I was worried the most about Smokey the cat not eating but she is doing much better, she even did a little bit of play today so I think she is on the mend. Tuffy is doing about a 150% better and is back to his goofy fun-loving self. I will go to this new doggie treat and get rid of the doggie biscuits. I will take the biscuits to the animal shelter and see if they can use them. Besides the animal shelter has a couple of new dogs in I can to look at and see if the might fit in here at Casa de Chaos.
I tried out a different way of gathering and cutting my wood. By changing the order of doing things and spreading it out over a longer period of time seems to be working better for my physical energy levels. Not quite as efficient but I don’t seem to wear myself out. I’d like to have four of the big buckets always full and try to rotate three of the buckets every other day. That way I always have a couple of days worth of cut up wood on hand. The front porch is working out great as a place to store the wood that is protected out of the way but still easy to get to on a wet or cold day.
Got a lot done cleaning the house. Both bathrooms got a much needed scrubbing and a few items found a new place so things look neat and they will be easy to find. I washed up a bunch of beer bottles that had stacked up. Washing beer bottles is about the only part of the beer making process I don’t like. It’s not hard just tedious so I tend to put it off until I need the counter space for something. It sure feels good to have the house all cleaned up for next week.
The soap making items are starting to arrive. I got in the lavender essential oil and got a very nice sheet of instructions for other uses besides using lavender in soap. Sort of winter/cold remedies that you can treat illness naturally with essential oils. I believe that we are going to have to do more ourselves in regards to health care and taking care of at least the minor illness and injuries, instead of a “magic pill” to make us feel better.
I have pretty big food shopping list for next weekend. Cash & Carry has the Bob’s Red mill steel cut oats 25 pound bag for $13.95, a fifty pound bag of the Calrose (med. grain rice) for $19.85, boneless pork butt for $1.49 a pound and some vegetables I want to dehydrate for a soup or stew starter. Other than stopping by Cash & Carry I’ m going to stay away from all stores this next weekend.
I’m not BBQing a turkey for thanksgiving this year but I will do up a batch of the decadent Mac & Cheese for a dish. This is going to be an easy holiday for me and finally the dinner won’t be at 3 pm when I take my nap and my energy level is at it’s lowest. I still need to buy a prime rib for Xmas and New year’s eve but I have almost all the presents bought except the for the secret Santa gift.
My Adventures in selfreliance 
Prime rib sounds wonderful for the holidays with mac n cheese to boot. YUM.
“except the for the secret Santa gift.”
And the ammo to go with it??? 🙂
rat if I get one of the younger boys I’ll probably get them one of those nerf guns. I got most of the adults covered but if I get my brother’s name I’ll get him a bag of specialty hardwood pellets for his Traeger BBQ.
P.P. Prime rib is usually at the lowest price this time of year and usually a 4 pound roast is enough for 10-12 people because it is so rich. I have the butcher cut the bones off then tie them back on so you get the extra flavor of the bones while it cooks but it easy to carve. I know some people will freak out over the cost but a 4-5 pound roast costs about the same as a delivery pizza and I think a lot better tasting.
The decadent mac & cheese takes four pounds of cheese and 1/2 a pound of butter. It falls in the special treat department and is almost a meal in itself.