Down Time

 I have decided to take some time off from blogging.  There are several things that need my attention before Spring finally arrives.  With any kind of luck, I should be back in several weeks.  Stay safe and pray.

It can happen to you...

 There are so many who are under the assumption that bad things can happen, but if they do, it will not be in their backyard.  If that's where you are, chances are pretty good you do not join the rest of us here in our way of thinking and preparing.  But if by some chance you stumbled upon this blog, I highly recommend the following video.

🚨 He WARNS it's Gonna Get Bad SOON! 🚨 - YouTube

Patara at 'Appalachia's Homestead' is a common sense video creator, unlike many who run around, hair on fire with each and every bad thing that happens.  I trust what she says.

I have had a small break to refresh and recharge.  My adult children have agreed to haul some food in jars to their homes.  So today I am up to my elbows in canning hamburger.  My son kindly brought me 40 lbs. of it yesterday. 

Buckle up.  Looks like the road ahead is full of potholes.

Pray.  

Reaching the Rafters

Everywhere we look, we see those with the preparedness mindset talking about 'stacking it to the rafters.'  I have often said that myself.  And I have meant it, for I believe things in our country are likely to be worse before getting any better.  If we are paying attention at all, we can see the signs all around us.

But what happens when our food and supply storage reaches the rafters?

I am guessing that there are many - particularly those of my vintage - living in small apartments.  Not everyone can have a homestead.  Not all of us are physically able to keep a garden.  Those of us living on a fixed income can not afford to pay for the maintenance and taxes on a house, upkeep and fuel for a vehicle and buy groceries, too.  

I have spoken before about living in a very small three-room apartment.  I live here for several reasons.  I can afford it.  It is close to my children and grands and great-grands.  That is important to me.  And I need to be where I can get the care I need for a couple of medical conditions.

I have now reached the place where I literally have no more room to store anything.  Several shelving units are full.  Cases of home canned food are stashed in every conceivable corner.  Boxes holding dehydrated foods and other dry goods are stacked as high as I can stack them.  I am now in serious jeopardy of looking like a candidate for the TV show about hoarders.

I am done.  Well, almost.  My son is bringing me 40 lbs. of hamburger to can.  And I still have stuff in my freezer that needs to go into jars before freezer burn sets in.  But after that I will just be replacing what I use and that is all.

My adult children have agreed to take home with them some cases of food in jars and God bless them for that.  After all, this has been done for the sole purpose of making sure my family will be alright should the worst happen.  And I might have convinced them that it will be easier to remove stuff from my apartment a little at a time rather than all at once when I leave this earth to join my oldest son in Heaven.  That being said, I plan to stick around for a good, long while to annoy my kids.  :)  

I am not saying that stacking it is not important.  It is very important.  But sometimes we need to decide to either continue stacking or move on to other things.  Right now, I am going through and getting rid of things that just are not necessary in order to make my apartment a home again and not just a storehouse..  And using time to make quilts or crochet afghans or to work on my family history so my kids and grands will know about the good, hard-working ancestors that came before us. 

We all have different priorities.  We do what works best for us.  I am just saying that we need to decide for ourselves where we are headed and what each of us needs to do.

My one constant is prayer.  Always. 

Still Busy

 Slowing down is not an option.

Has anyone seen what the geniuses in the WEF (World Economic Forum) have decided?  Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, Al Gore, et al, have decided that our food needs to be rationed and we no longer need to eat meat.  Because, of course, climate change.

Bastards!

So if you will excuse me, I need to put away the 20 pints of pork loin and 10 pints of sweet potatoes that I canned a couple of days ago.  And slice 10 lbs. of potatoes to dehydrate.  And work on my next grocery order that will, I believe, contain lots of hamburger to can and freeze, and whatever else I can find to add to my food storage.

Think those who believe they are better than me are going to tell me what I can feed my family?  Nope.  Not hardly!

Busy Again

 I am guessing that many of you know about that little voice in the back of our heads that tends to shove us in the direction we need to go.  That's the same one that lets us know when danger is near.  Some call it a gut feeling.  Whatever it is called, we do well to listen.

I have this nagging feeling that things are about to go head over heels off the cliff.  I don't know if it is the big balloons in the sky or the chemical spills from derailed trains or the many food processing plants going up in flames or the possibility of the Chinese marching over the hill.  Whatever it is, now is not the time to slack off.

I am storing more water.  My grocery order for Thursday includes 6 of the half pork loins that are on sale.  And 10 lbs. of russet potatoes and 5 lbs. of sweet potatoes.  The pork and sweet potatoes will be pressure canned.  The russet potatoes will be sliced and dehydrated.

The top of my kitchen table is covered with quart bags of frozen strawberries.  Tomorrow morning I will add a little sugar and can them for use as ice cream topping or in baking or just to eat as sauce.  And after that I will can up whatever is below the berries.  We here in Minnesota have a forecast of up to 20 inches of snow in the next few days.  Snowstorms sometimes take out our power.  I also ordered a bunch of extra kitchen matches to have on hand for lighting candles and a propane camp stove (really don't want to do without my coffee) and a propane heater.

I am not saying that we will go to war tomorrow.  I am saying that anything is possible.  We are now living in a country whose leader thinks it is more important to visit Ukraine than Ohio.  Which shows me that the powers that be do not give a rodent's behind about our citizens.

We are on our own.  Keep stacking.  The reason I do this is so that when push does come to shove, those I love will be taken care of as best I can.

Pray.  Often.  

What's Next?

 It doesn't seem to matter where we look. There is chaos and confusion everywhere.  

The latest insanity is the speculation about the objects in our skies that are being shot down.  Are they weather balloons?  Are they spy capsules?  Or are little green men from Mars going to parachute down and demand to see our leader?  If it is the latter, I do believe they will be sorely disappointed.

The headlines are full of other events that promise to destroy us all.

Guess what.  I simply no longer care.

Those in charge who think they are so smart - let them deal with it all.  Most of the problems originated with them anyway, to distract us from whatever criminal, stupid or mean thing they are trying to hide.  They are going to do exactly what they want to do, including lying, stealing and cheating.  And we know that no matter how much the congress critters fuss and fume and pontificate, nothing will change.

I will still glance at the headlines so I know when to duck and cover.  And I will continue to fill my pantry to feed and take care of my family should the worst happen.  But no longer will I wade through the layer of bull crap they are spreading.  I have better things to do.

I have adult children and grandchildren and great grandchildren that I love more than my life.  I have close friends that I love as well.  They deserve my time and attention way more than do some lying critters in DC who wouldn't recognize the truth if it bit them on the bum.

So yesterday I sorted out some of my fabric stash, looking for and finding enough fabric suitable for the backs of a couple of quilts.  And I found enough leftover yarn for another crocheted afghan.  Tomorrow I plan to bake bread and chocolate chip cookies.  

It is raining here today.  Raining hard.  The snow that fell earlier this year is gone.  We are having 40 degree days.  Normally we are up to our elbows in snow and shivering in sub zero temps.  I am enjoying this while I can.  This is Minnesota, after all, and we can expect at least one more snowstorm before the lilacs bloom in the spring.

And all of the above makes more sense to me than laying awake at night, worrying about how our government is going to screw us next.

We have lives.  It is time to live them the way we want and with the blessing of God.

Paying Attention Yet?

 Have you noticed just how much bad stuff is going on all around us these days?

Doesn't matter in which direction we look, there is something on the horizon that can hurt us - we the people.  And our elected officials are doing nothing to stop the madness.

I want things to get back to a normal that we can live with.  It is those who are in control who do not give a rodent's behind what I think.  They continue to do what they can do to enrich their bank accounts and ignore the fact that many can no longer afford to take care of their families. 

So what do we do?

I am not in a position where I can bug out to some secret location deep in the northern Minnesota woods and 'live off the land.'  No matter what happens, I will be right here in my little apartment, as will many of us be in our homes.  

Even so, it is possible for me to do everything I can to prepare for whatever happens next.  My every-other-week grocery order arrives tomorrow.  The weekend will be spent dehydrating frozen corn, mixed vegetables and hash browns plus 10 lbs. of onions.  Yes, they are expensive, but I am pretty sure that they will cost more next month. 

The room where I store most of my food and supplies has been organized, everything sorted and labeled, so I know at a glance what I have and what I yet need.  Because I was blessed with a mother who taught me to sew, I am working on sewing together quilt tops to make warm blankets that are necessary in my cold climate.  And I have collected recipes for making many of the food items I would normally buy, like cream soups, Bisquick, other soups using dehydrated vegetables and pasta, and seasonings, to replace some of the items I might need to buy.  Jennifer over at 'Prep School Daily' is a wealth of information on all things preparedness and is the source of much of my information.  Her blog is listed in my side bar. 

This isn't a brag session but is a suggestion or two to give others an idea of what we can do to get ready for whatever our 'betters' have in mind for us which is absolutely nothing good.  You know, I am sure, that everything that is happening now is all about control.  As those close to me know by now, I do not do well with some trying to control me. 

I think those things that can make life even tougher than it is are accelerating at breakneck speed.  The wide-open southern border, the flight of a Chinese data gathering balloon flying across the breadth of our nation, the out-of-control inflation, are but a few examples.

Get ready.  Don't wait.  Do the very best you can to take care of your families, especially since it is likely that some of them think you are nuts for doing so.  We do not want even the nay sayers to starve.

And pray.  All the time.  God is our only hope.