I'm Still Here

 It 's just that I am not doing anything blogworthy right now.

It is hot and humid here in southern Minnesota. Looks like it will stay like this for a while. Although the air conditioning in my building keeps my apartment reasonably cool, it is in my best interest to do 'quiet' things while this heat wave is upon us. Breathing issues seem to be worse when it is hot and humid. So I limit physical activity and that keeps me from huffing and puffing like an old steam engine. :)

I am ordering my groceries as usual, but am limiting my food storage items to those that do not need to be processed. On the list for next week is lots of pasta, more varieties of dry beans, more flour and possibly some chocolate that is necessary to keep me in a happy place.

So for now, I am spending time organizing several years worth of genealogy research. That is a task I have put off doing for quite some time, but recently I asked Youngest Son to drag a couple of boxes from a high shelf so I could go through them. And because my memory is not what it once was, I found all sorts of delightful surprises I had forgotten I had. Mother's high school diploma. A copy of my parent's marriage certificate. A letter written by my grandmother to my Dad in the 1920's. She tells about coming face to face with a bear while out picking blueberries. I am rather enjoying this 'quiet' time for I love going through all the material I had forgotten about.

There is still food in the freezer to can, but that will just have to wait for cooler days.

My heart goes out to those who are suffering in heat much worse than we experience here. And to those who are living with the massive western fires. I hope none of you are in the path of that destruction and I pray for the safety for those who are.

So until next time – God bless.

Where Is America Going?

Apparently if you are a YouTube creator and you disagree with the narrative of the Left on the subject of the jab, you go to YT jail for a week for the first offense. Their 'fact checkers' like to call it 'medical misinformation.' It isn't. It is censorship.

Pinball Preparedness is cooling his heels in YT jail for that very reason. However, he started another channel he calls Pinball Prepping.

He posted the following video concerning the road we are on toward full blown Communism. Even though the language is just a wee bit salty in spots, it is well worth your time to watch.

Prepping - Please deny you are a Communist NOW! - YouTube

I am tired of hearing “It can't happen here.” It can. It will. Unless we can stop it.

I Was Wrong

 In the comment section of my last post, I made a joke - well, maybe only half joking - about ripping up any government official who came knocking on my door, pushing the vax.  And as much fun as that might be, it is not a good idea.  Here's why.

Prepping - Do NOT open the door - YouTube

I live alone.  Opening my door to ANYONE I do not know is a stupid thing to do.  And I am embarassed that someone else had to point that out to me.

By the way...Pinball Preparedness on YouTube has lots of good, current information.  To access his channel, click on the name shown below each of his videos.  Well worth your time.

Stay safe.   

It Was Hot – Now It's Not

Todays temps here in Minnesota are a welcome relief from the heat wave we endured the last week or so. Early this morning we were at 57 degrees and now in the afternoon it sits at 67. I can live with this.

It rained yesterday and it was welcome. It has been a while since we saw any moisture. The gardeners and farmers have to be happy.

I can now run my pressure canner again without turning my little apartment into a sauna. Yesterday I canned 11 pints of chicken. Today it is 23 pints of beef/veg meal starter mix and 3 pints of cubed beef. There is still more food in the freezer to go into jars, so as long as the weather remains fairly cool, the canner will be running.

Everywhere I look on the web, I see warnings about the grid going down. That may be just rumor and fear or it could happen. Anything at this point is possible. I am not willing to take a chance on losing all the frozen food due to a power outage.

I see that I can expect someone to come knocking on my door to try to convince me to take the jab. I would like to know how the government knows which doors to knock on. Considering how the government manages to screw up nearly everything it touches, I am thinking this endeavor is not likely to go well.

Seems like each day is a new adventure in insanity. I was particularly dismayed to see how many used our Independence Day to spew hatred of our nation. Those of us who haven't been brainwashed into believing the idiocy of 'woke culture' understand that though we may not be a perfect nation, we are still the best there is. My thoughts to those who disrespect my Country, my Flag, my Anthem – don't let the door hit you in the backside on your way out.

The rest of us – be ready. Be prepared. Those Evil ones who want to rule over us will stop at nothing to get what they want.

But we have an Ace in the hole. We know that in the end, God wins.

I've Been AWOL

Of course, you all knew that, didn't you.

Sometimes in the aftermath of an event in our lives – particularly a sad one – we think we are doing better than we really are. Such has been the case here, but with the help from friends and family, I am slowly getting back to whatever normal is these days. Thank you for your patience.

My children are going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure Mom is alright. Yesterday Youngest Son brought his family to spend the afternoon with me. It was fun to hear what the Grands had been up to. David and I took a stroll down Memory Lane, talking about his Grandparents and about how living on the farm that had been in his Dad's family for several generations had shaped his appreciation for life and his love for the land.

Those who have houses or homesteads may not understand some of the challenges we apartment dwellers face in our preparedness journey. I am finding that I am quite literally out of space to store preps. I did manage to fill four banker's boxes and turn them into a makeshift coffee table with a crocheted afghan thrown over them and adding a plant and some books on top. It is one of the few plans that actually works.

In the process of clearing off a shelf to fill boxes, I discovered two cases of half pint jars full of canned bacon. I had forgotten they were there. The only good thing I can say about old age memory loss is that sometimes it results in some really good surprises. :)

I know I have been preaching 'stack it to the rafters,' but I believe I am going to have to slow down some. If I don't, my little apartment is in danger of looking like one of those hoarder's houses!

I still have some canning to do – meat from my freezer – a batch of ham and beans and a batch of vegetable beef soup. I have room to store those jars, but that is all.

I don't just store food. I use it. So my new strategy is to keep a list of what I use and replace it accordingly. I wish I had a basement or a spare room. I don't. Neither do many apartment people. So we adapt and do the best we can with what we have to work with. At least we will have something to eat should the lights go out, which is more than I can say for those who aren't paying attention to the crazy world round us.

Finally...

the temps here in Minnesota have dropped to a reasonable level. The canning has begun.

My grocery order arrived yesterday and in it were 1 cabbage, 4 lbs. of carrots, 2 bunches of celery, 3 lbs. of onions, 2 lbs. of frozen corn and 2 lbs. of frozen peas, along with 12 lbs. of frozen chicken breast.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were spent chopping, slicing and dicing. The meat was cut into about one inch pieces.

This morning I filled pint jars with a heaping quarter cup of chicken and topped that off with the veggies, adding water, leaving an inch of headspace and dropping one chicken bouillon cube into each jar for flavor. The jars were pressure canned for 75 minutes.

So far I have 32 pints of chicken/veg mix and there is at least enough left for another canner load of 16 pints – maybe more.

I have canned this mix before. It makes good soup, stew and pot pie filling. I have used it in casseroles and served it over rice. It is my main 'go to' canned food. I have also canned a version using beef, adding a beef bouillon cube and some tomato powder to each jar. Both varieties are good for quick, easy meals.

As long as Mother Nature has decided to turn down the heat a bit, I will be clearing out the freezer and canning up most of the meat. We were lucky this time in that we didn't lose power during the heat wave, but I have seen where some parts of the country had those problems. Meat is getting more expensive by the day and I am not willing to risk losing what I have. By canning it, I will have shelf stable meat.

With the direction our country seems to be headed these days, the more I can put on the shelves now, the better.

I don't want to be a prophet of doom. I would rather look at the positive side of things. But lately that seems to be a stretch. If the current power grabbers have their way, we will be dependent upon them for our very existence. I know that most who stop by this silly little blog agree that we are not hard wired to tow the mark. We would much rather do for ourselves than stand in line for a handout.

So we prepare. We do everything we can to remain independent. Because at the end of the day, we can live no other way.

Playing Hooky

I feel like a kid who is playing hooky from school, but without the fun involved. Here in Minnesota it has been hot. And humid. Youngest son called me yesterday and said the thermometer on his truck that reads outdoor temperature said 103 degrees. The air, even inside, feels heavy. It has not been a productive week.

On the positive side, a box fan moves the cooler air around my apartment making life more pleasant.

I feel sorry for those who have outside jobs. My youngest son oversees several landscaping crews. He has been filling a cooler with bottles of water and Gatorade to hand out to the workers. Having done that kind of work for several years, he knows how miserable it can be, working in this kind of heat.

A few years ago my oldest son told me about a trick he used while working in a hot restaurant kitchen. He would get towels wet, wring out the excess water and toss the towels into the freezer. When frozen, they were still pliable enough to drape around the back of his neck. I have been doing the same thing with some of my flour sack type of kitchen towels. Works like a charm.

The weather guessers say it should be a little cooler and less humid starting tomorrow. Hopefully I can begin canning up the meat in my freezer without turning my apartment into a sauna.

I hope things are more pleasant where you are. Keep on prepping and praying!