Make ice

This is something everyone can do to prepare make some ice and bag it up. Now if you have an automatic ice maker in your freezer, just bag up a bag of ice each day or every other day. If you have to make your own ice in ice trays, make a batch up, put into bags everyday.

Why bag up ice? You can always use the ice for ice chests for game days, ice for injuries, extra for drinks. The best reason you would want to bag up ice is for emergencies. If the power goes out you have ice to keep your food cold in ice chests.

You never know when you will need extra ice. In an emergency you can not go out and buy ice. Ice runs out first thing. On hot days there is generally no ice to be found or bought even when not an emergency. Every time I go to the store I see the ice bins empty, and a bag of ice is over two dollars a bag.

I can bag up my own ice for free. Fill your freezer with extra bags of ice. If you need room for food, take out a bag of ice.

Just a thought! 

September is national preparedness month

September is national preparedness month. This is the month many people prepare, go through their kits, go over their emergency plans.

With summer over and the seasons changing time to get ready for fall and winter. Time to finish up harvesting the garden, canning, jelly and jam making, dehydrating fruits and vegetables.

Time to go through clothes, put away summer items, and break out the fall and winter items.

Hurricane season will be at its peak, get your 72 hour kits ready. With the changing of weather more severe thunderstorms, and possible tornados time to be sure you have things ready.

Have a fire drill for your home. Go over your meeting place at home. Where will you meet if you can not get back home? Does everyone know where to meet?

Get you car ready for fall and winter. Go through your car emergency kit. Change out the water, food, clothes and supplies. Check batteries. Give your car a once over, check tire pressure, check the spare tire too. Check all fluids.

Go through the first aid kit. Did the kids use up all the bandages? How about the bug sting meds. Check for expiration dates, replace.

This is the time of year to go through kits. See what you need to replace. Take the time to do it. Because you never know when you will need it!   

Keep the germs at bay

As school is back in session. This is a perfect time to talk about proper hand washing, not only at school, but at home also. This is the time of year the bugs of colds, and flu come and visit people.

Wash your hands when you come home, before eating, after using the toilet, after you sneeze or cough.

Carry hand sanitizer, Kleenex, and wash with soap!

A rule in our house, you wash your hands everytime you enter the kitchen or the bathroom. And of course everytime you leave the bathroom.

Basic sanitation will help keep the germs, and cold and flu bugs down to a minimum.

Wash those hands! Wipe down the backpacks, purses with disinfectant. Sterilize the door handles, light switches, phones, remotes, etc anything your hands touch wipe that item down.     

Trying mobile blogging

So since my laptop died. I am trying mobile blogging. So this is a test.

Bag Balm

Have you ever tried or used Bag Balm? Well we have been using Bag Balm in our house for many years. It was always in the house when I was growing up!

Here are a few things I have used it for.
Baby diaper rash will be gone in no time!
On dry cracked feet, just rub on, add a sock on your feet and in the morning your feet will be much softer and feel better
Dry cracked hands! work on, add gloves and let it work!
We use it for cuts and scrapes minor burns.
We put it on our lips when or even before they get cracked or chapped.
Since it was made for cows, we use it on our animals too. Dog paws, rabbit hocks, any open wound!

There are many uses for Bag Balm. This is one thing I use almost weekly in our home. If you have never tried it, I would recommend that you do. Many people have used it years ago and have forgotten about it.

Here is what I have noticed and have personally done. Any where you would use Neosporin (which I use a lot and have in my first aid kits) you can use Bag Balm. Anywhere you would put lotion for dry skin, you can use bag balm.

Here is story from 40 years ago about Bag Balm. We lived in the mountains of Idaho at this time. We were an hour on a good day from town, and two hours away from any hospital or doctor.
My mom and dad were out in the woods cutting wood for the wood stove.  My dad accidentally cut my moms knee with the chain saw. It did not cut the bone, one a very bad flesh wound. This is was because My dad reacted quickly and had use a chain saw all his life. (Mom walked up on him). Mom was hurt and bleeding. Dad stopped the bleeding the best he could, put her on the back of the motorcycle and headed to the house. Now this was back in 1970. They did not have the money to go to the doctor. So old school back woods doctoring came in. They washed the wound well. Then they slabbed on Bag Balm, put on a tight bandage. They did this for a few weeks and mom healed up fine. Just a bad scar. Should she of had stitches, yes of course. But in a pinch it worked! Mom has never had an issue with her knee and the cut she got from the chain saw!