The snow is gone and the rain is here! Lots of rain lately, with a forecast of some rain every day this week. The company behind my xeriscaping project wants to start work again tomorrow, hopefully we’re not talking about a lot of rain this week!

As I write this, the first mosquito-type bug has come in with the pups from the backyard. Definitely spring. 😒

This weekend was a food drive for the Utah Food Bank in our neighborhood and I unloaded a lot of my “emergency” pantry supplies that are expiring. I’m rethinking my approach to the whole emergency-preparedness plan. Originally I purchased a lot of canned goods and such to store. But, those expire in a year or two. I also originally purchased stuff I don’t necessarily eat on a regular basis, especially now that I’m on the Mayo Clinic eating program.

My new plan is to purchase one of those “30 Day Emergency Food Supply” buckets on Amazon with a 25-year shelf life. For about $100 it will take care of me for 1 month. Done.

Water is a bit harder. A dog needs 1 ounce of water per 1 pound of body weight per day. So I need 40 ounces a day for them and 1 gallon per day for me. I’ve looked into the giant blue containers you can purchase to store your own water, but those need to be treated and refilled on a regular bases. I have some energy about this, but not that much. I just want to get something in place and not worry about it. Canned water is pretty awesome with a 50 year shelf life, but they’re pricey. I think I’ll go with a mix of some cans and 1-gallon jugs from the grocery store. I’ll just make an effort to replace them every year, using what I’m swapping out to fill the dogs’ water bowls.

This whole project has also led to me rearranging my under-porch storage area. I originally had 3 sets of wire racks along the back wall. Now I’ve rearranged things a bit and have added a 4th rack:

You can see it’s mostly decorations and D&D stuff at this point! 😆

I’ve been working on a “Japanese Garden” canvas for a while now, and I am just not enjoying it. It should be right up my alley, but I’ve set it aside again for now:

Instead, I’ve started a “Doctor Who” canvas I’ve had for a while 😁:

Yeah, you need to watch the show to get the “Bad Wolf” reference, but I’m enjoying working on this one. Although the white “drills” sure do show your mistakes when you don’t get them perfect!

This last week I came across an article in my news feeds that talked about the “science of happiness”. It’s actually quite interesting; like how the left side of your face is more active when you’re experiencing negative emotions:

That’s about it for me at the moment. Here’s a pic of Jax showing off his “puppy eyes” skills, he is a master of the art!

And a pic of Nyx keeping an eye on me while I worked on the storage area:

They were groomed yesterday, so are nice and fluffy at the moment!

Take care!!