Well, the garden was not very productive this year, but did get some canning done. Just not the amount I usually do. I started taking down the Christmas decorations the day after Christmas, then went to lowe’s as they had a big sale on plastic containers. So went through all the decorations and repacked them so would take less room in shed. Moved the extra hot water tank to the garden shed after getting that cleaned out. Yes there is a story behind all this. Started moving cardboard boxes from the middle of the shed floor and under the shelve. Guess what I found? I have been collecting all kinds of things for a SHTF situation for a number of years. I have several boxes that I forgot about. I have at least 10 or 15 life straws. Several flashlights. solar chargers, cooking gear. All kinds of things like that. compasses, radios, Not sure just what is in all the boxes yet. Extra parts for my berkey water filter.
Early this year I took all the newspaper I had and made newspaper logs, made firestarters with the dryer lint. Found a couple of back packs in shed that I am going to use for a second set of BOB’s.
Trying to down size and get rid of a lot of stuff to make room in shed for the things I will really need. Between taken care of DH and trying to get all this done won’t be easy, but I am determend to get it done.
Went through clothes both in spring and early fall and gave away box loads of old clothes and shoes I could no longer wear.
DH’s health is not going to get any better I’m afraid as he has cong. heart failure. There is nothing we can do but keep him comfortable. We are watching his water intake, BP, weight gain for amount of fluid he is holding, etc. Last night was a scary night for me. DH got in the bed and lost his breath which he does when he is very swollen from the fluid. Instead of calling me for help, he tried to bend over to get shoes and socks off and then couldn’t get his pants off his feet. He had them tangled. Don’t know how he did that. But in the process of all that he lost his breath and turned grey. I was about to take him to ER, but once I got him in bed and raised the feet and head of bed, he started to settle down and could breath easier. Then his color came back. Though it was 3 am before I went to bed. I think this is going to be a way of life for us going into 20/20. We will deal with it one day at a time. Today he is doing much better. So I got a lot done as it was 78* outside today. Had to take advantage of getting into the sheds at that high temp. Oh yes, I have a very large solar panel that I forgot about. I bought that about 3 or 4 years ago. Going to have to figure out how to hook it up before I really need it. I want to add to that panel as soon as I can.
So this year has not been as productive as other years, but want to try for new skills next year as time permits. With all the doctor appts and test DH is having to go through. It will not leave me a lot of time for new skills. But I am going to try to learn a couple of things as I can.