FLY LADY - Week 2

 Good morning, friends!

I'm home and I'm tired but I look forward to the Ozark Creative Writing conference every year. Now I can focus on deep cleaning the house in preparation for the holidays. 

Before I left last week I started working on sorting through the Fall/ Halloween/ Christmas crafting table in the living room. I hope to finish that up this week now that I know I don't have to go anywhere for awhile - a long while!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 1

Good morning, friends!

Things are going to be a little crazy again this week so there won't be a Meal Plan Menu video this week, and possibly next week. Still debating that one. I leave Thursday for the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. This will be my 29th consecutive year (minus the year my youngest granddaughter was born and the Big C when nothing was happening)

I am working on the laundry room and kitchen before I leave on Thursday. I've been creating little 'haunted houses' for a village on the top shelf in the laundry room - something to replace the bird houses and segue into the North Pole village that will go up late November.

For cleaning, that's pretty much my entire plan on the short week. I leave Thursday and won't return until late Sunday. Then I think I'm done with long-distance travel until about April 2026. Wish me luck!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

 

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - 1 Final Item!

 I failed to include the Freezer Clean Out video from Leisa at Sutton Daze. here it is:

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Week 5

  Good morning, friends!

Photo courtesy of Oldiefan on Pixabay

By now you should know what you have and what you still need as you play squirrel and prepare for winter. I'll link Direct Weather's updated video below so you have an idea of how your winter may shape out.

Another category to consider is our pets. Just like us, they want all the comforts during hard times. If you take them to the vet, now is the perfect time for a check-up, teeth cleaning and a pedicure. From there, it's off to where ever you shop for their food, treats and litter (where applicable, of course) For some pets, you might want to dehydrate fruit so they can have their favorite snack right along with you. 

If you are a bird lover, inside or out, make sure you have plenty of seed, nuts & dried fruit on hand for them. Winters can be especially hard on the outside ones. We keep big metal trash cans on the back deck full of wild bird seed as well as a smaller one for fruit & nut mix. I hope to dehydrate more of the fruits just for them next year.

Speaking of 'next year', here's a video from Direct Weather about the potential winter we could face in the 2025 - 2026 winter season:

That's it for Pantry Preparedness Month. Now's the time to make a pass through to make sure you're preapred. In the mean time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 5 - Basement & Meal Plan Monday

 Good morning!

We've come to the end of another month. How are you doing with your tasks?

I was gone all last week celebrating my birthday and doing some crafting with friends and family. So, unless I got something in the office done ahead of time, nothing got done last week. 

As I've been working on the basement little by little during the Pantry Preparedness Challenge (See my Tuesday Posts), I've been trying to get the shower room as well as the pantry room more organized. I swear the shower room is my 'catch all drawer' of the basement. Time to make it more workable. I really need more shelves for the canned (both store & home) goods but there just is no room.  

Do you have a 'catch all' room? What changes do you need to make to make the space more functional?

Remember, you'll find the #MealPlanMonday video HERE.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 4

Good morning, friends!

I almost wrote a couple of posts out of order as I try to get everything scheduled before I leave Sunday. I'm starting with a three-day crafting retreat with friends in Independence Kansas. From there I'm back to Springfield for 5 days to finish the first draft of Book 2 in my Planned To Perfection contemporary romance. Days of no other duties except to write. I'm so excited. 

Thankfully, I've prepared meals, leftovers and simple things Bob can put together while I'm gone. The 1950s housewife in me always makes sure Bob has what he needs while I'm gone.

The next category on our list is general household supplies and personal items.

Now is the perfect time to clean out the bathroom cabinets. Pitch old medications, restock cold & flu meds, analgesics, beauty products such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. 

Cleaning products are also a necessity. Regardless of what types you prefer, have them on hand. Especially disinfecting type items to wipe away all those cold germs.

Lastly, lets not forget this paper product. You do remember when this was a thing, right?

Also nose tissues, paper plates (for when the power goes out but you still want to put your sandwich on something), and personal hygiene items. If you have pre-teen girls, make sure you have items on hand for them. You don't want to be unprepared and a blizzard or ice storm prevents you from making her comfortable.

Next week wraps up our Pantry Preparedness series. Are you ready for whatever lies ahead? Remember, at any time you have questions, please leave them in the comments section. I check them every week. 

I will only be posting the Fly Lady posts for October as I'll be doing 31 videos on my creative channel the whole month. 

November, I'll be back to start that retirement series. In the mean time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 3

 Good morning, friends.

How is your pantry coming along? Have you noticed lean spots and made a plan to fill them in? Remember, we're going into holiday season so some things will come up on sale. Holiday sales usually mean baking supplies, ham, turkey, bread, eggs... things you'll use as families gather. If you can make room in your budget, now is the time to stock up on those items. 

I eat a lot of ham lunch meat, but the packaged stuff is so expensive and full of stuff I'd rather not eat. Instead, I watch for Kretschmar. For lunchmeat, I get this on sale and sliced usually on a #1 or shaved. I love shaved for grilled ham/ egg/ cheese sandwiches for breakfast. An I can eat either of those settings without my dentures (which I don't wear much when I'm home - I like comfort LOL) I also look for sale on the bone-in, such as COOK's, and have it sliced about a finger's width for breakfast ham steaks.

Okay, with that in your thinking cap, I wanted to talk about Dehydrating and Canning foods for your pantry. If you've never done either one, don't be afraid to jump in. I will link you to people I deem qualified to walk you through the process of all three; water bath canning, pressure canning, and dehydrating. Freeze drying is a topic all on it's own and not as inexpensive as the others I've mentioned. 

When it comes to water bath or pressure canning, you absolute best two sources are the Ball Canning Book (I'm still using the one I learned with at 12) and your County Extension or Home Economist office.  If you can read and follow directions, you'll be fine. Yes, there's also Youtube but not all of them are as knowledgeable as they pretend. For canning/ pressure canning my go-to Youtubers are, Linda's Pantry and, you guessed it, Leisa at Sutton Daze. 

For dehydrating I keep The Purposeful Pantry at the top of my playlist. I've learned so much from her. I also use The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook by Tammy Ganglogg. 

As the temps (hopefully) begin to cool down, I'll be using the dehydrator a lot. Bob will be gone the first weekend in October and I plan to give the pressure canner a work out as well. I want to can potatoes and the turkey stock I have in the freezer. 

That's another thing... 

Have you taken a good look in your freezer? Maybe that's a discussion for next week and I'll share a video from Leisa at Sutton Daze. 

In the mean time, think about what you still need to get you through the winter. Make a shopping list, watch for sales and decide what you can do TODAY... tomorrow's prices may be higher or product inaccessible. 

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly