Oklahoma Storm Season .. Here it Comes!

                                

 Tuesday night is our first night of the season you start hearing on the TV about all the bad weather headed our way in Oklahoma dealing with tornado season. Now I know they just love to scare the holy be Jesus out of everyone and at the moment it really isn't that bad at all. Just a lot of possibilities.
   It's time to start checking and revamping the tornado bags! Hubby has said !!@#$ NO! He's not going into that !!@#$ cellar! He can't get up and down in it anyway and every time he goes in one he comes back out sick with a cold from all the damp who know whats in there! I told him fine sit in the truck just outside the door and if it gets bad you can do the butt bump like a kid on the stairs down in it! He didn't particularly like that one either ! LOL Then he said what about Frosty? You can't get her down in the !!@@# hole! ( As you can see he gets disturbed over cellars.)
   So ok I have a kind of gym bag I carry with me every day. Some call it a EDC. It has all my needful daily things plus some what if things. You know like blood clot stuff for accidents for hubby on blood thinners, my portable battery powered asthma inhaler, different meds, utility tool, dagger, (it was Jon's ) small led bright light, big bandages, peppermint for nervous storm stomach, shoot a whole bunch of other things but never enough. You always forget things. Oh yes, mini screw diver set, eye glass repair set,
  Anyway I had to renew the candy, put new batteries in the pulse ox for checking O2 levels, put a new extra battery for the asthma machine. Most everything else looked good enough.
   Now I need to find some extra clothing. Remember you don't want to wear dirty undies for the next few weeks if everything gets blown away. LOL If your like me and big you can't always find the size you need.
   Now I need to check the emergency first aid bag it would be nice to have it small because it's hard to carry many things in a real hurry. Most tornado events I believe injuries are cuts and bruises. Still extra is always good.
   I need to find the head lamps and put in my purse. When it's raining and you have your hands fulls they are handy.
   Speaking of lights... need to check the batteries in the truck lights and house flashlights.
  <<< Oh FUN.... Just talking about baseball size hail somewhere in western Oklahoma. 75 - 90 mph winds. It's away from me a ways but shows what's out there tonight.>>>
   I haven't got much sleep the last few days. I ate a Mc Ds bacon egg and cheese like a idiot and 3 hours later my BP dropped down to 108/67 with a 151 pulse & I can't breathe. Man! That feels scary and like crap all at once. I sit still and drink some Pepsi for the caffeine and 7 minutes later it was 138/85 with 84 p.then 8 minutes after that it was 143/90 w 82p ! The rest of the day my whole body is tired and weak muscles with some flittering sensations ever now and then. So I dip down to low then go to high and it jumps the blood sugar way up from drinking soda off and on all day when it starts to get to low again. With all that going on it messes up your sleep no matter how tired you are you just sleep a couple of hours. The next day I slept 10 hours straight that night. All of this from buttermilk biscuit, bacon and cheese alpha gal allergy reaction!
    So here we go again it's Tuesday night and although the weather isn't that threatening but just enough to keep you on your toes. So I might as well check the tornado bags.They are pretty much here and there so I need to get everything in one spot. Also get some trash bags out and figure out how to water proof and be able to carry stuff at the same time. EVERYTHING ALWAYS GETS WET ! I leaned that one after a few times.
   So still some organizing to do. Need some snack food and to pack a Frosty puppy go bag also. She has to have her blankies and puppy dog food and treat ya know! LOL
   After I get my stuff done I need to some how sneak my hubbies stuff done so I don't have to listen to him !!@#$ about it all while I do it.
    So OK everyone! We just got through hearing about the Texas snowmageton now spring is trying to raise some cane. Get your bags ready for each person. Put important papers in something weather proof and solid so they don't get blown away or wet.
So remember light, food, undies, meds, first aid, cell phone chargers and charged, money and whatever else you think is needful.

Love
Ranchmama
P.S...... And of course....DON'T FORGET THE T.P. ! ...
  

Food Shortages --- Lets get Real

    
                  

    We can't really ignore what is going on in our country no matter how hard we try to act normalish. As soon as we do we have real life bite us in the rear to remind us. So you folks that are trying to just do what you think you have to and not watch the news or hear anything bad just trying to keep those blinders on and head down so you don't have to see or think about it you can just step away and delete now. This post is going to get real."If all you see is what you see. You'll never see all there is to see".

   Now that we have that out of the way.....
   Lets try to skip the health thing that is everywhere you look and dominating / ruining daily our lives in some way.
   We can't seem to control anything right now. We try but it is down right scary even when we are all doing the best we can. There are a few other things we need to be looking at other than the obvious health stuff. As with anything we are dealing with everyday safety and needs. Shelter, water, food, medical, temp control are the main ones.  Some may be losing their focus with all this overwhelming new life.
  There are some things we CAN CONTROL those are the things we can work with. The more we can look ahead and see what is going on and plan the more peace of mind we may have.
 Food -- it was really hard in the beginning. Seems like they have somewhat adjusted distribution. Right now I don't know where or how your getting your food but get and store everything you can. Even if someone gives you something you don't normally use or eat. If it will store do it. You can use it to trade or to help someone else out if needed. For those of you that are reasonably self sufficient on your property I am so proud of you! Please store extra for your family and neighbors if your able to.
     I have talked to some single people that are attempting to provide some of their own food growing. They have grown kids and some room for a small garden instead of the one or two plants of this or that they are growing. I encourage you to expand beyond your own personal needs. If your not physically able to do the work rope / guilt or whatever it takes to get other folks involved in learning to grow or preserve and store the chow.
    We have a world wide economy now days. Like here in the states if there is a freeze in Florida we can usually get something from California. If a grain crop doesn't do good in one state we can get grain from another. What we have going on now is it looks like China has been totally wiped out of their food supply due to extreme flooding throughout their whole country. If it isn't flooding it is drought to the point of locust and grasshoppers taking the rest of the food supply. So what does that have to do with us??  Think about it. Where are they going to get the food for millions and millions of people? I am going to include a link in here so you can watch the video. Skip any advertisements and occasional little repeat of information but watch it. There is no telling how many thousands of people were killed in all that flooding but that country has a huge over population problem still. They still have to feed their people. Don't forget any warehouses they have for products meant to sell in the USA are probably gone also. Masks, medicine, camping equipment, simple everyday things to important equipment for manufacturing.

Largest Floods in Chinese History Wiped Out the Country’s Food & Grain Supply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erONP33MBlA

US: Canned Food Shortages due to Chinese Tin/Steel Supply Chain Failures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBOjxxCOUUc   (about 8 minutes)
this guy is big on the food supply. That is his thing if you listen to his other videos.

  I know when I was trying to buy some Throwback Mt Dew I couldn't because they quit making it and was only making the most popular. The grocery store manager said they didn't have enough cans for production. What in the world do you do without cans to store food in the grocery stores? Canning jars / glass, dehydration, more plastics we are not too sure about in the first place?

    Right now we are all pretty upset with China due to the pandemic and actually the whole society may not give a hoot about us. Still the common poor folks trying to survive are still people. They will be trying to buy up everything they can anywhere they can to feed the masses of people. How that works with politics right now I don't know. I know I have been hearing about China being aggressive in other countries. Maybe it was trying to find more land to supply more food? Who knows! Just remember... there is only so much food to go around anywhere in the world. Other countries are not having perfect growing weather and may not have enough to sell outside their own country.
    I believe the Bible says something about having enough food for 7 years? I'm not to good with those details. Can you imagine how much room that would take and learning how to actually store it so it would be good when you open it? Maybe you have family members or people like family you can work those details out with.

    Get with your other family members that live close by. Some will totally agree your need to go the extra mile to get your supplies in order the best you can. Others will think you are crazy and the government will fix it all. My favorite is God will protect us and won't let anything bad happen. Remember God also gave us brains and the ability to do for ourselves and others also ! For those family members and close friends that don't want to participate go ahead without telling them and plan on having extra if you can for them. You know they will be knocking on your door if your silly enough to tell them everyone is planning for a food supply. LOL

     I think the churches are in a good position to establish a food market for their towns. They can possibly organize growers to grow a established variety of needed foods. I am not totally familiar with the Mormon Church but what I am aware of they are really organized on the establishment of food availability. For that matter anyone with good organization and familiar with town folks could do it. Someone grow veggies, another does, chickens and eggs, someone else do lambs or beef or pigs etc.

    I know many of us are worried about a lot of important things and feel helpless. So the only other thing is try to think ahead the best we can so we don't jump the rails so bad and do alright.
   If we are lucky the president will accomplish Made In America products and medicines enough things won't get too hard on us. In the mean time we will just all have to plan the best we can.
   Don't forget, those dried beans in the bags at the store you should also be able to use as seed. No we don't know if it is non GMO or how it was grown with what chemical but does it matter if your really out of food in the cabinet? Now if you put your food in the freezer to get rid of bugs I'm not sure if that same bag of beans / seeds will grow. You may want to try it both ways. This spring germinate some that were in the freezer and then some that you left on the shelf. That should show you what would work before going to all the effort outside.

Love
Ranchmama

Rabbit Hole Funny

               

       

  (I don't know where the images come from but would like to thank them for doing such a good job!)

      Being in Tornado Alley everyone needs a place to run and hide when the weather get nasty I call it the rabbit hole.

      One of the things I talk about when it gets tornado season around here and sometimes in other states is being ready.....
On the Oklahoma television ads they call it being weather aware. That's just the way it is around here. I don't know about other states but in Oklahoma you watch the news and weather for all the bad stuff coming. You watch the sky and you know when it is time to run to the rabbit hole.

   Talking to a lady in Tennessee recently. Told her I thought that the south east quarter of the USA is going to be getting a lot more nasty weather than usual. I asked if she had a cellar. No is usually the answer. I asked if she had a tornado bag like many of us do in Oklahoma. Didn't have a clue what that was. I simply asked what would you do if a tornado came and you came out of a shelter and nothing was left. Totally wiped out. The answer .... I don't know I never thought about that is another normal answer. To kind of shake things up a little bit I ask them how long do you like to wear dirty underwear ? Well.. I, I, don't ! Of course you hear that one. LOL Then I ask if everything is blown away, even the local walmart or whatever stores, the government is going to come some day soon you hope and relocate you to a relatives house or a shelter.  What are you going to do for clean underwear for you your kids or whoever is living with you? What about a simple change of clean clothes? Maybe a hair brush or even toothpaste and brush. How many people are in your family? 4, 6 8 ? Just think none of you would have even one simple change of clothes or even a washrag to wash with. No meds, food or water.
   It is usually a eye opener. They then understand why a tornado bag. Sometimes they say they are going to go home an make one and I point out everyone needs one.
    All this is leading up to 

         I had this conversation with a 80 year old Aunt. She has a mentally slowed husband. They have a tornado safe room and I called to ask if she was already for any bad weather. She said she sure was! I asked what was in her room. She said some chairs. I asked not even a case of water? No nothing. After talking with her about the stuff above she got to thinking that she could put some stuff in there and it would be a good thing.
   Today I called and asked if she had her extra underwear packed.She said she sure did! She was at the store getting the throw away kind ! It took me a few minutes to catch on an I finally realized she was buying adult diapers / underpants to have extra ! We both laughed so hard about that. I told her I forgot about all that for older adults ! I guess you are for sure packed and ready then !
    We can never be ready enough. You just can't take all the important and precious stuff in a couple of bags for each person. All we can do is try to save our own hides and whoever is with us in the rabbit hole.
    If you have friends or relatives here in Oklahoma or in other states that don't usually even get bad weather this may be a good chat to have with them. Something about being without clean drawers seems to make people think about stuff ! LOL

Everyone keep safe in all these tornadoes, hail and extra water flowing everywhere.
Feel free to share this with anyone you feel like may need to hear it.

Love
Ranchmama