Journal

… Sitting Around, Eating Bonbons All Day

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Three years ago, I applied for a civilian job with the Sheriff’s Department. I have not held a paying job since 2003. So, imagine my surprise when I was called for an interview!

I got all gussied up, went in, and had a wonderful time. I thought it went well but I really didn’t care because I enjoyed it. Then, I was called for my next round of interviews. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

Unfortunately, these interviews did not go as well. They started out fine, then got confusing. On my resume, I listed my current occupation as caretaker. My duties are everything I do on the property:

Caretaker: Utilize Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Zoom and Quickbooks daily. Maintain budget, and evaluate vendors, when required. Landscape design, implementation, and maintenance. Structural maintenance, such as replacing and reglazing window glass, repairing dry rot, repairing/replacing concrete and leveling structures. Designed, built, and painted outbuildings. Scraped, sanded and painted the interior and exterior of buildings. Safe operation of belt and orbital sanders, circular saws, reciprocation saw, impact drivers, air compressors, lawn mowers, rototillers, string trimmers, leaf blowers, Oxy-acetylene torch, welder/generator, chain saw, plus various hand tools from crescent wrenches to pickaxes.

I need to rewrite that up there but, as of the past two weeks, I can officially add plumbing!

I was called in for two follow-up interviews and a voice stress analyzer test. That was the first time I had taken any sort of lie detector test and was thrilled when I passed! The two interviews, on the other hand, did not go as well.

Both interviewers kept questioning my role as caretaker. This was when we lived with my in-laws, and despite what I wrote on my resume (and told them during the interview) they kept asking about my in-laws: how often do they go to the store and doctor appointments (and how many times do I drive them). When I told them rarely, one asked,

“Well, what do you do? Why are you there? Are you sitting around, eating bonbons all day?”

I had this knee-jerk reaction of offense that I stifled, and repeated all of the things I do. I was so frustrated! Why weren’t they understanding? What I didn’t realize until a few days later was those two interviewers mistook my position as caretaker for CAREGIVER! That isn’t what I was (yet). If I would have realized it during the interview, things may have gone differently. Who knows.

When I finally heard back from the Sheriff’s Department, I was not offered the job. I don’t know if it was due to the interviewers not recommending me, my sister-in-law not even responding to the interviewers, or if I had made a mistake on my job history (they required ALL of my past employment … I ordered my full job history report from the Social Security office and am waiting for that to arrive). I know it doesn’t help that the majority of businesses I have worked for have closed.

Despite the outcome, I am grateful. I am grateful that, without a continual job history, I was called in for multiple interviews. I am grateful that I have more time to tweak and fine tune my resume (and correct any mistakes I have made). I am grateful that, now that I do not have a full time job, I am able to put all of my time and focus on the necessary projects that need to turn this from a house we sleep in into our home.

Food Storage, Garden

New Video Releases: Gardening Naturally & Permaculture

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As I stated in my last post, one of the goals I set was to clean up my website to create a more user-friendly experience for my visitors. Another was to clean up and upload videos I have been holding onto for far too long, which has been a significant undertaking. That task (the bulk of it) has been completed! I am excited to share that these are videos from the 1990s, a fascinating era that shaped much of my creative journey (This Old House was another one that I watched religiously, but that is still on the air and readily available online). I have done my best to edit, clean up, and enhance the audio to ensure that the quality meets the expectations of my audience. In addition, I have also included subtitles for all of these new videos (and all of my previously uploaded ones) to make them more accessible to a wider audience. With the intention of not overwhelming anyone, I have all of the videos set to release once per week, so no one is inundated with notification

I now have two new playlists on my YouTube channel. The first is all of the Gardening Naturally episodes I could find. What is Gardening Naturally?

Gardening Naturally is an educational television series created in the early 1990s, hosted by renowned horticulturists Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman. The show focuses on sustainable, organic, and four-season gardening techniques, presenting viewers with practical knowledge that is both applicable and inspiring. Although the show officially ran for 3 seasons, I discovered enough videos to stretch it to 4 seasons, allowing you to delve deeper into the wealth of information it offers. Each episode features engaging segments that resonate with both novice and seasoned gardeners, showcasing a range of topics from planting and soil health to pest management and seasonal harvesting. I absolutely fell in love with this show! This show, for the first time, displayed practical tips and methods for organic gardening that were relatable, transforming the way I approached my own garden and instilling in me a sense of connection to the earth and the food I grow.

The second playlist is for Bill Mollison’s renowned Permaculture course, which explores sustainable agricultural practices and ecological design. I had originally uploaded these videos a few years ago but decided to take them down for various reasons, including the desire to improve the overall quality of the content. Now, after dedicating time to enhancing the material, the video quality is notably crisper,. Additionally, the audio has been significantly improved, now sounding 1000 times better than before.

I hope your day is exciting as mine will be (climbing onto the roof to eliminate moss while the weather is warm).

Journal

What Is Yours To Do?

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This question is central to Gordon White’s teachings (of Rune Soup) , and something I ask myself every day when I am beginning to feel the weight of everything (from physical, real-world tasks to news headlines to all of this *waves my hands around in a circle*). Asking myself, “What is mine to do?” grounds me in a way nothing else has. This simple question centers me, draws me inward, and helps me focus on my true goals and desires.

I set some goals this year, and was doing pretty good. In March, I began slacking on them when some health news shook me. It set me back but I think I needed that time to just stop, think, regroup, and plan. That’s when I started (and finished, I hope) fixing my website. I went through every page, replaced pictures, fixed links, prettied up the recipes, deleted a ton of posts that did not need to be posts, and as of 4 hours ago, I am done! Having said that, if you see anything wrong, just let me know.

Then today, I repaired my ugly potato planter (I used wood that we had gotten free and it warped even more once water was introduced to its environment, so I put in some corner brackets), and removed some conduit that wasn’t being used by anyone but some carpenter bees (I still don’t know why they chose conduit over the abundant amount of wood). I cleaned up the mess (me AND the yard), then sat down here.

You see, Gordon White passed away. He was so much younger than me (he’ll always be 27 in my eyes) and his passing has left a gaping hole in my life. I didn’t realize just how many times throughout the day I thought about him until there were no more posts, stories, photos, observations, Buffy or Lord of the Rings references from him.

I have been a fan-girl of his for many moons (was amongst the first Rune Soup Premium Members), although most of his teachings flew right over my head in the beginning. To be brutally honest, some of them still do. However, I have learned that my learning style is “in my own time.” When I am ready to truly learn, something will click and then I am off to the races! I will eat and breathe nothing but that subject until I am dreaming about it. I absolutely love it when it happens!

I promise, there is a point to this post. I used to be completely obsessive about everything else going on in the world. EVERYTHING! I would be on the computer for 14 hours a day, reading this news story, or verifying that report. This took a toll on my health and my relationships with my children and husband. I slowly started pulling back and was almost living a “normal” life when I stumbled onto Gordon White. He helped me to see how a life can be lead while not hiding my head in the sand about all of the current events. I learned how to observe them without internalizing them. I learned how to control my knee-jerk reactions and overinflated ego: exactly how was I going to affect global crises?

Through Gordon White, and with the wider Rune Soup community, I learned to live in this tumultuous world without letting it consume me. I learned to take accountability for the things I was truly responsible for and learned what I truly had to ability to change. My focus became similar to the Jewish tradition of charity (Tzedakah (צְדָקָה): Charity starts with you, then your immediate family, then extended family, then local community, and ever widening from there. This charity doesn’t simply revolve around money. It’s so much more than that. It’s allowing your focus and attention (or intention) to be on something you can do to improve circumstances.

In other words, I learned what is mine to do. I learned that stressing or raging over current events was only feeding the energies surrounding those events, while depriving myself and my family of the simple, enjoyable things in life like an attentive mother and wife, real food to eat instead of fast food, general repairs around the house actually finished, plants thriving instead of barely surviving, healthier lives, happier lives, and that is all thanks to my favorite perpetually 27 year old wizard shaman friend (and our little RSPM Scooby gang).

Now, amongst all of the wars (and rumors of wars) out there currently, ask yourself:

What Is Mine To Do?

Bread, Drying, Food Storage, Preserving

Reviving My Baking Passion with Fresh Sprouts

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While re-adjusting to our move, I am slowly re-learning what I loved to do. One thing is baking. The second, is sprouting. I used to love having fresh alfalfa sprouts in the fridge.

So, I decided to experiment with the supplies I already have on hand. That brings us to this video. These are the original grains (white wheat, red wheat, and barley) that I used to make my sprouted grain video 6 YEARS AGO! I show you how I had them stored and we play the game of “Will they sprout?”

It turns out they all did! The barley was the quickest to sprout, followed closely by the white wheat, then the red, which took a bit longer. They are all currently in my dehydrators, which I’m using this time instead of the oven, as it allows for more even drying and better preservation of flavors. I can’t wait to bake something with these! The anticipation is building as I think about the wonderful bread, muffins, or pastries I could create using this freshly dehydrated grain mix. The unique flavors and textures they will bring to my baked goods are sure to impress anyone who gets a taste!

Here’s the link to my original post:

Sprouted Grain Flour!
Journal

Transforming Our House into a Home: A Journey of Growth

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When I first started this website, it was to have an outlet for sharing the things I have learned. I wanted to share my triumphs and failures, all while being as brutally honest as I was comfortable being. This was also a way for me to share my wisdom (that may not come up in your typical conversation) with my children.

No one knows everything that has happened in our lives. Sharing ALL of our trials and tribulations always felt too much like complaining. I wanted to share HOW I got through them. This website, YouTube channel, and Instagram account have always been a way for me to get out of my own head and do something productive (and maybe have a little fun in the process). I wanted you (and me) to see that no matter what was happening in our lives, there were things we could do to either work out that tension (hand tilling an entire yard) or allow us to focus on something positive (cooking has always helped me).

Transitioning back into our house has been interesting. When we moved out, this was just a house we slept in (basically). We had no interest in changing much. Our main focus was making sure the roof didn’t cave in. However, this changed over the past two years (that’s when we moved back). We had to relearn what it means to be us: to learn who we are. It amazes me, still, that only two years in another living situation can transform your soul.

We are slowly learning we can say or do whatever we want without the constant question of “Will this offend/irritate/confuse any of them?” There is no longer a “them” in our lives. Choices/decisions were made and now, we can live our authentic selves. Before our decision to move, there was always the nagging question: What will we do if help is needed from us? Now, we know our help was offered and ultimately rejected. Neither of us have any regrets.

So, now what?

Our focus is on making this house our home. This will be a very slow process but we are taking it step by step. First, we worked on the yard (still so much we want to do with the backyard but that will have to wait). Inside the house, we have to do this before we can do that, so we can do the next thing. This house, no matter what we end up doing to it, is our home. I didn’t fix my health issues overnight and it will be the same with the repairs/updates to this 100 year old home. The majority of the things we are planning, we have never done on this scale but we are so excited! We will have so many new things to learn and I will do my best to bring you along for the ride.

Food Storage, Garden, Health And Wellness, Journal

Why I Chose Convenience Over Preparation in Life

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I made my first Substack post and who knows if I will make another one. I barely remember (or don’t know what to share) to post here.

So, here’s the link if you want to read it there, or just scroll down and read the pasted text here.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brendanolen587563/p/it-isnt-prepping-its-laziness?r=cg71s&utm_medium=ios

I used to be a prepper. I used to have a full inventory of everything we would need to survive whatever catastrophe could befall us. I live in California, so my disaster plans included drought, earthquakes, and flooding but mostly civil unrest. Then, through a mind shift that changed my focus from lack to plenty, I reverted back to my original way of thinking: I’m lazy.

I could use terms with a more positive connotation: frugal, thrifty, organized, budget-friendly, etc. I could pretend it’s for health reasons but that would be a lie. My base feeling towards all-things-storage is laziness.

I can’t stand leaving my house every day to purchase food or supplies. I can’t stand planning every meal months ahead of time so I know what I need for the future. I know people who shop every day for that night’s meal and it drives me crazy! They actually love it and I just don’t understand how!


Do you know what I love? Knowing that I can just walk over there and grab whatever I need off of the shelf without getting dressed and driving through “shouldn’t all of you be at work or something?” traffic. That was the only good thing about the Covid lockdowns: everyone was so paranoid that virtually no one was out shopping!

That’s why I grow food, too. It isn’t to control what goes into my body or to save money (because anyone who has grown food knows it is cheaper to buy a crate of tomatoes from Mexico than grow tomatoes while dealing with the “what is wrong with this plant now?” issues. I grow food so I only have to walk 10 feet to get food and only have to wear enough clothing to not scare the neighbors.
Technically, we are healthier. Before we moved back into our house (we lived with my in-laws for 2 ½ years), we ate out a lot (there simply was no room for us there). Since moving back and building up our supplies, we have lost weight, become stronger, and are so much happier. Whoever said laziness was a bad thing obviously didn’t know us!

Repair

DIY Repair: MSI GE 75 Raider Power Port Solutions

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I have a 2019 MSI GE 75 Raider laptop and, from one day to the next, I couldn’t get the power cord to pop into the port. It kept pushing inside the case. I figured it would be something expensive for me to fix, so I prepared to purchase a new laptop while I cracked this one open to see if it is worth repairing. It turned out to be the cheapest computer repair I have ever done!

There are two thin pieces of plastic that support the power port: one underneath and one at the back of the port. It was the back piece that snapped off. That’s it! I didn’t have to buy a new port, figure out if I could solder anything … I just reconnected that back piece with Super glue, filled in the empty voids with JB Weld (I figured if it is good enough to plug a hole in an engine block, it’s strong enough for my computer case), and added a little behind the back piece of plastic.

I then wrapped the power port with plastic wrap to protect it (and enable it to be removed if something does go wrong with it in the future), squished it into the JB Weld, and let it cure.

About 4 hours later, I removed the power port, removed the plastic wrap, cleaned up and bits of JB Weld that oozed out with an X-acto knife, and put it all back together. I now have a fully charged, fully functional laptop again!

Canning, Food Storage

Easy Oven-Roasted Nut Storage Method

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This is so easy!

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Take whatever nuts you want to store. Shell them or just make sure there are no bits of shell or debris.

Place the nuts in whatever size jars you want and place new lids and rings on.

Place your jars on a baking tray (for stability), and bake for one hour. Remove and let cool.

As long as they are sealed, they will store almost forever.

Household

Transforming Our Front Yard: A Year in Review

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It has taken a year, but I can now officially say our front yard is finished! We learned quite a bit from the first time we laid down mulch to this time.

First, this is what our yard looked like one year ago:

A view of an unkempt front yard with brown, dried plants and patches of overgrown grass next to a sidewalk and house.

This was after 2 1/2 years of not living here and being able to maintain it.

And this is a week ago:

A front yard recently completed with new black mulch, trimmed plants, and a clear walkway leading to the entrance of a house.

I pulled out any plants I didn’t want, moved those I wanted to, dug out the old cedar shavings, planted whatever plants that will hopefully grow, leveled the dirt (which involved moving some to the back yard), then went to a local supplier of such things as bark, shavings, compost, animal bedding, etc. and bought our bark.

Between everything else on the property and this yard, it did legitimately take me a year to transform our yard but I love it!

Appetizer, Bread, Salads

Easy Focaccia Croutons Recipe

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Focaccia Croutons 

Cube the focaccia. Lay it out in a single layer on baking sheets. Spray with a little oil, then season however you want. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 to 15 minutes (until they just start to brown). Remove from oven and let cool completely. 

For immediate-eating storage, put in a jar and store in the refrigerator (if you live in a warm climate, the oil on the croutons will go rancid after a month or so on the countertop). For longer term storage, place in quarter canning jars and bake at 250 degrees for one hour. Remove from oven, make sure the jars sealed, then store. This is an experiment. I have no idea how long they will last (this is how I store nut meats, like walnuts and pecans, which last YEARS without ever going rancid).

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