Tuesday, April 6, 2021

This and That

This post is mainly me checking in to let you all know I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth. Because I live a simple, quiet life, sometimes there isn't much to report.

The dehydrating of vegetables from my last grocery order is finished. I have been going through the dried food on the shelf, determining what can be used as is and what needs to be put to better use in powdered form. I am working on that this week and this will give me more shelf space which, as you know, is at a premium here in my little apartment.

My next grocery order will be delivered Thursday. About a month ago the store was out of frozen skinless boneless chicken breast, so I am trying to get some this time. I have some freezer space so I am trying to fill that in.

Canning supplies are still scarce as hen's teeth in my area. Once a month I order lids and jars, so far without success. But hope springs eternal. :)

Looking back over my records, I see that an average amount of a twice monthly grocery order ran in the neighborhood of $120. I am in the habit of ordering multiples of most items in order to build up my food storage. My last two orders have been about the same amounts of food as previous orders, but boy howdy, have the prices ever gone sky high. My order two weeks ago and the one for this week have increased in cost of around $100 each. I don't see any sign that prices will decrease any time soon. I am still ordering what I can to increase my food supply, for it is a near certainty that prices next month will be even higher.

Oldest son has been working part time at two local restaurants. One of the restaurants tested employees due to a virus outbreak. Duane tested positive. He is now about half way through a 10 day quarantine. So far the symptoms are like those of a common cold. We are praying for a complete and swift recovery. In the meantime, Mom is baking chocolate chip cookies this afternoon to cheer him up. I think that the inactivity of not being able to work might be harder on him than the illness. To his credit, he has never been one to sit on the couch when he could be working.

The news reports are not looking good. Everywhere you look there is something nasty happening. Crime rates are rising everywhere, much of it due to the defund the police movement. 'Cancel culture' is doing it's level best to erase anyone who doesn't buy into their insane ideas. Others are busy working to get us to hate our neighbors. And there seems to be an elected official on every street corner determined to turn us into obedient servants and to gain more money and power for themselves.

I guess the ornery runs deep in me, for I refuse to comply and I refuse to give up on the country I love. I still believe that there is more good in this world than there is evil. And I am convinced that God is still in charge.

Keep on preparing, my friends, and keep on praying. Things may get more ugly before they get better, but we will win this one. Have faith!

22 comments:

  1. Take good care of yourself, Vicki. I'm sure that staying busy will help, as long as you don't overdo it.

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    1. Gorges...Whoever said retirement would be boring was wrong. Seems like there is always something to do, but these days it is done at a turtle's pace. :)

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  2. You are doing the work now, Vicki, that will make your life easier later. In my humble opinion, we all need to be moving forward with our preps. Things sure don't look good now and will as you say be worse before we see improvement. I am of similar thought. I love my Country, and we all need to take it back from those who are attempting to destroy it. Hang on, don't lose your grip, and fight the b-tards anyway you are able! Thank you for the update...CW

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    1. CW...I will never understand those who live in a world of unicorns and fairy dust and believe nothing bad will ever happen. I hope they are right, but preparing for the worst while hoping for the best makes more sense to me. I just saw a great meme. I think it was among those on Gorges' blog today. It said something like 'Forget about waking up the sheep. It is time to call out the lions.' It is easy to become discouraged, what with the insanity surrounding us. But we can not let the evil have our country. Never.

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  3. I actually saw two boxes of canning lids (just the flats) in Kroger today. I left them because I still have some at home to use, and there was no price on them. This is the first time I've seen them for sale anywhere for about a year (except the occasional random few at estate sales).

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    1. chipmunk...Next time you see lids, grab them. I thought I had enough and I was wrong. Now I am having to ration them. I can't as yet find canning jars either. I can't ever remember shortages like this. Hope the supplies appear on the shelves soon.

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  4. Thank you for your words of encouragement, Vicki. It's hard to keep a stiff upper lip at times now days. We have heard and read about many price increases. Our buying power is diminishing by the day. We have whittled down most purchases to 'what do we need if......'
    It's always good to hear from you.
    Fern

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    1. Good to hear from you, Fern...There was a time when I was convinced that it was all over except for the crying, but came to the realization that anything worth having is worth fighting for. I just can not give up. There is little I can do about the prices, so I am in the same boat with you - buying on a 'what do I need' basis. As far as the rest of the foolishness goes, 'I will not comply' seems appropriate. Take good care, my friend.

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    1. BW...From what I have heard, you to the north are having to deal with much the same sort of insanity that we are here. We - all of us - can not just give up. Freedom is way too important to allow it to be taken from us. Hang in there, my friend.

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  6. Vicki~ I hope this day finds you well and your son on the road to recovery. Did they tell him what the Cycle Threshold Value was for his test? If it was more than 35, it's a false positive. The seed potatoes arrived and will be planted tomorrow in the morning. We started more tomato seeds, plus a few types of squash. The green beans, snap peas and lima beans are growing. I just wish my Kitty hadn't decided to use the garden plot map as a chew toy. You should see what she does to a paper egg carton.

    Finished another round of dehydrating veggies and hash browns. I read an article at Survival Blog about Grid Down Food Storage and Diabetics. I discovered that barley has a low glycemic index. While I had some for storage, I ordered some more.

    I keep praying for Common Sense to prevail. Now I pray for a few pillars of salt to suddenly appear as an example of The Lord's Judgement for the Oath Breakers and Slavers. IAF has a new video out. It's rather informative.

    With all the negativity surrounding We the People, We need to find a little Joy every day. I watched my Kitty smell the lemon blossoms and the rosemary. She just sat there smelling the flowers.

    Red

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    1. Red...As far as I know, nobody checked the Value of the test. But because of his symptoms, I think it is safe to assume he has the virus. He still feels under the weather, but is not getting any worse, for which we are thankful. Me...I am just fine.

      Sounds like your garden is well on its way. I think the more people can grow their own food this year, the better. It is amazing to see how quickly grocery prices are rising - here, anyway.

      I fear Common Sense has left the building. I wouldn't mind seeing a few pillars of salt, either! Or even a couple of arrest warrants. I guess God maybe needs to grant me a little patience, for I am so tired of seeing the guilty continue on while the people suffer.

      The mental picture of Kitty smelling the flowers made me smile. I lose myself in mystery books in the evening and the baking of chocolate chip cookies today for my son gave me the needed Joy. I haven't seen the latest IAF video, but will check it out later tonight. Godspeed, my friend.

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    2. Red... give that kitty scritchies from us. She’s got the right attitude.

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  7. Thanks for the update Vicki. Glad to hear everything is going as well as can be expected.

    Preps continue down here. We’ve also started our “people preps” now. We’ve been having conversations with those we trust as to “what if...”. Everyone seems quite worried and we’ve started figuring out how to provide and more importantly defend our little group. I hope it doesn’t come to that but.....

    Another thing I wanted to mention is not to forget preps for your mental health. I’ve been collecting puzzle books, regular books, yarn, paint and canvases. I think it’ll help.

    God bless.

    Kim

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    1. Hi Kim...Yes, things here are as good as they can be under the circumstances.

      That is really smart to work on your 'people preps.' I think the means to defend will become even more important if the powers that be continue down the path they have chosen. It is good to have like minded people close. Here I know of nobody who is even remotely interested in preparedness except for my son. My youngest son lives too far away and has a wife and kids to worry about. But here, we can defend if necessary. I hope it doesn't come to that either.

      If the lockdowns didn't teach us anything else, they should have taught us to have items on hand to keep us busy. Especially busy doing things we enjoy. I have tons of books on my Kindle as well as tubs and baskets of fabric and yarn and scrapbooking supplies. We need to do fun stuff as well as the work of getting prepared. God bless you and yours.

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  8. Amen and praise God, Vicki. Glad to hear you are keeping on, keeping on. :)

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  9. Hey, LindaG...We do what we can. :) God bless.

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  10. Twice, I tried to order lids and both times they canceled the order for one reason or another. They are very hard to find here too.

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  11. Kristina...I have heard about several fake canning supply websites appearing that take your money and send you nothing. I will wait for either reputable dealers or actual stores to carry supplies again. Hope we don't have to wait too much longer.

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  12. So here's the latest insanity from the local city government. A 'residential occupancy tax' went into effect on April 1st. It's intent was to tax landowner's of business property that kept their property vacant. Certainly their right, imo, to keep their privately held property vacant if they so chose but that's not the point of this comment...the over reach gets worse..


    Well, the 'true' over reach was reported on the news last night. Certain one-story business owners are required to pay the tax on the air space or 'potential' residences above their one story buildings. How crazy is that???

    Cheers,
    SJ in Vancouver BC

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    1. SJ...OK. It is now official. The lunatics are running the asylum. How in the name of good common sense can they tax something that does not exist but that might possibly be built at some future date!!! I would hope that these business owners who have one story buildings would get together and say loudly and clearly with one voice, "NO!"

      I have to say that I have heard a considerable amount of crazy talk coming from government officials lately, but this one wins the prize for stupid.

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    2. From the newscast, it appears that the owners are paying the new tax...stupid is as stupid does, imo.

      Fortunately, or not, I don't live within the Vancouver city limits..I'm in a neighboring suburb but would guess this great new 'revenue source'is going to spred like wildfire...cheers, SJ

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