Journal

What Happened?

I have no idea what happened today. I woke up at my normal time, got everything done to make sure my husband wasn’t late for work, and did my meditation. It was supposed to storm all day today so I started watching blooper reels from the show “Supernatural,” It was a great start to what was going to be a wonderful day (I even had a topic ready for the blog)! Then this extremely dark cloud descended on me. I did my best to work around it. I started reading my next book (I just received my first Kindle on Wednesday) but it turned out I needed to read another one first. So, I grabbed that one but barely got through the first chapter (I could not keep my eyes open).

Thankfully, my son came over to visit or I would have been passed out on the couch and not sleep tonight. By the time my husband came home from work, I was in tears. What was I crying about? I have no idea and not being a crier makes it that much worse. I got angry because not only was I crying but I hadn’t written all day, had barely finished half my water, and it turns out it did not rain all day (so I could have actually done something outside).

I decided to relieve my husband of my company and go feel sorry for myself in the shower. I cried some more, then sat there envisioning the dark gunk inside me just washing down the drain. By the end of my “cleansing” this is the song that was rattling around in my brain:

I wish I could say the darkness is 100% gone but it is still sitting there just beneath the surface. Days like today rarely happen any more now that my kids are adults (and not quite so adversarial) but man, when they do it really sucks. I would love for every day to rainbows and sunshine but I guess we need the occasional rainy day so we can truly appreciate those sunny ones.

Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Low Carb, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe, Supplies

Homemade Corned Beef

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/home_made_corned_beef.html

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

Food Storage, Garden, Health And Wellness, Supplies

Water Storage

I can’t believe I never made a post about water storage (unless I did and just can’t find it).  I will include several links from various sources describing the various methods of water storage and how to ensure the safety of the water.   Of everything we think we “need” to survive in the event of some sort of event, too many do not include water as their number 1 priority.  It’s always food, shelter, clothing, etc. but with all of that, if we do not have access to water (either already clean or have the ability to clean it) we will not survive long enough to enjoy that food and the other supplies we have stored.

The first link I will share is to a water filter that looks like it is by far the best one out there.  It’s to a forum (disclosure here) that I am a moderator/administrator for (you can view this post without being a member) and my dear friend has researched the heck out of this filter. It’s for the water filters made by www.justwater.me.

And here’s how to make a *Home Made Berkey Water Filter* which is helpful for those people like me (if there are any others out there because California is so whacky) who are unable to purchase the Big Berkeys due to state regulations. I don’t see why, if you account for flow rate, this setup can’t be used for other brands of large water filters.

Here’s an article from the CDC:

Personal Preparation and Storage of Safe Water

And here’s an even more basic article from the LDS church:

Drinking Water Guidelines

Now, for cisterns, which I think is ultimately be best way to go, if you have the space for them:

This first article is from the University of Florida extension (there’s a link to a .pdf of this article on the upper left side of their web page):

Cisterns To Collect Non-Potable Water For Domestic Use

And this one, by far, is my favorite, since I truly love Mother Earth News:

The Homestead Cistern

So, if you haven’t already begun you water storage project, you have some reading to do. It’s never too late to get started, even if the positive results may not be seen this year (since I do not expect California to get anywhere near the rain that is needed this year).

Health And Wellness, personal

Core Motivation

I am posting this on both blogs because I think this is one of the most profound videos I have seen.  Frank Kern gave this address back in 2008(?) at an Internet Marketing seminar.  It’s roughly 2 hours long (that’s my disclosure, there) but the first hour and a half is spent on you and how you can learn who you truly want to be (what you truly want out of life).  Well, at least that’s how I saw it.

So, you want to lose weight?  Why?  Do you think you’ll be happy once you lose the weight?  That’s what a lot of people think: I’ll be happy if or when.  Those are the people who, once they reach their goal and find out they are still the same person, just in a skinny body, end up putting on not only the weight they had originally lost but more!  Those are the people who win the lottery (literally) yet wind up penniless and miserable, with no friends or family.

Before we begin any journey in life, we need to really take a look at who we really are and what we truly want out of life.  The exercise that Frank walks them (us) through is: What would be your perfect average day?  Not a day when you are doing something special (like taking a trip) but your perfect normal average day.  What time would you wake up?  Who would you be with?  What would you have for breakfast?  That sort of thing.

Think about it.  If your dream is to never have to work again, what would you do to occupy your time?  If your dream is to lose 100 pounds, what would you do next?  How would that change your life?  Let’s say you want to run marathons.  O.k.  So, how would you spend your day if you were snowed in?

Once you do this exercise per Frank’s description, take a good honest look at it.  You need to take action now to become happy with your life.  After watching this video, I realized that I’ve been doing this for a number of years without consciously realizing it.  I have let friends go (some of my oldest friends) because they were not conducive with my happiness.  I’ve done the same thing with family members.  My attitude about life and circumstances has changed dramatically, all for the better.  I used to be angry and ready for a fight.  I was very active in the political arena with my primary focus on the injustices of this or that.  While that is alright, I never truly focused on how I could turn that around to make my (or anyone else’s) life better.  I was extremely negative, spending the majority of my time just bitching, ranting, and buying more ammunition (it’s like food or money or air … or happiness.  You can never have enough). 🙂

Now, I’m doing my best to improve my life and sharing it with you along the way, in the hope that it may help you, too.  I haven’t sat down and officially done the exercise mentioned above yet (I will in a little bit) but I have been thinking about it a lot.  My perfect, average day would pretty much be my life now (just in a location where I can smell pine trees when I open the front door and not hear sirens and police helicopters for hours at a time, like this morning … 4 hours!).  I would have the strength to split wood or hand-turn soil all day long if need be.  I wouldn’t have neighbors that I can hear cough (it’s not that bad but you know what I mean) and I can raise any animal I damn well please!

So, what about you?

Crafts, Crochet

Last Crocheted Gifts

They should arrive any day, so here’s the post.

The scarf is this same pattern as before but with the fringe:

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And these are new! Brooklyn Fingerless Mitts!  I loved making these (I tried one but good Lord I couldn’t get it right).  The only thing I did different was less rows between the cuff and the thumb plus sewed on the flowers.  I preferred the cuff hitting right where my hand begins.

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Now, I’m off to try to finish that afghan I started a year ago!  🙂

 

Crafts, Crochet

Crocheted Scarf and Slippers

O.k.  This is the latest round of gifts (actually, one of the gifts was shown in my last post).

This scarf is for my other sister:

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Due to the color of the yarn (Navy) it’s kinda hard to see the pattern but here’s a link to it.  I really like how dense the pattern is without being bulky or heavy.

http://www.crochetgeek.com/2008/11/shell-crochet-winter-scarf.html

And here are the slippers.  These are for my brother-in-law so I’m not sure if they will fit.  His foot is two sizes larger than mine and two sizes smaller than hubby’s so I just kinda guessed.  After putting these on with socks (on my feet) I think they will be too small).

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And here’s the pattern.  I REALLY tried to do the design on top.  After counting and counting and no matter what I did it kept going crooked, I just left that part out and crocheted straight across (I ripped these out 5 times, trying to get that design to be straight).  It’s not the pattern designer’s fault, it’s mine.  I’ve never done anything like that design before so I should try on something bigger (and flat).

http://www.mooglyblog.com/simple-chunky-cable-crochet-slippers/

By the way, that blog right there is fantastic!  She has some really nice basic crochet (and a little more advanced) video tutorials there.  You should check her out!

O.k.  Now that I’m done with those … hats!  Same pattern I posted before but different colors.  I’ll post those when I’m done.

Crafts, Crochet

Crocheted Hat and 2 Scarves

So, these are my latest.  Since it’s a gift for my sister, and it has already left my house to be given to her, there’s nothing she can say about it!  LOL!  So, I’m posting the pictures with links to the patterns so I can finally close those tabs in my browser.

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I know the hat is kinda fuzzy (out of focus) but I used this pattern, which I will pretty much stick with for all the hats I do (just make them longer or whatever).  I used 2 strands of yarn and then added scallops (shells, whatever they are called) to the bottom edge to make a bit more “girly”.I also added a few more rows, so the brim could be folded up.

http://www.piece-by-piece.net/Crochet/ddchat.htm.

The scarf is this pattern but I made it more narrow.  I am not good a gauging how much yarn I have and some of these patterns say stuff like, “2 balls of …” How much is a ball?  So, this was a smaller skein of yarn and I didn’t have enough but loved the color.

http://www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2012/05/crocheted-scarf-free-pattern.html

Then, since I had already made one in the wrong color for my intended recipient, she gets this scarf too (since the other one really isn’t long enough and this one is warmer).  I took this picture to show the how the difference in yarn for the same pattern looks.  I did it a little wider than the pattern called for but you can get the idea (she gets the scarf on the right).  First, the link:

http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/89470.aspx

Now the picture:

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I’m working on one more scarf, then I get to slog my way through some slippers, then 4 hats to make from the pattern above but these are for adult males and the colors are dark grey, black, green, yellow, and red.  I’ll post those pictures (and patterns) when I’m done.

Garden

More young people see opportunity in farming

http://news.yahoo.com/more-young-people-see-opportunity-farming-080319604.html

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin factory worker worried about layoffs became a dairy farmer. An employee at a Minnesota nonprofit found an escape from her cubicle by buying a vegetable farm. A nuclear engineer tired of office bureaucracy decided to get into cattle ranching in Texas.

While fresh demographic information on U.S. farmers won’t be available until after the next agricultural census is done next year, there are signs more people in their 20s and 30s are going into farming: Enrollment in university agriculture programs has increased, as has interest in farmer-training programs.

Young people are turning up at farmers markets and are blogging, tweeting and promoting their agricultural endeavors through other social media.

The young entrepreneurs typically cite two reasons for going into farming: Many find the corporate world stifling and see no point in sticking it out when there’s little job security; and demand for locally grown and organic foods has been strong enough that even in the downturn they feel confident they can sell their products.

Laura Frerichs, 31, of Hutchinson, Minn., discovered her passion for farming about a year after she graduated from college with an anthropology degree. She planned to work in economic development in Latin America and thought she ought to get some experience working on a farm.

She did stints on five farms, mostly vegetable farms, and fell in love with the work. Frerichs and her husband now have their own organic farm, and while she doesn’t expect it to make them rich, she’s confident they’ll be able to earn a living.
“There’s just this growing consciousness around locally grown foods, around organic foods,” she said. “Where we are in the Twin Cities there’s been great demand for that.”

Farming is inherently risky: Drought, flooding, wind and other weather extremes can all destroy a year’s work. And with farmland averaging $2,140 per acre across the U.S. but two to four times that much in the Midwest and California, the start-up costs can be daunting.

Still, agriculture fared better than many parts of the economy during the recession, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts record profits for farmers as a whole this year.

“People are looking at farm income, especially the increase in asset values, and seeing a really positive story about our economy,” said USDA senior economist Mary Clare Ahearn, citing preliminary statistics. “Young people are viewing agriculture as a great opportunity and saying they want to be a part of it.”

That’s welcome news to the government. More than 60 percent of farmers are over the age of 55, and without young farmers to replace them when they retire the nation’s food supply would depend on fewer and fewer people.

“We’d be vulnerable to local economic disruptions, tariffs, attacks on the food supply, really, any disaster you can think of,” said Poppy Davis, who coordinates the USDA’s programs for beginning farmers and ranchers.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has called for 100,000 new farmers within the next few years, and Congress has responded with proposals that would provide young farmers with improved access to USDA support and loan programs.

One beginning farmer is Gabrielle Rojas, 34, from the central Wisconsin town of Hewitt. As a rebellious teen all she wanted to do was leave her family’s farm and find a career that didn’t involve cows. But she changed her mind after spending years in dead-end jobs in a factory and restaurant.

“In those jobs I’m just a number, just a time-clock number,” Rojas said. “But now I’m doing what I love to do. If I’m having a rough day or I’m a little sad because the sun’s not shining or my tractor’s broken, I can always go out and be by the cattle. That always makes me feel better.”

Rojas got help in changing careers from an apprenticeship program paid for by the USDA, which began giving money in 2009 to universities and nonprofit groups that help train beginning farmers. The grants helped train about 5,000 people the first year. This year, the USDA estimates more than twice as many benefited.

One of the groups that received a grant is Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, or MOSES. The Spring Valley, Wis., chapter teaches farming entrepreneurs how to cope with price swings and what to do in cases of catastrophic weather.
MOSES also organizes field days, where would-be farmers tour the operations of successful farms to learn and share tips. Attendance is up 20 percent this year, director Faye Jones said, and some outings that used to attract 30 or 40 people have drawn as many as 100, most between the ages of 18 and 30.

“I think for many people, farming has been a lifelong dream, and now the timing is right,” she said. Among the reasons she cited: the lifestyle, working in the fresh air and being one’s own boss.

If farming is beginning to sound like an appealing career, there are downsides. The work involves tough physical labor, and vacations create problems when there are crops to be harvested and cows to be milked.

In addition, many farmers need second jobs to get health insurance or make ends meet. As the USDA notes, three-fifths of farms have sales of less than $10,000 a year, although some may be growing fruit trees or other crops that take a few years to develop.
None of those factors dissuaded 27-year-old Paul Mews. He left a high-paying job as a nuclear engineer last year to become a cattle rancher in Menard, Texas. His wife’s family has been ranching for generations, and Mews decided he’d much rather join his in-laws and be his own boss than continue shuffling paperwork at the plant.

“When you’re self-employed it’s so much more fulfilling. You get paid what you’re worth,” he said. “It’s really nice that what you put into it is what you’re going to get back out.”
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Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

Canning, Drying, Food Storage, Level 1, Preserving

Low Carb Food Storage

Well, since my switch in eating, I’ve been thinking about all of my food storage.  Boy, I have some adjustments to make!  Flour, sugar, jams and jellies (sugar-made), beans, white rice, oats, etc.  So, I went searching for suggestions online.  In addition to this playlist in which I show you how to can various items like chicken, beef, and pork, I found some links I think you will enjoy.

I don’t usually like “about.com” articles, this is a good basic one:

Must-Have Items for Your Low-Carb Grocery List

A One-Month Long-Term Food Supply from a Low-Carb Perspective from Claiming Liberty:

A One-Month Long-Term Food Supply from a Low-Carb Perspective

Here is a video about dehydrating spaghetti squash:

Paleo Prepper: I have barely looked through this website but it’s intriguing!

http://paleoprepper.com/

Here’s a post by The Low Carb Prepper (good stuff):

The Low Carb Prepper

Here’s a thread at The Survival Podcast Forums:

http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=20965.0

Garden

Great Depression Cooking with Clara

I hope and pray that all those that can are preparing for the growing season. Now is the time, especially with the state of our nation. I see this time as a combination of rationing during World War II and the Great Depression. If we do not now take care of ourselves as much as possible, there may be no one there who can (or will). Even if all you have is a giant pot of dirt, plant something. Ask a friend who has a yard if you can utilize some of their land for growing food in exchange for a share of it (or a share of the prepared food). We need to do this if we are to survive the coming financial storms. Oh, and just so you know I am not even close to being a great gardener (like Gladgrower), I’ll take a few pictures of my house and yard when it stops raining (I won’t even clean up the mess my dog made of a bag of cans). It was bad this past year. I am to change that this year!

On that note, I found the neatest website! It’s called “Depression Cooking with Clara”. She has some You Tube videos of some dishes her mom made when she was growing up.