Rebuilding the Stockpile

It's ironic and true that you really don't appreciate what you have until you don't have it anymore.

I was fortunate to borrow a pressure canner from a woman at my church so I could put up some chicken. It was on sale for .97/pound (rib attached) which is a California price (weather, beach, chicken prices....the only 3 noteworthy things in California.) As all of my jars are still in California in storage buying chicken to put up means I have to buy jars too.

40# gets me about 24 pints. I know there are ace canners who can get more but I'm not one of them. I forgot I should have looked for an aluminum separator "plate" when I was getting jars. Yes, I've been told you can stack them on top of each other. I'm too chicken (get it?) to try it.

So this becomes an all day project. At least I know I can use a Presto pressure canner on my glass top stove. And I happen to have one of those in storage! Still, it's going to be mid October before all of our stuff in storage gets out here. So I started adding to our stockpile. Money is still tight but I added 50# of rice last week and 24 pints of chicken this week. DS19 loves chicken salad sandwiches so those pints won't last too long. Still, better than nothing.

I started looking into beekeeping. There a group which meets the first Thursday of each month about 2 hours from me. Yikes. There's a drive. I really need to find one a bit closer.

Mostly I am grateful to be in a house in Texas where I can start working toward getting a garden in and re establishing a stockpile. Even if I have to buy produce by the bushel to put it up (or by the can if commercially done) SOMETHING is better than NOTHING.

Dust is Settling

We are getting closer to settling in to a routine. We go to the library daily to use WiFi and do school work, apply for jobs, watch Netflix (the kids do anyway), do genealogy. 

DS19 had a bit of a scare with his EMT job. They thought he had caused the 5 car pileup which totaled our Honda Pilot, so they retracted his job offer. He asked them to research it, and they discovered that he was not at fault so they reinstated his job offer. It's ironic and sad that the 5 car pileup occurred because all five drivers were trying to avoid hitting and killing an idiot pedestrian who had run out into the road suddenly; but of course because HBPD can't label the idiot pedestrian "at fault" someone else (the 5th driver) gets stuck with it. I guess it's a good thing DS19 was driver #4.

DD18, DS15 and I are going to a hiring fair today for Aldi's Grocers which is opening up in our town. I imagine the entire town is going to be there as well. I would be surprised if any of us were hired, but I was surprised when I got hired at Ralph's (Krogers) too, so you never know.

DS15 captured another field mouse in my house. GRRRR!!!!!! They seriously need to leave me alone.

Super1Foods (a grocery store) has chicken breasts on sale for .97 a pound. I'm hoping to get 40# and buy 2 cases of pint jars and can up some chicken. I borrowed a pressure canner from someone at church...and realized after I asked that I have one of those ceramic/glass stoves. Fortunately, she has the same brand I do, Presto, so it "should" work. Fingers crossed. Otherwise I have to buy a hot plate too. I'd can more, but I just don't have the money since I have to buy both chicken and jars.

DH is in Kansas training at his new job. He is enthusiastic about it and feels it is a good company and product. I'm glad. I hope it sticks for a few years....I would love to get out of debt, build up a Fully Funded Emergency Fund, and sock away enough to pay cash for a house out here.

Well that's about it. Grateful to be in a place where we are getting settled to the point we can plan to rebuild our food storage and supplies. Purchased 50# of rice for $27.99 at Costco the other day. Then came home and realized I had brought 50# in a bucket all the way from California with me. That's ok. Now we have a 90 day supply of rice <grin.>

There's A Mouse In My House!

I love everything about Texas except for the heat and the critters!!

My DS15 thought it was hilarious that his Mom, known for being willing to throw herself on a grenade for her family, would run screaming from a little field mouse.

Yeah hilarious. I'm glad I could provide some needed comedic relief for him. And it turned out there wasn't just one mouse, there were two. After much effort my youngest was able to catch both of them and take them out to the drainage ditch out by the road. They can scamper in to the pipe and keep dry. Or not for all I care.

It rained yesterday and cloud cover kept it nice and cool: Huntington Beach weather!! Same for today. We are SO happy!!

On another note, all the deposits we've had to fork out for everything have finally caught up with us. We are completely tapped out financially until DH gets a check from the job he's leaving, likely not until late next week (they're 'mailing' it to him.) And I'm not sure he'll get a check in time from his new company which pays around the 28th.

The good news is I got the babysitting gig in Dallas (OK in our present situation that kind of is a two edged sword.) I go there Monday. I am hoping they will write me a check that day which I can deposit and at least keep us in gas money.

It's a blessing that I brought as much food storage as I did. It wasn't much but it's enough to keep us going until money starts coming in. I may take back the Shark cleaner I bought for the time being. Or the blender. Anything to keep us afloat.

A New Life In TEXAS!

Well we did it! We escaped from California and moved to Texas. Compared to California, the housing prices here are astoundingly low. Rent is significantly less also, although not as cheap as we thought it would be. 

I've always taken the position when moving and have to decide between taking food/storage or furniture that you can sleep on the floor but you can't eat furniture so take the food/storage. 

Maybe I should have rethought that. My kids made me keep their bed stuff although I got rid of ours. It's a good thing I kept theirs. $800-2500 for a mattress? $300 ish for a chest of drawers? (Yard sale prices btw) $350-800 for USED washer and same again for a dryer? $495 for a used couch and that's half of what a new one is.

Before you yell free cycle, the closest ones are 75 miles away. Ditto for craigslist and their prices are just as bad. I haven't even started looking at bookshelves.

I admit I am super spoiled by the great farmer market in my town of Huntington Beach where I can get scads of product for .33/lb. But I was unprepared for the sticker shock of sale prices of $2.99/lb for produce here. I found a place which runs about half that, but that's still a LOT for me. I will definitely be planting a garden and when produce is on super sale buying it by the bushel and canning, dehydrating or freezing it. I found a Sprouts in Dallas, near where I will be twice a week, so I will stop there and see what's what. And the "Asian community" is not much further up in Plano so I will be stopping by there to see what's up next week. I heard there's a Ranch 99 (we had them in California) so I'm hoping the prices are similar to ours. Plus I'm dying for some oyster sauce to make chinese food.

I have been flummoxed as to why no one grows a garden here, and now having seen the prices I am truly confounded. Even if you have to pay to bring soil in for raised beds, it will pay for itself in one season.

The great news is we CAN put in a garden where we are at, if I can find someone to scrape off the grass (we are in a house now BTW) and find someone who wants to dump wood chips. I can see I might have to use some weekly feed on it also. I'm going to start with container gardens though. I'm really looking forward to getting my greenhouse here.

The house is north and south facing which is wonderful and only 1 bathroom window on the west. No need for lights all day. DS15 and I installed a small solar light on the carport which stays "on" all the time. It charges in the day and shines through most of the night and works really well. I wanted to buy a worm composter but for $109 off amazon and $45 home made from a place in Dallas I guess I will have to make my own.

Gas is cheaper though! A far cry from the $4-5 per gallon we were paying in California it is around $2.20 for the car and $2.50 for the truck. Longer distances to drive though, so it might balance out. But it sure feels better at the pump.

Two miles outside city limits so our internet is very limited. We pretty much live at the library from 10am to 5pm. Air conditioning, Internet, printer, fax, comfortable chairs more or less, bathrooms and a snack/eating area. Plus our phones work here, lol. I am looking forward to getting a television and installing satellite though, I have to confess. By 8pm I am ready to sit and veg.

I met someone in my son's homeschooling group who lives in Forney, that's about 8 miles outside Dallas. I can see the appeal of a "city" lot which is 1 acre. As we plan our moves going forward, I think this  would be about the right size, although we did find the perfect place near Tyler which was on 6 acres (Internet issues though.)

Well that's it for now. It's time to leave the library and go explore the grocery stores. Somehow, I don't think I'll be finding oyster sauce locally anytime soon.