Home, Home on the Range....

Well.... We won't be going out to dinner tonight after all. DH told the FIL about MIL's plans for us all to go out to Two Rivers for dinner, and FIL said that not only would he NOT want to go because of how cold it is, but he doesn't want to go be around MIL for that long at all. He can't stand MIL, and seeing as how miserable she makes him with her nagging & constant bitching at him, I don't really blame her. But damnit! I was looking forward to dinner out too. And since FIL won't go, DH won't go. So we've taken out steaks for supper, which means DH thinks he's going to grill tonight.

I highly doubt he'll want to grill tonight, though, seeing as it's currently about -27 deg. below 0. After dark, it'll be more along the lines of -35 or -40. *sigh*

And, besides just the cold temps, this pushes our weekly menu up by two days. Not only did I not stick around at the hockey game last night & shell out hard-earned money for pretzels & nachos, but we're not going out to eat tonight. So, rather than having Biscuits & Gravy on Sunday, and grilled Steaks & baked potatoes on Monday, we had B&G last night for dinner, and steaks & potatoes for dinner tonight. That means I've got to figure out what I'm going to make for supper tomorrow night, and what I'm going to have DH make Monday night. *sigh*

The drive to town & back last night was reasonably uneventful. Slow, but uneventful. We got there well over a half-hour before anybody else did, so I stood around ackwardly while waiting for other IceBreaker's parents to get there. Once they did, we set to taping tickets to frisbees to "sell" for a chance to win a prize, to help fundraise for our league. Then, when DH got there, I left so I wouldn't have to drive home with the rest of the crowd leaving the game at 10 pm. And DH finally brought DD home when the game started winding down at 9:00 (and after our commitment was fulfilled to the league).

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So far this morning I've been sitting around watching TV and crocheting. I've done dishes, a load of laundry, and as soon as I'm done online here I'm going to go back to more crocheting. While tidying up the living room this morning, I realized how very many projects I've got in progress. I need to finish some of them before I start on any more.

Here's the tally:

3 afghans (1 child-size, 2 adult)
1 apron
1 shawl
1 scarf

So, I need to finish some of these projects before I start any more. It just doesn't make any sense for me to keep starting new projects when I've got several that must be done first. But my attention span has been short lately. I've been starting a long-term project (like an afghan), then leaving it in favor of a short-term (or rush) project like my grocery sacks (or a baby afghan for a friend about to "pop"). I need to just set myself down for the next several weeks to finish these projects that I'm already working on. One of the adult size afghans was supposed to be for a friend of mine. I started making it for her a couple of years ago. I think it was like 3 years ago. Anyway, I REALLY need to get that one finished & sent off to her. *wry smile* The other adult sized afghan is that autumn colors one I was talking about some time ago. It's the closest to being done, so it's the one I'm going to complete first. It's the one I was working on this morning. Next weekend I'll make a point of getting the apron finished & sent off to the friend that it is going to belong to. After that, the scarf will be my next "must-finish" I think. The afghan for the friend is going to take a good while longer, as it's made of smaller medallions, so I think I'll take that one to Anchorage with me, when we go for the tournament. The shawl will be the next to the last. It's a pretty yellow simple knit shawl with an eyelet around the edge. It'll be nice to have that done in time for spring. And lastly, the children's afghan I'm crocheting in camoflage yarn. I'm kinda, potentially, making it for my older nephew. I never made him an afghan when he was born, and I figured that if I get suckered into making one for my soon-to-be-niece, then I really should make one for the younger nephew as well. (The reason I didn't make one for the younger nephew is because the one I made for the OLDER nephew prior to his birth wasn't well received at all, so I never bothered for the younger nephew, figuring I'd make him one when HE could appreciate it, rather than expecting any appreciation from SIL.)

So, those are my crafting plans for now. Finish the damn projects I've got going, before I start any more. *wry smile* Now to make myself do it!

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Edited to Add:

Robin, I've been stocking up on canned goods. Esp. the fruit & veggie type. Worst comes to worst, hunting & trapping animals is an option around here any time of year, but fruit & veggies would be VERY hard to come by till about June at the soonest (when the wild strawberries come ripe, though I guess some of the wild veggies come ripe sooner). Also canned & dried milk products (again, hard to get if you don't have direct access to a milk-producing animal). I'm trying to stock up on TP, but we go through that very quickly. (Esp. during my time of the month.) I've been buying & putting away crafting supplies & such, though not too much too fast as this gets expensive. I think things such as yardage-goods (fabric, thread, needles, as well as yarn) may become something of a necessity if things go downhill quickly. (Just read some of the memoirs from the Great Depression to get some idea of the things folks wished they'd had, and it's easy to find proof that often children outgrew their clothing at a much quicker rate than their parents could afford to replace it. And that was in days when a lot of folks still had basic & not-so-basic tailoring skills.) Oh, also candles & matches, and some luxuries such as chocolate milk powder, hard candies, and canned shrimp & crab for treats.

I'm also reading up on past times & places where things were considerably harder than they've been for us here in the USA in the past 30 years. The Great Depression (USA), the Soviet Union years of Russia, Europe during & immediately following WW1 & WW2..... In all these times & places growing one's own produce & reuse, reduce, recycle were manners that helped them survive.

From what I've seen, already folks are realizing that reviving these skills is going to stand them in good stead in the coming years here in our country. This past fall the books on canning & preserving wouldn't stay on the shelves. Even this winter it appears a LOT of people are making plans for their veggie gardens this summer, as well as the canning & preserving of the produce they get. This Christmas saw a very constant, heavy turnover of our crafting books (from woodworking, to knitting & crochet, to quilting, to origami) for gift-making, but probably also for learning tradable skills for future use. (This section of the library is still seeing a LOT of use even now, after Christmas has passed.) And the gardening books by themselves are being more selectively picked over. Not so many people looking at flower-garden type books, but very quick turnover of veggie gardening books, as well as sustainable gardening techniques. And in the cooking section, the fancy cookery books are seeing less use, while books on foraging & good ol' fashioned peasant cooking are seeing a lot more use. The small-farming books are also being checked out heavily, with a lot of interest going into the fowl & rabbit books, slightly less interest going toward cows, pigs & goats. And last but not least, the books on building & weatherizing one's own home, and alternative sources of energy & "convienences" (such as toiletry and water sources).

I'd wager that a lot more people than me are also reading up on the Great Depression & other areas of our history for insight as to how to weather the coming storm.

Just some ideas of where to start. Get yourself to your local library & update your library card if you don't have it current. Be aware of the terms Branch Borrow (borrowing from libraries in your local library system) and Inter Library Loan (borrowing from libraries from other boroughs & districts, even other states). Be aware of the ability to request books for library purchase, and even the option to "adopt an author", if you feel you've got the money to spare toward your local library's collection. Also, be aware that a lot of libraries get their funding based on their end-of-the-day tallies. My library system keeps track of how many people come & go each day, how many books & magazines are off-shelf at the end of the day, how many questions the circulation & reference staff are asked.... These tallies somehow (I'm not really sure exactly how) go to persuade our borough of the grants & monies we need for purchasing materials & keeping our library current. We actually tell our patrons (the nice ones) that as much as we appreciate their desire to help us keep our library clean & tidy for the next user, we PREFER if they don't reshelve their books or magazines themselves (though we DO ask that the books & mags are left on carts at the ends of the shelves for US to count then reshelve), as this is how we count the usage of our books, so that we can prove that the books & magazines are being used and need to be replaced when necessary!

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Ok. I think that about covers it for today.

Have a Blessed Day!