Roxie's Musings

Catching the sewing bug!

2012-01-08T16:04:00.000-06:00

You may or may not have known this but I used to do a lot of sewing. I was a 'professional seamstress' for over 25 yrs plugging away mostly at bridesmaids dresses. Throw in alterations and once in a while something fun and I finally got tired of it all. I burned out. Is that why people often retire from a job at 25 yrs? Oh, don't get me wrong, I still liked fabric and patterns and love my machines. I just didn't want to deal with the grind of doing the same thing over and over and over again. So I semi-retired from the custom sewing. Once in a while I take on a project but never again will I do bridesmaids dresses, unless it is for my own family.

Lately though, I have been feeling the urge to do more sewing. I have a young girl (about 9 yrs old) who comes to my house for sewing lessons. That has been fun. I got some pretty great deals on some fabric last week and showed the flannel to the older grandsons.

Yup, they want some jammie pants made with that doggie print.

They said "no" to the pink flowers and butterflies...LOL! Thats ok, that fabric was for me anyway.

When my daughters were little, I did a lot of sewing for them and loved it. Once they got to about Jr. High, they didn't appreciate the clothing anymore. Oh, well! I still have most of the patterns from those days and was spending some time looking at them lately. Cuteness still abounds in those patterns!

For some weird reason the Universe has decided it to be fitting that I only have grandsons at this point...Sheesh!!! There just are not as many cute things for boys to be made. Ahh...well, I guess I will just have to be more creative in my thinking if I want to make things for the little guys.

New Year, new stuff going on.

2012-01-06T21:22:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year to all. Hopefully your holidays were good ones!

I wanted to make a point of directing you to the January issue of the Owl Creek Gazette. Yours truly has an article (actually the first of a series of articles) in this issue about food preservation. Check it out!!

Meanwhile, just enjoying the nice days that don't feel like January at all. I am sure that these days are limited and we will see some hard core winter yet.

Christmas Bells

2011-12-08T16:33:00.003-06:00

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

From Wikipedia:

During the American Civil War, Longfellow's oldest son Charles Appleton Longfellow joined the Union cause as a soldier without his father's blessing. Longfellow was informed by a letter dated March 14, 1863, after Charles had left. "I have tried hard to resist the temptation of going without your leave but I cannot any longer," he wrote. "I feel it to be my first duty to do what I can for my country and I would willingly lay down my life for it if it would be of any good". Charles soon got an appointment as a lieutenant but, in November, he was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church (in Virginia) during the Mine Run Campaign. Coupled with the recent loss of his wife Frances, who died as a result of an accidental fire, Longfellow was inspired to write "Christmas Bells".

He wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1864. "Christmas Bells" was first published in February 1865 in Our Young Folks, a juvenile magazine published by Ticknor and Fields.It was not until 1872 that the poem is known to have been set to music. The English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, used the poem in a processional accompanied with a melody he previously used as early as 1848.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:57:00.000-06:00

I want to wish all a happy Thanksgiving day. Be gentle with yourself, take a deep breath now and then, and enjoy the day however you are spending it.

9 Ways to Survive Hosting Thanksgiving!

1. Use old dishes or paper plates, things you don’t care if they get broken. You never know when a plate of turkey and dressing might fly past your head.

2. Don't be afraid of those quiet uncomfortably moments during dinner, just bring up football, politics money or YOUR religion. The conversation will take on a life of its on.
3. Cook everything in aluminum containers you get at the store. Something’s going to burn, something is going to hit the floor and someone is going to bring to much of something really bad. This way you can send it all home with someone. Easy clean up, no fuss no muss.

4. Always plan for one or two more people to show that were not invited or didn‘t bother to let you know they were coming. Simply show them to the kitchen, give them aprons and tell them to listen for the bell so they know when to begin serving. Salad’s first.
Next time they will RSVP as you requested.

5. Don't stress about the turkey. Honestly someone is going to complain or have something to say. When this happens, pick their plate up from in front of them and place it on the floor for the cat or dog. Saying, “wouldn‘t want to have you eat something that is bad, there is a box of cheerios in the kitchen for you.”

6. You should always set everything out beforehand so you know what is going where. Take pictures, especially if you are having strangers, certain family members or using the silver. Better for the insurance claims later.

7. There is always one person who complains that no one ever talks to them during dinner. Make sure this person is setting next to Smelly Aunt Prudence, she talks endlessly about everything and especially things that happened 25 years ago. So they will also have a history lesson.

8 Start Dinner when you say you are going to, If you say 6pm then start at 6pm. Since there are always those guest that never show up on time; when they arrive tell them you appreciate them coming to help clean up the HUGH mess, and you go set with the guest that cared enough to be their on time.

9. Now Relax. Now Don't stress out! Remember these people are your family and friends and if everything goes normally. Make sure you have a video camera near by. Capture everything for later. Their may be money opportunities you don’t want to miss; Lawsuits, black mail and never forget the "I have it on video" … Could make your X-mas holiday very profitable.

Two little trick or treaters!

2011-10-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

This evening I was visited by a little skunk and a little pirate! So cute! They are of course, my youngest grandsons. I don't think they really got much out of the ordeal but us adults all got a huge kick out of it!

My current act of civil disobedience

2011-10-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

I am now participating in Civil Disobedience. Just letting you all know. Maybe you will want to join in...maybe not. This seems like a small thing in the big scheme of life, but it is the small things that add up.

Yup...I am a child of the 1960's/70's. I remember seeing things on TV about those "damn hippies" and sit-ins and protests. I was young, of course, and didn't really understand a lot of what was going on. Flash forward to today. We have Occupy Wall Street (or whatever city) going on. I have to tell you honestly, it is a very poor attempt to be like the protests were way back when. Those people don't seem to really have a clue as to what they are demanding and what the consequences of those scattered demands would be. There is no focus on issues. Many of the issues that some are yelling about are counter-productive. I don't disagree with some of what is being said, but they do not represent me and I seriously doubt they truly represent 99% of any group of people.

Anyway, I digress....back to my civil disobedient act.

Yesterday, I received the American Community Survey from the US Dept of Commerce/Census Bureau. WHAT?!?!

In 2000, I received the long form census. I filled out the part that is ACTUALLY mandated by the Constitution of the United States. An enumeration of the population. I happily told them how many live in this house and our names. I may have put down our ages. For race, I put Human. Yeah..a rebel, aren't I? (Husband had me put down white/non-hispanic for him. Whatever) The rest of the questions I refused to answer on the basis that they are just too invasive of my privacy. If my toilet flushes or not, how many miles I drive to work, if I am able to bathe by myself....yeah...they don't need that information.

In 2010, I filled out the regular census form. Again, number of people, ages, the very basics that are constitutionally mandated. No problem. Then along comes this "survey". Simply the rest of the long form census. I spent several minutes looking it over. Ummm...no. I am not going to fill it out. I am not going to answer their questions. They say that I am required by law. They say they could fine me. I did some research on the internet. Seems that I can find not one single instance of them ACTUALLY fining or taking anyone to court . I suppose I could be the first. We shall see.

So why am I drawing this particular line in the sand? First of all, we all know that the government can't be trusted to keep our information secure. There are countless instances of laptop computers being stolen along with the private information of individuals on those said computers.

Secondly, there is the basic fundamental right of the individual to privacy. The Constitution does say that the government should count the population every ten years. I get that. And there are some questions that I wouldn't mind answering that could be helpful to future genealogists. I know I have gotten some info from old census records that were interesting...you know...names and ages of people living in a particular place. I have never seen information regarding mental health, pregnancy, driving habits, detailed info on how much they spend on rent/mortgage/utilities.

This is how I see it. I see Big Brother/Sister constantly encroaching into our private daily lives. This is just one more slope towards corralling all the good little sheeple.

Do you know the analogy of the frog in the pot of water? Put a frog in a pan of cool water. He is happy enough. Turn on the stove and slowly heat the water. The frog just goes along, happily ignorant of what is happening to him. Finally, the frog dies from being boiled alive, never having noticed. (According to snopes.com, this is not a true story but just a mythological illustration)

Ok....off the soap box....for now.

Halloween light show - Thriller

2011-10-26T10:18:00.000-05:00

Just look at this video of a house light show set to the song, "Thriller". This is so cool! Be sure to turn off my music just above this post before hitting play. I also encourage you to check out this persons other you tube videos of his house light show. Awesome!

More on the Halloween quilt

2011-10-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

As requested, here is a closer photo of the wall quilt that I have hanging outside this year. It hangs a little bumpy because I have it hanging from an stick that is less than straight. I wish I could remember what line of fabric this was and who it was by but I bought the fabric at least three years ago and used it all up in the wall hanging and matching throw quilt. The center is a printed panel and the sawtooth inner border is pieced coordinating fabric. I made hanging tabs rather than a casing on the back as I had planned to use tree branch to hang this.

Last year was the first year I hung this one indoors. I will take it down and bring it in when it gets around to raining even though this spot on the front deck is pretty sheltered.

The matching throw quilt:

Halloween decorating with the boys

2011-10-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

This morning the grandsons helped me decorate the front porch. They picked out the scary bats, the mean eyes signs and helped hang the green spider webs! They also chose the pumpkins and gourds. I don't think we are going to get around to the indoor decor today. They are having a wonderful time playing outside in this beautiful weather we are having today!

Pet Praying Mantis getting in on the scary fun

The boys chose the scary rubber bats first thing!

Decade After 9/11: Time to Choose to be America Again?

2011-09-16T08:11:00.000-05:00

Now this is a great article! I wish I had written this. It is long but well worth reading.

Decade After 9/11: Time to Choose to be America Again?

Decade After 9/11: Time to Choose to be America Again?

Submitted by Lois Rain on September 15, 2011 – 10:05 pmNo Comment

Since 9-11, it seems that the American Left and the American Right have agreed on something of profound importance: we’re scared.
The politics of the last decade have been the politics of fear.
Because of fear that one of us is a terrorist, we’ve allowed our intelligence services to listen into our private conversations; because of fear of terrorists from abroad, we have killed innocent people in foreign nations (supposedly to protect ourselves here); because of fear that our planes will get blown up, we let government agents put their hands on our children’s crotches and look at our naked bodies, and because of fear that the economy will implode, we’ve given trillions of dollars to organizations that have brought us to that point.
None of it feels very brave or free. None of it feels very American.
Nations confident of their strength don’t seek fights. The most powerful nations win without firing a shot. Nations confident of their security and the ability of their agents to maintain it don’t compromise the dignity or legal rights of its citizens. Nations confident that the innovativeness and entrepreneurialism of its people can provide prosperity don’t reward bad custodians of financial resources to “save the system.”
America has surely been a great nation. But with true greatness — true power — comes self-confidence. What has happened to the America that the world used to love, even if in some quarters, grudgingly? It was always American self-confidence, justified largely by the examples we set regarding the treatment of our people and, during our grander historical moments, other people, on which our leadership depended. We were respected and powerful to the extent that other nations wanted to be like us — to have our prosperity, our freedom and our openness.
Ten years after 9/11, who have we become and who do we appear to be?
Minimizing risk at reasonable cost is the action of a sensible man or nation. Trying to eliminate all risk at any cost — not only financial, but also of principle — is the action of a man or nation that has become obsessive, compulsive, scared, or all three.
A few years ago, a friend of mine returned from a tour in Iraq as a proud American soldier to be required at Seattle airport to remove his shoes and equipment and be screened in the full fashion. The treatment shocked him as it was his first encounter with it and gave the lie to what he believed was his purpose a day earlier on the streets of Baghdad. Simply, how could he have been fighting over there to protect American liberties and values if they were being compromised away with so little fight at home?
The rest of us might ask how we so easily take away the fourth amendment right of that soldier, who a day earlier had put his life on the line for our fourth amendment (and other) right(s). We could ask a similar question about the first amendment right of a Vietnam vet. who is now a member of the tea party and is on a government agency list as a potential troublemaker for that reason, or, to push the point further, the inalienable right of the small businessman to pursue happiness and be treated equally with all others if his taxes are being used to bail out the bank that holds his mortgage but made poorer business decisions than he did.
The use of force — whether legal or military — always reveals a failure of some other, preferable means. If our sons and daughters in uniform are truly fighting for American freedoms, then those freedoms must all still exist at home uncompromised: inasmuch as we give them up at home, those men and women cannot be fighting to protect them, just as a matter of simple logic. Those of us who are fortunate enough to stay at home while our soldiers fight abroad, demean their service if we are too lazy not to speak out in opposition when our leaders compromise our Constitutional rights (always for our own good). And if, worse, we support those compromises out of our own fear, then we meet our soldiers’ bravery with our own cowardice.
In the last century, America led the free world by being the indispensable nation that others sought to emulate. But obsessive, scared nations, like obsessive scared people, are not models for anyone. America had led the free world by persuasion, based on a moral authority that came with the rights and prosperity that its legal and economic systems provided for its people. As our nation has ceased to trust in those rights and the system that has provided its prosperity, we have given up moral authority and persuasive power. That is why so many of our attempts to make ourselves safer will fail in their stated purpose.
Ten years on from 9/11, we can afford to take a deep breath. If anyone attacks us, we’ll still be able to respond with the greatest military force in the history of the world. If anyone should infiltrate us, we have some of the most honorable men and women and the best technological means to find them, and a justice system, older than the country itself, to deal with them. If we have a recession, we can take our losses and come back with the ingenuity and effort of an entrepreneurial and serious population. If another nation should grow its economy in leaps and bounds, we can say “good luck” to them, because we know we can do that too.
We call our country the land of the free and the home of the brave. But who, honestly, is feeling brave and free today?
I want America to get its swagger back — for the good of the world, let alone ourselves.
Becoming America again is a choice. We can swagger without shouting. We can carry the big stick and not be the first to use it. And we can instinctively say “Hell, no” each time anyone would take it upon themselves to take even one of our liberties away to make us “safer” or for any other purpose.
I wonder how many Americans would voluntarily fly in a commercial jet in which passengers did not go through today’s imaging scanners or the full pat-down at the airport, but went only through the security procedures that were in place on 10 Sept 2001? All passengers would know, along with any potential terrorist, that our flight is marginally less secure.
The risk of attack would, I suppose, be marginally higher than it would be on those planes whose passengers had gone through today’s procedures. But since it is nine times less than the risk of dying by suffocation in my own bed, I would take the odds to make the statement that as an American, following Franklin, I will not give up my liberty for my safety; that I want America back; that I would rather have the Bill of Rights than the extra 0.0001% reduction in the probability of being blown out of the sky. I bet there would be millions like me.
There is no such thing as certainty. If you don’t want uncertainty, then you don’t want life. Americans have always embraced uncertainty and taken life by the scruff of the beck. The real question is, “if I am to take a risk, for what is the risk worth taking?”
If the government is going to protect my life, it must first leave my life full of the liberties that make it worth protecting. And in the USA, when those two things are in tension (and they rarely are, despite what we are told), it should be up to the individual to decide on the balance.
If we so choose, we have the power to make the last ten years of fear, wars, invasions of privacy, bailouts etc. the exception to the rule of American history, rather than the new normal. It would be the choice to be changed by not what comes at the us but what comes from us.
9/11 was a historically unprecedented shock and we acted accordingly. We were shaken. No shame in that. But a decade or so later, we can take stock at what we have collectively done to our great nation and determine whether it has served us and will serve our children. We may disagree on what we find but I’d wager that many will say that we have compromised away more of our own identity than any terrorist attack ever did take or ever could take.
The terrorists took over 3000 lives. The loss was severe; we should learn its lessons of sensible precaution and humility. Each one of those lost souls was — is — an infinity, and we should never forget them. It goes without saying that the relevant agencies should be fully resourced to protect us, and their work supported – right up to the point that America is in danger of no longer being American.
Yet, fewer lives were taken on 9/11 than are lost in one month on American roads. Everything else that we may have lost since then, we have consented to lose.
In fear and shock, we may have given the terrorists more of what they really wanted, by making ourselves poorer in both treasure and liberty.
Bin Laden said,

“All we have to do is send two mujaheddin . . . to raise a small piece of cloth on which is written ‘al-Qaeda’ in order to make the generals race there, to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses.”

While some of the expenditures of treasure may have been wise, were all of those of liberty, too?
To remain the land of the free and the home of the brave, let us actively choose to be America again. Indeed, to honor the memories of our countrymen lost on 9/11, we must choose to become more truly American than we have ever been.
How will we know when we’ve done that? At the very least, we will have more civil liberties than we did on 10 Sept 2001 — not fewer; and we will be less frightened — not more.
God bless America, and all who lost kin or kith on Sept. 11, 2001.
Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-koerner/a-decade-after-911-time-t_b_957236.html

Thanks for nothing Monsanto

2011-09-12T11:19:00.001-05:00

Yeah, yet another article about our friends at Monsanto and the havoc they are causing on us. Truly, is there another corporation that is worse than them? You tell me.

Article from Rodale.com

What Biotech Pesticides Are Doing To Our Bodies

Roundup weed killer is now turning up in rain and the air. And that has potentially devastating impacts on our health.

By Leah Zerbe

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The scientific evidence piling up against Roundup, the best-selling weed killer for home and farm use, is starting to sound a bit sci-fi. The latest damaging evidence against this potent herbicide, once widely believed to be safe, comes from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which is now detecting glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, in streams, the air, and even rain.
While the concentrations detected in rain and air are thousands of times less than what farmers dump onto field crops, emerging scientific evidence about what these chronic low-level exposures do to our bodies is cause for major concern, particularly among unborn babies and young children. These tiny amounts we're breathing in daily could be altering our hormones and wreaking all sorts of havoc on our bodies, but the human health effects may not show up for years or decades. "We don't fully know what our results mean," says study author Paul Capel, PhD, environmental chemist at USGS. "If we go out to the streams or air, we see it. There's a broader off-field exposure. The significance of that, I don't think we really know."
Pesticide-exposure expert Warren Porter, PhD, professor of environmental toxicity and zoology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, did the math. He took the air exposure numbers from the USGS study and found some reason for concern. His calculations showed that the levels found in the USGS survey could lead to accumulated levels that could alter endocrine mediated biochemical pathways, leading to obesity, heart problems, circulation problems, and diabetes. Low-level exposure to hormone disruptors like glyphosate (Roundup's main ingredient) has also been linked to weakened immune function and learning disabilities. "This study is just looking at a single day of exposure," he says. "If you consider that our body hormones work in the parts per trillion and you disrupt normal endocrine function, which tends to alter biochemical pathways, you may be flipping biological switches that have long-term impacts. No one has explored whether Roundup has epigenetic impacts which alter gene expression, possibly for a lifetime."
So why the influx of Roundup in the air? Easy. The majority of corn, cotton, canola, and soy crops grown in the United States are genetically engineered to tolerate heavy dousings of Roundup. Interestingly, the same company, Monsanto, developed both the pesticide and the genetically engineered seed created to handle that pesticide—they're sold together as a package. When we eat those crops (or when they're turned into ingredients used in processed foods), we wind up eating the Roundup, too. Roundup is actually taken up inside of food that we eat, so not only are we breathing it in and getting soaked in it when it rains, but we're also eating it at dinnertime.
The Roundup Hall of Shame
In addition to all the things Roundup is doing to our hormones, scientists have linked it to these other problems:
Nutritional Deficiencies
To kill weeds, glyphosate inhibits a plant's ability to take up trace minerals like manganese and magnesium. Those are things humans need to be healthy, and plant pathologists are noting a decline in nutrients in food since heavy pesticide use ensued. “[Glyphosate] is the most abused chemical we’ve ever had in agriculture,” veteran plant pathologist Don Huber, PhD, professor emeritus of Purdue University, told Rodale.com earlier this year. “We’re using chemical quantities we never would have imagined in the past.”
Birth Defects and Infertility
Scientists released a report earlier this summer citing evidence that Monsanto has known about Roundup's link to birth defects since the 1980s, when internal research found mutations in animals exposed to high doses. In animal studies, monkeys exposed to glyphosate in utero develop irregular hormone levels, including abnormally high male hormones. Similarly high levels are the main symptom of polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, one of the leading causes of human female infertility in the U.S.
Superweed Spawn
Farmers were sold on Roundup Ready crops as chemical dealers promised less work and less chemical use. Unfortunately, as more weeds are exposed to Roundup, they are developing a resistance to it. These hard-to-kill superweeds are emerging, and farmers aren't able to destroy them, even when they dump even higher doses of pesticides on the crops.
Lower Crop Yields
In years of drought (and let's face it, we're experiencing more severe weather extremes these days), chemically treated fields perform worse than organically managed ones, despite promises from chemical companies that Roundup Ready crops perform better in extreme weather conditions. When conditions are more stable, organic farming and Roundup Ready farming methods yield the same amount of a given crop.

So how can you tell the chemical companies to keep Roundup out of our rain and our food?
• Eat organic. Eat healthy, organic food on a budget by purchasing organic fare directly from farmers when it's in season. Choose organic dried beans for a super-cheap and healthy protein source.
• Practice nontoxic weed control at home. Instead of reaching for Roundup or other lawn chemicals to kill weeds, try organic-approved BurnOut—its main ingredients are clove oil and food-grade vinegar. And start setting your mower deck to at least 3 inches. The longer grass length discourages weed growth.

Saga of the spiderman blankets

2011-08-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

A month ago I had taken the grandsons' spiderman comforters to town to wash. They were just too bulky to fit in my washing machine at home. They were the walmart special comforters and the boys liked them a lot. So I put them into the big washing machine and then left to run some other errands. I do this all the time. Perhaps I should not be so trusting. This time showed me the error of my ways. I was about 10 minutes longer than I should have been. When I got back the spiderman blankets were GONE! Yes! Some dirty, low-life scumbag stole two little boys spiderman blankets. I know it was a man, because another patron had seen him with them but assumed they were his. I think that the man was a guy that spoke to me and the little grandson before we left. Just a strong hunch.

Anyway, I broke the news to the boys. They were not happy but at least they didn't cry. We talked about making a sign telling this very bad man that he should be 'shamed of himself and posting it on the wall of the laundromat. I have not done this just yet.

Meanwhile, I decided to replace the blankets. This past week I finished the tops of new spiderman quilts. These are more of a personal size and are specially made by me. I still have to figure out what I am going to do for quilting to tying, but at least the tops are done. I had fabric left over so I have one top posted on ebay to maybe even get some of my money back.

Here is the top on the bed with matching pillow case and bed skirt

One year bloggerversary

2011-08-17T20:25:00.000-05:00

Wow...today is the one year anniversary of this blog! I can't believe that much time has past. What surprises me even more is that I actually have people reading this little blog of mine. A whole 13 of you! :)

I was reading the post I made a year ago and something struck me as funny. I had commented on the cool snap we were having. It was all the way down to upper 80's for high temps after a heat wave of 100+. Does that sound familiar??

View from the top

2011-08-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, daughter and I took the fellas to the Arch in St. Louis. I had never been up in the Arch so this was my golden opportunity. There was nothing about it that was particularly scary to me but I am not sure that it was really worth the 2 hour wait for our turn to go up!

While I wasn't sure just how interesting this would be for a couple of 3 1/2 yr old boys, turns out they thought it was pretty cool. Of course, I forgot my camera...good thing the phone takes pictures too. There were no good shots of how things look from up there, but here are the boys getting their look down at the world from 630' in the air.

Will Babies survive the zombie apocalypse?

2011-06-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

Seems everywhere I turn I see references to the coming zombie apocalypse. Even as I posted several weeks ago about the report from the CDC!

This morning I cam across this post about babies surviving un-natural disasters and thought I would share. *warning: this is humor people!

http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/122086/lesson_19_will_babies_survive

We're from the government and we're here to help...

2011-05-22T11:51:00.000-05:00

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH...what a joke that has become over the past couple/few decades. Here is an article that further illustrates just what our government has become.

I am reprinting the article in its entirety but please know, I did not write it. The source for this article is Natural News - family fined for selling bunnies

******************************************************************

USDA fines family four million dollars for selling bunny rabbits
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) When the Dollarhite family of Nixa, Mo., first started raising and selling bunnies as part of a lesson to teach their teenage son about responsibility and hard work, they had no idea they would eventually meet the heavy hand of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). According to a recent article covered in Breitbart's Big Government, the USDA recently ordered the Dollarhite family to pay more than $90,000 in fines because they sold more than $500 worth of rabbits in a year -- and if they fail to pay the fine by Monday, May 23, the fine will multiply to nearly $4 million.

It all started back in 2006 when John Dollarhite and his wife Judy rescued two rabbits that ended up breeding. The family cared for and raised the new rabbits, and eventually began to sell them to neighbors, friends, and others for $10 or $15 each. Having started by first selling the animals for meat, and later for show, the Dollarhites carefully and humanely raised the small creatures on their three-acre homestead, all while teaching their son honest values in a business environment similar to running a small lemonade stand.

Eventually, the Dollarhites developed such a highly-respected reputation across Missouri that the popular Branson, Mo., theme park Silver Dollar City, and even a local pet store, Petland, began purchasing bunnies from the family in 2009. And according to John, individuals from both Silver Dollar City and Petland, as well as a rabbit competition judge, told him that the family's bunnies were among the best they had ever seen -- healthy, beautiful, and very well-cared for.

All seemed well until a USDA inspector showed up at the family's home in the fall of 2009, and asked to do a "spot inspection" of the rabbitry. The inspector made no indication that anything was amiss, but only that she wished to see the facility. After meandering the premises, the inspector claimed that a few very insignificant aspects of the raising facility were in violation of USDA standards, even though the Dollarhites were not USDA certified, nor were they required to be. She then asked if the Dollarhites wished to be part of the voluntary USDA certification system, upon which they told her they would look into it.

After the inspector left, the Dollarhites heard nothing more from the USDA until January 2010 when a Kansas City-based USDA inspector called the family and said he needed to have a meeting with them because they sold more than $500 worth of rabbits in a single year. When the Dollarhites asked why this was a problem and what law this violated, the man refused to offer an explanation over the phone.

Upon meeting in person, the inspector said he was only there to investigate the rabbitry and take notes for a report, upon which he instructed the family to contact another USDA office if they failed to hear anything further from the USDA after six weeks. As the eighth week arrived without any communication, John called the office and was redirected to the Washington, DC, office where a lady shockingly and bluntly explained to him that she had his report, and that the USDA planned to prosecute him and his family "to the maximum that we can" in order to "make an example" out of him.

Shortly thereafter, the Dollarhites received a letter from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) ordering them to pay a fine of $90,643 for supposedly violating a mystery law that prohibits the selling of more then $500 in rabbits within a year, even though the Dollarhites were in full accordance with Missouri state law, did not sell their rabbits across state lines, and raised their rabbits humanely and in excess of minimum requirements. The letter outlined that the Dollarhites had until May 23 to pay the exorbitant fine, or else face additional fines totaling nearly $4 million -- all for selling about $4,600 worth of rabbits that netted the family a mere $200 in profits.

The whole scenario proves, once again, that the USDA is nothing more than a tag-team terrorist duo with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both agencies' insatiable lust for power and control over private affairs is never satisfied, as they continue to prowl around like bloodthirsty predators seeking whoever and whatever they can devour. When will Americans finally stand up to their tyranny and say enough is enough?

To read the full account of the Dollarhite saga, visit:
http://biggovernment.com/bmccarty/2...

To contact the APHIS division of the USDA responsible for this mess and express your thoughts on the matter, write, call, or email:
USDA/APHIS/AC
4700 River Road, Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
ace@aphis.usda.gov
(301) 734-4978

You can also read a follow-up to the original story that includes a response from the USDA here:
http://biggovernment.com/bmccarty/2011/05/20/family-facing-4-million-in-fines-for-selling-bunnies/

Teotwawki & a Zombie Apocalypse!!

2011-05-20T20:57:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it? We are on the eve of a world event. The Rapture is expected to happen tomorrow according to a certain Harold Camping, a self-proclaimed Bible teacher and expert. Oh...wait..he has no knowledge of the ancient languages that the Bible was written in back in the early days. Never mind...he has studied and calculated and came up with the date of May 21, 2011. This is, of course, not his first go around with this calculating. He wasn't wrong in the past though...he was just mistaken. Yes, I am being a bit snarky about this.

Anyway, in honor of this occasion I offer up this musical interlude:

In further news, the CDC has issued information on how to prepare and survive the coming Zombie Apocalypse! Yes!! Its true!!

To be fair, the information is presented in a humorous and clever manner. However, it falls short of being complete. The information does not include anything about self-protection and weaponry against said Zombies! I mean, come on....wait for the govt to come rescue us from the onslaught of brain eating zombies without some sort of weapons to protect ourselves and our families?! Did you see how well waiting for the Govt. worked out in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina event?

On a more serious note, we all need to be taking stock of our preparations for hard times and disasters. Food and fuel prices are rising ever higher. There is unrest all over the world. Severe weather outbreaks, floods, earthquakes are always on the brink of happening. Just be careful out there!!

Welcoming the newest family member!!

2011-05-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Carri and Tony thought it would be a good day to have a baby on Cinco de Mayo. The dr. said that they needed to go ahead and induce labor a week early due to some platelet levels.

Here are the proud parents to be...not sure that I ever looked so good while in labor...

However, it seems that little baby didn't want to come on Cinco de Mayo. He probably heard his aunt say she was going to call him Jorge. So, shorty after midnight on May 6th, baby made his arrival.

Official stats: May 6th, 12:47 AM, 8 lb. 6 oz and 20" long.

The next morning the parents decided on baby's name:

Jacob Anthony Zuzzio

Once again, I am in love......

Catching up....Easter Weekend and baby goats!

2011-05-15T14:34:00.000-05:00

Has it already been a month since I posted!! Yipes! So I will play catch up now. This has been a very busy past few weeks.

Here is Tanner, the week before Easter. George (the cat) is a weirdo, just so ya know. Not many cats will take being laid on by a baby and purr about it. Yet, let some adult try to pet him and he may not be quite so friendly.

The older two grandsons were going to be with their dad on Easter, so we had an egg hunt the day before. It was nasty rainy that day but the Easter Bunny managed to find his way indoors to hide some eggs in the living room. The Spider-Man eggs were a hit!

Just for fun, Jennifer and I made "peepshi" for a contribution to the easter family dinner on Sunday.

The the following week brought me the first of the baby goats to arrive. Are they not just the cutest things??

The following week....

One of triplets!

This year has been different for kids around here. My oldest doe, Sadie the Queen is a Nubian and is the mother and grandmother of most of the herd except for one other doe. All the others are at least 1/2 Boer. Earlier this I posted photos of this years daddy-a Boer buck that is supposed to have been 3/4 Boer and 1/4 I don't know. I have to wonder if he was that much Boer though because I have never had this much color in the kids as this year. Never have had black goats born on the farm. I will have to get more photos of the some of the others born this year to show all the variety of colors that have appeared! I love them all and don't know how I will choose which to keep and which to sell.

This 'n That and Carrot Crazy!!

2011-04-17T09:43:00.000-05:00

Found a nifty article about perennial vegetable gardening today. It talks about asparagus,planting perennials and also a bit about the energy savings of growing perennial veggies over commercial farming methods. Nice little article. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/vegetables/8450220/Perennial-vegetables-Plant-once-and-eat-always.html

My first serving of asparagus of the year!

March Projects

2011-04-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

Wow...I have had a lot of projects keeping me busy for over a month. Got a few things completed, a few other things will likely be put to the side with gardening season fast approaching.

This is the knitting project as of 2/19. I have made a lot more progress but haven't taken the time to photograph it lately. It has been a few weeks since I have actually worked on though. It may be one of the things that gets put aside for a while...we will see.

This is a T-Shirt quilt that I did on consignment for a a customer. She had a trash bag full of t-shirt pieces all having to do with swim/dive team from her granddaughter. I had to sort through and pick out what I thought was the best to use and I designed the quilt and put it all together. Pretty neat trick considering I never met this young lady and I don't have a clue if I chose right or not. Another person took it from this point and machine quilted it for the woman.

This quilt is the "official" grandbaby quilt for the young one that is due to come in the next month or so. The baby's room is decorated with a sports theme and these colors are what they used. I made the quilt and was able to talk my wonderful quilting friend to do a quick job of machine quilting for me...just in time for the baby shower!

Here is one of my tire-garden beds of asparagus. I laid these fence posts over this to keep the chickens out! This and one other tire will be giving us some nice asparagus to harvest this year. I dedicated a third one to asparagus on the day I took this photo..3/19. That one will have to wait until next year to be harvested though.

These tubs are my potato patch. I prefer to grow potatoes above ground when I can. I absolutely hate digging potatoes out of the hard ground! This way, I basically tip over the tub and just pick up the taters!!

Next blog post...the carrot crazy day!

Knitting project

2011-02-19T09:34:00.000-06:00

I am going to do the first knitted garment for myself. I am participating in this Knit-Along virtual event by Lion Brand yarn. This is the project:

I am making it with the Lion brand Homespun yarn in the Tudor color. Here is the color swatch:

I am just getting a good start on this since I had another knit project that I really needed to finish just to get out of the way. I am pretty bad about having too many projects going at a time. Aren't most crafters like that though?

Why I do what I do

2011-02-16T12:02:00.000-06:00

There are many reasons I do the things I do. Why do I get on my soapbox about the craziness of the govt. and our food supply and such? Why do I prep for emergencies? Why do I try to keep down the clutter? Why do I hope for a bright future? Well...here is one of the reasons:

More reasons are in my last blog post.

mischief makers

2011-02-13T20:12:00.000-06:00

What happens when two 3 yr. old boys get quiet for five minutes in the other room??

Yes, they find Mommy's makeup and practice their theater makeup look.

Who wants a revolution?

2011-02-11T19:34:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot said about revolution lately. It has been brought to the forefront by the events in Tunisia, Egypt and other places. What bothers me is hearing it spoken of in the United States. I hear it from people from all different points of view. I hear/read the ultra-liberals and socialists calling for revolution to bring the "rich" to their knees and spread the wealth. I hear it from the opposite side wanting to break free of the shackles of an ever more oppressive government. It frightens me sometimes. Is it inevitable? Perhaps. Human history always moves in cycles and maybe humankind can never change and learn from history.

Hmm...I seem to be a bit pessimistic today. Maybe tomorrow will be a more cheerful day.

Revolution

Paul McCartney, John Lennon

You say you want a revolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

You tell me that it's evolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction

Don't you know that you can count me out

Don't you know it's gonna be all right

all right, all right

You say you got a real solution

Well, you know

We'd all love to see the plan

You ask me for a contribution

Well, you know

We're doing what we can

But when you want money

for people with minds that hate

All I can tell is brother you have to wait

Don't you know it's gonna be all right

all right, all right

ah, ah, ah, ah, ah...

You say you'll change the constitution

Well, you know

We all want to change your head

You tell me it's the institution

Well, you know

You better free you mind instead

But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao

You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow

Don't you know it's gonna be all right

all right, all right

all right, all right, all right

what a week!!

2011-02-05T21:11:00.000-06:00

Well, this has certainly been a week!! First was the winter storm. We had 1/4" of freezing rain, followed up with 2" of sleet and then some snow on top of that! We were lucky and didn't lose power, of which I am glad. I was not overly worried about it though. I was prepared. Alternative heat and cooking sources at the ready, plenty of food and water, all leads to piece of mind.

The pine trees in my yard took to drooping with the freezing rain!

Here is a problem that will need to be addressed when the weather is better.

View from the barn. I thought the weeds were sorta pretty.

"why are you letting this ice happen and where is my hay?"

Hauling hay on ice

Carrying a bale of hay from the barn to the goat pen is hard enough so I decided to make good use of the toboggan. It was VERY helpful.

While the weather was so nasty, my FIL came to stay at our house just in case the power went out. He had a little health concern going and just felt better here. Of course, I felt obliged to spend time with him visiting so I wasn't able to stay caught up with my online activities for a couple of days.

Then, I spent a day and a half sick. I ached all over with a low-grade fever and just couldn't care less to look at the computer or anything else. Got a lot of fitful sleep though.

THEN...my internet service was out a whole day! I have spent a couple of days just trying to catch up with some of my blog reading since. So now I think I am back and can get in gear once again.

WHEW!

Getting Ready

2011-01-30T19:40:00.000-06:00

I just watched the latest weather forecast...its looking very, very bad. There is talk that this could be a historic winter storm for our area.

So we could see an inch of ice and 3-12" of snow on top of that ice on Tuesday. Almost a guarantee to have power outages.

To prepare for this here is what I have done or will do. We have fuel for the generator, plenty of candles and oil for the lamps. Tomorrow I will make sure to fill up all of my containers and pitchers with water and when done for evening I will fill the bathtub up as well. I put a roast in the crock pot this evening to make pulled BBQ beef and will make a big pot of stew tomorrow as well. I want to have heat and eat food ready. I may also make a pot of soup tomorrow as well.

I am not worried about refrigeration because as you can see on the weather graphic, our temps after the storm passes through will be low enough that I can just put stuff outside or in the garage. We call that our "walk-out cooler" in the winter.

We have 1 1/2 wagons of wood for the fireplace and wood stove. There is plenty of feed and hay for the livestock and dog food is stocked up as well.

I have several books to read, knitting projects to do and if we are snowed in but have electricity, I have a big sewing project to do.

Yup, I am ready for this.

Balance in the paradox

2011-01-26T21:15:00.000-06:00

As I set my goals for the coming months I see that I have a bit of a paradox. This isn't too unusual for me. I tend to have a bit of a duality going on all the time.

I have been reading up on minimalism lately. There are some really great blogs out there about living the minimalist lifestyle. I find it quite interesting but I also think it is not reasonable for me and my family. However, I do want to go that direction of more simplicity and less "stuff". I even have taken the pledge to make 2011 the year of less. I believe that it is important for our environment and our economy for people to really think about how much over-consumerism we have. I find it fascinating that there are people who can live with only the bare necessities and some so extreme that their belongings would fit in a trunk of a car. I wonder though...what will happen to these good folk if TEOTWAWKI should hit? Something to think about.

The paradox comes in here: I also have set the goal of stocking up and getting better prepared for "who knows what". I share with many other good folks the sense that things are not well in our country and our world and that things could/will get much worse quickly. I don't trust our government and do not expect them to truly look out for the good of us regular folk. I want to know I have done what I can to supply my family's daily needs.

So how does one deal with what seems to be two completely opposite goals? How can one "buy less, own less, do less" while at the same time building up storage stock? Here is what I have come up with for myself. Your mileage may vary.

My goal of achieving greater simplicity and moving towards slight minimalism is to not buy things that I do not need. For example, I have plenty of clothes, more than I need really. I work at home and on the farm so I have no need for many "nice" clothes. Unless something completely wears out, I will not be buying more clothes for the next several months. I also sew, therefore, I can make, remake or repair something I already have or get at the thrift store. I also do not need to buy more gadgets, furniture, household goods etc...at least not new. If there comes a need for something, I will go to the thrift stores first.

My goal of prepping includes collecting and buying the things we NEED. We need food. We need water. We need shelter. I also need a place to put these things. I think that I will probably be building some storage shelving in the basement this summer. I have some metal shelving down there now, but it isn't enough. I intend to look for some reclaimed wood first, to build the shelving with. If I can't find it, I will buy new lumber. I have a need for things to be organized and neat. There are some limits to what I can do in this dept. because my husband is not completely on-board with me on this.

The key, for me, is differentiating between what is a need and a want. I might want to have a new TV but I certainly do not need it. (actually, I don't really want a new TV but husband does) I do need knowledge, which I can get from books and the internet. I am by nature one who likes variety in activity, hobbies, reading. I am a true Gemini in that respect. I need to be creative so I will at times buy materials for those creative endeavors. I need to garden and take care of my livestock. I need the fresh air and the less hectic lifestyle that I have here on the farm. I need to know that my family is safe and healthy.

It all comes down to being in BALANCE.

Feeding the goats

2011-01-20T15:41:00.000-06:00

Taking a cue from Deere Driver at On The Pond Farm, I tossed a couple of christmas trees out to the goats to nosh on. It took them all of a few hours to clean off the green. But the trunks and branches are making a good hay rack for them today in this snow!

Sno-mageddon? Jan 20, 2011

2011-01-20T15:34:00.000-06:00

Well, we finally got a really good snow here in the St.Louis area. Enough to put us on the top ten list for most single snow fall coming in at 8-12".


View of my garden...not quite ready to plant.

Here at our house it ended up around 7" with some snow drifts up to 12" The wind is supposed to pick up so that should make things interesting later. The following photos were taken this morning when the snow was only 5" deep.

Belle likes the snow.

The goats....not so much.


And George really does NOT like it.

Random Acts of Kindness

2011-01-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

"No good deed goes unpunished." Isn't that the way life feels a lot of the time? I know it sure seems like it.
Today I had the pleasure of experiencing the opposite of that downer of a statement.

This past Sunday I had gone to a local farm store to purchase some goat feed and dog food. The first time they rang me up, they charged me twice for the dog food and didn't charge me for the two bags of corn. So I asked them to fix this. Meanwhile, I had the grandsons with me and was distracted enough to not pay close attention to the customer service person. They gave me money back and we went on our merry way. Later that night I was looking over the receipts and discovered that when they "fixed" my bill they did indeed charge me for two bags of corn but they refunded me for two bags of dog food instead of just one!

This morning I went back to the farm store to explain to them what they had done wrong and to pay for the bag of dog food. The young lady at the customer service thanked me for being honest. What else could I do? I have a small business of my own and while it isn't exactly making me money, I would like to think that my customers would be honest with me.

After taking care of this errand I decided to run through McD's for a sandwich and tea. Yeah, yeah, I know, not exactly healthy, but I was hungry! I placed my order and drove up to the window to pay. Imagine my surprise when the girl told me that the lady in the car in front of me had already paid for my order!! I didn't recognize the car and the little bit of the lady's face I had seen in her mirror when she was placing her order was not one I recognized either. This is a small county and it is possible that it was someone that I know, but I sure didn't recognize and she pulled away too fast for me to try and get a better look.

Thank you to the nice person who did this for me. I guess that sometimes, just sometimes, the universe does repay a good deed with another! :)

New Year, new goals?

2011-01-07T11:51:00.000-06:00

So here we are, a week into the new year and I still have not really sat down to review my goals for the year. I don't make "resolutions" really. I have tried in the past and they end up broken way too soon. I do set some goals though. Goals are easier to deal with if they are not met because any progress towards those goals is a good thing. Goals can be renewed and retooled if necessary. Matter of fact, forces outside of our control (government for example) often make us need to change or adapt our goals.

" Map out your future, but do it in pencil. " ~Jon Bon Jovi, quoted in Reader's Digest, "Quotable Quotes," September 2002

Another quote I really like:

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." ~Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

And:

"Hell! There ain't no rules around here! We're trying to accomplish somep'n." ~Thomas Alva Edison

While I have not penciled out my goals for the coming year in detail yet, these quotes are a basis of inspiration of what I am heading towards.

Holiday Wrap-Up

2010-12-31T18:04:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve day, it began to snow. So we went to cut wood. This tree served as our Yule log actually. We had already cut some of it up and so this day, we finished splitting and loading it onto a wagon. The wood we got from this lasted through the last couple of weeks and we still have a wagon full for the next couple weeks.

Christmas was a good day. The little princes (and their mommy) stayed over Christmas Eve and woke up to see what Santa had brought to Gramma's house. They had to wait for Aunties and Uncles to arrive and then breakfast. They were allowed to get their stockings while they waited. They were quite good at waiting for 3 yrs old. I was impressed! Then the mayhem ensued.....

Littlest man, the princelet, just didn't get too excited about anything. I guess at 3 months old, there is not much interest.

Other news, Daughter #2 and her hubby announced that the coming baby is going to be a boy. That will make FOUR boys.....almost the starting lineup for the basketball team!

After gifts and clean up of some of the excess mess, we all went out to the cars to go to in-laws house for the big family dinner. Snow ball fight broke out before everyone could load up.

After we came back home, all the kids had to leave. Oldest daughter has a 3 hour drive and the princes were wanting to go home and see what Santa had left there. The others had other side of their families to get together with. I cleaned off the porch and did a few things outdoors. Husband and I agreed we should have forgone the big family dinner and just stayed here with our kids and grands: finished the snow ball fight and played on the toboggan. We would have had much more fun...long story, maybe another day I will tell..or not.

George (the cat) and Belle decided they were tired after all the people were gone and crashed on the sofa together. A good example of "Peace on Earth"

Next day, husband decided to make good use of the "quillow" that oldest had made for him. You know..one of those personal quilts that folds into a pillow. He seems to think that pillow part is really a foot pocket though.

Yesterday I went with one daughter and a couple of my good friends to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. I had bought the tickets months ago and we had EXCELLENT seats. I had never been to their concert before and it was sensory overload and FANTASTIC!! The photos just don't do it justice.

Yes, they made it snow inside the Arena

So tonight is New Years Eve. I put away most of the Christmas decor, took the fire-hazard tree out, and will do a bit of cleaning yet. Tonight I will pop the cork off a little bottle of Tosti Asti and toast in the new year. Husband will long be asleep before then.

Happy New Year to all and may 2011 be a good year!

Merry Christmas to all

2010-12-24T17:01:00.001-06:00

Everyone have a very Happy Christmas however you celebrate.

Just around the corner

2010-12-23T12:41:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that the big day is just around the corner? I can't either. I have a few packages to wrap yet and still am delusional enough to think I will bake some more cookies. :)

Regardless of how much there is left to do or left to not get done, all is good. I have some nice music playing while I rock the baby. Tomorrow I will not have him here and it will be late in the evening before the others get to my house so it should be a good day to finish up.

WPR - and a rant - Food Security.....HA!

2010-12-21T09:47:00.000-06:00

I know that not everyone looks at things the way I do but, seriously, I can not believe what our govt is doing to us each and every day. Our "friends" in Congress do not care on little iota what the actual taxpaying, hardworking American Citizen wants. They kow-tow to huge agri-business and pharmaceutical companies all the while making claims on the small, independent guy who just wants to be left alone by Big Brother/Big Sister. I DO NOT want the FDA or any other NGO alphabet soup agency telling me what I can grow and eat or take for medicine. I am not ignorant. I can take care of myself and my family. And when it comes to something that I can not do, I know how to get to those who can.

This food "security" bill that is about to become law is just one more nail in the coffin of American freedom. It barely passed, then was derailed because of unconstitutionality, then it was snuck into another bill that had nothing to do with food and then tossed off that but then passed in another way. They don't care what you or I want. They are just bound and determined to put more and more power into the hands of a few. They started this several years ago with their plan for every farmer or homesteader that raises any animals to register their property to get a national ID and then track where each critter goes. It was voluntary here in our neck of the woods. I went to meetings listening to both sides of the discussion. When the term "The Nations Herd" started coming out from the mouths of the govt I made up my mind right then and there...I was in no way going to volunteer to participate. I am sorry if Big Bro/Sis does not like it but the cattle. goats, horses and chickens on MY farm is NOT the "Nations Herd". And yet, here we are, Uncle Sam still trying to make claims on MY labors.

I am attaching an article from NaturalNews.com. I hope that you read it, follow up on the sources and really think about this mess and all the other messes that is coming down the pike.

Get prepared folks.

Here is the article posted in its entirety.

Feds order farmer to destroy his own wheat crops: The shocking revelations of Wickard vs Filburn

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) In arguing for S.510, the "Food Safety Modernization Act," there are all sorts of attorneys, legislators and internet commentators who keep claiming, "The government won't try to control the food production of small farms." They say, "Your backyard garden is safe" and that the feds won't come knocking on your door to control your seeds or foods.

As usual, these pushers of Big Government are utterly ignorant of the history in their own country. Because as you'll learn right here, not only CAN the U.S. government control and dictate to single-family farms what they can grow in their own backyards; the government has already blatantly done so!

In this article, I'll share with you the full and true story of how Big Government has already run rampant over the rights of individuals to grow their own food -- I'll even cite the US Supreme Court decision that "legalized" this tyranny.

How the tyrants came after a farmer named Roscoe Filburn

It all starts with a farmer named Roscoe Filburn, a modest farmer who grew wheat in his own back yard in order to feed his chickens.

One day, a U.S. government official showed up at his farm. Noting that Filburn was growing a lot of wheat, this government official determined that Filburn was growing too much wheat and ordered Filburn to destroy his wheat crops and pay a large fine to the federal government.

The year was 1940, you see. And through a highly protectionist policy, the federal government had decided to artificially drive up the prices of wheat by limiting the amount of wheat that could be grown on any given acre. This is all part of Big Government's "infinite wisdom" of trying to somehow improve prosperity by destroying food and impairing economic productivity. (Be wary any time the government says it's going to "solve problems" for you.)

The federal government, of course, claims authority over all commerce (even when such claims are blatantly in violation of the limitations placed upon government by the Constitution). But Roscoe Filburn wasn't selling his wheat to anyone. Thus, he was not engaged in interstate commerce. He wasn't growing wheat as something to use for commerce at all, in fact. He was simply growing wheat in his back yard and feeding it to his chickens. That's not commerce. That's just growing your own food.

But get this: The government insisted he pay a fine and destroy his wheat, so Filburn took the government to court, arguing that the federal government had no right to tell a man to destroy his food crops just because they wanted to protect some sort of artificially high prices in the wheat market.

This case eventually went to the US Supreme Court. It's now known as Wickard v. Filburn, and it is one of the most famous US Supreme Court decisions ever rendered because it represents a gross expansion of the tyranny of the federal government.

The US Supreme Court sided with government tyranny

The US Supreme Court, you see, ruled that Roscoe Filburn's wheat could be regulated and destroyed by the federal government simply because Roscoe's wheat production might reduce the amount of wheat he bought from other wheat producers and therefore could impact interstate trade.

Now stay with me on this, because this is a really, really important point to understand.

The federal government claimed authority under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution (Article 1, Section 8), even though the Commerce Clause was originally written primarily to prevent states from erecting tariffs, not to allow the federal government to control interstate trade. But thanks to the twisted interpretation of the government -- and believe me, the government will twist every interpretation it can in an effort to assert more power over the population -- the feds claimed that Filburn's growing of his own wheat effectively reduced interstate commerce in wheat. Therefore, they reasoned, they could regulate his backyard wheat production (and order him to destroy his wheat).

Because of this US Supreme Court decision in 1942, it now means the federal government can order you to halt food production in your own back yard by arguing that when you grow your own food, the amount of food you purchase from other food providers is reduced, meaning that your food production impacts interstate trade and therefore can be fully controlled by the federal government.

In other words, the federal government claims the authority right now -- even without the Food Safety Modernization Act -- to knock on your door and order you at gunpoint to destroy all the food in your garden, your greenhouse or your farm. They can order you to destroy all seeds in your possession and all food harvested from your own garden. And they can do all this with the full protection of U.S. law by simply citing the precedent set in Wickard v. Filburn in 1942 as ruled by the US Supreme Court.

Why the naysayers will probably starve

Still think you have the right to grow your own food? I've heard all sorts of naysayers claiming that S.510 -- the Food Safety Modernization Act -- is no threat to small growers and family farms. They say the fears about S.510 are overblown and that the government can't possibly shut down your backyard gardens or small, local vegetable farms. They say this with the kind of smug certainty you might typically hear from a doctor who thinks he knows everything about human health (but who actually knows nothing about nutrition).

These naysayers tend to operate out of an assumption that Big Government will never take away their rights and freedoms and that expanding the reach of agencies such as the TSA, FDA, DEA and FTC with even more power and more armed agents is a good thing because the government always takes care of the people. We need more protection from e.coli, they argue, so let's unleash 4,000 armed FDA agents instead to protect us from bacteria. (But who will protect us from the FDA?)

What these ignorant naysayers don't understand is that government is constantly trying to expand its power to the point of tyranny. As a current example of this, look at what just happened with Chavez in Venezuela. He has now been granted what are essentially dictatorial powers over the country (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...). Chavez is now the King of Venezuela, and whatever he says is now law. Venezuelan citizens are now slaves to his tyranny, and they must follow his orders or be executed.

The United States is moving in precisely the same direction. First, power gets stripped away from the People little by little. Then it gets concentrated in the hands of a few regulatory agencies who write their own laws and who stay in power year after year because none of their officials are elected. (Think the FDA commissioner is elected by the people? Think again…) And then, over time, a few powerful individuals concentrate power from those agencies into their own hands. Before long, the country is run by a handful of power-crazed tyrants who disregard all freedoms and rights of the People.

This is precisely what the FDA is doing with the Food Safety Modernization Act. Backed by yet more funding and a new army of agents, plus the Supreme Court ruling that says the federal government can order you to destroy the food you're growing in your own back yard, the FDA can now pillage the countryside, going from farm to farm and house to house, burning fields and ordering the citizenry to destroy their plants, seeds and crops. This is exactly what they've been doing to raw milk producers and food coops, by the way (http://www.naturalnews.com/030136_R...).

That is no exaggeration. It is a documented "legal" precedent established in Wickard vs Filburn, and it can be used at any moment to destroy the ability of people to grow their own food, thereby making these people totally dependent on dead processed food (which is always FDA approved if it's dead, of course) made in food factories that churn out nutritional deficiencies and death.

What will you eat when the government destroys your local food supply?

You see, under the argument that your backyard garden "impacts interstate commerce," the federal government can order you to simply spray Roundup on your entire garden in order to kill it.

What will you eat then? When the GMO crops suffer a mass catastrophic failure, and the monocultured wheat dies from a global viral infection called ug99 "rust" (http://theemergencyfoodsupply.com/a...), what will you eat?

If the government has its way, you won't eat at all. You'll starve to death under the "protection" of the food safety thugs at the FDA who don't believe any "live" food is safe in the first place (hence their war against raw milk).

Those people who have the foresight to grow their own gardens and protect their food sources from the tyranny of the federal government may actually have a chance at surviving. The rest will simply starve while waiting in government food lines where the feds hand out nutritionally worthless cheese and other depleted processed foods that Sesame Street absurdly thinks are "superfoods" (http://www.naturalnews.com/030626_m...).

Big Government declares war on the local food movement

Make no mistake, folks: the government is attempting to destroy the local food movement. They are trying to wipe out small, organic farms that compete with corporate agribiz in the same way the FDA has long plotted to destroy natural health supplement companies who compete with Big Pharma.

It's all about wiping out the little guys and protecting the monopoly markets of the largest and most influential corporations that are poisoning the earth and destroying your health. As Wickard vs Filburn clearly demonstrated, the government does not believe you have any natural right or Constitutional right to grow your own food. In fact, the government believes it has the right to order you to destroy your food at the time of its choosing.

Don't think this could happen to you? Filburn didn't either. The idea that his own government would show up at his door and order him to burn his field of wheat was simply unimaginable. Similarly, the idea that the FDA would tear across the countryside wiping out small family farms is unimaginable to many Americans today. But that's only because they don't know their own history and they put far too much faith in the flimsy idea that the government somehow, in some way, respects the rights and freedoms of the People.

The obvious falsehood of that idea is evident in the way we are all being treated by the TSA. Who would have thought, just two years ago, that we'd be subjected to government-enforced molestation at the hands of airport security screeners? That idea seems unthinkable at the time, much like the idea that the FDA could seize your garden seeds or order you to destroy your greenhouse crops. Yet such actions are already within the claimed power of the federal government… merely waiting to be invoked at the time of their choosing.

Traitors to freedom

All those who voted for S.510 -- which includes the entire U.S. Senate, Republicans and Democrats alike -- are traitors to the freedoms upon which America was founded. They have thrust our food supply into the hands of tyrants who are just waiting to exercise their control and "authority" over as many people as possible.

Five years ago, I joked that people might one day be arrested for smuggling broccoli across state lines. Today, that joke has become a sad reality. The mere act of growing food and selling it to your neighbor without government permission is about to become a criminal act. And no, small farms are not "exempt" from S.510. They must provide financial information and apply to the FDA to be granted exemption status. That sounds a lot like slaves begging for mercy from the king, doesn't it?

Keep the big picture in mind as you consider all this: When teens are poisoned by the aspartame in diet soda, the FDA does nothing. When children are given cancer by the sodium nitrite in hot dogs, the FDA does nothing. When countless thousands of Americans suffer heart attacks and cardiovascular disease each year from the partially-hydrogenated oils used throughout the food supply, the FDA does nothing. But when you grow fresh produce in your own back yard and carry it to your local farmer's market to sell it without government permission, you will be arrested by the FDA as a criminal.

Shame on all those who supported this bill. May history have mercy on their souls for the suffering and injustices they have unleashed upon us all.

Cookie Baking

2010-12-19T22:54:00.003-06:00

Today was another adventure in cookie baking with the little Princes. The fellas didn't stick with me very long, but we did get a nice batch of cookies baked.

The recipe:

Chocolate Star Cookies

1 c. sugar 1 c. brown sugar (packed) 1 c. margarine or butter

1 c. peanut butter 2 eggs 1/4 c. milk 2 tsp vanilla

Cream ingredients well. Add:

2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 3 1/2 c. flour.

Mix well. Chill dough 1 hour. Form into balls.

Bake 10-11 minutes at 350 degrees. While still hot, push chocolate star into the cookie.

Cool completely...in the winter, I cool them outdoors for several minutes.

Once completely cooled and the chocolate is set, you can put them in a tin or cookie jar!

Christmas Decorating

2010-12-11T22:27:00.000-06:00

I thought I would just post some photos of my home decor for the season. I love decking the halls. It just makes things feel so homey.

This is the main tree in the great room. I opted for a real tree this year. I love the frasier fir tree for its old-fashioned look and the wonderful pine scent with the citrus-y undertone.

This is the little tree in the game room. The princes decorated this tree the last time they were here to visit. I did have to rearrange a few of the ornaments.

This white tree is in my craft room. This is also my sanctuary room so the tree is decorated just for my own taste.

Fireplace mantle with St Nick and nutcrackers.

WPR - Snow Storm on the Way? and driving tips

2010-12-07T19:00:00.000-06:00

Well...here we go. Let me clarify...this is the St. Louis area. According to the weather-guessers, there is a STRONG chance of a winter storm hitting us this coming weekend. We have had a smattering of snow the past week or so, but nothing to break out the snow scoops or do the french toast run over. But here is what they are saying now....

Graphic captured from http://www.fox2now.com/weather/weatherbuffet/

What they are saying right now is that they don't know for sure where this storm is going to hit the hardest. As of this morning, it hasn't even really formed yet...this is all based on computer models. I am amazed that they can come up with these forecasts like they do...and be right a lot of the time.

I have food, I am not worried. Husband needs to see about gathering some wood though. He will want to have the fireplace upstairs and the wood burner in the basement burning, I am sure. But look at that temp on Sunday night!! The only thing I have on my list to buy tomorrow is cat food and look for a rabbit cage. Since I am down to only one aging rabbit, I just feel too guilty leaving him outdoors in the rabbit hutch. I am going to keep him in the basement for winter.

And for your reading pleasure:

Christmas Madness!!

2010-12-05T18:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had to make a trip into StLouis to pick up the grandsons. I left early with the intention of doing a bit of shopping. My first stop was at the Hancocks Fabric store. I figured that it wouldn't take me too awful long in there. I knew what I wanted and was only getting those items. Boy, was I wrong. I waited in line to get my fabric cut three times longer than I took walking around the store. It wasn't that it was so busy but rather that they only had one lady cutting fabric, one lady cashier and a couple of ladies walking around looking like Grinches doing nothing that I could tell. It was ridiculous really. But I figured, what the heck, I have plenty of time, I don't need to stress...so I didn't.

Then I thought I would stop at a mall that is on the way. I had this delusion of going into the Cabellas and doing some shopping, picking up a gift card, whatever....HA!!! There was no place to park the first time around the lot. So I went to the BabiesR'Us instead. That took me less than 10 minutes because they didn't have the only thing I was looking for. I tried again at the Cabellas and found a spot in the south 40. When I got into the mall and into the store I was simply amazed. That place was PACKED! I ended up leaving. I spent more time walking from and to my car than I did in the mall.

This photo is not from the mall I was at...it was worse where I was.

And to top it all off...the traffic was stupid. I expect there to be cars and trucks on the road of course, it is the city after all. But the drivers were STUPID! They were driving like maniacs. Speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, stopping at weird intervals for no apparent reason. It was a sight to behold!

I am proud of myself though. Through it all, I kept cool, calm, and collected. Never panicked or stressed out. I had plenty of time and no need to have a wreck because of everyone else.

IT did verify one thing for me....never try to go to a mall on a weekend during the christmas madness season. I will just have to do my shopping online I guess.

Top 10 lies about Senate Bill 510

2010-12-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

*reprinted with permission

Top Ten Lies About Senate Bill 510

By Mike Adams

http://www.naturalnews.com

(NaturalNews) The Food Safety Modernization Act looks like it's headed to become law. It's being hailed as a "breakthrough" achievement in food safety, and it would hand vast new powers and funding to the FDA so that it can clean up the food supply and protect all Americans from food-borne pathogens.

There's just one problem with all this: It's all a big lie.

Here are the ten biggest lies that have been promoted about S.510 by the U.S. Congress, the food industry giants and the mainstream media:

Lie #1 - Most deaths from food poisoning are caused by fresh produce

Here's a whopper the mainstream media won't dare report: Out of the 1,809 people who die in America every year from food-borne pathogens (CDC estimate), only a fraction die from the manufacturer's contamination of fresh produce. By far the majority of food poisoning is caused by the consumption of spoiled processed foods, dead foods and animal-human transmission of pathogens.

For example, one of the largest food-borne killers according to the CDC is Toxoplasma gondii, a disease that people acquire from cat feces coming into contact with their food, which can happen right in their own homes (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/Vol5n...). Salmonella poisoning accounts for 553 deaths a year. As a reference for relative risk, over 42,000 people die each year from road accidents in the USA, meaning driving a car has a roughly 7600% higher chance of killing you than eating fresh produce. (http://www.driveandstayalive.com/in...)

In terms of food-borne illness, many of the deaths come from things like spoiled tomato sauce, spoiled canned foods and spoiled pasteurized milk. S 510, of course, does absolutely nothing to address these food contamination deaths, since those foods are considered "sterilized" at the time of sale.

Lie #2 - Under S.510, the FDA would only recall products it knows to be contaminated

Not true. S.510 merely requires the FDA to have "reason to believe" a food is contaminated. So right there, that means all raw milk will be targeted by the FDA because even without conducting any scientific tests at all, the FDA can say it has "reason to believe" the milk is contaminated merely because it is raw.

In other words, the FDA no longer needs science to outlaw a food product. It merely needs an opinion.

Is this "reason to believe" section really true? Yep, and here's how it was amended:

SEC. 208. ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION OF FOOD.
23 (a) IN GENERAL. - Section 304(h)(1)(A) (21 U.S.C.24 334(h)(1)(A)) is amended by
(1) striking ''credible evidence or information indicating'' and inserting ''reason to believe'';
(http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi...)

In other words, in negotiating this bill, the U.S. Senate removed the requirement that the FDA needed "credible evidence" in order to recall a product and, instead, replaced that with the FDA only needing "reason to believe."

It is utterly amazing that the U.S. Congress would give the FDA to conduct large-scale product recalls and even imprison people based entirely on what the agency "has reason to believe."

Last time I checked, the FDA held some pretty bizarre (if not downright moronic) beliefs, including this jaw-dropping whopper: The FDA literally believes that there is no food, no herb, no vitamin or supplement that has any ability to prevent disease of any kind. They don't even believe limes can prevent scurvy, and you'd have to nutritionally illiterate to believe that.

The FDA believes foods are inert and that all the amazing phytonutrients in those foods (carotenoids, antioxidants, therapeutic fats like omega-3 and so on) are utterly useless for human biology.

This belief, held by the FDA that has now been put in charge of the food supply, is the belief system of an insane government agency that has completely lost touch with reality while abandoning nutritional science.

Lie #3 - They didn't tell you that nearly 70% of grocery store chickens are contaminated with salmonella every day

Yep, it's true: Amid all the fear-mongering over salmonella, everybody forgot to notice that the vast majority of fresh chickens sold at grocery stores every single day are widely contaminated with salmonella (http://www.naturalnews.com/028661_c...). Yet S 510 does absolutely nothing to address this. It's not even mentioned in the bill.

In fact, it is these contaminated chickens that end up cross-contaminating the fresh produce in many kitchens across America. So the so-called "food poisoning" that's often blamed on spinach or onions often originates with the contaminated chicken meat people bring home and slice on their kitchen cutting boards.

Lie #4 - S.510 will exclude and protect small farmers

The Tester Amendment, which was finally included in S.510, excludes farmers who sell less than $500,000 worth of food each year from the more onerous paperwork and compliance burdens described in the bill. But this dollar amount is not indexed to inflation, meaning that as the U.S. dollar continues to lose value due to the Federal Reserve counterfeiting machine running at full speed (more "quantitative easing," anyone?), food prices will continue to skyrocket -- and this will shift even small family farms into the $500,000 sales range within just a few years.

In fact, a single-family farm with just four people could easily sell $500,000 worth of fresh produce a year right now, even before inflation. Remember, $500,000 is not their profit, but rather the gross sales amount. The profits on that might be only $50,000 or even less.

Furthermore, this $500,000 threshold means that small, successful farms that are doing well and would like to expand will refuse to hire more people or expand their operations. To avoid the tyranny of S 510, small farms will try to stay small, and that means avoiding the kind of business expansion that would create new jobs.

Lie #5 - The FDA needs more power to enforce food safety

The FDA already has the power to effectively recall foods by publicly announcing a product has been found to be contaminated. The FDA already has the power to confiscate "misbranded" products, too, and it could easily use this power to halt the sale of contaminated food items.

But the FDA simply refuses to enforce the laws already on the books and, instead, has sought to expand its power by hyping up the e.coli food scares. The ploy apparently worked: Now in a reaction to the food scare-mongering, the FDA is being handed not just new powers, but more funding, too! And you can bet it will find creative new ways to put this power to work suppressing the health freedoms and food freedoms of the American people.

Lie #6 - Fresh produce is contaminated because of a lack of paperwork

There is no evidence that requiring farms to fill out more paperwork will make their food safer. The real cause of produce contamination is the existence of factory animal farms whose effluent output (huge rivers of cow feces, basically), end up in the water supply, soils and equipment that comes into contact with fresh produce.

The food contamination problem is an UPSTREAM problem where you've got to reform the factory animal operations that now dominate the American meat industry. S.510, however, does absolutely nothing to address this. Factory animal farms aren't even addressed in the bill!

Lie #7 - The American people are dying in droves from unsafe fresh food

The truth is that Americans are dying from processed food laced with toxic chemical additives, not from fresh, raw produce. Partially-hydrogenated oils, white sugar, aspartame, MSG and artificial food colors almost certainly kill far more people than bacterial contaminations.

The American public is also dying from pharmaceuticals -- anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 people a year are killed by FDA-approved drugs (http://www.naturalnews.com/001894.html), most of which have been approved under the guise of blatantly fraudulent science and drug company trickery. The FDA doesn't seem to mind. In fact, it has been a willful co-conspirator in the scientific fraud carried out by Big Pharma in the name of "medicine." (http://www.naturalnews.com/027851_h...)

To think that the FDA -- the very same agency responsible for the Big Pharma death machine -- is now going to "save us" by controlling food safety is highly irrational.

Lie #8 - The FDA just wants to make food "safer"

Actually, the FDA wants to make the food more DEAD. Both the FDA and the USDA are vocal opponents of live food. They think that the only safe food is sterilized food, which is why they've supported the fumigation, pasteurization and irradiation efforts that have been pushed over the last few years.

California almond growers, for example, must now either chemically fumigate or pasteurize their almonds before selling them (http://www.naturalnews.com/021776.html). This has destroyed the incomes of U.S. almond farmers and forced U.S. food companies to buy raw almonds from Spain and other countries.

Lie #9 - Food smuggling is a huge problem in America

One of the main sections of S.510 addresses "food smuggling." Yep -- people smuggling food across the country. If you've never heard of this problem that's because it's not actually a problem.

Not yet anyway.

But there's a reason why they put this into the bill: Because they're probably planning on criminalizing fresh produce and then arresting people for transporting broccoli with the "intent to distribute."

Yep, farmers bringing fresh produce to sell at the weekend farmer's market could soon be arrested and imprisoned as if they were drug smugglers. Hence the need for the "food smuggling" provisions of S.510.

Soon, we will all have to meet in secret locations just to trade carrots for cash.

Lie #10 - S.510 will make America's food supply the safest in the world

Actually, even with S.510 in place, America's food supply is among the most chemically contaminated in the world, second only to China. You can find mercury in the seafood, BPA in the canned soup, yeast extract (MSG) in the "natural" potato chips, and artificial petrochemical coloring agents in children's foods.

Eating the "Standard American Diet" is probably the single most harmful thing a person can do for their health. It's the fastest way to get cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Every nation in the world that begins to consume the American diet starts to show record rates of degenerative disease within one generation. This is the "safe food" that the U.S. Senate is now pushing on everyone.

Remember, with S.510, SAFE = DEAD. And the FDA says it wants to keep everybody safe.

Permission granted to reproduce and post this list with credit

Feel free to share this list! Please give the courtesy of credit to this author and a clickable link back to NaturalNews.com. We are working hard to fight for freedom and educate the public about why we need to resist these "Big Government solutions" that trample over our Constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (which, in my mind, includes buying fresh produce at the farmer's market).

Thank you for your support.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030587_Senate_Bill_510_Food_Safety.html#ixzz16sRZWISP

WPR (weekly prep report) - Whats in your cabinets?

2010-11-30T20:43:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I suggested that a good place to start on prepping is to think short term, just a couple days. Lets go from there and look at what is currently in your cabinets? Can you make a whole meal from what you have in your kitchen right now without going to the store for one more thing?

In my cabinets at the moment are a couple different bags of rice, noodles and beans. There is canned fruit, oats, canned chicken, tea, dry cereal and a couple bottles of wine. I also spy a box of dried milk, jello, pudding mix and veg oils. I have packages of tuna in a drawer and I have potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes in a basket. In the frig I have milk, eggs, leftovers, variety of veggies and condiments. Without even going to my basement to the freezers and the shelves of canned goods, I could make several meals. I also have flour, sugar, salt, and yeast, so bread is easy-peasy.

With what is in there alone I can make some tuna casseroles, pancakes, salad, a couple varieties of soup. I can have nice warm oatmeal for breakfast with toast and fruit. I can bake the potatoes or even make a stir-fry with what is on hand. Not bad!

I read a comment on www.zombiehunters.org forum today that says that the average person in the US is one week from "starvation" because stores typically have about 3 days of food for its average customer base and the average home only has enough food in it to make it to the next weeks shopping trip. I would venture to guess that there is less than that in a lot of homes. Suppose there is a problem in the food shipping system? What if the roads were closed due to weather or something even worse?

I was listening to the Glenn Beck radio program today and he had a caller that told him that he didn't agree with much of what Glenn usually says but he liked to hear his points of view. The caller was a polite man and seemed to be thoughtful. Glenn asked him for an example of something he didn't agree with. The caller picked, of all things, the concept of storing food! This man, that I thought was a smart enough guy, suddenly seemed not too bright to me. He didn't think that people ought to spend any effort at storing food. After all, in all the post-apocalyptic movies, having stored food wouldn't help much. In a "Mad Max" world, a person couldn't have enough food stored as it is and there would just be other people taking your stuff away from you anyway. When pressed on the idea storing food for small emergencies rather than a "Mad Max" world, he did concede that maybe a few days worth of food would be ok. *sigh*

Every winter when there is a snow predicted you see on the news reports of what I call the "french toast rush". You know what that is..the mad dash to the store for milk, bread and eggs. And of course there is the rush to buy all the snow shovels and ice melt on hand. I am always left wondering why so many people need a snow shovel each year? It seems as if everyone has lost the one they had last year. We know that there is going to be snow eventually. So why wait until it is predicted for "tomorrow" to get some of these items? Of course the items that don't have a long shelf life may not be something you can stock up on.

So, take stock of what you have on hand. Did you work on a weekend menu? If so, make a list of all the ingredients you need to make those items. Build that menu up to a week long menu. Build that list!! You will find that many ingredients will be used more than once. Rather than start off with buying buckets of wheat or something you don't like to eat or don't know how to fix, start with what you know you will eat.

Wild Swans

2010-11-29T20:45:00.002-06:00

This past Friday we saw something that had never been seen around here.

Wild swans! It has been the talk of the county! Yeah, its a small county.

Last Thursday we had 4 inches of rain. What you see here in this photo is not a lake, it is a flooded field. Just behind the trees in the background is a large creek that over-flowed its banks. When this field gets flooded, we jokingly call it Lake Terrapin (Terrapin is the name of the road that I am taking the photo from)

Friday morning husband called me and told me that I should drive down the road here and look at this. I couldn't get all of the swans in one frame but there were 12 of them. I checked on them several times that day. Later in the day a couple of snow geese joined them.

The two geese are to the left of the swans.

On Saturday the swans were still there and another 8 had joined them. I forgot to take my camera. Dang.

By Sunday the water had gone down and the swans were all gone. Too bad, they are beautiful birds. I had never seen swans in the wild before.

Look girls....it's a MAN!!

2010-11-28T16:28:00.000-06:00

Today my goatie girls got a new boyfriend!

My husband ran into a guy that had this buck in with his cows and had decided he was tired of the Eau du Goat that only a buck goat can produce. We got this fine looking fellow for $25!! I think it was a steal! He doesn't seem to be mean but he also hasn't been handled a whole lot either. So before we took him off the stock trailer, Husband held him and I trimmed his hooves and gave him some of my homemade wormer tincture. Then we took him over to meet the girls.

After some get-to-know-you sniffing, Isis decided she likes him pretty good!

I should be looking at some little kids at the end of April/early May.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T22:11:00.000-06:00

I want to wish my readers in the U.S a Happy Thanksgiving. To the rest, I wish you a Happy Thursday.

The history of Thanksgiving has, in recent years, been the subject of debate. I think we all know that history tends to be written by the 'winners'. Over time, however, other facts do come to light. So perhaps the fanciful idea of the Pilgrims welcoming the Natives to their great feast is just that....fantasy. I think there is a great deal of buried history to prove that it wasn't the peaceful co-existence that we learned as young children.

Regardless of the skewed 'history' of this day, what Thanksgiving is now has little to do with what went on over 3 centuries ago. If you go by what you see on TV, it is the day that we must seriously begin to accumulate, shop and spend. Matter of fact, there are reports even yesterday of people camping out in front of stores to get those great deals on Black Friday. Many stores will be open on Thanksgiving day to give those early bird shoppers ample opportunity to buy buy buy. That's fine if that is what people want to do I suppose, it just isn't my thing. If I venture out on black friday, it is to watch the people rather than to buy buy buy.

Another aspect of T-Day is a day to feed our faces full of food and then sit around sleeping in front of the TV watching football with our eyes closed. At least that is how my husband tends to spend the day. Again, that is all well and good. I love a good feast of food as much as the next person. I will be cooking a great feast and enjoying it like the rest of the family that is going to make it home.

Then there is the more important and personal aspect of this day. It is a day, for me, to reflect on what good I have in my life. After the kids go home and husband is crashed out, I will go into my craft room and think about these things.

I will be thankful that I have plenty of food, shelter and warmth. I will be thankful that we had all the family here this past Sunday and that I will have some of them here again on Thursday. I will be thankful for my children and my grandchildren. I will especially be thankful that the grandchildren are healthy and happy.

Since, for me, November tends to be a month of reflection and quiet meditation, I will also spend some time thinking on more personal goals and triumphs and be thankful for those.

I do love the Yule/Solstice/Christmas season so I will be ready to jump into those celebrations and decorations full force AFTER this time of quiet reflection is over.

So, again, dear readers, I wish you all a happy thanksgiving, regardless of where you live.

Redecorating the blog

2010-11-23T20:03:00.001-06:00

I just couldn't wait to put my new look up on the blog. I did the background graphic and the header graphic all by myself! I am so tickled that is looks pretty good on my monitor. I went with a snow theme so it can go all winter.

weekly prep report - part 2

2010-11-23T19:08:00.000-06:00

I want to give you a link to another blog and reprint a post from that blog that spoke volumes to me about preparing for hard times. If the owner of the blog gets back to me and asks me to remove this post, I will. In the meantime, here is a reprint of that post and the link to it. Please visit her blog and read the whole thing.

Rural Revolution: Frolicking at the Mall

"Of course we knew that this storm was coming, and how much snow we would be getting (about 2 feet so far), so we made preparations -- getting in firewood, closing up outbuildings, battening down the hatches.

As I was making my preparations I could see our goats frolicking in their pasture enjoying the pre-storm calm, sunny weather. They could see me bustling about being busy doing things that they had no understanding about.

My thought as I was watching them was that they had no clue about what was about to befall them ... spending days locked up inside their shed where they would get bored, irritable and destructive.

Then I thought that my goats were very much like those people who are completely ignorant of the fact that our country is about to enter a time of major storming. They frolic at the mall, they go about their lives like things are always going to be as they are now.

My goats didn't need to prepare a safe, warm place to weather out the storm because I did it for them. There are people who are depending on the government to do the same for them.

What these people don't realize is that they will suffer the same fate as my goats. I own them. I can do with them as I wish. They have no freedom, no rights. Their lives are completely in my hands.

Anyway, just some thoughts on a cold, snowy morning."

Also in the comments to this blog post were these astute observations:

Anonymous said...: But here is what YOU need to know: 1. It's later then you think.2. Food will be worth more then money in the future.3. Someone you know intends to either sponge off you or take what you have when things get tough.4. Someone you don't know intends to either sponge off you or take what you have when things get tough.5. By the time it becomes obvious to everyone it will be too late to prepare.6. If you don't prepare then you are the one planning on sponging off someone you know or to take what they have when things get tough.

Weekly Prep Report - Hoarding or Preparing?

2010-11-23T18:59:00.000-06:00

I took a look at Hoarding a few days ago on my blogs as a set up for this weeks prep report posting. I am sure that those of you who are into preparing for difficult times are aware that those who are not interested, often think we are "hoarding" food. To this I say, bull hockey.

As I defined before, hoarding is the (1) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be of useless or of limited value; (2) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed; and (3) significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding. Extreme hoarding is most certainly a disorder that negatively affects a lot of people. The use of that word to describe people who just stock up food for hard times negates those who truly do suffer from the disorder.

I will say one thing though, there are people who are preppers who are also hoarders. For the moment, lets set that issue to the side and talk about the rest of us who do not fit into the above definition of hoarding.

Preparing for hard times does not mean that one collects useless objects. It certainly doesn't include keeping refuse in huge piles in the house. Preparing for hard times should not include cluttering ones house so much that the people living there can not function normally either. Preparing for hard times does mean taking an inventory of what one needs to survive and even thrive in the face of bad times. Preparing has intent and motivation behind it. That intent and motivation can be all the difference in being prepared and not just cluttered.

There can be people who are hoarders AND are preppers. Perhaps they start out wanting to prepare but have little or no direction and the only thing motivating them is fear. When a person works blindly out of fear, they are not making a plan, they are reacting. Some hoarders think they are preparing for unforeseen disasters. Unfortunately, if they have the extreme problem, having the stuff but not being able to find it or get access to it has don't them little good.

When that accusation of "hoarding" is applied to preppers by non-preppers, it is meant to ridicule or insult. It also shows a complete lack of understanding of the reasons for stocking up. I have heard govt. types recommend people stock up on some food and water in case of emergency. Then I have heard or read of the same govt. types speaking of people "hoarding food" and implying that it is somehow unpatriotic. Those are the attitudes that are scary because those are the people that will try to take away what others have had the foresight to save up. Make it sound like preppers are taking food AWAY from other people and you are sure to stir up a lot of looting and stealing!

ok..so anyway.....

There is a difference between real hoarding and preparing. If you think that perhaps you have crossed that line it would be a good idea to sit down and go over what you really will need and take inventory. Not just a physical inventory but also a personal, inner inventory. Really take into consideration what is your intent and motivation for what you have piled up. If you need to, get help. There are people out there who help others organize and de-clutter. I have done that for people myself.

On the other hand, do not let the fear of being labeled a "hoarder" keep you from taking action and prepping. It is important to not be one of those people who are caught completely unaware and then scrambling trying to figure out where to get the next meal.

Cranberry Tea

2010-11-21T23:07:00.002-06:00

Here is one of my favorite hot drinks for the holidays....all winter actually. It makes a crock pot full so I normally make it when my daughters are home to help drink it.

1 qt. cranberry juice - I prefer to use straight cranberry juice, not cranberry juice cocktail
2 c. orange juice
1 c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. lemon juice
4 c. water
3 sticks of cinnamon
1 c. sugar

Mix and simmer on stove for at least 20 minutes or slow cooker on low for 1-2 hours. You can refrigerate the left overs and reheat when ever you want a refreshing warm-up!

Hoarders

2010-11-19T09:53:00.000-06:00

I have been fascinated and often repulsed by the programs "Hoarders" and "Hoarding: Buried Alive." These two programs have brought this condition out of the closet and laid bare for all to see.

What is hoarding? Hoarding: (1) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be of useless or of limited value; (2) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed; and (3) significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding.

I am willing to bet that almost all of us have known people that qualify as a hoarder or are on their way to becoming one. Before it had a clinical definition, those people were probably like "Granny N" or "Mr. & Mrs. R" who was known for having a messy house and piles on top of piles. I can remember a granny of a friend of mine whose house was so cluttered that it was difficult to move around. When we were kids we would go to her house and I was always amazed by the number of boxes that could fit in a tiny room. Then there was my husbands aunt and uncle, now deceased, whose house was discovered to be so filthy and disgusting that the city tore down the house and just used heavy machinery to clean it off the lot. It was an old shack of the house as it was. When they would feed their cats (unknown how many that really was) they would put the canned cat food on a paper plate and drop it on the floor, never to be picked up again!

I tell my husband that if he isn't careful, he will slide into that pit of hoarding. He can be a bit of a pack-rat now. I have to work hard to keep his ~~crap~~ stuff out of the living spaces of the house. The two car garage hasn't held a car in probably 8+ years. The kids will say that we have two yards. Dads yard, on the south and west sides of the house and my yard on the east and north. My yard has the gardens and is kept clutter free. You might see a garden tool or a wheel barrow sitting from time to time, but those are when work is in process. Dads yard is a loose arrangement of farm implements, tractors, empty tubs, the plastic liner from the truck with more ~~crap~~ stuff in it. Immediately to the west of the house isn't so bad really. The swing set, sandbox and patio-esque area is really normal backyard play and socialize space. Just go beyond the electric fence though, and you cross back into pack-rat land. There is a wagon of junk in the barn, some piled off to the side in the barn and more junk behind the barn. All ~~crap~~ stuff that can come in handy someday, of course.

Just the other day I had him helping sort out some stuff in the back room entryway called the "mudroom." It is just a 5' x 10' area that is for setting things down and storing the dog food, winter outerwear, boots, etc.
As he was picking up the excess, he tried to hand me a small pile of reflective vests that he has collected this summer. He wanted me to put them in his closet with his other box of these. I told him that if he put them in there or expected me to find a place for them, the dumpster is where I would put them. I think he ended up putting them up in the rafters of the garage.

Separating this area from the game room is a couple of shelving units. I have put backer board on the back side of these to make a "wall" for the game room. The main problem we were addressing was the fact that the mudroom had started sliding over into the game room area. With winter and holiday get-togethers coming, I needed this room cleaned up for people to play Wii and sit and eat if they want.

Anyway...I digress...

So when does collecting and pack-ratting slide into hoarding? I think it depends on the items involved and the intention behind saving them. I have things I save and stock-up on. Anyone who thinks about preparing for emergencies or hard times does that. Any salvaging things that can be reused makes sense sometimes. However, piles of trash that most people would get rid of, not having more than pathways through the house, not having the use of actual living space, and compulsive shopping just for the 'high' of it are probably all indications of turning that corner.

The Weekly Prep Report - Just getting started

2010-11-16T19:49:00.000-06:00

When a person finally comes to the realization that it is up to them to prepare for hard times or emergencies rather than rely on the government or some agency to help them, the question is, where to start? Too often people do not do anything at all to prepare because they think they need to jump in over their heads. The idea of getting from having no preps to having a year supply of food, water and fuel for every person in the family is overwhelming. For most people, this just is not feasible.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to start out really small and work your way up gradually. I have never had the finances to go out and buy a bunch of MRI's (meals ready to eat), buckets of grain, tons of water, expensive water filters, gold and everything else that many survival and prep websites and forums suggest you have.....not all at once anyway. I still can't afford gold. Not likely that I will either.

So what can the average, ready for nothing, person do? I would suggest that you pick a small emergency situation that you are likely to encounter and plan for that. For example, unless you live off the grid, everyone will experience a power outage now and then. Start with that.

Here in the Midwest the past few years we have had a couple of major power outages. One hit in midwinter and the other in midsummer. They had different circumstances and different needs attached to them. Some things remain the same either way. So lets not get too far ahead of ourselves when just starting. Think ahead to just the coming season. Winter is coming soon so think just over the problems that happen with a power outage in cold, snowy or icy weather. Here are a couple of photos that show the ice that took out our power for 72 hrs a few years ago. Beautiful but deadly!

Maybe you could start out planning and prepping for a 48 hr power outage. Lets go over what the basics of what you need to survive: Water, shelter, food and warmth.

If there is no power, can you get water? If on a well, you may have a problem as a pump needs electricity to run. A few jugs of water in a closet or in the basement can suffice for a couple of days. As an ice storm rarely comes without warning, plan ahead and fill bathtubs and buckets with water. This water will come in mighty handy to flush a toilet. Did you know that you can flush a toilet with a bucket of water? Some people don't know that.

I will assume you have shelter since you are reading this blog, so lets jump to warmth. What is the source of heat in your home? Most heat sources need electricity. We have propane furnace but it still needs electricity to start the burner and to run the blower. We thought ahead when we built our house many, many years ago and put in a real wood burning fireplace. Let's say you don't have that option. A kerosene heater might be a good investment. Get ready for some real family togetherness. Close doors of rooms that you don't have to use. If you can't close doors, hang blankets in doorways and seal off areas of the house and contain heat in the main room you are going to be in. Wear several layers of clothes even indoors.

Consider food options in a power outage. Will you be able to cook anything at all? How about having some charcoal and lighter fluid and cook on the grill...OUTDOORS. If you have a gas stove, will you be able to light it? I have an electric stove so it was useless to me in a power outage. Never fear, I cooked in the fireplace! If you are going to need to cook over an open flame, you will want to make sure you have cookware designed for that. I would not be without my handy dandy cast iron cookware. If you just will not be able to cook at all, then make plans now to stock up on foods that do not require cooking. Cereals, canned tuna, veggies, pork n' beans are all possible choices. Just be sure you have a manual can opener. While you are shopping for your groceries, go ahead and pick up a few things extra. It will not hit your budget too hard. Make up a menu for 2 days that takes in account your probably circumstances and buy those items now.

This is just a brief outline for one event you can prepare for. By starting with just one event and being ready for it, you can then build on that small beginning and plan for larger events. The main thing is to just do something, no matter how small it may seem.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering

2010-11-15T18:28:00.000-06:00

Back in the day, when my girls were babies, I mostly used cloth diapers. The only time I used disposable was when we went somewhere like church, shopping, extended family get-togethers. It really was an economical decision. As young family with a single income that kept us just above poverty level, there really wasn't a good reason to spend so much money on disposables. It was just starting to be uncommon for people to cloth diaper. The environment was never an issue in anyone's mind.

Fast forward to now. My daughters are grown-up and two of them are parents themselves. They are disposable diaper users all the way. It really comes down to convenience for them. Disposables are more convenient, not much doubt. Not long ago I saw a program that did a cost and environmental comparison of cloth vs. disposable. I was shocked that this program came out with the result that it was 6 of one, half a dozen the other! And this was on the "green" channel!! I think they must have been doing some comparisons in New York City or on the west coast where costs are higher or something. I know that they factored in diaper services and laundry services. Other than that, I just don't believe them.

I have decided that while I am babysitting the little grandchildren, I will be using cloth at my house. The laundry is not that onerous and it isn't as expensive to wash and hang dry diapers as it is to buy disposables. And I know that cutting back on the little guys exposure to plastics has to be better for them. Add to that for every cloth diaper I use, there will be one less permanent addition of a neat little plastic wrapped poop package living in a landfill forever.

I will still buy disposables on a limited basis. I will honor the daughter's desire to use them. But in my house, we will be experimenting with the cloth.

Today was the first day of putting cloth diaper on little Tanner. When he soaked it he really fussed about it. The first diaper was a Gerber pre-fold from walmart. I put a really nifty PUL cover over it to keep his clothes and bedding dry. That worked ok except that prefold was really bulky on the little guy. Next was a cheapo flat diaper. Again, covered with the PUL cover. This also worked out ok. On the down side, the cover is really long in the rise. I am going to be making some covers that fit better in the next few weeks. I bought this one cover and already have ideas for changes I will make in my own.

I have to say, there have been improvements in diapering in the past years. No more need for plastic pants. This PUL is pretty cool. I have also learned there are other ways to fold flat diapers than what I knew back in the day. And why, oh why, had nobody ever told me about the magical properties of wool?? Did you know that wool fabric will keep moisture contained almost like plastic pants? Apparently this is something that our grandmothers was supposed to know, but nobody ever told me. I have not finished the wool cover yet to try it, but just experimenting with a wet cloth and the piece of wool fabric, I was surprised.

See...one is never too old to learn something about child care.

In honor of Veterans Day

2010-11-11T10:58:00.000-06:00

For Veterans Day I wish to say thanks to all those who have fought to defend our country and did what they believed was right and honorable. While I don't always agree with our govt. decisions, I always am thankful for the men and women who serve our nation.

I would especially like to give honor to my Dad. Dad served in the Air Force then the Army. He went on to serve in the Army Reserve as a helicopter pilot. He never had to go to any battle fronts. He would have gladly gone if called to do so. When my mommy died, the Army did not ask him to go to Vietnam but instead transferred him to the Reserve. Daddy loved flying those helicopters and each month when he went for his weekend stint he would fly over our house and mock shoot the house. Daddy died 29 yrs ago but I still run outdoors when I hear those Army helicopters flying anywhere in the area. I can tell them from regular helicopters even when they are miles away.

I love you and miss you Daddy!

The Weekly Prep Report

2010-11-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

SciFiChick at Bacon and Eggs asked on her blog "What did you do to prep?" earlier today. What a good question! This has inspired me to do a "Weekly Prep" blog post on this blog. I will try to do it on Tues. evening each week. Sometimes I will be specific about something I have done in prepping or I will write something about the hows and whys of prepping.

As I mentioned in my comments to SciFiChick's post, I didn't do anything specifically in this dept. but I think that my husband did. First you have to understand my husband....he isn't as prep-minded as I am but he does believe in laying in wood for burning in the winter and having food handy in case of a snow-storm. He did finally buy a generator this past summer but his motivation was more the welder part of said generator. The generator part was just bonus.

We own a small 42 acre farm and there was a small pond on the back side of the property. In all the time we have owned the property (over 20 yrs), this pond has never had more than a couple of feet of water in it. In recent years, it has only had inches of water. The dam had been broken for a long time. We bought this property from my father-in-law and it is part of the farm that husband grew up on. He says he doesn't really remember the last time the pond held all of the water it was built to hold. So, anyway, last week he tackled the big project of rebuilding the pond. He was able to get the use of a big Track-Hoe one weekend for only the cost of transporting it. He dug and dug....making a new trench and readying it for moving the dam back a few feet and repacking it all. He was able to hire a man with a bulldozer for a couple of days moving the dirt to the new dam and husband did the compacting with each new layer of dirt. They rebuilt the spillway and now it is ready to seed the dam.

They knocked down a bunch of thorn trees and scrub brush that is now in piles ready to be burned. Since we are under a fire weather warning, husband only set fire to one pile that was far enough down the slope and away from the grass hay field to burn safely.

While at it, they also dug out a good bit of soil that had filtered into the pond over the past many decades. The bottom of the pond is down to good ol' clay dirt. The two little "mountain goats" AKA the grandsons, couldn't resist the climbing of the hills of good clean fill dirt we now have.

Perhaps you are wondering just how does this qualify as a prep project. Simple...once it fills up, and it will not take long to fill in this spot, there is a good supply of water for livestock and fish (food) and other uses if really needed.

Awards and Election

2010-11-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess it's all over but the shouting and crying now. The polls are closed and all that's left is to count the votes. I am glad that the campaigning is over. I am sick to death of the ads and the phone calls. And if the calls are not bad enough, they are not even real people on the other end of the line!! Just recordings!! Whew.... But I did my civic duty and voted. I almost always vote. I figure that if you don't vote, you really don't have much room to complain about what you get in the govt. I actually don't talk politics much. Its a dangerous topic in this family that I married into. I seem to be on the opposite side most of the time so I just smile at them all when they get on their stump.

Now for more fun. I was given these awards and I want to share with those bloggers that I follow and also who follow me. Aren't they fun?

Winters Night

2010-11-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

If one looks at the Julian calendar, you see that it is still Autumn and will be until December 21st, the winter solstice. This marks the shortest day of the year for the northern hemisphere. This is the day that the sun is at its southern most point. So this day is designated as the first day of winter. Can one REALLY think of this day as the first day of winter though? Here in Illinois, we have often had a lot of winter before December 21st.

Some cultures and traditions have other ideas about when winter starts. Those who live in tune with the nature know that the she can't be put in those neat little boxes on the calender. A blog I was reading this morning told how the author observes "Winters Night" on November 1. She live in an area where winter makes its first appearance this time of year. She chose Nov. 1 to keep it separate from the Halloween and fall decor and observations. I like that choice actually. Just this morning I was putting on my Carhart coat with the hood to go out and do chores. There is a nip in the air that says that winter is tapping on the window already.