It’s like they are two years behind the rest of the world. 

Thank you for all your hard work, time, and dedication! ⭐️🌟

If you have a complex, ongoing medical problem you absolutely want to ask for a Nurse Case Manager. They help coordinate patient care and are particularly useful for complex diagnosis where a patient might be in need of care from multiple providers / clinics. (Disclosure I am a nurse) For example a breast cancer patient might need the services of a surgeon, oncologist, physical therapist, councilor, and alternative practitioner. A nurse case manager makes sure all that is happening while coordinating with insurance companies.  As far as insurance companies go, be familiar with your benefits. If you can, call before you use any services (ie can you go to any urgent care or will the insurance only cover a specific one). When you speak to any insurance agent take notes – get their name, the date and time you spoke with them. Write down a summary of the conversation. If they deny a claim you can appeal and it helps to have your records as part of the process. 

I keep bottled water in my car emergency kit. I worry less about contamination (vs my storage container possibly being contaminated because it’s not sterile and it is 120+ degrees in my trunk). I also like the fact that they don’t take up much space and they are convenient (inevitably someone forgets their refillable water bottle before a sport practice).  I rotate them fairly quickly but not nearly as fast as I would a jug I fill myself. If I’m going out of town I ditch the bottles for larger refillable storage containers. 

Time to consider a menstrual cup – so much cheaper, convenient, and environmentally friendly. Yes, there is a learning curve, they take a few cycles to get used to, but it is worth it. 

Perfect! lol! No one actually eats it so no need to cook it! 

Weird, random information here – I am Jewish, and for Seder (the meal for Passover), we have a plate with symbolic foods. One of the items on the plate is a roasted egg. Most of us boil the egg, but it’s nice to have a little char on it so it looks roasted. I’ve tried to char my egg multiple ways – matches, flame from gas stove, but, the moisture left in the egg always causes it to crack under direct heat (maybe under actual hot coals it’s different). So poking a hole makes sense. However, that’s the extend of my knowledge. My personal opinion, burn toilet paper?! No way – after the great toilet paper run – that stuff is money – ha! TP seems like it burns too hot and too quickly. Can it be slowed to a roast? 

Oh and I use Pickle Crisp – I think Ball makes it. 

Not a dumb question! I think they stay fairly crisp – not snap, refrigerator pickle crisp, but a firm texture. Pickle relish stays crunchy. I think the pickling solution must have something to do with it along with the quicker processing times. I have to process an additional 10 minutes so ymmv and you may get really crisp pickles.  I made chow-chow relish once and the cabbage in that went to mush – so not every relish has turned out perfect. You can always try fermenting vegetables too, I’ll keep sauerkraut in my fridge months and months after I ferment it. It’s an easy, rewarding one to start with. 

I live at a high altitude, which means I have to add a chunk of extra processing time. Due to the extra time, tender foods – like peaches, citrus segments don’t do well (turning into mush). I tend to stick to jams and jellies, fruit sauces (like apple butter, applesauce, duck sauce, homemade marinades). I also like pickled vegetables – cucumbers, beets, jalapeños, and summer squash all do well. Sweet pickle relish is amazing homemade and worth your time (despite the chopping). Salsas and chutneys do well. I also can tomatoes, mostly as sauce. I blanch and freeze greens. I freeze premade apple pie filling (which you may also can, but the texture is better frozen imo). I will freeze any vegetables that would need to be pressure canned due to it’s acidity. Welcome to canning! It’s addictive! I dehydrate a lot too – also addictive.

Two (more fun than substance) items I enjoy are Trader Joe’s lemon curd (about a year shelf life) and chestnut paste (which being in the US I have to order online).  

High risk OB was my speciality as an RN and I’d cover newborn nursery sometimes – those images, heartbreaking. 

I’m in NM and adobe is quite common in older homes. Warm in the winter and nice and cool in the summer. People still commonly build adobe walls around their property. I don’t know what the benefit would be, but people like the aesthetic. 

Even if planned it’s a planned admission, snacks. Sometimes you’ll miss meal service and it will be a bit before the next meal, or you don’t want hospital saltines as a snack. 

Ugh! That’s stressful. Dogs off leash have pack mentality and a mind of their own.  I live in an area where encountering dogs off leash and ownerless is not uncommon. I have pepper spray and bear spray but have been reluctant to use them because I worry about the wind blowing back on me / my kids / my dogs.  When I walk, I’ve been carrying a taser. It’s just a simple, $10, hand held stun gun. You’d have to make contact with the dog for it to shock them. I’ve been charged or had a dog a little to interested in me about 3-4 times and each time  zapping the air has been a sufficient deterrent. It’s really loud, it sparks, and it seems to scare the crap out of the dogs (without any harm to them) and I can do it while I have my dogs and kids without chaos erupting. Just another tool for the tool belt. 

I believe I read somewhere (maybe LDS site) that unless your buying commercially dehydrated foods (where they test for moisture content) you shouldn’t plan to store your home dehydrated foods long term.  I mostly dehydrate what I grow, and rotate through it in about a year. But I’ve found forgotten jars and they’ve been fine (maybe 2 years old). One of my favorite things to dehydrate is fruit leather. All that fruit in the fridge that is maybe not ideal to eat fresh anymore – chuck it in the freezer. Once you have a bag full dump it into the slow cooker and cook without the lid until it’s soft and the excess water has slightly evaporated. Blend it up and into the dehydrator it goes. 

Have you ever watched 1940s House? It’s a fun one from BBC. I think you can only find it on YouTube now, but it follows a family as they try to live as a British family would have during WWII, including rations (and food recipes). You won’t learning anything ground breaking as a prepper, but it is still interesting. 

I think you should make the rules based on what works for you. How ‘wild’ do you want to go? What do you feel is feasible for you?  I would love for you to keep us all updated so we can follow along with your progress / lessons learned / tips.  Personally I would also include supplies I could stockpile, even if they don’t necessarily qualify as wildcrafting – like vodka / spirits, dried elderberries, beeswax, olive oil, epsom salts, honey. I’d also include herbs / plants that I can grow.    Is there a wildcrafting class in your area? That might be a fun way to gain more local knowledge.   Also, it might be interesting to experiment – can you make your lemon ginger tea with shelf stable bottled lemon juice? dried ginger? dehydrated lemon peel?  Just a thought in regards to wound care, and other possible serious, or bacterial infections (off the top of my head stuff like UTIs, covid, etc. –  Treating a mild common cold, ankle sprain, skinned knee, etc. with herbal methods is one thing) – in the current climate of excessive demand on urgent care / ERs, I would not experiment here. Personally I’d do everything to keep myself out of the ER. Maybe develop some very generous rules around that.    Good luck! Looking forward to reading about what you decide. 

I’m sorry for your loss – sending you light.