We have been talking about the rationing of World War Two, and that those who knew something and were not lazy ate better than those who didn’t. Today we know even more, and learning is only a book or YouTube video away. I am not saying you need to know it all, but you should know a few things and do a few things.
Let’s just suppose those military aged men, whether from China or Afghanistan, who invaded our countries, decided to start blowing up schools and governmental buildings while their homeland governments started to bomb places in our countries. How prepared are you?
Suppose your city or county was bombed and the roads became impassable. Maybe due to chemical fire, you need to evacuate the area. Are you prepared?
There are a lot of crazy and evil people out there, and you don’t want to have to take your children out there to get supplies, if a disaster happens. In Britain, people ran to the bomb shelters in the dark when the sirens went off. People kept their supplies by the door just in case they awoke during the night to a siren. As the planes flew closer to the cities and bombs went off all around them, as they wondered if their house was still standing.
What if you lost internet services for a week, a month, or a year? What would you do without diapers? Without gas for your car? Don’t ever think it will never happen. I pray that nothing like that ever touches our home, and I pray that I am prepared enough to handle the situation if something happens. No one is prepared for everything, and no one is prepared for life, but if you can bunker down until things become clear, or safe, the better off you’ll be.
During World War Two, people had to sacrifice in order that bombs could be made, and tanks manufactured. Could you do that? Could you give up something you really treasured in order that that thing could help in the war effort?
By just being prepared to bunker down for seven days is a mighty thing. When you are prepared it removes much of the fear and panic that those who are not are dealing with. If your child wakes in the middle of the night with a headache and you have something, it doesn’t cause you to worry all night, wondering when the drug store opens the following day. Imagine if there was a power outage, and you can’t go until noon, and your child is suffering until then. What if something happened in your neighborhood and there are gangs looting and shooting? You are safe in your home, well fed, and not in need of anything.
Prepare, not in fear, but to kick fear out.
Somethings you can do to help just in case.
Have on hand at least one first aide book, one gardening book, and one survival book or homesteading book, a couple basic cookbooks. If you lose internet access, you can still read how to do something.
Always be at least one season ahead of yourself. If it is winter now, plan for spring. Do your children need spring and summer clothing? Sandals? Bathing suits? Kiddie pools? Do you need seeds for vegetables and flowers? Suntan lotion? Do I need to buy propane for the grill? Do I have the equipment I need to paint the fence?
Once spring comes, start thinking about harvest. Do I have enough freezer bags and canning jars? What fruits and vegetables do I need to preserve? I harvest all year around, but my major months of preserving are July, August, and September. What do I need to buy for my pantry that is in season now, so I have it during the fall and winter? What things do I look for at garage sales, and thrift stores for fall and winter?
Once fall comes, and the kids are back in school, plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t wait until two days before to buy your turkey, watch for sales. Potatoes and carrots are on sale, buy extras to store in a cool dark place and buy some to can. Apples are cheap right now, make pie filling, apple sauce, apple crumble, apple jelly, apple butter, apple vinegar. You had bought the children’s winter jackets, boots, and mittens in the spring when they were on clearance, so they are good to go.
During the war, if they were not prepared, it would be a scramble to get there. Because of rationing of clothing, winter coats would be repaired and passed down or adult coats would be refashioned to fit children. Mittens and toques needed to be knit. Felt liners in boots repaired. This all takes time to do. Clothing needed to be sewn, repaired, or traded.
Let’s work through some things so you understand what I mean:
IF YOU RUN OUT OF DISPOSALABLE DIAPERS USE A FLANNEL RECEIVING BLANKET.
Diapers: When my children were born, I used homemade diapers. Not those fancy things you buy now, just a plain white sheet. You can buy white diaper flannelette fabric from places like Fabricland, Fanny’s, and probably Jo-Anns. Simply cut the diaper approximately 27 x 27 or slightly longer if not prewashed. Using your serger or sewing machine, encase the four edges around the diaper. You can also buy diaper sheets already prepared for you.
Here is a video that shows you ten ways to fold a diaper, https://youtu.be/oG78jfz7vsI?si=JmakNYXwg0bVjXX8 I personally used the Kite method, because that is the way my mother taught me to fold the diaper. As the baby grows, you just adjust the width of your folds. You can also make soaker pads, or liners for your diapers. (I have a pattern on my website: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RedWoodlandGate?ref=seller-platform-mcnav if it hasn’t sold already.)
Cloth diapers are cheaper and healthier for your baby, and less waste. To help with odors and cleaning the diaper, presoak and use borax or baking soda. There are lots of articles and videos online. It’s easier than you think.
You can still buy the good old fashioned rubber pants and diaper pins at Walmart or Amazon and other fine children’s shops.
If you desire designer diapers, with the snap in soakers and the high-end bells and whistles, they are still healthier for your baby than disposables. Disposable diapers use chemicals, so do your research. The companies claim they are tested and determine they are safe, but testing by independent researchers claim otherwise.
BAKING BREAD. It absolutely floors me, that people think bread making is difficult, and that they think making cinnamon buns, garlic bread, and boule (those round loaves) are impossible to make for the average person.
I love to use my breadmaker to knead and raise the bread, and then I transfer it to a bread pan, let it rise and bake. I also bake my gluten free bread in a breadmaker because I can toss everything into it and a couple hours later, I hear the beeping and take it out. On Victory Campaign 2024 are bread making recipes for wheat and gluten free bread and cinnamon buns, under the tab labeled recipes or file.
The first time you attempt to bake a loaf of bread, it might not be the greatest, but you should at least learn how too. Buns can be formed from your bread dough.
If nothing else, learn how to bake biscuits, make homemade pancake and waffle mix, muffins and pie crust.
LEARN TO MEND and Sew. How many shirts and coats have you tossed out because they lost a button, or the hem came loose? Women will walk around with pants that are two inches too long for them, because they don’t know how to hem their pants.
Buy yourself a sewing kit. Do yourself a favour and don’t buy those dollar store ones; the needles are weak, and the thread is not strong. Buy a package of needles, a couple small spools of thread, a pair of scissors and a package of mixed buttons.
If you want a sewing machine, buy one. You don’t need those thousand-dollar ones, just one that has a straight stitch, zigzag stitch, and a buttonhole stitch. You can make curtains, clothing, diapers, quilts, bags, and do repairs.
Sewing is not as expensive as you might think. Watch for sales. I buy a lot of my fabric at fabricland for less than five dollars per metre. Shop thrift stores. Buy cotton sheets, curtains, and tablecloths.
I sell patterns, and here are a few things I have learned over the years. Start with a basic, simple pattern, such as a pullover dress or top. Something that will begin to teach you how to construct a basic piece of clothing. Will it be perfect, probably not. I like to create working mockups, which are made with good quality fabric I bought in the discount bin or found at a thrift store. I only buy fabric that I like. If I really like the item, I might find I need to tweak it here and there, and then sew it with fabric that might be more expensive.
A basic dress pattern will carry you through most of the eras. If you love the look of the 1940s, but can’t find a pattern in your price range, or size, look at patterns from the 1980s, they are multi-sized and plentiful, which means they sell for less. The 1980s did the 1940s. The 1970s did the 1930s. The influence of the 1950s flowed through the 80s and 90s. Over the last decade, pattern companies have produced reproductions, some with great success and others as total flops. New patterns are expensive but can be found on sale in off seasons or after the patterns are discontinued.
Patterns are sized differently than clothing you buy in a store. A size 14 in a store will not match the size on a pattern. You might find your measurements of your body in three different sizes on a pattern, because everyone has a different shape. But alterations are very simple to make if you learn the basics. Below I have listed some videos that I learned a lot from as well as my shop if you so choose to visit.
This is the one that will teach you what pattern to buy for sizing.
Favorite Pattern Fitting Techniques: Solving the Pattern Fitting Puzzle
This is the woman whom I have learned so much about sewing from.
Sewing Butterick 6026 Tucked Blouse with Full Bust and Full Bicep adjustments
Here is my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RedWoodlandGate?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Mend my Clothes With Me (it’s easier than you think!)
Sewing Vintage Style Sailor Trousers using Top Down Center Out – Plus Size Edition https://youtu.be/CRjYsjvhGt4?si=nTylg2w3lcvWSTxs
It is important to learn something about survival, homesteading and/or basic homemaking skills. The world is full of people who get up, go to work, go out for lunch even if money is very tight, come home, make a packaged meal or order in, sit in front of the television set, and go to bed. These people know nothing about what to do if the power goes out, how to stay home in case of an emergency because they don’t have the necessary things in their home to be safe, and they are on the phone with emergency personnel crying and whining, because they are feeling a panic attack coming on.
You would be amazed how many mothers don’t know how many diapers they have for their babies, how many bottles of formula or breast milk bottles they have, how many boxes of baby cereal they have or what to do if their babies have a fever. What would happen if there was an emergency, and they couldn’t leave to go get supplies?
There are mothers out there who know that winter is coming and act surprised when it snows, and the winter jacket is too small, and they can’t find the mittens from last year. They start to yell and blame the child. I have seen this happen. How is it the child’s fault? DON’T BE THIS MOTHER! Be in Season, out of SEASON.
I hear all the time; I don’t have money. Sometimes, it is because you are buying things you don’t need, or you have a habit that is stealing your money. It is your responsibility to provide first and foremost for your children. Before you buy your coat and boots, buy your children coats and boots. Before you buy your smokes, alcohol, drugs, clothing, haircut, manicure, you buy for your children. ALWAYS.
There is nothing wrong with hand down clothing. Thrift store clothing. Refashioned clothing. Clearance clothing. Over stocked on sale clothing. If you need brand name clothing and using your credit card to buy them, that is wrong. You will stay po’r.
Trust me, I get the pressure ‘thing’ with clothing. I get the working full time and have pressure ‘time’ to get food on the table. I get the pressure to clean the house, do laundry, run the kids here and there to do their thing. But don’t use that as an excuse to do nothing, learn nothing, feed your family out of a box, and sit on your phone all day.
Trust me, the day will come when it will all backfire on you. What you sow you will reap. Look how many grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Look how many parents can’t help their children out because they are in debt. Look how many young mothers do not know how to take care of their babies. How many babies are crying in cribs because mom is stoned on the couch? How many children are driven to school by alcoholic fathers, who are drunk? It is time to stand up and take our families back, learn to be parents, and be prepared when emergencies happen.
You might have to think outside the box, if you don’t have a lot of money to buy emergency supplies, but if there is a will, there is a way.
If you are just making it by with what you have today, you might have to think about new ways to make money, and ways to save money from other things to buy supplies for your pantry.
As mentioned before, maybe using cloth diapers, baking your own bread and mixes, and maybe grow a garden. I don’t know your situation, what you spend your money on or where you live. I just know there is an urgency within me, to have you prepared.
DO NOT PREPARE IN FEAR.
If you take some steps today you will have nothing to fear in the future. Remember we talked about our values? Everything I do has to pass through my faith and my family. My faith says, God will provide for me, as He is my source and supply, yet, at the same time, God says, get your house in order. My family’s needs come before my own.
If I am holding bills that I can’t afford to pay, I know I have to change something, cancel something, work more or rearrange my spending. I know it is a challenge if your spouse is not on board and thinks that the world owes them, and credit cards are necessary in today’s world. You are going to have to be bold and do what you can with what you have. If you are in a toxic relationship or marriage, it might be time to move on and create a safe environment for you and your children.
We have touched on this already; your prison door is open and has always been open. There are agencies, government support services and your family. Call someone for help if you know no one. Utilize the food banks and the Salvation Army’s clothing and household vouchers.
Make a list of everything you have in the house to eat. Everything, including herbs, seasonings, bottled water, and dried onion soup mix. Then make a list of what you need to have for seven days; and fill it.
Learn how to make cheese. You can make cheese from milk powder.
Learn to make butter.
Learn how to bake with honey, maple syrup, molasses, and coconut sugar.
Learn to build a fire.
Learn how to meal plan.
Learn how to use basic hand tools.
Learn how to knit or crochet.
Learn how to iron.
Learn to make lip balm.
Learn about bees and chickens.
The links I shared are not sponsors, just videos that helped me and I hope help you.
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