Eating From the Bunker: Day 2

Yesterday is kind of a blur for me as I spent to morning driving to the other side of the moon (the east side of town) to pick up some commissions and the afternoon was spent in a daze of numbness followed by pain. I went to the dentist to get a temporary crown and I needed 4 shots of anesthetic before I was numb. That much juice takes a while to wear off and then my jaw was sore and the actual tooth in question was so sore. I didn't think I was going to make it.

My poor family.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I am REALLY testy when my mouth hurts. Actually, it isn't much of a secret, many of you may have known me back when I used to get canker sores ALL THE TIME (thank YOU sodium laurel sulfates/sulfides) or when my wisdom teeth were grating off the insides of my cheeks. Lately however, the pain has been only when I am actually eating so my crankiness has been replaced with longing looks and sadness at the treats I dare not eat.

The good news is that in 2 weeks I should be able to eat again and be 90% mercury free. Also, this morning, I woke up with no mouth pain.

But back to the Food Storage Challenge.

I did dig into my homeopathic kit (which is part of my storage) to get some arnica for my sore jaw.

From what I can remember of yesterday we had homemade bread made into toast with peanut butter for breakfast as well as cereal with rice milk. Lunch was left overs and Organic Creamy Tomato Soup from Trader Joe's, and for dinner the remains of a bag of popcorn chicken (which I never buy but when one moves house convenience moves up the priority line) homemade ranch dip, and leftovers.

For dessert I needed something to take me to chocolate heaven but I also needed to be able to eat without chewing so it was Chocolate bread pudding again. I love that stuff.

I also made another loaf of bread for today's snacking. This doesn't fall into the challenge, but on Saturday, we made home made butter and it was delicious!

Frankly, I think that this 6 day challenge will be the easy part. What I am more concerned about is long term situation where I won't be able to rely on what was already in my fridge when the disaster struck. My friend Debbie has challenged her family to a month of eating from the bunker a few times, I think that is the real challenge.

Eating From the Bunker: Day 1

Day 1 went by pretty easily.

Toast and bagels with cream cheese for Breakfast, Mac and Cheese for lunch.

Dinner: Carne Asada Steak for dinner with beans, lettuce, guacamole, cheese, and Tortillas.

Dessert: Mahana, You Ugly Jello a housewarming gift from Afton

Snack: Fresh homemade bread with peanut butter and honey. Ritz Crackers, granola bars

In a real emergency what would this be like? I guess it depends on whether or not we have electricity. If I have a functioning fridge and freezer life is fine, if not things get tougher. Dairy, meats and vegetables stop lasting as long.

Do I have access to milk? We do live in a rural area and there are milk cows in the neighborhood.... I know how to make ice cream and know that I could make cream cheese and cottage cheese if I needed to.

Late in the evening I got a craving for Nutella, as it happens I don't have any in the house but I have a recipe for homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.

Angy Chicken posted about making homemade bagels this week.

Moose and I discussed that while we have 2 wood burning fireplaces, how would we cook over the fire if there wasn't electricity? I have some cast iron skillets and a dutch oven but always use them on my stove. Practice might be required. We don't have any fuel in our storage yet. Give us a a break, we just moved in 2 weeks ago.

For Your Information

Boba Fett Lost his first tooth last Sunday evening. We thought it might never happen. This is him just moments later, joyous, with the blood still in his mouth.

The tooth fairy left an Elephant dollar.

End transmission.

Livin' on A Prayer

And our food storage. This afternoon the bishopric announced that there had been an imaginary earthquake yesterday and the Stake Presidency has challenged us to live off of our food storage for 6 days.

I. Am. So. In!

Here are the rules I am setting for myself. If it is in the house we can eat it. If it grows in the yard, we can eat it (too bad I haven't planted a garden this year.) We will be drinking water from the faucet. The milkman comes on Wednesday, I am still going to get milk but I will not open the new bottles until Saturday night - that means from Thursday to Saturday I will have to use my wits and my freezer. Electricity and all of my appliances and kitchen gadgets are approved. Seriously, there is no reason to be extreme.

I am so glad that my bomb shelter food storage room looks like this:(Hey, I just moved in)

And that I adhere to the food storage maxim "Store what you eat, eat what you store." Trader Joe's I love you!
And that I have plenty of sweeteners.
Challenges I foresee:

I tried to get to the Farmer's market yesterday for fresh veggies but I kept getting sidetracked by garage sales and I never made it. We have very little fresh veggies right now.

Trader Joe's did NOT have any flour tortillas last night so I will have to make my own. Not the same.

When I went to get eggs at the farm this week, they only had 1 dozen so I have 10 eggs for a week of living off of food storage. Maybe my friends that have chickens will bring me a housewarming gift of eggs? Gifts totally count.

I only have 1 bag of chocolate chips.

I have kinda been dipping into the food storage since we put the old house on the market to save money as well as to make more room so some of the things I THOUGHT we had we may have eaten.

Let the games begin.

P.S. The Bishopric is glad that we all survived the earthquake.

The Tour of our Yet to be Named Home pt. 1

Come in the front door. Today, we will tour the common rooms on the first floor!
To the left is the dining room, see the cupboards through the doors?
Close up! The Library (to the right of the front door) corner window with folding shutters
Whitewashed Roman tiles on the other wall. you can see that there folding doors on 2 walls, one leads to the entryway, the other to the living room.
I like to think that this room is where young men will ask for Nutmeg's hand in marriage, while we listen at the doors.
The doors that lead out to the side porch.
More windows
The staircase with storage cupboard beneath.
The wood burning fireplace (I can hear the crackling now) with a real and DEEP mantle!!! Nutmeg is about to leap into the air - action shot!
The downstairs and vintage bath
BathtubLittle tiled shower.Mirror with wall sconces and cute little faucet.The Kitchen from the hallway. There is a window to look out of while doing dishes because the schmancy dishwasher that passed inspection doesn't work.There are pocket doors that close the messy kitchen off from visitors!
I just love all of the rounded shelves.Vintage (we think) towel holder
The gorgeous windows in the breakfast area. I kinda love the yellow fire hydrant.
Two cupboard doors, the side door and the stairs to the basement
But wait! One of the cupboard doors is a spice rack but as Moose observed it was probably once a fold out ironing board.
"Fold out ironing board" might be the sexiest words in the English language.

Our Home!

You have been very patient, and today there will be pictures of the exterior of our new home. Shall we go counter clockwise from the driveway?
The Arbor and picket fence where I will plant 3 lilac bushes and upon which my boys will be able to channel Tom Sawyer this summer.
The front door which is in the back. You see, this house was built in 1950 and the subdivision was built in the 1990's which is when the front became the back and the back became the front. It is fun that the front of the house is hidden.
The front and side porch.
The side porch from the back yard (I was standing beneath the rabid raccoon when I took this photo. I am a dedicated blogger.)Here you can see how the back became the front. I love how the backyard looks so gracious and inviting from the street.
The back yard from the porch including the swings which have been swung to bits this week.
The back porch and the back of the garage. Note the little black doors. Take a closer look.
This is one of my favorite parts of the house. See my dinner bell?

What color would you say the house is? It is not "mint green" is is the color of my vintage sewing machine and some jadeite dishes. It is the exact color of the shell of the Araucana chicken egg that I cracked yesterday. What color is that? I LOVE the color, by the way.

This is no ordinary house and it needs a name.

Mrs Miniver had "Starlings," Anne Shirley had "Green Gables," Mrs. deWinter had "Manderly," Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler had "Tara," the horrible Catherine Earnshaw had "Wuthering Heights" and I always loved "Howard's End." Don't forget Pemberly, Thornfield, Norland, The Hermitage and Top Withins.

So where does Samurai Mom live?

I like the way that "Starlings" sounds but I do not like starlings they are horrible birds. I like "something House" because it isn't a cottage and it isn't a manor, I like "Blessings" but people say that so much I am afraid it won't be recognized as a name. I like to think that finding this house was Serendipitous, and it was but I know that the Lord led us here so it wasn't really serendipity was it? So I think that "Serendipity House" is not appropriate.

People say I was born to live in this house and it's true, I was. Tomorrow, we will peek inside.

Offered: Coon Skin Hat - Coon Included.

I know you are all waiting patiently and not-so-patiently for pictures of the new house and snapshots from the retro housecleaning party. Trust me, I would rather be blogging about that I am very sorry to be blogging about raccoons.

I am terrified of raccoons, it all started one night nearly 20 years ago when I was sleeping under the stars in Southern Idaho and some raccoons found the camp trash cans. They feasted all night long while I cowered inside my sleeping bag. I had never actually seen a raccoon before and I was scared.

I have also read Where the Red Fern Grows many, many times and I know how smart and dangerous those guys are, even more reason to be afraid.

You see a raccoon showed up in the next door neighbor's tree, hanging over our yard looking down upon my tasty children on Friday afternoon. It was lethargic and convulsing and I figured it would not make it through the day. The next morning it was gone but Sunday evening he was back in the tree, convulsing, and was there all day today (Monday.)

The inter-webs inform me (according to the Washington County website) that the county will not come get a possibly rabid raccoon or any other wild animal. They will come get cats and dogs. Ummm, OK. I can call a private company and pay $175 for them to catch the little beast but how exactly am I going to be able to afford to pay to have a raccoon removed? I just bought a house, I'm broke!

Also, explain this: The county doesn't consider a convulsing raccoon an emergency because there hasn't been a case of rabies in Washington County in 30 years but a private raccoon catcher is required to euthanize the raccoons because they might have distemper. Distemper sounds like a fancy word for Rabies to me.

Did I mention my little kids playing on the porch 10 feet beneath the raccoon?

So my Dad and I are brainstorming over the phone ways to "deal" with the raccoon when I turn around to see Boba Fett the future Zoologist with tears streaming down his cheeks. He doesn't wan the raccoon to die. Great.

So, tonight, Moose is waiting for me to finish putting Nutmeg to bed when he hears a vicious growling outside. We ran to the window to find the raccoon on my beautiful new porch staring up at me with his bandity eyes, convulsing.... The Raccoon. Convulsing and Strolling. On. My. Porch.

Moose went to the gym, shortly afterward I heard some clanging outside. I hope the Raccoon didn't get him.

I can't handle a rabid husband right now.

Vintage House-keeping

First, the Mother's Day Picnic on the floor of the Dining Room,
Then the swings,
Tidying up the the Kitchen,Cleaning the Bathroom,And sweeping the front porch.

I am having a marvelous time!!

Mother, May I?

Mother's Day has to be the best holiday at our house.

Today the sun is shining, I wasn't expecting gifts, however, I woke up to
a very creative "Valentine" down planned to the smallest detail by Nutmeg and her written plans, executed with the help of Moose under her the direction of Nutmeg.Heart shaped jewelry from Boba Fett,
flowers and long coveted Matryoska nesting dolls/measuring cups from Moose.
I get to show off my new Mori Girl Skirt, made by me, designed by me, drafted by me, cursed by me fitted by Paula.

At church I am leading the children in a Mother's day song in Sacrament Meeting and in Primary there will be games, aprons, rolling pins and squirt guns.

After church there will be our annual Mother's Day Picnic (no cooking,) but this year it will not be at Council Crest Park but on the porch of my new house.
We get the keys at 6 pm.

Cranky Mailman

Our mailbox sits smack dab in front our house, right in the middle. It is one of the secure kind with several mailboxes all together, which I hate because you need a key, can't mail packages and there isn't a fun flag. I also am glad that we have one because I am SO not down with identity theft.

So, the thing about our mailbox is that you aren't supposed to park in front of it between 8am and 4pm but there isn't quite enough room to park along the cub without blocking a driveway or the mailbox, well, there IS enough room to park but there isn't enough room to park AND allow the mailman to drive up to the mailbox and deliver the mail without getting out of his truck. I would like to point out that the sign does not say "Do not park within 4 feet of the mailbox" it simply says "Do Not Block."

From time to time someone parks at the curb, not blocking the mailbox but also not allowing for an easy pull up. Sometimes these people are our guests but mostly they are people I do not know. This really makes my mailman angry. He used to leave nasty notes on the windshields of cars but the recently he just started honking his horn until someone moves the car. If I happen to be outside he glares at me, if I am inside I can see him from my window glaring at my house as if it were my fault. The other day my Netflix movie was severely delayed and required me to scramble to find a copy of a movie in time for Cinema Domingo. Coincidence or malice? You decide.

Last week, I started noticing a new behavior. My mailman has started parking on the sidewalk as you can see by the photo.

I don't even know what to say. Happily he hasn't done this when my kids have been outside playing on the sidewalk.

I am all for convenience and a fast efficient postal service but seriously, how hard is it to get out of your truck once in a while? I know that there are mailmen who have entire routes where they don't even get a truck, and have to WALK.

My friend, Celia, the daughter of a postmaster who used to be a mailman with a walking route, thinks that I should report him to the postmaster. I kinda think that I should let it slide or at least wait until I move and then report him so as to avoid any mail related retaliation. What do you think?

We Won't be Wu'd Again pt 1

For all of you that are voters in Oregon and especially CD1 I hope that you are as excited about filling out your ballot as I am. ( For my readers who are not in Oregon, we vote by mail here, a terrible system extremely vulnerable to fraud but it IS nice to sit at your kitchen table with your voters pamphlet and a plate of cookies and take your time voting.)

In 2008 year I registered as a Republican for the first time so that I could cast my vote for Ron Paul. Of course McCain had all but officially won the nomination by then but I wanted to to vote for Paul anyway. In Oregon you HAVE to be registered for a party to vote in the Primary and so I bit the bullet. I have kept my registration because I am now committed to actively finding, supporting and electing real fiscally conservative candidates who will uphold the constitution and are devoted to Liberty.

Usually, I fill out and return my ballot the day I get it but this time I have had to hold on to it because I can't decide who to vote for the Gubenatorial race. I really, really like Lim but I don't think he can win the nomination straight out and I don't want him to be a Spoiler for Alley (whom I also really like) against Dudley. I can not put my support behind Dudley at this time but am certain all 3 candidates would be far and away better for Oregon than Kitzhaber and, heaven forbid, Bradbury.

But the reason I decided to post today was because I wanted to encourage you to vote for Rob Cornilles for CD1. I know that a lot of my patriot friends are supporting Kuzmanich and I think he is a fine candidate, however, I have given it a lot of thought and have decided to support Cornilles for Congress. It was a difficult decision as I know both candidates socially and I didn't want to alienate one candidate and his supporters.

On the issues I found all of the CD1 candidates to be fairly similar and my deciding factor came down to character. There were some things in the character of the other candidates that really disappointed me and gave me a lot of unease. Rob on the other hand has a lot of qualities that give me confidence in his ability to be an effective representative for Oregon and to also do what is right for our country.

Regardless, I think all of our congressional candidates can beat David Wu in November!

Happy voting!

It's a Retro House Cleaning Party!

Yes, it will be as awesome as it sounds.


Please join me on Tuesday May 11th at 9 am for a Retro House Cleaning Party at my new digs.

We get the keys to our new house on Monday evening so Tuesday we will be cleaning. I have no idea what the house will look like. It might be a complete mess or it might be spotless. In the event that it is neat as a pin, in lieu of cleaning, we will tour the house and eat Milanos and giggle.
Please bring something to clean with and if you want to dress the part you can go to one of my favorite blogs and learn how to tie a headscarf.

To RSVP send me a request of a song to be added Hausfrau Cleaning mix (music to clean to.)
If you don't know where my new house is call, e-mail or Facebook me and I will give you the address.