Survival Kitchen

Dinner 012912

2012-01-29T14:14:00.000-08:00

Thinly sliced hot roast beef on a bun with some Maull's BBQ Sauce and fresh homemade cole slaw.

Roast Beef for Sandwiches

2012-01-29T14:10:00.001-08:00

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2012-01-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

I had a serious craving for Pineapple Upside Down cake tonight, I handed John the recipe and he was off making it and with great joy! He used the recipe at the Betty Crocker site and it was yummy!

Black Eyed Peas with Greens Soup

2012-01-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

We had this last night, and tonight, served with pumpernickle bread. Yummy and very satisfying during this cold snap.

Angel's New Bed

2012-01-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

Polar fleece filled with polyfil. 24x34 inches and designed to make a sheltie oh so happy!

Pasta Salad

2011-12-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

Made pasta salad for John's holiday party at work, hope they like it.

Dinner 112011

2011-11-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

Dinner: florence potatoes (named after a woman named florence) home canned green beans, pickled beets, and honey orange marmalade ginger glazed smoked ham. Here's the ham sitting atop my 1952 kenmore stove, even though we baked it out on the grill.

Window Trim Colors 111411

2011-11-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

There are three colors adorning the windows, ruby red for the crowns, a dark sage for the outer trims, and a very dark blackish sage for the inner window trims. We'll finish the storms on the second story next spring, as the metal will have to be primed first to accept the paint.

House Update 111411

2011-11-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

And now with more trim colors!

My clematis trellis has been removed so John can scrape, prime, and then paint the soffit on the west side of the porch.

The east side of the house still needs another coat of paint and for all of the trim colors to be added.

Almost done, one more week and weekend of warm weather is all we need to finish this part of the porch!

My $70 a Month Heat Bill

2011-10-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Everyone always wants to know how we can have a $70 a month heat bill in the dead of an Iowan winter - in a 1905 Victorian house - well this is how we do it. NOTE the house is 1105 square feet.

We keep the house at 65F during the day and 58F at night or when we are not home. Caulk around the outsides of every window, door, etc. and do this every few years, oh and LOTS of insulation! We use mortite on the inside for the windows, the windows are original except for two modern windows and it's the modern windows that leak like a sieve.

Winter 2010

Make sure to change those furnace filters too. Another tip is to put insulation behind outlets and switches that are on outside walls, these are also major draft stoppers. Repair any storm windows with new spline and the fuzzy insulating stuff every 10 years or so.

It also helps that we are on budget billing, and the gas company keeps bugging us to pay the new rate which is $59 a month but John keeps refusing. November is our reconciliation month, and by paying the $70 a month we don't get a "suprise" spike in our heat bill.

edited to add: The orignal builder insulated the house and big time, way back in 1905, he filled it with woolrock from the basement all the way out the attic rafters. We're thinking he didn't like being cold. The house maintains and beautifully, it's been 65F in here for two weeks now.

Paint Update 103011

2011-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Caulking around the windows.

The Scaffold Shuffle

2011-10-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

The top two towers have been removed, so we can paint the area between the windows

Setting up another four stage tower, I'm too tired to explain it I'll take pictures tomorrow.

Paint Update 102511

2011-10-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Now with some color!

Paint Update 102411

2011-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

working one section at a time, slowly but surely the painting is getting done.

It's Orange

2011-10-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

New garden tub, soon to be filled with weeds, leaves, and other compostable yummies.

Let there be Paint!

2011-09-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Painting Update 092411

2011-09-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Scraped and being primed.

And now some paint. The scaffolding and ladder stages will have to be moved so that he can get the edges of the bump out section.

Porch Progress 092111

2011-09-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

From this to:

This!

Now to finish stripping and painting the porch soffit. I've sanded and primed the hand rails, they will recieve their first coat of black paint tomorrow! John has the trim to finish on two columns to the right, and then it's the big project taking the railings off of the porch, dismantel them, scrape, sand, prime, and paint the parts, put them back together and re-install. Somewhere in this I will be winterizing my gardens.

Cleaning up the Trim

2011-09-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Or let there be heat guns, John is using a heat gun and a custom made paint scraper to remove old paint from the trim under the soffit.

West Side Update 092111

2011-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

The look, what are you doing? And what do you mean you want me to wash the windows while I'm up here???

Small area to be scraped, sanded, primed, and then painted. Then I think he said he was going to repaint the entire west side since the rest of the painted area is now going on 10-11 years old.

Porch Update 092111

2011-09-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

I hear the scaffolding is coming down later today, so I'll be able to start taking the railings off of the porch and work on them, and clean then paint the column bottoms.

Column Update 091911

2011-09-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

Now taped off and getting all striped up!

Now with the tape removed!!!

Getting closer.

Ghost Garden

2011-09-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

John says it looks like I'm getting ready for Halloween, NOT, I'm just trying to keep my cukes from freezing.

Tomato garden, under cover to protect my maters of course.

Under the fabric, gobs of green maters!!!

Column Update 091611

2011-09-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Getting closer to completion with the columns, the cold weather has slowed us down and big time. John has this coming week off from work so we're hoping to finish the entire soffit and also finish painting the west side of the house. Looks like winter is coming early this year.

One more color, the sorjourner blue, needs to be applied and then second coats, touch ups, and we're done.

Everyone keeps asking me if we're going to paint the trims at the bottoms of the columns. Of course, the color patterning will be the inverse of the top, with everything sitting atop a ruby red base.

Porch Redux Update 091111

2011-09-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Detail of the column trim. The larger beaded band closest to the ruby red will be painted the medium green color you see on the soffit next to the column. The little bit of trim under the larger beaded band will be light blue. The smaller beaded trim, beneath the copper band will be a light sage green with a light blue band just underneath it. Should be done by next weekend. The blue I mentioned will be the same blue as the porch ceiling.

All five columns have paint on them now, the trims need to be finished.

Now to scrape the porch ceiling and get it painted! The color I have is called Sorjourn Blue, it's kind of a robins egg blue.

Porch Update - 091011

2011-09-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Closer and yet so far away, the new section of soffit is painted, the first coats have been applied to it and three of the porch columns.

The porch rail is my next project, well after I finish painting the south wall of the porch and the window trims.

I have the trims to paint on the tops and the bottoms of the columns, and then it'll be time for paint coat number two. The roundish trims are a pain to paint around, two shades of the sagey greens and a copperpot stripe in between the rounded trims.

Sheltie Heaven

2011-09-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

The master bed is way better than a patch of polar fleece any day of the week!

yes she really does sleep like this, she's rather rigid looking isn't she!

Sheltie Gate

2011-09-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

Temporary sheltie gate, otherwise known as a skirting table, but it works!

Finally!!!

2011-09-07T22:19:00.001-07:00

Finally we have tomatoes, just in time to NOT ripen due to a temperature drop.

Cucumbers!!!

2011-08-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

I now have enough cucumbers, about four gallons worth, to make a batch of Lisa's Garlicky Dill Relish!

Cucumbers

2011-08-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

We have cucumbers, finally!

Porch Redux

2011-08-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

John is on vacation this week, the weather is absolutely gorgeous making the ordeal of taking the porch soffit apart for repair.

Will post photos of the gardens tomorrow. A long time friend and gardener proclaimed my potatoes to be perfect, so hopefully we will have a sizable yeild this year?

Angel

2011-07-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Event though I have the Central Air set to 74F Angel has decided that it's way too hot in the house, here she sits, at the base of the stairs where John was sitting, in front of a fan panting. She's fine now and thoroughly enjoyed her fan time.

Update No. 061211

2011-06-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ever notice my updates are the date???

Anyway.

We had 4.58 inches of rain on Friday so to say that gardening has ground to a complete halt would be an understatement. We spent the day working on the inside of the house instead. I'm moving my studio supplies etc into the living and dining rooms, with John's blessings, and turning my design studio into a dedicated office/library for myself and my wet studio well it'll be a wet studio once again.

Rumor has it I ""may"" be able to get into the garden again come Thursday, it's supposed to rain again tomorrow and again on Tuesday. Rain Rain Go Away... Go to Texas and Arizona where it's really needed, please.

Burgandy Peony

2011-06-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

They have finally opened!!! The color is much deeper than what's in this photo it is almost a wine color.

John and the Peonies

2011-06-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

John on the other side of the Peony garden, the strip of peonies and hosta's are is approximately 40 feet long.

Tomatoes, etc

2011-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Woke up in horrible pain this morning, my right rotar cuff decided it to let me know that it wasn't happy with me, apparently spending the entire day in a car driving across the state and back is not a nice thing to do to one's bum shoulder.

So to work the knots out I mowed the yard, transplanted some perinneal's and planted them under the cherry tree, planted 33 tomato plants, cleaned off the driveway in anticipation of having a yard sale, pruned a whole bunch of trees out of the yard, and pulled gobs of weeds.

It worked I know longer feel my shoulder because my knees are hurting worse than my shoulder was.

If it doesn't rain here tonight then tomorrow I will run a couple of natural dye baths, madder root, out of doors, and plant the rest of my garden goodies which is mainly cucumers and cabbages at this point in the game.

Cherry Tree Planter

2011-06-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Transplanted some perrinals from my one garden, that is in serious need of a redux, and placed them under the dwarf cherry tree. So far I have planted coral belles, lambs ear, and a yellow tinged leaf petite hosta. I'm hoping to still find a copper colored leaf coral belle at Lowes tomorrow :-)

Hosta's 053011

2011-05-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

This hosta is my favorite, love the white edges on the leaves.

Peonies 053011

2011-05-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Opening up, can't wait to see the burgandy ones open up.

The white peony blossoms are all open, and will most probably be done tomorrow.

Lambs Ear

2011-05-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

A member of the mint family, it is setting on blossoms, I have four huge stands of the lambs ear now I think my favorite part about this herb are the fuzzy leavs.

Hosta

2011-05-29T17:19:00.001-07:00

I suspect that I'm the only one here that likes Hosta's this much.

Peonies

2011-05-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

I admit the white blossoms with the red edges are my favorite but just had to share this near perfectly white blossom.

Peonies in Bloom

2011-05-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

The white ones opened up about two hours ago and I suspect that they are going to bolt overnight so am trying to get as many pictures before the sun goes down as a possible.

I have one pink blossom that is fully opened the others are only half opened.

Unfortunately none of the burgandy blossoms are open yet and are looking a little ratty around the edges.

Front Porch

2011-05-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

All I have to do now is wash the porch and the furniture later this evening, sometime this summer the ceiling will be scraped, sanded, and then painted sky blue. Then I'll paint the south facing wall, the wall with the oval window, Copper Pot (Sherwin Williams) and then finally the porch floor. I'll paint the columns a ruby red color and the porch rails, after they are repaired, will be various shades of sage green.

It all sounds weird I know but when all is said and done the house will be about 16 different colors, it already has 12 colors on it, and will look like classic Painted Lady.

Porch Clean Up

2011-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

We spent some time cleaning the front porch this afternoon and now it looks pretty nice, well as nice as a 105 year old porch can look. John hung my cupboard out there, an old primitive I've had hanging out, and then we put a table under it so now I have a potting table and a place to put pots. I planted some smaller pots with marigolds, will have to purchase more marigold seeds, and will plant some petunia's tomorrow. Pictures coming soon.

Neglected Herb Garden

2011-05-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

My poor neglected herb garden will be recieving a make over tomorrow. Will be doing lots of cleaning and pruning and then a few new plants, first up is some sweet mint.

Garden Update 0515

2011-05-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Some new hens and chicks, something killed off the ones we had before, not sure what it was but hopefully these will survive. I also planted some sedum, it was a trio mix that for some reason I wasn't able to seperate, maybe next year when they are larger.

Sedum, coreopsis, petite goldenrod, and a mum.

Clematis with a tomato plant on each side, one isa cherry tomato the other a Black Krim. Will plant nastursium seeds in front of the clematis tomorrow.

My poor salad garden is over run with lambs quarter, which is going bye bye tomorrow!

Black Gold - Horse Manure

2011-05-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

This batch was a little hotter but will be usable come fall, it's heavy with hay and straw which makes me very happy because I don't have to mix leaves into the manure.

Dutchman's Breeches

2011-05-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason it's a blood red color this year, not sure why either.

Cherry tree

2011-05-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

The cherry tree was covered in honeybees this afternoon, hopefully this means many cherries later this spring :-) Am eagerly anticipating my first batch of sour cherry jam.

Garden Update No. 0505

2011-05-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Lettuce and spinach is up, am anticipating my first salad! The green sprouty stuff is Lambs Quarter which I hear is also edible, will be finding out soon enough.

Truck Woes

2011-04-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

Coolant, everywhere BUT where is it coming from?

Now I know why my truck smells like toasted grains!

The chipmunks have been very busy.

No coolant in here, that's a good thing!

More coolant, both coolant pics are the right side of the motor.

There appears to be a small dribble coming out of the bell at the top of the manifold, but I'm not a hundred percent sure, it's on the far side of bell I wasn't able to get a good pic of it. The bell sits just to the back of the water pump.

Garden Update No.???

2011-04-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

No pics tonight, just a note to say how much I hate Grackles! The little buggers pulled all of my baby leeks and baby onions :-( So tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, I'll be replanting and this time applying large amounts of bird netting over the nursery area.

Salad Garden Update

2011-04-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of weeds popping up in the garden after a weekend of rain, the good news though is the lettuces are starting to emerge.

April Showers

2011-04-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

We are currently experiencing rain, much needed rain, yeah I know this is quite the turn around from last year but then who knew we'd have three flood years in a row! Well it's been dry here of late, lots of grass fires, etc. so when the rain started flying... yes I was excited. Pictures to be forth coming.

Dinner

2011-04-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

Pepper

2011-04-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

aka Cookie Face, his eyes are very green today.

Rhubarb

2011-04-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb, can't wait am already dreaming about slices of strawberry rhubarb pie and rhubarb crisp!

Salad Garden

2011-04-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

Bird netting now attached to the hoop house portion of the raised bed and just in time for the baby lettuce sprouts that are now breaking through the soil.

North Garden

2011-04-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Tilled!!! Before raking.

After raking and ready for cattle panels and peas!

Circle Garden

2011-04-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Circle garden at the base of the crab apple, because you really shouldn't till close to the base of a tree, it once held strawberries but they kept escaping so I'm moving them elsewhere.

East Garden

2011-04-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Before

During

After

Now I just need to rake the garden and plant oats, a green manure, and then till it up again in about three weeks. This garden will have cucumbers, two types of picklers, cabbages, brussel sprouts, mustard greens and kale.

'Cause Cute Matters!

2011-04-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

I bought this at Clare's, at the mall, today. It's a new coin purse for me and is rather largish, it has a place to hold my license, etc. so it could in fact be used as a mini purse :-) I liked a LOT of the floral fabric bags, scarves, and headbands they had there but decided that I could make my own and for way less than what they were wanting... which was something like 75% less than what Younkers was asking for almost identical items.

Anyway, I'm off to check my fabric and pattern stashes as I have some skirts and new bags planned for my spring/summer wardrobe!

Garden Stakes

2011-04-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

I needed garden stakes so John cut up some of the "shorts" that were littering his shop floor and made some really cute stakes for me, 9 inches long. Given more time I could have put the plant names on the stakes in a prettier font, I scribbled the plant names on with a sharpie :-)

North Garden In Progress

2011-04-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Last years garden growth.

Raked and shredded with the shredder. I will plant peas in this garden this coming week, and later this spring tomatoes and yellow wax beans.

And now mostly occupying one of the compost bins. The super wet vegetation is on top we won't shred this due to it being super hard on the shredder.

Salad Garden Planted

2011-04-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

Filled with salad fixin's and various herbs for my summer menu.

Three kinds of lettuce to start with, spinach, chard, kale, anise, basil, purple basil, parsley, fennel, dill, and cilantro. I have more lettuce and herbs to plant, the other herbs go into another herb garden that's in serious need of raking first.

Raised Beds and Hoop Houses

2011-04-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

This raised bed is waiting for it's hoops still, first I need to turn the soil and then plant it with lettuce, chard, and other salad nummies.

Tomorrow I'll add the mesh and then the plastic to the hoops. The mesh is for later in the season to keep the critters out, the mesh I use is a half inch square plastic netting.

The boards are covering my leek trenches.

Cows 1 0001

2011-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Zumwalt Station Farm

2011-03-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dFVkkN0_lM

Spring Time Rocks!

2011-03-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

Will post some pictures tomorrow, but was actually able to spend some time outside today in the gardens, mostly picking up debris, limbs, and the like. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 62F here and if it's not too windy I will be uncovering the front gardens. Still lots to do, leaves and branches to be shredded, horse manure needs to be fetched for the compost bins, pots to be cleaned, seeds to be started, but I sure do LOVE spring time!

Pasties or Hot Pockets

2011-03-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

I used the left over veggie and chicken mixture, and pie crust, to make two hot pockets tonight or if your Welsh then pasties. This is my first attempt EVER at making hot pockets. It took about 30 minutes for them to bake, the bottoms are not burnt though the sides are rather brown.

Home Made Chicken Pot Pie

2011-03-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

Made chicken pot pie for John tonight, he was in heaven!

1 pint chicken - dark meat
1 pound frozen mixed veggies thawed
4 medium sized potatoes peeled and cubed
celery salt
salt
black pepper ground
garlic powder

Mix the meat and veggies in a sauce pan if the meat isn't juicey add about a half cup of water. Heat to a boil and boil about three minutes, put a lid on the pan to keep the steam in. Season, to taste, with the spices a pinch of each will do.

If the mixture is super runny add a bit of corn or potato starch to a couple of tablespoons of water stir until well blended and then add to the veggie meat mix. Heat until it thickens.

To make the crust brown I coat it with some milk before baking using a pastry brush.

Put into your prepared pie crust cover the mixture with a pie crust round, crimp the sides. Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes or until bubbling.

Pepper and His Kill

2011-03-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Pepper caught a mouse tonight, John came and took away from him as it was freshly dead and I really don't want any late night gifts brought to me while sleeping! He was laying beside my chair playing, I thought with Thomas, but when I looked down there he was with a mouse!

Snowy Garden

2011-02-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

Soon, soon the snow will be melted, the ground thawed and I'll be able to retrieve last years remaining root crops! The plans for this garden, this summer, are sugar snap peas and then eventually tomatoes and yellow wax beans.

Melting

2011-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

The snow is slowly receeding soon I will be able to work in my garden again!

Snow covered garden

2011-01-20T14:51:00.001-08:00

There really IS a garden under all of this white stuff!

Spring and Crows

2011-01-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

The crows are back, a few weeks early actually, this means that in about six weeks the robins and cedar waxwings will also return. Is this a sign that spring will be early this year? John certianly hopes so as he's itching to finish painting the house. I've started planning my gardens and will be starting seeds soon.

Here the crows are sitting atop my house trying to keep warm.

Cuddled Up.

2010-11-18T23:14:00.001-08:00

A serious cold front is moving in and the cats have hunkered down accordingly, on wool blankets no less.

Thomas in the upper left hand corner and Pepper in the center.

Rhutabega and Kohlrabi

2010-10-27T17:35:00.001-07:00

A four gallon bucket full of Rhutabega's and Kohlrabi. Will prep them and cook them for dinner tomorrow night.

Rhutabega

2010-10-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

It was about the size of a large grapefruit.

Rhutabega and Kohlrabi

2010-10-27T17:31:00.001-07:00

My garden yeilded about a half dozen of each of these, not much but considering how horribly wet our growing season was I'm just tickled to get this, and they are HUGE!

Hillbilly Holler Gets a Paint Job!

2010-10-17T13:15:00.001-07:00

Hosta's

2010-10-14T13:09:00.001-07:00

Fall in Iowa

2010-09-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

The clouds were really wild looking when I took this photo, the wind turbines were a nice contrast to the soy beans.

Basket and Vines

2010-09-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

A shot of my compost bin, this old slat basket has been propped on the post for years, this year it had vines growing in and around it.

Brown Beef Slices in Au Jus

2010-08-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

We browned the meat slices before adding to the jars, added water to the drippings in the pan and then added the juice to the jars. These will be processed for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure (I'm below 1000 ft). Can't wait to have a French Dip with Au Jus sandwich!

Busy Bee

2010-07-31T16:13:00.001-07:00

Angel

2010-06-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

Angel in my wet studio, I was singing Ava Maria to her in latin of course.

More Cheese Please

2010-06-21T23:43:00.001-07:00

Pepper begging for cheese.

Rhutabega Blossoms

2010-05-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Rhutabega blossoms, my rhutabega's wintered over and are now blooming, they smell really sweet and quite similar to honeysuckle.

Violets

2010-04-18T17:31:00.001-07:00

Clara on the Last Depression

2010-04-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I LOVE Clara!

North Garden Planted

2010-04-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

John tilled the north garden for the second time in 24 hours this morning, it is now two thirds planted. I chose to plant mainly cold/cole crops in the north garden this year, later this spring I'll plant tomatoes in the remaining area. So far I've planted rhutabega's, beets, carrots, purple and green kolrhabi, and red kale. Can't wait for the greens to start popping up ;-) We put up the fence, replacing parts of it that was damaged, and are now calling it a night.

He has Risen!

2010-04-04T17:24:00.001-07:00

He has Risen!

Image Transfer Class

2010-03-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching an Image Transfer Class at the Fisher Art Center, Marshalltown Iowa, this coming Saturday. I've been making samples for the class. This particular book is about my garden!

Watercolors over Ink, Rives BFK Paper
6x30 inches

Pineapples

2010-03-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Went to Aldi's tonight they had pineapples on sale for $1.49 each. I'm planning to put up another batch of pineapple sauce.

Spring!

2010-03-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

I spent 15 minutes or so outside picking up trash out of the front and side yards, it was great to be out in the sun. Parts of my yard are still wet, as in mud hole wet, the front yard, however, is drying out nicely. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful week, am hoping my one garden spot is dry and warm enough by the weekend to put in some cold crops.

Weight

2010-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Trying to figure out why I'm over weight, after watching the Nightline show last night - bashing fat people - I added up what I eat and drink in a day and I'm coming in right at or under 1400 calories. I just looked up on the fat caculator http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm and it tells me I need to consume around 1984 calories a day to lose weight and 2156 to maintain my current weight.

So what gives?

Winter Survival Kit for your Vehicle

2010-01-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

RePost from 2006

This is obviously going to vary depending on the part of the country you live in. NOTE: I own a truck w/topper and I'm a military brat so I am programmed, by my dad who was insistant on teaching us winter survival skills, to be prepared for every possible situation. I also live in Iowa and my most likely winter survival situation involves being stuck in a ditch someplace, Lord willing my vehicle is not in water, upside down, and/or not on fire!

It can get dangerously cold here (Windchills of -30F to -60F are possible which can freeze you to death in minutes) in the winter. If your vehicle is trapped in snow STAY with your vehicle it makes for a much bigger target when searching in the snow! And buy a car color other than white for Pete's sake! So that being said here's my list:
TOOLS (The big Stuff for your vehicle):
Shovels - two differnt species: large scoop shovel and a flat blade shovel (Make sure the handle length is appropriate for YOU and this will make shoveling easier and faster producing the least amount of sweat).
Ice Scrapers and Snow scrapers
Tow Chain/Strap - A TOW CHAIN because someone like me might come along and can pull you out of the ditch!
Chains for your tires
Kitty Litter/Sand for those slick icy situations that don't require a tow chain/truck

Spare Tire, and tire changing tools - you know this should probably go without saying but you should ALWAYS have a spare tire in your vehicle - I carry two, for my truck, in the winter and 6 when I'm pulling
my tandem trailor!

Hammer, Screw Drivers, Ratchet Set, Wrenches, Channel locks, Vise grips (all in a small tool bag) -whats that you don't know how to work on your vehicle - well someone may come along and can fix it for your if you have tools!
Jumper cables - Make sure you have a new battery for your vehicle every few years.
Flashlights with fresh batteries
Flares/Emergency placards you put on the ground
Oil - 6 quarts and this one comes from personal experience
Antifreeze and if I'm really going to be in the middle of nowhere I take extra hoses and clamps
Gas - If I'm going on a really long trip and I'm not sure about the area, better safe than frozen to death!
NOTE: Most folks end up stranded because they have run out of gas - so fuel up before you head out.
CLOTHING:
Thin wool Hat and Gloves
Insulated wool Mittens that fit over thin wool gloves
Sheepskin bomber style hat that fits over wool hat
Down Parka with hood
Thin wool sweater
Down vest
Thin winter coat that fits over sweater and under the vest and under the parka
Carhart overalls - the insulated variety
wool long johns - I prefer duofold brand because they are cotton lined.
wool scarf
Wool Socks a thin pair and a thick pair to go over the thin ones
Boots rated to -40F
Cleats (boot cleats) for walking on ice - you'll have to go to the bathroom eventually

Wool removes moisture from your body and doesn't allow it to freeze on your skin. Cotton and other fibers promote hypothermia!!! Wet and cold equals a quick death if one is not careful. In extreme colds a lot of the fashion fibers will actually break and they can catch on fire easily - nylon being one of those fibers that burns easily. Wool doesn't burn so easily.
FOOD:
Peanut butter crackers - well if you are allergic to peanunts then substitute accordingly - can be bought in bulk at Wal Mart for very little money
Snickers Bars
Beef Jerkey or those sausage rolls
Gatorade
Extreme cold means you burn a LOT of calories protien is the way to go!
If I'm traveling with my dog I put a bit of kibble in the truck for her as well.
TP (Ok not food but I'm including it here anyway)
Handwipes - well you know, do I really have to explain???
Charger for cell phone - might be wishful thinking here but it can't hurt.
TOOLS: The necssary stuff!!!
Gerber multi tool (tis what I have)
Big knife (not sure what the brand name is)
Trowel/small hand shovel - for bathroom breaks (see TP above)
water proof and wind proof matches
instant light mini logs - if you need to make a fire
Those pocket/glove/boot heaters in the sporting goods section
Down Sleeping Bag rated to a minimum of 0F -40F would be better and is attainable with a down insert (Mine is Mountain Hardware)
4 Season Tent designed to withstand high winds (Mine is a Mountain Hardware)
the tent is in case you have to leave the vehicle!
2 wool blankets
Other TOOLS/SURVIVAL GEAR if your going out into the middle of no where:
MSR Stove and Fuel Bottle
Water purifier (I think mine is a MSR) & tablets - btw ditch water isn't all that yummy
small pot for melting or boiling water
Head Lamp (Flashlight on a strap that you can put on your head) these are great when you need to change that flat tire in the middle of the night.
Fishing pole and small tackle box, small hand net
Edible plant book (small pocket variety)
Walking Stick with pointy end - gives you extra balance on the ice
FIRST AID KIT
plenty of band aids & butterfly bandages.
Kotex (heavy duty pads) - can be used to absorb blood from major wounds (lets say your hunting and get hurt and then end up stranded due to an injury) each heavy pad holds approximately a half pint of blood and this lets emergency personnel know how badly you are bleeding!
Styptic pen (men use those for shaving) stops bleeding on small wounds.
Scissors
Tweezers
Small mirror

NOTE depending on where I'm heading I have all or most of tihs in my vehicle at any given time. Everything fits nicely in one of those truck boxes that looks like a small foot locker, and my quantities is for one person not a family of six.