Wednesday already?

 We are under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. tonight.  So far, it's just dark out but no rain or anything yet.  It's to the West of us and should arrive about 3:30....so I always get anything to do with water done and out of the way before a storm.  My Mother was hit by lightening once during a storm while washing dishes in a metal sink.  Knocked her clean out!  She came to and was fine but it was pretty scary!  In reality, you should not be in a tub, flush your toilets, run your washing machine or your dishwasher during a storm.  Just an F.Y.I.

Meanwhile,  I went out this morning and got the rest of the brush to the ditch and took all the firewood back out to the stack outside.  I keep a bunch in the house during the winter in an old washtub along with kindling.  

I've gotten all my supplies now to start gardening ..............my gray totes......

A bolt of green tulle for covering my plants so the critters can't get to them

shepherd hooks for bird feeders and plants

My soldering iron, power bank for cordless water pump and the pump!

I will use the soldering iron to poke holes in the totes and the water pump will be a "bubbler" that the humming birds will enjoy and other birds too.

I'm reading this Guide to Food Preparedness...she has a website, The Food Organizer and an Etsy shop.  It will be a slow process to build a food pantry but I will be working towards it every month.  I'll keep you updated.  I'm also downloading the LDS Preparedness Manual for free but only 30 pages at a time as it is 509 pages altogether!

I am trying to get back to the Flylady cleaning method with Zones but so far I haven't started.  I'll let you know when that happens.

I did try a new recipe which I like for a fairly healthy snack...it was a recipe from one of my Hannah Swensen mystery books called Imperial Cereal........

Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 300 F...rack in middle position

9 cups dry cereal any combination (I used rice chex and cheerios)

1 cup nuts (I used pecans)

1/4 cup orange juice concentrate

1/4 cup brown sugar packed

Note: You can use any cereal, any nut, any fruit juice concentrate, and any dried fruit you want)

1/4 cup salted butter (1/2 stick)

1/2 cup Craisins

Place the cereal and the nuts in a 9 X 13 pan and mix together.  In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, the butter and the brown sugar.  Heat for 1 minute in the microwave or until the butter is melted.  Stir thoroughly.  Pour the mixture over the cereal and nuts in the pan.  Mix it all together until the cereal is evenly coated.

Bake uncovered, at 300 F for 15 minutes

Take the pan out of the oven and mix in the Craisins.  Leave the pan to cool until room temperature. Stir it again to make sure it is not stuck together in big pieces.  Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.

Yield:  approximately 10 cups

I finally got a picture of the red headed woodpecker!

Well, it's thundering and raining now...time to turn on the weather radio!  Stay safe and well where ever you are.

Happy Trails!!!