The Sunday Salon

/ Annette

Read any good books? Tell us about them.

I finished reading The Mysterious Benedict Society. The review will be posted next week. I love the story. I love how friends become family. I have experienced this myself. As I’ve grown older, and my parents are no longer living, and my siblings live far away, friends are truly like family.

I finished reading Upstream by Mary Oliver. This is the first book I’ve read by her. I’ve heard others remark about her, but now I’ve experienced her writing. Review to come soon.

What else is going on in your life?

This past week has brought needed rain to north Texas plus cooler temperatures. This is sweater weather.

It is also that time of the year when I get sinus allergies. So, I am struggling right now with a sore throat, headache, and congestion. No, I don’t have COVID.

Wyatt is fully healed and no longer wears a collar. Not one time did she try and take the collar off. For her, it was like she wore a pillow all the time. I highly recommend it. I don’t recommend it for a boy cat as it doesn’t extend out far enough to cover the bottom half of where their surgery is located. Wyatt’s surgery was in her mid-abdomen. She was still able to lick her legs and tail. I am so glad this ordeal is over for both of us.

For those interested, this is the link for the collar at Amazon.

I have heard through the years many people who are transplants to Texas from a colder northern climate remark about the winters in Texas. Some have been surprised it gets cold at all. Some say with a snicker we cannot drive on the icy roads (this is mostly true.)

It does get cold, but it doesn’t stay that way for long.

I’ve lived in north Texas since 2011. We’ve had a few Februarys where the freezing temps and ice have built up enough that roads are shut down, and stores close, and people are looking for food or formula. We had a recent February where we lost power, and people were unable to have heat in their homes. They also couldn’t cook. It is a very sad thing when women are asking for help in feeding their babies because they cannot buy formula.

I learned to prep (at least a bit) a long time ago. I prep for short paychecks, or when I’m too sick to leave the house to purchase soup and crackers, or when the weather is bad, or the power goes out and I cannot cook. This requires planning and thinking ahead. Before the COVID lockdown, I had heard about this sickness that was spreading and I felt the need to prep even more. I am so glad I did because my homeless brother and his wife came to live with us days after the lockdown.

Prepping looks like what you need for emergency situations. My prep may will not look like yours.

On an index card I wrote down all the items that we need. These are not wants. For example: Tylenol, Ibuprofen, antacid, Imodium, dry beans, canned beans (baked beans can be eaten cold), canned goods, tea, coffee, and rice. This is a short list of what I stock.

Do you stock up for the winter or in case of emergencies?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Readerbuzz.

12 thoughts on “The Sunday Salon”

  1. I have visited northern Texas in the winter. We are from Wisconsin, so your winters felt great to us, but I am sure it feels cold to you. Sounds like you had some good reads recently. I do stock up some, but really not much more than normal. I usually keep a few extras on hand. Sounds like you have a good plan for your stocking up. Have a good weekend!

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  2. I live in South Texas. My son and his family moved to North Texas a year ago, and they have been surprised at how cold it gets in the north. We rarely experience freezes, but they have already had one this year.

    I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s a favorite of mine.

    Mary Oliver is a fantastic writer, I think. I most recently read a collection of the best of her poetry.

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  4. I was in Texas in an ice storm once, and it was terrible! And I live in Michigan. I don’t know about the local drivers, but I was scared out of my mind. Everything must be bigger in Texas.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  7. I have always prepped. The lockdowns made me prep even more stuff. We also keep cash in the house for emergencies should the power go out and you can’t use machines.

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  8. Our winters tend to be mild in central Alabama: t-shirts and shorts are completely within the range of possibilities for Christmas day, since the cold doesn’t settle in properly until January and February. I’m a ‘mild’ prepper in that I maintain a full pantry of canned goods, rice, and the like, along with plenty of water — and I have flashlights in several rooms, along with cellphone batteries and a weather radio. This owes mostly to my living in an area that attracts both tornadoes and hurricanes with regularity!

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  9. Having experienced 6 winters now in Arkansas, YES I stock up for winters. And recently, when one of my friends was down with COVID for 9 days, I decided I’d better stock up for illness as well. Could be something as simple as a bad cold. Anything where I can’t or don’t want to venture out of the house. So, we’ve got soups, juice, gatorade…Advil…stuff like that for colds/flu/Covid and then all kinds of things that can be eaten if the power goes out during the winter. Beans, bread & peanutbutter, beef jerky. I’m glad Jackie mentioned cash in her reply because I always forget to have cash on hand. My Mom used to keep $200 in cash at all times. I think I might be able to scrounge up $2.00 in change from the bottom of my purse, but that’s about it. Ha ha.

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