Mass out on the prairie and beginning to prep for winter

Sunday is usually our fun day but it is also about family.  We decide to drive two hours away to see a family member in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery.  It is something we wanted to do, not something we had to do. It was a gorgeous day and the drive was nice. 

This meant I had to go to mass early. Since we only have one mass in our town I had to go to the next town over for the 730am mass.  This church is in the middle of corn fields and dairies.  There is nothing else around. I drove a half hour down dusty dirt roads to get there. 

You know you are in farm country when you go to church and there is a bucket load  full of free veggies. 

This was the end of mass. Despite the early hour it was a full house. 

It was fun to be at a different church but not totally. Our priest also says mass here as well. 

After mass we were soon on the road. 

We got home around 5pm. Took the goats and horse for a walk and then in to prep for this week's lunches. Eggs were put on to boil.

Prepping for winter -  Prepping for winter is a serious time for us. We prepare food all year long, drying, canning and making sure we have staples like flour, sugar, beans and salt.  Our winters can be harsh.  Living out on the prairie we get blizzards and blowing snow. Roads close and we can get cutoff  from stores.  We will be prepping two big things this week: Fire wood and Water.  We did have power go out this year. March is our snowiest month and this year we had a blizzard with three feet of snow. 

During the storm we couldn't see across the homestead.

It was beautiful when it ended. 

My sister was visiting from Texas. She had never seen anything like this and had to climb over the three feet of snow.

Since we were all safe at home and prepared it was fun. But when the power went out we were glad we had a wood stove, plenty of wood, and a gas stove - as long as we had a match we could cook. Wood is our main source of heat in the winter.

 Water - you need a lot of water when the power goes out. Animals need clean water every day! You need water to flush toilets (they don't work when the power goes out unless you manually put water in the tank), wash dishes, clean up and to drink/cook with.  We store ours a few of ways. We store it five gallon jugs, milk jugs, and bottled water.  Plus if we are growing anything in the greenhouse it will need water. Water is extremely important. I would rather be without power before I am without water.  We have been there when we were without a well for over a month. Hauling water is no fun. I am so happy we can now collect rain water.

So, this week's focus is on collecting fire wood and water. 

I will give other prepping tips this week that we use. 

Happy Sunday. 

peace, health, and happiness