No-poo or as I prefer to call it "Chem-free hair"

This is day 1 of my new chemical free natural hair care journey. Most call it "No-poo" but poo sounds too much like poop to me and poop related to my hair is just ick.

Okay to start from the beginning. I liked this idea for 2 reasons. First I have always been chemical sensitive but as my fibro has progressed it has become worse. My skin hurts and burns from deodorant. My body itches from regular soap. And my scalp is an itchy mess. My second reason is the practical side from a prepper angle. If SHTF I hope to still have fabulous hair.

This pick is 2 days in. On day 1 I did a clarifying shampoo for my final chemical wash. It is supposed to shorten the transition time. I finished it off with my new form of conditioner. A spray bottle filled with water, a 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, and 10 drops of peppermint oil.

The second day the real fun began. I used a pointed tip bottle with a cup of water and 1 1/2 teasp of baking soda to scrub my hair. Just squirted the mixture against my scalp and scrubbed. Rinsed. Then sprayed my hair and let sit a bit and rinsed.

My mixtures might change as I try to find the right balance but thems the basics. I plan to blog every week at least to keep track of the progress. Hopefully it makes my scalp better. Others have reported that their hair has thickened, strengthened and the color became more rich. I'm excited to see what happens.

Making a list and checking it twice!

Okay. My guy is a hard worker. When we are in prep he works 50 a week. When he is tunneling he can work a whole lot more. We have had years where he was lucky to have 10 days total off the entire year. As this job is behind I imagine that will be the case here soon. So unless he is in a frame of mind where he isn't recovering from the work I leave him be on discussing bigger things. This past weekend he was cleaning. He does that when I have been especially sick. This included reorganizing his side of our bedroom. (I swear aliens move in, I stay far far away.) He also repacked his gobag. This gave me the perfect opening to say that I would like to add bags for all of us, discuss a family meeting place out of the city, and I think a get home bag for him is in order. Once again I was surprised to learn he had pretty much everything in his truck to get home except a decent gun and the reason for that is his project is such as it is that weapons are prohibited and vehicles are searched. Other items are prohibited as well. I didn't know that. You learn every day right. So we are planning out our bags. Woohoo.

I have also come to a bit of a realization. Yes I am slow on some of these at times. My FMS has me on 2 meds currently. Part of the problem for most with FMS is sleep. We don't. If we do we don't do it deeply enough to get that good healing sleep. I went to the doctor to discuss my recent after camping flare and my sleep. My usual plan had been Tylenol PM several nights a week. Can't be healthy. I wanted to see what I could do to improve my sleep medicinally that wouldn't completely knock me out. I need to be able to get up because Monkey still wakes sometimes. She had no idea. So I had Hubby pick up a "natural" sleep pill. It is a blend of herbs and such that are all supposed to help induce sleep. They do nothing for me so far. But it did get me thinking. I need to keep this search up. When SHTF I need ways to help with my sleep and my pain without meds. Gracie actually uses an oil and thinks it might help me. That would be something to look into using and making myself. I would also like to know how to help my husband with his pain. I have a pretty good herbal medicine book but I think I need a couple more. Some specific to pain and FMS, a book on making my own oils, a book with pictures to help with identification of herbs.

I have also decided that since I can't realistically stockpile food here as this is a horrid location if SHTF I want to look into seed storage. Now that the boys have told me a where I can plan to that and store things I know we can grow there. Also considering looking at an acre in that area. Just a small plot for simple storage purposes maybe. Prices are very low right now so it might be something to think about.


What have you found necessary in a gobag with children? Planning for Hubby and I is one thing and there are obvious needs for the girls that we would carry but what special needs might they have? I welcome your thoughts!

Better prepared than I thought.

Some of the recent posts on blogs I enjoy are far less hopeful than I and it got me a little worried. We are hard pressed to hole up here. If SHTF this is not the place to be and as far as preps go we are a young couple with young kids and hubby is in a career that does not lend itself to retreat building while also focusing on our idea of how we raise our kids. (I am at home so one income.) I have been focusing on these hurdles and worries and seeing the posts seemed to create the right mix for my nightmare prone brain. Last night was a doozy.

A great thing about my guy is he lets me share the dream then tells me what we would do different in life. He was at work today though. I didn't feel comfortable really sharing the dream but did share the worry about our preparedness level with my BIL. He surprised me by detailing the plan. Where we would go. How we would have food, build shelter, have water, harvest crops. The boys have it worked out and are ready. He said they are wanting a couple more shotguns and probably a .22 pistol for us.

As far as prepping the house he said they both think getting a couple 55 gallon drums for water would be smart but otherwise he isn't worried. That was very comforting to hear. So there is a plan LOL just one not shared with me very well. I think we will make that Lila box soon as well as getting a get home bag in Hubby's truck. Get the meeting place figured out for escape in a long term issue and get the local water resources better figured out for short term things. And keep letting my guy do his thing. He has it under control.

Gardening, bees and other stuff by Gracie

I went outside to check on my garden today. I have potatoes, radishes and swiss chard above the ground. Now if the weather cooperates, I will get the rest of it planted this week. This is the first sucessful (knocking on wood and crossing every finger) garden I have ever planted on my own. Sure, I have a few flowers here and there but nothing that I can eat and feed my family with. I am pretty stoked.

My bees arrive in a few weeks and I am almost ready for them. I have the deep super and the base and top all assembled. I just need to paint it all, get it leveled out in the garden, install a water source and re-read my instructions a few more times. I am beyond excited for my new hobby.

The food storage is coming along nicely. I am wanting to jump aboard this couponing train and learn to do my shopping for a lot less than I do now. Maybe I can use my savings to put fuel in my car. That is a gripe for another day I guess. In the meantime I will just stay home as much as possible and only go to town when I have to.

Quote of the Day

"I probably bought too much stuff, but it's all shelf stable so I can just throw it in the food storage"

-Me to Ryan the 3L, and a great example of when you know you've taken prepping into your everyday life without thinking about it.