Monday, May 3, 2021

Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

Well this will be over with by the time you get this Monday Message - Thursday late evening about 10, I flushed the toilet and...nothing. I thought, oh no! (as I was the one who fixed the toilet, you may recall) We looked but nothing was out of whack so my husband went downstairs to check. Yep, no water anywhere. He got in the car to see if he could discover what was wrong (we don't pay the water bill as it is direct payment or that would have been a question). Sure enough, four blocks away a water main broke.

Now I have water to flush toilets and such but just last month I thought we needed to use our drinking water as it was a year old already...I think you see where I’m going...

The water did come on during the night but our town was then placed on a boil order. It said if the water is clear you could boil and use it but if the water is colored you had to have an alternate water source. Well, because we are so special, yep, no clear water. It looks like the glass of water you always see in the news in Flint, Michigan.

So that meant getting water. A friend brought some water over which was nice. This is now Saturday but feels like forever ago, definitely going to keep rotating drinking water.

I know other places do not have a limit of one package of toilet paper at the store but we still do.  What blew my mind was that they also had a limit on packages of water - who knew?

Our town is under 1,600 people and I am sure they all are having to get drinking water. I am grateful we still had the ability to flush. That is a huge blessing.

So let's talk about the water needs...

We cannot drink it, can't brush our teeth in it, can't cook with it and there is NO way I would shower in it...pretty much flush with it is all that can be done.

Fortunately, I keep up with everything. The laundry was done and I had just run the dishwasher after supper...so I am glad that is my habit.

Oh dear, everything takes water - brushing teeth, cooking, dishwashing (I picked up extra paper plates at the store, etc). But washing dishes and rinsing would take a lot of water. The cats were looking at me strange as I poured bottled water in their water dish. I would not want to wash clothes in this water either.

They said the earliest would be Monday morning but I am sure it would depend on the water tests.

I am feeling like saying we need to store food and water for when - not if - the next thing happens,  because we just keep having things happen.

So work on your water storage as well as your food storage. Plus, keep in mind other items as well like your first aid supplies. I was in Salt Lake City long years ago and they had a room with food storage in it. It was very interesting, they covered wheat cans with contact paper and they became shelves by putting wood on them, then two more cans and more wood. It was pretty neat.  They had bolster pillows made for the couch but instead of stuffing in them they had extra blankets for the stuffing, it was very neat. They made those baskets you see with coils of fabric but here again they had socks stuffed in the coils for part of the clothing storage. They had plastic barrels that they put a wooden top on and covered with tablecloths, one had sugar, the other water and they were end tables for the couch.  Remember the coil basket? It was filled with light bulbs. There were games and puzzles and fabric on those shelves along with books. There was a treadle sewing machine set up and kerosene lamps on that. But the neatest thing was a wooden box that sat in front of the couch. The top was like a frame with plexiglass in it that, looking through that top, the box was filled with their first aid items.

So things definitely to think about, right?

This week I have been working on the loom.

This is moving along nicely. I am now working on another like this. I want to say I think it looks way better than I thought. I am using big balls of crochet cotton as I have lots from yard sales. In fact, I tossed several downstairs to play with as my hands were full with other items. It was like a mad crocheter was loose, too funny.  But it does look great and I am going to play with the ones I tossed down. By the way they are in a basket now.  So much cheaper than buying fiber for the loom I say.

I did have some trouble when I crawled under the loom. My bifocals misalign what I am doing and I could not figure out what the problem was. So I went over and over till I finally took off my glasses and saw the wrong shaft was tied up. Now I will know not to have my glasses on under the loom when I am switching tie ups.

Missy said if she had thumbs she would have helped me.

Gus said if it were a toy he would be all in.

I also had some time to spin this week as well.

How are you coming with learning skills? Are you working on your storage?

Gus and Missy say to be safe and they love you all.

12 comments:

  1. Hello! I love your kitties back! I look forward to reading your posts each week and enjoy the sage advice of Gus and Missy. Your weaving is absolutely beautiful.

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    1. Thank you really I feel like still a beginner at it but every thing that goes awry I learn a lot. Gus and Missy love photo ops and give sage advice. Thank you

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  2. I can relate to the water woes. A few weeks ago we noticed that our well was pulling some mud. Well service came out and raised the pump 40 feet and we hoped that was it. Nope. Now things are really getting bad with clogged lines to toilets and washing machine. So they came back and ran a camera down and found that our well casing was compromised with roots growing through it. Thursday our well was torn apart and a new casing and pump installed. They also put down a large amount of bleach. It will be up to two weeks before things clear up. Our bank account is somewhat lighter too. I am thankful that we always keep six 24 packs of water for times like this. Every time we think the bleach is gone here it comes again. This will pass but I am sure ready to be back to normal!

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    1. Oh I am sorry this water incident was two weeks ago for us so we were having issues at the same time it seems....wish things like those were free right. Hugs to you

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  3. Debby in Kansas USAMay 4, 2021 at 6:41 AM

    Gah, water outages are the worst! All the more reason to be prepared. When I was single, the pipe broke between my rental house and the street. It was the morning of my bridal shower! I shut it off and made arrangements to shower and get ready at a friend's. I had at least 24 hrs. of drinking water stored and it lasted longer since I was gone most of the day. I also had a pool so that was my toilet flush water! But it was still a pain. And that was nothing since a year later my prep was really needed after a big earthquake (California). 4 days of nothing but we could flush,had bottled water and plenty of food to cook on the grill! Spaghetti a la BBQ!!
    Nobody had running water that we could get to, it was January and too cold to even refresh with a swim. Best shower of my life after that week! We still could've done better. Wenonly had one package of baby wipes- that should be at least one per person. And at least a week's worth of paper plates and stuff. As a tree hugger I don't keep that around. Now I do!

    Anyway, I hope your water is back to normal soon! Good reminder for all of us!

    The loom project is just beautiful! I'm still working on my craft room. I got a lot done last week. Just!

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    1. Wow you share a lot of what would be helpful to others thank you I wish I could see your craft room I can always use ideas thank you

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  4. HELLO BECKY: TUVE UNA SEMANA BASTANTE AGITADA CON EL NACIMIENTO DE MIS 2 NUEVOS NIETOS, SI PASAS POR MI BLOG, VERAS UNA PUBLCACION. NOSOTROS TENEMOS PROBLEMAS CON LA FALTA DE AGUA DURANTE EL VERANO, DEBEMOS USAR UNA BOMBA PARA CARGAR EL TANQUE QUE SUMINISTRA AGUA PARA EL INTERIOR DE NUESTRO HOGAR, ES TERRIBLE PASAR TANTO CALOR CON ESCASES DE AGUA, SE LO QUE SE SIENTE. ME GUSTA MUCHO EL TRABAJO DE TU TELAR, ES BELLISIMO. ESPERO QUE ESTES BEN, AQUI LA 2 OLA DEL COVID SIGUE EN AUMENTO, LOS HOSPITALES ESTAN SATURADOS Y NO HAY CAMAS, MUY TRISTE. BENDICIONES.

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    1. What beautiful babies what a blessing for sure I am grateful all are well. Please keep being safe

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  5. Good grief what troubles! I'm glad that is in the past. I do not have any water stored. I think that's something to work on.
    Blessings from Southern Missouri,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

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    1. I too am glad that is now in the past as well still not as bad as the derecho from last year....yes having water in storage is a good plan

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  6. I hope everything is back to normal now, Becky. Love Gus and Missy's words of wisdom at the end of your messages, but I think you might have missed the last part - "So glad you're prepared Mum, but don't forget to store plenty of food for us too!" (My cats keep a very serious eye on my preparations and always let me know when things aren't up to their exacting standards - at least as far as their requirements go. Their latest request was an increase in kitty litter, please!)

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    1. You are exactly right.... if they sleep in and I do their food it didn't happen in their eyes they have to see me doing it funny kitties I say.

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