fuel. I realize this is all a worst case scenario but I, for one, would like to prepare for the worst and rejoice when it doesn’t happen. If I’m prepared and  prices stay low and supplies are high, I will be able to use the money I would have spent to accumulate a cash fund for emergencies, as I rotate through my stored food all winter.

This week we are going to think water and gardening.

If you have Mother Hubbard review the section What if the Tap Goes Dry for storage ideas. This week store 10 gallons per family member. You can purchase a water barrel, store in liter soda bottles after disinsecting, bleach bottles, glass bottles, but NEVER plastic milk bottles. Be sure some is stored in small enough containers that should you have to take your water with you when evacuating it can te lifted. Be sure to store some water in personal size, store bought, bottles. These can be easily rotated and are great if you have to evacate, to carry in your hand or on a lanyard around your neck. If you have questions not answered in the ebook please ask them and start today storing water.

We should all be thinking of doing some gardening this year. There are many vegetables and a few fruits which do very well grown in pots. I would like to hear your recommendations and success stories as we plan for this together. Please check with friends and family this week to see who would like to share gardening with you. If you have a small space you could grow vegetables which take little room and the herbs and someone else could do the corn and bigger varieties. This week create a gardening plan. It is also a good time in many areas to plant fruit trees and bushes. Determine this week how much you can afford to spend and work those into your plan. They may be a little more expensive but they will produce food for your family for years to come. If you are in California or another drought area this is the year to plant drought resistance varieties so you don’t lose your investment.

Remember every comment is another chance to win our February give away so please share your questions and ideas as you store water and plan your gardens this week.