Provident Living...72 Hour Kits!

Am I an Ant or a Grasshopper?
Most everyone is familiar with the Aesop's Fable of  "The Ant and the Grasshopper" where the grasshopper had fun and played the summer away while the ants worked dilligently to put away food for the cold winter months to come.  When winter came...he was left out in the cold, unprepared.  It's hard to imagine during times of peace and plenty that a cold winter of hardship and disaster could be lurking just down the road.  The recent tornados, earth quakes, and a bad economy have been an eye opener to many people and have inspired them to get to work...to prepare for hard times ahead.  Cindy's post today at Rick-Rack and Gingham really made me think.  You should visit her blog...she's a true "Country Woman."

72 Hour Kits...

Natalie's 72 Hour Kit

This 72 Hour Kit is one I found on Pinterest. It belongs to Natalie at Endless Crafting, and is one of the best kits I have seen.  She has kits for each member of her family and a binder with important documents.  After I "pinned" this, my husband set me up a shelf unit just like this in the little utility room at the back of my pantry.  Yesterday was spent updating the food and clothing in our individual backpacks and taking inventory of our long term food storage.

My 72 Hour Kit...

As you can see...my 72 hour kit is still a work in progress.  I haven't yet made a binder for our documents. My kit includes individual backpacks of extra clothing, water, first aid supplies and emergency food and snacks for my husband and myself. (I still need to account for my adult daughter and sister who live with us...the cast of characters is ever changing =D)  There is a large duffle with emergency supplies... flashlights, radio, backpacker stove, cooking supplies...the list is very long.  Another backpack holds freeze-dried entrees...enough for almost a week...but there is enough food in our individual packs to hold us for at least 72 hours.  I still need to add cash to my kits...small bills and change

Other evacuation items include a tent, ground covers, sleeping bags, camping pillows and a 5 gallon bucket with a portable toilet seat.  We also have pets that need to be taken into consideration.  We have put together a kit for our dog, Daisy.  But our cats may need to be left in the home...and that may be a difficult situation...keeping them safely contained.  What we can take with us, also depends upon the conditions we will be facing and the time allowed to evacuate.  If we are given little notice, then we may only be able to grab our backpacks.

If you are interested in getting more prepared with an evacuation kit, but don't know how to get started, FEMA has instructions here PDF for FEMA Family Emergency Kits.  Like they say, "It's never to late to prepare until it is."

If you have anything you would like to share on this topic, please leave a comment.

I need all the help I can get. =D

Provident Living...Lavender Liquid Hand Soap!

Lavender...Clean Smelling and Calming

I Heart Pinterest...
I get a great deal of satisfaction when I actually make something from an idea I pinned on Pinterest.  I actually made a Board for things I have accomplished.  It's been a lot of fun to learn how to make my own laundry soaps and household cleaners.  It's amazing how many useful tips and tutorials are available on Pinterest.  This week I was able to make my own liquid hand soap...it was incredibly easy!

The "Pin"

I found the tutorial for making liquid hand soap on a blog called Savvy Housekeeping.  Since she has done such a good job, please visit her blog for the instructions.  I will tell you that I used...

...1 bar of Yardley English Lavender soap...$1

1 Tablespoon of Glycerin...less than $4 per bottle

10 cups of water

Gifts for the church ladies I visit each month.

As the soap mixture was cooling, I added a few drops of lavender essential oil and a few drops of food coloring.  I think they turned out nice.  I was able to make four gifts, refill two bottles of my own and still have enough left to refill another bottle.  So be sure to visit Savvy Housekeeping for more details.

A Birthday Gift Made With Love...

Zetta's Aprons Nesting Dolls!

This past weekend was my birthday.  It was doubly perfect...the weather was beautiful and my family showed me so much love and caring.  I was especially touched by the darling nesting dolls that my youngest daughter, Sascha, painted for me.  They are like anime girls...each wearing a colorful apron.  Sascha has so much talent and a quirky sense of fun...I never know what she will do next.  It's what I love about her! 

 

Where in Disneyland?

This one is probably pretty easy.

I didn't get a guess on the last picture...

The figurehead is located in Fowler's Cove...where the sailing vessel Columbia docks.

 

When I Was Your Age...We Played Outside!

What do you do in the Summertime?
"Oh, what do you do in the summertime,
When all the world is green?
Do you fish in a stream
Or lazily dream
On the banks as the clouds go by?
Is that what you do?  So do I."

The lyrics are from a Primary song we sang as children. The song mentions other peaceful activities, like swimming and swinging...outdoor activities that filled those endless summer days.  I miss seeing children play outside the way we did when the world was a little safer.  Kids today seem to have their schedules filled with team sports and organized play dates...or they spend a lot of time indoors.  I found some pictures on Google to illustrate some of the ways I played as a child.

Playing Outside...

Flying Kites...

A sure sign that spring was in the air was when Burgess Mercantile would put out a selection of kites.  Such a simple...inexpensive way to have fun!  I used to feel breathless and giddy, craning my neck to look up at my kite in the air...it was almost as if I could fly! 

Yesterday was a very windy day!  My sister and I took a little walk in her new neighborhood to the playground.  Some children were having a wonderful time flying homemade kites...made from string tied to Walmart bags!  They actually flew...not very high, but I was so impressed!  They used their imaginations and what they had on hand.  That's how we used to play! 

Mud Pies...

Toys were simpler back then...just add imagination!  Or in our case...just add water!  Making mud pies was one of our favorite activities.  We gathered up our tools...bottle lids, doll dishes, mom's good spoons.  Then we scoured the yard for flowers and pretty rocks to decorate our little mud cakes.  Even the neighborhood boys would join in.  Their job was to secure the "currency" used to  purchase the finished products.  We used the leaves of Chinese Elm trees...they were the only "legal tender" we would accept.  Fortunately...the trees grew like weeds along the ditches and fence lines.

"Oh, what do you do in the summertime,

When all the world is green?

Do you march in parades,

Or drink lemonades,

Or count all the stars in the sky?

Is that what you do?  So do I."

Kool Aid Stands...

When a kid needed some pocket money...for the movies or for when the carnival came to town...it was so easy to set up a Kool Aid stand.   Picture this...a couple of little kids with a card table and a crayon lettered sign offering liquid refreshment for a mere 5 cents a cup.  Then you notice that the little kid's arm is clean, but red or purple stained up to his elbows...from mixing the Kool Aid "by hand."  You smile and give the well-meaning youngster a nickle and he pours you a glass...one taste later, pucker up!  There's no sugar in that punch...Kool Aid only came unsweetened!  He forgot to sneak the sugar from mom's kitchen.

If our moms wouldn't let us have a Kool Aid stand, we would scour the ditchbanks and the weeds on the side of the road for empty pop bottles.  Each one was worth 3 cents at Burgess Merc. and a couple of bottles would net us a small bag of penny candy to share...so it was a very good summer!

...Do you march in parades?

The Flintstones...

My brother, Mike and I as Fred and Wilma.

Every year on the first weekend in August the town of Alpine, Utah celebrates Alpine Days.  When I was a little girl the parade was a big deal...I'll write more about it in another post.  One year my dad made us the best float ever!  It was a Flintstones car built around our old red wagon.  Mike and I were Fred and Wilma.  Our two little sisters, Patti and Sandy fit neatly into the back of the wagon. (If the picture looks a little odd...my face was scratched out, so I had to add in a new one!)

...Or count all the stars in the sky?

One summer evening when my dad was working on the Flintstone car, I came outside to watch.  It was a very clear night and the sky was full of stars.  We laid on a blanket looking up at the night sky...that was when my dad showed me all the constellations and told me their names.  Before that night I never realized that the stars made pictures.  Once I learned about the vastness of space, it never ceased to fill me with wonder...just as a blue sky tumbling with whipped cream clouds fills me with dreams.

  

When I hear that little Primary song I see in my mind vintage illustrations of children at play.  And...invariably...they are playing outside!

It's cold outside today...summertime, please come soon!

Where in Disneyland...?

Wendy of Wendy's Creative Connection got the right answer to the last picture.  It was a detail on Snow White's ride.

A Fun Easter Swap!

What Mr. Postman delivered...
Mail Call is ever so much more fun since I became a blogger!  There are so many swaps and exchanges going on...that if you are not careful...you may find yourself caught up in the excitement!    Like that's a bad thing?  I recently signed up for an Easter Swap at It's a Very Cherry World.  Thank you, Sue, for matching me up with Jenny at Jenny's Heart...she is totally delightful!

From Jenny's Heart...

Jenny's package was bursting with sweet treats nestled in sunny yellow Easter grass!

So excited to see this adorable scene on a ribbon spool!

Sweet flower chick and embellished note book...with an "S" for Shirley!

Love, love, love it!

A detail from the back of the book...the cutest vintage images!

Thank you so much, Jenny, for making this swap such a rewarding experience...I hope we can be partners again some time.  And thank you again, Sue, for hosting this...it definitely put some sunny springtime in my day...what a spirit lifter!

Where in Disneyland is this?

I'm adding a silly new feature to the end of my blog posts.  Disneyland is filled with the most intricate details...things you may never notice.  On a recent trip I went searching for things I never noticed before.  Can you guess where this is?

First Day of Spring!

Spring at last?
Judging from the snow on the ground this morning it must be the first day of spring.  We've had more snow this past weekend than we had all winter long.  What's up with that?  To cheer myself up I want to share some of my Easter projects and a collection of my favorite rabbits.  The little house is new.  I made two...one for me and one for a friend.   I made the cute little chenille characters to "live" in the house.  My poor chick looks a little bedraggled...a very bad kitty stole her and left her in a snow drift!  How she managed that is a question for the ages. =D

Bunny Collection...

I've been collecting these Easter bunnies for several years now.

My favorite designers are Dee Foust and Nicole Sayre.

My 2012 bunny...

Dee Foust

Mother and Child...this is a music box!

Nicole Sayre...the following are also hers.

Strawberry Sisters Bunnies...

A Cute Pair...

My favorite...Bunny in a Teapot!

Bunny in an Egg Cart.

Spring Shadow Box...

I decided to make this a Spring Birds theme so I could leave it up in my office until summer!

The frame is a 12" square ATC frame from "7 Gypsies."

Banner detail...

Beautiful Birds...

I found so many beautiful bird images...some are from Graphics Fairy

I hope your first day of spring is a beautiful one.  The sun is out now and I'm sure the snow will be gone by lunchtime.   

When I was your age...Marley, Vivienne & Mckinley!

 

Preschool Princesses:  Vivienne (top), Mckinley (middle)  Marley (bottom)

The Preschool Years!
The preschool years can be tough...I mean, who really can remember that far back?  Fortunately I do have some memories of my life as a small girl.  When I am older and cannot remember what I had for breakfast, I will probably be able to recall even more!

Little Shirley...

Here I am at McKinley's age.

Mike and Shirley

I am not sure how old I am here...3 or 4.

Mike was 18 months younger.

Our little family lived upstairs in this pretty house.

It is still there on 100 East in American Fork, Utah.

When I was 3 or 4, we moved from Alpine to American Fork.  We lived just a few houses north of Main Street on First East, the main road north to Alpine.  It was a very nice house and we rented the upstairs apartment.  I thought it was a scary house, though.  Every night I could hear the noises from the neighbors' television coming up through the floor.  It sounded shaky and the voices were grumbly.  One night I woke up to see an owl perched on the window sill...inside my room!

My Wheels...

I had a little tricycle similar to this one.  If my mom and dad knew how much trouble I could get into...maybe they would have had second thoughts about giving me one.  Oh, the freedom of the open road...a ticket to ride!  Once I figured out that there was a great big world just around the corner...I set off to explore it.   We lived near Main Street...so that's where I would go.

That's my corner...just past the Phillips 66 sign!

I never crossed the highway...There was a traffic light on that corner, but I couldn't remember if red was "Stop" or "Go" so I stayed on the north side of Main.

I visited Briggs Drugs and the Bakery.

One day...I was riding west on Main Street.  It was way past my naptime and I would get very cranky when I got tired.  I got off my little trike and took a nap on the sidewalk in front of the drugstore.  A very nice homeless man (Mom called him a dirty hobo) carried me into the store and somehow called my mother...he did ask for $5 ransom...but I don't recall if he got it or not.

At Harrington School, the nice secretary gave me a candy bar and called my mother.

I visited City Hall...I don't recall if I spoke to His Honor the Mayor.

I remember a nice policeman, though. =D

It was definitely a safer and simpler world back in the late 1950's.  I'm sure my mother didn't mean to get so caught up in her soap operas.  She would have gotten in a lot of trouble today for not watching me better.  I think that after the hobo incident I no longer had wheels and freedom!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Mickey Mouse Club!

Even though it was in black and white...my memories are in Technicolor!

I loved the opening music and the trumpet fanfare and especially the part where they tossed Mickey up in the air.  After the Mouseketeers came on...I lost interest.  Jimmy, the leader, was terrifying to look at.  He had too many teeth!  By the way...I was also scared of Liberace...and his teeth!

Miracle Whip...

...and Wonder Bread! 

My favorite snack was slices of bread spread with Miracle Whip.

I ate this while watching...

...The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

I didn't understand most of it...but I liked his friend Maynard...he later became Gilligan!

A Few More Memories...

I have a few more little memories of that time and that house...especially my mother telling me that I couldn't play in the irrigation water on the lawn of the Presbyterian Church next door.  She told me that I would catch "polio." She also wouldn't let me play in the snow on the lawn...because it was full of nuclear fall-out.  When I saw "yellow snow" I thought it was radioactive!  She didn't have to make up excuses...just say "NO!" 

I know you are pretty young right now...and maybe you won't understand all I've written today...but hopefully someday you will!  Have fun being little girls!  I sure did!

Love,

Grandma Shirley