Living Life in Rural Iowa

(Today's post is linked to a post from Are We Crazy, or Not! Hop on over there and check their post! They are very knowledgeable and give great ideas! You can also see what others carry in their EDC Bag.) Everyday Carry (EDC) Bags are one of the most important items that a prepared person should have with them. They carry the most immediate things you need for an emergency as well as daily life things.  EDC bags are not bug-out bags or get home bags. They are the bags you carry with you everywhere. You would have them with you at work, home, shopping, camping, and any where else you may go. As you can see, my EDC bag is also my purse. I carry a lot of things in my bag that are daily use items as well as emergency needs. I choose my bag because of the size, the fact that the strap was long enough to carry cross-body as well as over the shoulder, and the pockets on the inside of the bag. My bag came from Thirty-One Gifts of all places, but was close to what I was lookin

The year 2014 is almost over. Thank goodness. This year has had its high times as well as its low times. I started raising chickens and getting eggs. Woo hoo! This blog has gotten bigger and better. Another woo hoo! However, I felt lost most of the year. Not cool. I realized when I looked back over the year that I did not set any real goals, commit any dreams to paper, and had no definitive plan for getting anything done. I think I might have gone on strike a year ago when it came to having goals - something about them being stupid, unobtainable things. Yeah. Now I am back on track and have realized the foolishness of my ways. Goals are good. Goals are great. Hooray for goals! I have set for myself twelve goals for the year 2015 that I hope to accomplish. I will take you on the journey with me and update you every month. Total transparency and all that. How do you know I am serious? I have already set up the blog posts for the first of the month. Every month through December. Luc

The end of the year is here which is unbelievable to me. However, time keeps marching on and life goes on! These are the top posts of 2014! This little old blog really grew this year and it is all because of you! Thank you all so very much for reading this posts, sharing with others, and giving me the boost to keep blogging!   1. The Budget Is Getting Tighter! 15 Ways We Are Making Lincoln Scream and You Can Too! 2. 30 Days of Preparedness: Stocking The Non-Food Items 3. 30 Days of Preparedness: Personal Protection and Awareness - What Will You Do To Protect Yourself? 4. How I Preserve Food: Vegetable Soup 5. Do Not Put All Your Eggs In One Food Storage Basket! 6. "Oh my gosh, she's a prepper!" 7. Preparedness on the Cheap: Evaluate The Perimeter of Your Property 8. Chaos Scenario: Power Grid Failure Part 2 9. Chaos Scenario: Power Grid Failure Part 4 10. (tied) Chaos Scenario: Power Grid Failure Part 1

December has been very good to me this month! The sales, the loss leaders, the opportunities.... We have been hitting all of them! First of all, December is a very good time to stock up on pork. Some of you may not eat pork and that is fine. However, we do. I have been able to get several items for $1.99 a pound and under. Bacon was $2.99 a pound and I did get a fifteen pound box of that. I also got a ten pound roll of ground pork for $1.99 a pound. I also got an eight pound boneless pork loin for $1.99 a pound. I will post this week how I split that up and what I did with all that! On top of all the pork, we have a half of a hog coming tomorrow. Our freezer will be reasonably full again! I will post how I had that split up and what came out of it. December is also a great month to stock up on baking goods! I have bought several five pound packages of flour for $.99 - $1.49 a package. I have also been finding white sugar for $.99 for four pound packages. Brown and powdered s

Making candles is a skill I have been working on in the last year. I have done the melt and pour method, the beeswax sheet method, and the wax crystal method so far. The wax crystal method, by far, is the easiest method.  This method is great for a beginner! You can do this school age children. You can do this with friends and have a great, easy addition to your emergency preps. Shali made these as graduation gifts for her friends when she graduated from high school.  What do you need? Wax Crystals - We got ours from Hobby Lobby two years ago. I have also found them online. Wicks - I used  these wicks . Wick Tabs - I used  these tabs . (Or use this combination! ) Glass jars - I used old jars that are not okay for canning anymore. To start, I cut the wicks to length of my jar plus one inch. You can always trim down, but you can't add more. Attach the wick to the wick tab by either trying a knot or using a bit of melted wax to hold the wick on.