It’s Monday morning, the sun is shining and we had no frost last night. We will still have to check for wind damage to the new trees but at least we didn’t lose the apple blossoms to frost which was our fear.
I got a copy of Life As We Knew It, a young adult novel about life after an asteroid hits the moon and knocks it out of its orbit, causing immediate earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and rapid global cooling. It is a pretty gritty book, not one I would let my 12-year-old granddaughter read, but very well done. There were a few technical glitches. The well keeps pumping out water in spite of no electricity, no one thinks to gather any wild food and the mother insists on boiling the well water, even though it comes from underground and would not be contaminated. Still, this is an excellent post-apocalyptic novel and I am heading off to the bookstore today to pick up the next two books in the series. If you do decide to read it, I would not do so just before I got groceries unless you have a lot of extra money as you may well be inclined to stock up a lot more than usual.
My husband’s family is finally going to sell his childhood home. His mom has been gone for three years but no one really had the heart to let it go. We went over on Saturday night to see if there was anything we wanted. I came home with a beautiful painting and an armload of cookbooks from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. I am having a blast going through them. I must say, folks used to eat a lot of Jello.
It is killing me to leave home (I hate to travel) but my daughter is having a baby as I write this and we are headed to Pennsylvania on Friday. I hope to have some time to visit the Amish country while there as well as spend many hours just rocking my grandbabies. Neddy and her family have just moved to Pennsylvania but the new job has not worked out so they are headed back to Florida as soon as Neddy recovers. The reality of this recession is clear to them. These are both well-educated, attractive, healthy, strong, bright young people who are not afraid of hard work but finding decent employment has been a challenge. All that is out there are sales jobs that pay on commission.
My son returned home from a business trip to Spain on Saturday. He made it out just before ash plumes shut the airport in Madrid down. That is a crisis that is not yet over. If you are traveling, be prepared for long delays.
I have a friend who is cleaning out some things and offered to sell me a new Vermont Castings stove for $200.00, a steal I must say. I am not sure where I will store it but there si no way I would turn down such a deal. I also just got the stainless steel water bath canner I have been craving. The old canner will be saved for making soap. I really needed a large pot for this and it should not be used for anything but soap making.
I will try to post next week but I may not be able to as we are staying in a hotel and I am worried about leaving my new computer in the room while we are out. We are leaving on Friday morning and returning on Tuesday or Wednesday. My son and his wife and coming to babysit the tomatoes. Andrea from Chicky-Bit-Run sent me some heirloom seeds and the seedlings are the most beautiful things I ever saw. These are the best starts I have ever had, too good really as they are so large they need to be planted soon. I am hoping for some warm weather before we leave. I will be a lot happier once they are in the ground.
BTW, I love the updates on the solar system. I live vicariously through people who are experimenting like this. Please, keep them coming.
The Just In Case Book Blog 
May 10, 2010 at 10:37 am
I adore old cookbooks! Yes, they did seem to have a lot of jello recipes. lol “Manly aspic” was something I could never get used to…tomato jello was not something that I was expecting.
Have fun in PA, wish we were headed through Amish country!
May 10, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I read “Life As We Knew It” just last week. I also caught the fact that they had running well water without electricity. and that they boiled the water, even though it was a well.
This is a book that both, my wife and daughter read and was handed down to me. I asked my wife in there would be sequels, because of the way the book ended, but she didn’t know of any. If there are sequels, could you possible provide the info?
As for the solar power project, it seems that I have infected my son-in-law and daughter. We wife and I are planning on purchasing the second kit this coming weekend. My daughter wants me to pick one up for her, as well.
Congratulations on the woodstove find! We have been looking at a United States stove wood burning stove, costing about $330.00. The thought is that, we would install in in our 35 foot RV, in an attempt to make it totally grid free. We are also thinking about getting one for the house, allowing us to get rid of the oil filled electric radiant heat type heaters.
Have a great trip to Pennsylvania! If possible, try to het to Hershey’s and stop in for the tour. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
May 10, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I just picked up the sequels, The Dead and the Gone and The World We Live In. I am vowing not to touch them until I get my chores done but it is really hard to resist. I should mention that the last one is only out in hard cover as it’s a new release.
May 10, 2010 at 2:42 pm
My daughter squeaked home on Friday from a semester in London, England. Her flight took an extra two hours to leave the runway because the shifting ash cloud meant that fewer planes can take off into that narrower flight corridor. We are grateful beyond measure to have her home safely.
An investment guru I met through our community garden said this morning that he gives the US financial markets under a year before we have a Greek-style meltdown. The Chinese are already tugging at our debt to see how badly we flinch, he said, and they’re poised to call in the markers and send inflation skyrocketing. He advised, “Make all the money you can this year and sock it away!” Does anyone else have a perspective on this and/or links to prudent analysis on the subject? Thanks. Donna
May 10, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Hi Kathy,
I have been following your blog for a couple of weeks and enjoy your information. I have read all of Susan Pfeffers books in that series. I just read the last one last week. My 13 year old son read them also. He often reminds me to have at least a three month supply of food and at least a 1/2 tank of gas. I have been prepping since Nov 2007. Just started canning last fall–love it. Enjoy Amish country I went their often as a child.
May 11, 2010 at 9:33 am
I also just read the 1st two “Life As We Knew It” books. I actually read the 1st one twice within a 2 week period. They are both good–the 2nd one tells about the same events from a different person’s perspective in NYC.
As part of our prepping, we have just completed our “storm room,” making it an extra safe place in case of tornadoes by installing a commercial strength steel door.
I’m getting the pantry stock built back up after moving from a small rental house to our new forever home. I’ve also been adding to our first aid kit, and storing water, even though we have a well, a generator and creek nearby. You were correct when you said the book would make a person want to stock up more than normal!
My husband is coming along with agreeing as long as I don’t talk too “out there” about what we’re prepping for. He sees the sense in prepping for storms, power outages, and even civil unrest or terrorism attacks that may affect our ability to get goods and services. So to him, prepping for a few months is reasonable. He doesn’t see the need for the “go bags,” since we live rural, have no volcanoes or earthquakes, or nuclear/chemical plants nearby and our home is our fortress with everything we need.
May 13, 2010 at 7:58 am
I just read “Life As We Knew It” myself, and I am happy to hear there are sequels.
I was struck with the fact that every time the power would come back on, they would race to start up the dishwasher!
Were they waiting around with a mountain of dirty dishes?