Potato Experiment

 A number of years ago, my oldest son would go to the large Farmer's Market in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He would bring me all sorts of fresh produce for canning or dehydrating or freezing.  One time he showed up with 100 lbs. of russet potatoes.  And because at that time I wasn't all that familiar with the process of dehydrating potatoes, I canned most of them.

What I later discovered was that the top inch or so of the potatoes in the jars turned gray.  They weren't rotten.  They were just gray.

I'm pretty sure that nobody is fond of eating gray potatoes.  I know that the persnickety members of my family would surely go "EEEWW" at the sight of them.  They haven't as yet been truly hungry.

Sometimes I am tempted to relate what I saw on a program about a high school class visiting a German concentration camp.  At that time, a number of years ago, the camp had lush, green lawns.  A student asked the guide, who had been imprisoned at that camp, who mowed the lawn when he was there.  His reply was, "Nobody mowed lawns.  If we saw a blade of grass, we ate it."

Back to the potatoes.  I decided to try dehydrating some of the potatoes, thus eliminating the gray pieces.  So I opened several jars, drained and rinsed the pieces, spread them out on dehydrator trays, picking out the gray pieces and tossing them.

During the dehydrating process, the potato pieces took on a dark brown color that didn't go away when rehydrated.  And the potato pieces did not rehydrate well enough to be useful.  This experiment was a total failure.

So what will I do with the 75 lbs. of potatoes I still have in jars?  Use them.  Just like I have been using them.  I pick out the gray pieces.  Then I fry them up for a breakfast potato.  Or use them in a potato salad.  Or heat them and pour gravy over them.  Or make mashed potatoes from them.

These days it seems prudent to use up what we have, even if we might want something else.  Grocery prices, in my area anyway, continue to rise.  I can not afford to waste food.  Or anything else, for that matter. 

I don't see things getting better any time soon.  Perhaps now would be a good time to concentrate on the old ways of doing things.  At least that way, we will be able to continue on while others are wondering what happened.

  

My Son Was Right

 He told me that if I didn't have a place to rant, my head would explode.  And I have to admit that the explosion is getting close.

This morning I watched a video by our bumbler and chief.  He again wants to take our guns.  And if he can't get his hands on them, he wants us to keep our guns under lock and key.  Now I can understand that perhaps households with small children might want to keep their guns out of reach.  

Just for the record, my four children were raised around firearms.  They were taught about safety and respect for the tools, for that is what they are.  That tool brought home venison to feed them.   That tool chased off someone who might have done them harm.  They, unlike many today, were raised to have respect for their parents and for the rules.

Picture a 77 year old woman who lives alone in an apartment located in the downtown area of a rather large suburb.  When I first moved here about 25 years ago, I knew the neighbors.  Even though I am surrounded by bars, I had no fear of walking my dogs after dark.  I worked in the neighborhood and had no fear of walking a few blocks home after 10 PM.

That has changed.  I wouldn't consider going out after dark now.  The neighborhood has changed in that there seem to be more people who are angry most of the time compared to the friendly neighbors of years past.  My building is over 100 years old.  The cheapest of doors were used when the upper floor was converted to apartments.  A good swift kick could open my door.

I don't move fast at all any more.  The pace of a herd of turtles is an apt description!  So someone kicks in my door.  What am I supposed to do.  Ask the intruder politely to please wait to hurt or kill me while I go unlock my gun safe?  Or without any protection, perhaps if I throw a can of tomatoes at him, that might just keep me alive.  (snark)

I want to peacefully live out my remaining years.  And that includes avoiding any violence.  We all know that violence is becoming more prevalant in our society.  I pray the time never comes when I need to protect myself from the bad guys.  Who have guns.  Who will never give up their guns.

And because our government is only going after the good guys with guns, mine will stay within reach.  And will not be locked up.  And will not be turned in no matter what fraudulant laws the state or federal boneheads come up with.  After all, the Second Amendment is there to protect the citizens from a tyranical government.

Looks like we may need them sooner than later. 

The End

 It has been a good run.  Nearly 14 years of posting here.  I have written about everything I know concerning preparedness.  I have ranted about our useless politicians and other crimes against humanity.  I have shared the death of my son and the births of my great grandchildren.  But now I am tired.

After careful consideration and soul searching, I have made the decision to bow out of this arena.

I am truly grateful to all of you who have stuck with me for so long.  I have learned much through your comments.  I have enjoyed our conversations.

Everything in our country seems to be swirling down the drain.  I can no longer keep up.  Perhaps I don't want to keep up any more.  I will be 77 years old soon.  Before I join my son at the throne of our God, there are things I really want to do for my family.  I am working on my extensive family tree.  It is important that my children and grands know where they came from.  I have a large box of photos that needs to be labeled and put into albums.  There are more quilts to sew and afghans to crochet.  I am never bored and I am always busy.

If anyone wants to stay in touch, I welcome the opportunity.  My email is vickimiller63@gmail.com.  I check it daily as I already am in touch with friends made here.  If you so desire - feel free.

I have no words to express just how much I have come to thinking of all of you as friends.  Stay safe.  Stay prepared.  And above all, continue to pray.

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!