The Zombie Apocalypse Day

*Sorry about the highlight -There was an error and I couldn't figure out how to remove it*

It was a terrible event yesterday.  I was caught tragically unprepared.
Several times I had planned to make an emergency preparedness kit to keep outside, but "never got around to it."
Ok, so maybe there weren't really any zombies, but it was still a really tough day.
Just shortly after 10:00 am, while heading out to water the seedlings in my mini-greenhouse, I accidentally locked myself out of the house.  My husband and I had been out of town for the weekend, so Tom had put our spare key inside the house.  My heart sank. My bare feet immediately cried out for comfort.  I had also been wearing thin clothes for lounging around the house and I had only had a small breakfast, not the kind to last all day.
So, it was quickly decided that it was going to be a day to get all my "outside chores" done.   ...but barefoot???
I went to work first braiding some old grass to make shoe soles that I could tie on my feet. Although I often go barefoot around the yard, I did not feel they were tough enough to last all day. Then I remembered some holy socks my husband kept in the generator shed to use as rags.  I decided to use two socks per foot, and wrap them with tape. Later, I found duct tape in the tool shed and replaced the "tuck tape" with "duct tape."  Much much better!  My feet stayed comfy and dry and warm all day.

My "duct tape" shoes

I watered some plants, picked up rocks out of the garden, scraped old chicken poop off the  roosts to get it ready for new chickens, raked rocks off the lawn area, and started forming the garden beds.  (Recently, the garden was prepared by adding 5 truckloads of cattle manure, plowing it, then discing it, then running a cultivator over it to break up more clumps).
It wasn't a day without food.  There are wild edibles that are already growing. Occasionally, I grabbed a handful of dandelion greens or cow parsnip greens to munch.  It was only for 1 day, so that was fine.
By about Noon, I realized that it was getting really cold and was going to rain, so I returned to the tool shed to find 2 tarps. I grabbed the hatchet and set out for the woods where I found a fallen birch tree.  I removed all the limbs and dragged it to our clothes line pole where I propped up one end at a decent height for a tent.  Then I folded one tarp over and stuffed it with grass mulch that had been covering my Rhubarb and Chives bed.  It made a nice comfy place to rest.  Then I tied the second tarp over using twine I had found in the chicken coop.  Really, it was a very nice tent.  Using more rags in a plastic grocery bag, I had a pillow.
Thankfully, I had my garden pitcher, and a faucet for drinkable water.  Throughout the day, I drank 3 1/2 quarts of water.  It was only around 50 to 55 degrees most of the day until evening.  When it got cold, and rained, I simply retreated to the tent and took a nap.
It was a very long day, until Tom returned from work (a long day for him) at 7:15 pm.
In reality, if it had been more of an emergency, I could have broken a window and gone inside, but I decided to tough it out and learn from the experience.  Alternatively, if it were much colder, I could have hung out in the generator shed where it stays warmer, but it is really loud in there.

All this got me thinking. I needed to be better prepared.  I needed to have an emergency kit to keep outside.  I started filling one this morning with items already around the house.

So far, it contains:
1 pair warm gloves, 1 pair work gloves, 1 warm hat, matches, a flint fire starter, 2 washcloths, a notebook and pencil, paracord, Ibuprofen and Excedrin, canned salmon and canned tuna, 1 cup quinoa, a leatherman knife/tool set, cotton balls smeared with petroleum jelly, an emergency blanket, a warm fleece, 100 yds dental floss (can be used for cordage), a roll of duct tape, band-aids, and electrolyte powder (enough for 30 quarts of water).
There's much that can be added, but its a good start. (need to get a can opener soon).

So, ask yourself, ...are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse?

Stinging Nettles, young

Rhubarb

A plentiful supply of wild Nettles

The daylight hours are growing longer.  It seems to be getting light by 5 am, and remains light until about 10:30 pm.  I'm sure this is a great help for the seedlings.  They were doing great in the mini-greenhouse most nights, but there was one early morning that the frost dipped a bit too low.  It killed most of my seedlings, but I think that was also because I had not watered them that day. They had seemed to be doing better with watering only every other day, except when the severe cold came unexpectedly.

The bears have arrived out of hibernation.  We have seen several Black Bears nearby, with one that came into our front yard.  That was the evening that we learned the sound of Grizz's very serious bark.  It was quite alarming.  We have also continued to see many Elk on our back hills on a regular basis.

Grizz, half growed up.  *sniff*

 Have a great week!