Country Living With Emma

These days prepping advice can be found in some surprising places. It has definitely gone mainstream! contact me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

I'm trying to get over the flu for the second time in a month. What preps are helpful for flu season? Contact me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

Rampant shoplifting and armed guards in Walmart. How did we get here?

Every issue has nuances. Believing one side's narrative exclusively is not usually the best plan. 

I'm finally in a trend!

If I hear it again, it will be too soon. 

It's the middle of the winter, but there is still gardening to be done. These are the things I'm doing in January to get my garden up and going.  Instant Pot Corn Chowder: https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-corn-chowder Potato Sourdough Bread: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-potato-bread Lemon Sour Cream Cake: https://goodiesbyanna.typepad.com/blog/2011/09/georgias-famous-lem...

You have two hours to evacuate. What would you take with you? How would you make those decisions? email me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

This is the third in a series of episodes on evacuation checklists. If you had a one-hour notice, what would you pack? The suggested list contains things I would take and some things that I would not take. Another consideration is how much space you have in your vehicle. What would be on your list? email me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

This is the second in a series of what you can grab if you have to evacuate. This is the 30-minute version. The more organized we are the more we can grab quickly. What would you take if you had 30 minutes to evacuate? email me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

You get 15 minutes notice that you have to evacuate. What would you grab? Everyone's list will be slightly different. Do you have children, pets, elderly family members? I found a check list that will at least get us started in thinking about what to grab quickly if we had to leave in 15 minutes. email me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

Do you have a word of the year? Mine this year is balance, which can be applied to every aspect of life, including preparedness. email me at: countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

Both Hurricane Helene and the fires in LA are examples of not being able to depend on the people who are supposed to help. The most important lesson is that we need to be able to help ourselves to the best of our ability.  Contact me at countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

Which is more important, prepping or sustainability? Is there a difference, and why should we try to do both? Contact me at countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

We have another round of weather coming. It's looking like a possibility of freezing rain and that means we could have a power outage. I'll be talking about what I'm doing to get ready.  Also, I'm talking about my current quilting projects and why I rarely give handmade gifts to friends and relatives.  Contact me at countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

This morning, the temperature was 22, and the wind chill was 10. That's pretty cold for Texas! In this episode, I discuss prepping for cold weather and the possibility of winter precipitation later in the week. How are you fairing in the first Polar Vortex of the year? countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

MSN recently published an article listing skills needed to survive a food shortage. Baking bread is their first skill. Baking bread became highly popular during COVID. I bake a couple of loaves of sourdough sandwich bread every 2 weeks. Learning to bake various types of bread is fun and produces a far superior product to the baked goods in the grocery store.  countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com

How did 2024 turn out? Like all years there was good and bad. In this episode, I cover storms, the garden, infrastructure improvements, the big power outage, and the election. What's on tap for 2025? Stay tuned and see! I have set up an email address for the podcast. If you would like to give me feedback, please contact me at countrylivingwithemma@protonmail.com.

This is an accountability of what I hope to get done while I'm off for Christmas. 

This is a review of an article at CNN about people stockpiling goods because they're afraid tariffs will cause prices to rise? What is your opinion? https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/economy/stockpiling-fear-higher-tariffs/index.html

I have clutter in my DNA. Fighting clutter is a never ending battle. How do you deal with clutter?

What makes a home? I am a "nester" and I have to make a nest wherever I am. In this episode, I talk about what aspects of home are necessary for me.

The holidays can be stressful for a multitude of reasons. We have a lot of expectations, many times unrealistic, at this time of year. It's tempting to expect our holidays to look like a Hallmark movie. This episode is a discussion of actions we can take to make the holidays easier especially if we don't have a lot of family.

So you have more projects going on than you can possibly ever complete? I'm talking about how I finally learned that "finished is better than perfect". 

I went down the risk assessment rabbit hole recently and here are some resources I found. FEMA Risk Assessment Map: https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map Kentucky Sustainable Living YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzV7U3F3UkA Mind4Survival website: https://mind4survival.com/risk-management/