TEOTWAWKI Cleaning

If things fall apart and your regular routine is greatly compromised, how are you going to keep things clean and sanitary?

We had a great conversation in the last article about different ways to cook our food in a collapse situation, and one comment took the conversation a little farther along the planning process. I really enjoyed this comment because I have been thinking along the same lines. Your comments on the last article has given us more to ponder and learn, and I'm hoping this article will do the same.

The comment I referred to is this:  "Fern, after commenting this morning, I was out picking apples and got to thinking about this some more. Besides cooking itself, what about clean up like washing pots and pans as well as dishes and utensils? Heating water will be a similar challenge. For me, I have a couple of large pots designated for this. One of the many things I learned in Boy Scouts back in the 60's was how to set up a sanitation station by heating water over a wood fire in pretty large quantities.. Just thinking the whole thing through. Carl in the UP" I really appreciate Carl's comment, the added dimension to the discussion, and the fact that he lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where it gets much colder than it does here.

I have given this situation thought many times. When Frank and I lived in Alaska back in 1990, we were in an Inupiat village without running water. There was a washeteria that provided water to the village, people would bring 30 gallon trash cans to fill and haul home. Frank carried two 5 gallon

collapsible water jugs to school and back many days, keeping our 30 gallon trash can supplied with water. Any water we used for washing dishes and such had to be heated on the stove first. The ease of heating water at the time came with an electric stove. Since there are many times throughout the day that something needs to be wiped down, cleaned off or hands washed, we began keeping a bowl of water in the sink that had a little soap in it. Granted, throughout the day, the water would be cold, but it was better than using up the water Frank hauled in. We learned to be very frugal with our water usage during this time. It was a very, very good learning experience for us.

When I think of cleaning, or having water on hand for washing, winter time seems easier than summer. If we have the woodstove in the house fired up for heat, it only seems logical to keep a kettle or large pot of water on it heating. This way it would be available as needed for washing dishes, clothes, or cleaning up after a meal or project. 

Summertime hot water may be a different issue. If I fire up the rocket stove to fix coffee and breakfast, a pot of water can be put on the stove to utilize the remaining heat until the fuel is expended. The size of the pot will be limited by the size of the stove. If more hot water is needed for washing clothes, another heat source will have to be utilized.

Both of the options I've outlined depend upon a source of fuel for the fire. There are other options, like a solar shower bag or water tanks in dark colors meant to harvest the heat of the sun. They may not get as hot, but it is a way to heat water without consuming a fuel source.

What are other ways to provide heated water for cleaning and sanitation? And like Carl said, in large quantities?

While we're at it, what about toileting needs? What will you do when you can no longer flush your toilet? Haul water just for that purpose? That may work for some, but if you're dependent on a city sewage system, it probably won't work then. Where are you going to go to 'use' the bathroom? Or, how are you going to dispose of your waste? What other options do you have plans for that will safely, take care of your needs and not cause unwanted health issues? And while we're talking about it, what happens when you run out of toilet paper?

There are many, many things we take for granted each and every day. I know we sure do. What happens when the power goes off for

a while? You walk in a room and turn on the light switch, even though you know it won't work, you still do it because most of the time it works just fine. What happens when the water goes out? You walk over to the sink and turn the faucet on, because it usually works. Then you go to the bathroom thinking all the time, don't flush it, don't flush it. But then you flush it anyway! These are just a few of the basic things we take for granted that will require more planning and work when we have to depend upon ourselves for everything. Everything.

This discussion didn't even touch on things we've come to depend on for cleaning. Things like soap, Pinesol, Mr. Clean, 409, dish cloths, towels, mops, brooms and 101 other things we use all the time. Doing without, or finding good substitutions will require a change of attitude and more work on our part. Again, this is one of those things it would be easier to practice now, than try to figure out later when the chips are down and many other needed tasks are vying for our attention.

Frank and I think about many different options for a number of situations like food, water, power, communications, or security. Some we keep and some we discard, which is what everyone needs to do. Evaluate information for usefulness in your situation. Some will be good, some will not, but the main thing is evaluate it. Think about it, just like Carl did. That is one of the things that struck me about his comment. He took a conversation farther by thinking about it and applying it to more areas of need along with cooking. Once again, we look forward to your thoughts, experiences and ideas. We're all in this together and the more we can learn now, the better prepared we will be when the time comes.

Until next time - Fern

That's Why They're Called Chores

A long time ago, let's see about 25 years ago, we were at a doctor's office. Frank was talking to him about the things we were doing or needed to do around the homestead we lived at then. The doctor looked at him and said, "That's why they're called chores." Chores are daily routine tasks. If we were all sitting together in a room tossing out ideas that come to mind we could make a big, long list of chores that lots of folks do every day, week or month. I was thinking about the idea of chores this morning as I, yes you guessed it, was completing some of the chores.

• Make coffee and fix breakfast
• Feed the cats, chickens, pigs, dog, goats
• Milk the does
• Strain and cool the milk
  
• Clean up the chore related stuff, like buckets and such
• Grind wheat and make a batch of sourdough bread; left to rise
• Wash the dishes
• Frank stripped the bed and started a load of laundry before he left this morning, so I put them in the dryer. Later the bed will need to be made and the clothes folded and put away.
• Now for a different kind of chore, a project chore. Remove the barrels from the greenhouse, rinse out and hose off each one, let it drip dry, then towel dry. Sweep the floor and plywood pieces before replacing the barrels on a square of plywood and replacing the table top board. Repeat until all were finished.
• Some of these chores are repeated throughout the day, like fixing meals
• Evening animal chores include everything listed above, except add watering all the animals to it. This time Frank goes with me.
• Wash the eggs, put the milk away
  
• Strain and feed kefir
• Bake bread and eat a sample. The eating isn't much of a chore.
• Get the coffee pot ready for tomorrow
• Some days include gardening, mowing and all kinds of other things

Now take your daily routine and throw in the need to do everything yourself, with or without the help from others, for all of your daily needs. You knew I would be talking about this, didn't you? It's what we're all trying

to prepare for. Our daily routines, once the collapse occurs, will be filled with chores from sunup to sundown. Chores that will be required if we expect to survive. Chores that will make us wistfully wish we had a few of the conveniences that we now enjoy, things that would make our lives much easier. Like turning on the faucet and having safe drinking water at our fingertips, or hot water at the turn of a knob. We live in the lap of luxury and yet many days we will hear complaints about doing chores. I think that's what prompted the good doctor's comment. "That's why they're called chores."

Okay, so let's use a little imagination and see if we can describe even a small portion of the chores or events that may happen in one day post TEOTWAWKI. Ready?

Wake up and get out of bed. Are you sleeping in a bed? Or were you on guard duty all night and find relief at the rising of the sun so you can go to bed?

How about a hot cup of coffee? Do you have any coffee left? Do you have a cup to drink it out of? Did you store enough to last a while, even with rationing? Okay, do you have the type of coffee pot that can withstand the heat of a fire or the top of a wood stove or rocket stove or whatever device and fuel you have that will produce heat? Did you bring in wood last night for the fire or do you need to gather it this morning? Okay, we have coffee and heat, now we need water. Did you haul and filter the water last night so it will be ready this morning? Does it need to be boiled before it can be made

into coffee? Where is your water coming from? Is it a public source? Do you need protection to go there and get it? How much can you haul at once? How are you going to haul it? Or are you able to reroute a water source through your existing plumbing and continue to use your kitchen faucet? That would be a luxury in a collapse situation.

By the way, when you got up this morning, assuming you weren't on guard duty, where did you go to the bathroom? Have you been able to take care of a safe, sanitary toileting location? This isn't something people talk about much, but let's face it, everyone of us needs some hygienic way to take care of toileting. Yes, we still haven't decided on the location of our outhouse, but we will soon.

Okay, toileting taken care of, water, coffee and heat. Now I'm hungry. What's for breakfast? Are you going to cook? That brings a whole new set of thoughts and questions. Where did you get your food? Did you grow or raise it? Does it need any preparation? Are

you going to have a piece of bread and butter and call it good? Where did you get the bread? Did you make it or barter for it? Where did you get the wheat or flour, leavening, oil or fat and salt? Do you have an abundance of those things on hand? How did you bake the bread? Do you have a functioning oven, wood stove, cast iron dutch oven or something else to bake in? Do you have the fuel it requires? Do you have the pans you need? Now for the butter. Where did it come from? Are you milking an animal that is giving you enough cream to make butter? How are you keeping the milk, cream and butter cool enough to prevent spoilage? 

You want some eggs with that bread? Do you have chickens living under the right circumstances to provide you with enough eggs for breakfast? Again, how are you going to cook them? Serve them? Do you have plates and forks? Salt and pepper? A table to eat off of?

Now it's time to clean up from breakfast. Do you have any soap or cleanser? A dishcloth and towel? A sink, basin or dishpan? Now we're back to water again. Did you heat up enough water to wash dishes while you were making coffee and cooking the eggs? What are you going to do when you run out of soap or cleanser?

Okay. Now I'm tired and we have only talked about getting out of bed, making coffee, fixing breakfast and cleaning up the dishes. That is only the very beginning of the day. Now is when the real work begins, work that will entail the basics of daily living,

obtaining water, fuel, food and remaining safe. Everyday, day in and day out, chore after chore after chore. Like Frank said recently, there will be no commercials, no time outs, no vacations or mindless distraction staring at a big or a tiny screen. I really don't think some people will be able to handle the drastic change of life as we know it and the expectation of having to work hard everyday just to stay alive. I feel sorry for the people that can't, won't or don't give it any thought at all. There will be many people that are unable to cope with such changes. They just won't and that is very sad.

Please spend some time reviewing the list of chores you will be required to do when the SHTF, and everyday after that. There will be many things we haven't thought of, even though we feel like we have been preparing for this all of our lives. I know there will and have tried to prepare myself for that. Even if there are things we haven't acquired or prepared for, we need to be prepared mentally for that shortfall and not let it devastate us or stop us in our tracks. We will do the best we can with what we have, that is all we can do. And it will be enough. 

Until next time - Fern

The House is a Wreck!

Well, not really a wreck, but in a great deal of disarray compared to a normal day. Today we accomplished a long, long term goal. We had the windows in our house replaced. This house was built around 1983 and the windows were in pretty sad shape. Many of them had moisture between the two panes that limits visibility. When we moved in there was this yucky brown ick growing on the inside of most of them. Needless to say, replacing them has been on our project list for a while. 

To prepare for this event we needed to move everything away from the inside and outside of the windows to allow the installers access. That was yesterday. We finally finished all of that at about 9:30 last night. Frank also had to remove all of the blinds, which he finished this morning when he took down the ones in the bedroom.

Old window

 

The installers from Window World arrived right on time, were professional, courteous and hard workers. They had our old windows removed and the new windows installed in three hours. There were nine windows in all. I found it rather disconcerting to have strangers walking in and out of the house, going into every room, tearing out the old windows, and making a big mess in the process. But these men were very efficient and did excellent work. They put down tarps below every window outside and drop cloths on the inside. This minimized the mess and made their clean up quick and easy.

 












We never had any question about what kind of windows we were going to have installed. Double hung. Why? Ventilation. We have porches down the length of our house on the east and west sides. This is the same format of the house Frank and I built, not had built, but built ourselves, back in the 1990's at our first homestead. With the porches on both sides of the house, and double hung windows, we can create a cross ventilation that will greatly enhance cooling the house when we no longer have electricity and air conditioning.

Yes, these windows are part of our preparation for the coming collapse. They are tangible investments in our comfort in the future. If it is raining, no problem, we can still ventilate the house under the porches. If it is a hot summer evening, we can draw in the cooler air from the east porch. Having double hung windows is a great addition to our home that we are very excited about.

For now, we are tired. We have the minimal required window shades and curtains up for the evening. Tomorrow we need to clean all of the windows, which will be easy to do since they tilt in. Then we will need to reinstall more shades and think about how we are going to trim out the exterior. Fortunately, there isn't any rain forecast until next Tuesday. That will give us a little time to get that chore completed. We're thinking 1 x 6 cedar with an oil stain. That would look nice and should last a long while.

 

With all of the moving around of furniture and things on the porch, it has provided us with many opportunities to clean and dust things that don't get moved very often. We're also thinking to rearrange some of the shelving in the pantry to better accommodate our jars of canned goods from the garden. 

Speaking of the garden. There are tomatoes, green beans and three kinds of squash blooming. We should be able to have our first meal of fresh yellow squash in a few days. While the men were tearing up the house this morning, I escaped out to the garden and gave many plants a good dose of diatomaceous earth. I hope it helps make a dent in the slugs and cabbage worms. There are a number of cabbages trying to make heads, despite the worms and slugs. I also found some damage from some squash vine borers. I am tempted to reorder more beneficial insects since I think most of ours either drowned or got washed away in the last deluge we had. But the class I am attending about beneficial insects is Saturday, so I think I will wait and see what I can learn there. 

Life is busy, very, very busy. There are so many indicators pointing toward some sort of tremendous downturn, outright collapse or shutdown, that we feel it is very important to accomplish some of the things on our list of projects that are geared toward our survival. We have several more things in the wings that we'll show you before long. Investing in learning and tangibles that will increase our ability to make it on our own is more important than ever. We could leave what little money we have in the bank in the hope that it will still be there when the economy collapses, or we can invest it in our minds and in our homestead. Which one makes more sense? Which one will help us survive? Some folks have a problem with spending what they have, just in case. I find great security and comfort knowing we are investing in ourselves, our lives, and our ability to perform those tasks that are needed everyday to live. That's what we're about, and that's what we want to do. Live. And this is how we do it.

Until next time - Fern