Most people when they think of preppers think of the reality show from a few years back when prepping was at it's heyday. I don't think of myself as a prepper very often but in many ways I really am. As was my mother and grandmother before me. I was taught from a young age at the knees of the masters. Women who had lived through depression and war. Women who had made do and had vowed to never be unprepared again. These women raised families and made do when making do was pretty hard. It left an indelible mark on their lives. It was a lesson learned well. And taught often. My mother at the time of her death still had a huge pantry full of canned food.
As for me I thoroughly believe in being prepared. If the lights go out I have light bulbs, candles, matches, lamps and oil and flash lights and batteries. I am a nester. That is my nature to feather my nest and keep everything running and happy. Need a bandaid I got twenty. What size. Need a tissue I got some on the end table, in my pocket, in my purse and more than likely in my bra. And a couple boxes somewhere in the pantry. I try to be prepared for whatever life throws at me and then some.
Hoarding no. Everything is pretty well in it's place. I am the quiet soldier catching sales and buying a bit extra here and there. A coupon or sale at a time. Yard sales and Goodwills galore. Seeds, gardening supplies, tools. Rarely will I ever buy cases. I think the one thing that will baffle me to the day I die about this present situation are the toilet paper runs. As I sit in the comfort of my clean and comfortable home watching grown people fight over toilet paper I have to wonder. When the smoke clears and we lick our wounds, mourn our dead and resume our lives. How many will like me become closet preppers. Quietly stalking the grocery store aisles watching for those bargains. Buying that extra can on sale. Buying extra pounds of meat for the canning pot.
No stockpile of guns or bunkers just an army of housewives vowing to never get caught like this again. A new humility and appreciation for the preppers of old. A new outlook on independence in the pantry, in the garden and in all aspects of their life. Indeed life is a hard teacher. Will they remember.
Just curious how many of you out there consider yourselves preppers now?
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
I'm so glad you're sharing again. I have missed you! I'm a baby prepper. I do love my garden and canning what we grow.
ReplyDeleteAH a baby prepper. I love it. I'm an old prepper : ) Graduated from a homesteader status. Stay safe
DeleteI am a prepper from way back and riding out this storm with a smile on my face as I was way OK.The funniest story I have is my ex husband was inquiring if I had enough toilet paper (hint hint) as if he needed some would I help him out,still chuckling since March
ReplyDeleteYeah same here. It is so nice to be able to take a deep breath and say I'm ok. I have one of them ex's myself. I would be laughing for years.
DeleteI'm a prepper; always have been. And, like you, not a hoarder. Just enough to get us thru.
ReplyDeleteYep we are okay! Whatever comes our way "We Got This".
DeleteOh, you are back. Excellent! I used to read you all the time and then stopped when there was no new content. I am a prepper, maybe 11 years now. Not a hoarder. Everything neatly stacked labeled and rotated. Everything in it's place. Constantly looking for something I might want to add to the stockpile.
ReplyDeleteYep same here. Always on the lookout for new stuff and always using what I have and rotating it out.
DeleteI'm an older prepper. Always trying to stay ahead of whatever is thrown at us. We expanded our garden 4 times it's size this spring. My husband is retired now so I have a gardening partner. Life is good within my property lines. So glad you are back.
ReplyDeleteHaving a garden partner is wonderful! We also increased our garden size. Cramming it in every square inch. Who knows what the heck is going to happen. This year has been so CRAZY!
DeleteMe too. I call it provident living. I've always lived that way. (I wish I could learn to like canned potatoes.)
ReplyDeleteI love canned NEW potatoes. And only the red ones. I bake them in the oven rolled in olive oil and seasoning of choice or cook them in my skillet with real butter garlic powder or granules and at the end some Parmesan cheese and parsley. OMG with meatloaf and a salad. I have now made myself hungry Lol.
Deleteyou made me hungry too! There is nothing like eating healthy food. We just returned from my brothers in MO and we had grilled asparagus at every meal.
DeleteWell I guess you would call me a prepper, just the way I was raised, like you with parents and grandparents who alway were prepared for whatever comes. Also I was raised on an island in Alaska, so we always had a good supply on hand incase there was no boat that week, ie. a longshoreman strike in Seattle. Now I am teaching my grandchildren, tomorrow we are making strawberry jam, found a good sale on strawberries. My garden is my happy place.
ReplyDeleteStrawberry Jam is a great place to start. What kid doesn't love it. Stay safe
DeleteI love this post. It's so well said. I am a "backslid" prepper. I was a prepper for years raising my family, then got lazy and quit. Now I am kicking myself for doing so. Well, I'm back in the saddle again. Put in a big garden. Got a pressure canner. I'm heading back to my roots and I'm going to stay there.
ReplyDeleteDarlene
I had to laugh. I find I am happiest when living close to my roots.
DeleteOh golly! Am I ever so happy to be receiving your emails again! I've missed you 💗 My face lit up and my heart got happy a few days ago when I saw your email.
ReplyDeleteI'm more of a "just in case" kind of prepper; buy it on sale because we'll need it eventually. My old garden was large and I canned a lot. My home canned green beans converted 2 of my grandkids into wanting to eat beans! Since we moved to this hot area my garden is minuscule in comparison and so far has not done well, thus no canning. BUT, this year has been mild so far and the garden is gorgeous including beans. YAY! Now to hopefully have them stay beautiful when it's 110+.
I'm so happy to have you back in my inbox!
Cheryl
Glad to be back! Oh my gosh I do not miss those 110+ days. Try early in the morning and late in the evening gardening.
DeleteI buy the extra pack of chicken thighs or an extra ten pound of sugar (we feed about sixty hummingbirds) and/or flour (I bake our bread and make English muffins for our breakfast) or the extra 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes for soup or chili. I can or freeze our produce.....the kids love it when they come for a visit. But, I've never thought of myself as a "prepper". We live 32 mountain highway miles (35 to 40 minutes to town unless I get behind a log truck) from the nearest grocery store and I buy extra so I have it on hand, not to hoard or store for the beginning of the end. Truth is, I don't like grocery shopping and try to make fewer trips for myself. We are well, we've had 32" of rain this year, the garden is growing, and I feel blessed.
ReplyDeleteYeah when I lived in Missouri you never knew when you were gonna get snowed in or the power out. We had to be very vigilant not to run low on essentials and like you we do like those sales.
DeleteLike you I learned from my mother and grandparents...this year I lost my mother and didn't have the heart to put in a garden. So I gave myself a break... I will have a garden next year and continue with the legacy. We have plenty and then some. My children always joke that they are headed to Mom and Dads if anything happens! Good to see you back! Sending lots of hugs from Fayette, UT....Julie
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your loss Julie
DeleteI've been a prepper for about the last 10 years. When this virus hit, we were well prepared -- with the exception of a few holes, toilet paper NOT being one of them LOL. I'm now working on filling those holes. New to me is canning. I have made jam in the past but have done nothing more than that and want to learn pressure canning. I'm glad you are back to blogging.
ReplyDeleteCareful of canning once you start it can be addictive.
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