• Homesteading,  Keeping It Real,  Land,  Money

    A Quiet Revolution

    Let’s face it. [Keeping It Real] Most of us were raised in an environment where our housing, utilities, food, energy, transportation, healthcare & communications were all provided for us in exchange for money. Very few of us, I think, inherited our housing. (I didn’t.) We more than likely had to acquire it with money. And then we all have to keep paying money to keep it. While some have their own well water & septic systems, most rely on municipalities for these services in exchange for money. And most buy the majority of their food and pay for electricity and/or gas/oil to power & heat their homes. And this is…

  • Keeping It Real

    I Must Express Myself

    For a while now, I’ve been feeling frustrated because I have so much on my mind that I believe is meaningful, yet I feel like I have no one to express those thoughts to (besides those within my own household, who are probably sick to death by now of hearing it all). Generally speaking, I feel like many people don’t want to hear what’s on my mind because I spend a lot of time thinking about reality. And frankly, I think most people don’t like having to face it. But I think there are those who are concerned about the realities of life — particularly those that affect them personally,…

  • Keeping It Real,  Money

    The System Is Headed for Disaster

    Inflation is going to continue to rise. Job layoffs are going to continue to happen. Small businesses are going to continue to close. Bills are going to continue to pile up. And at some point, the whole banking/monetary system is going to come to a screeching halt. And when it does, it will be catastrophic. If you don’t believe me, investigate the matter for yourself. But understand: the mainstream media lies and so do the politicians and the central banksters. Please read Gregory Mannarino’s article, The Global Debt Market Time Bomb Is Close to Going Off. If you don’t understand how our banking/monetary system actually works, ordinarily I would recommend reading The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin and watching The Corbett…

  • Homesteading

    How Do I Manage It All?

    Housekeeping and Raising a Family I’m grateful to have found FLYLady over twenty years ago after I moved in with my husband and became an instant stepmom. FLYLady helped me overcome the CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in my home and realize that taking care of it all was a demonstration of Finally Loving Yourself. While I have gleaned a lot of great things from my exposure to FLYLady’s philosophy & customizable routines, I have not always been very consistent in my efforts to stay on top of keeping house while raising a family over the years. That’s because I took on more than just managing a house &…

  • Homesteading,  House,  Kitchen,  Videos

    Freeze Dryer Oil Pump Quandary

    I’m just now finishing up my 40th batch of freeze drying with my Harvest Right freeze dryer, and I’m still loving it. 🙂 However, I have the Premier Oil Pump, which needs to have the oil changed every 20-25 uses, and I’ve been in a state of quandary as to how to manage the oil related to it.

  • Community,  Videos

    Waving through a Window

    Last year I came across the movie musical, Dear Evan Hansen, at a local public library and checked it out. Ever hear of it? Google describes the movie as follows: Evan Hansen is an anxious, isolated high-school student who’s aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social media age. He soon embarks on a journey of self-discovery when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise falls into the hands of a grieving couple whose son took his own life. Google search result Oh.my.goodness.

  • Faith,  House,  Land

    Shabbat Shalom, Y’all

    In 2009, or thereabouts, I began researching & studying the US Constitution, and the course I was taking led me to read the book of Deuteronomy anew. (The course itself was not religious in nature — it just referenced the books of the Bible where the Ten Commandments were listed.) So, after a short while, having meditated on the chapter containing the Ten Commandments (chapter 6), I took to heart the instruction (verses 6-9) to teach these commandments diligently to the children & talk about them all the time, posting them at one’s gates and on the posts of one’s home. Thus began my Ten Commandments Campaign.

  • Homesteading,  House,  Kitchen

    My Freeze-Drying Future

    Last fall, we planned on processing our ginormous (yes, that’s a real word) fence-jumping Black Angus steer. However, when the day came to load him onto the trailer to go meet his Maker, a series of unfortunate events took place, to include the mangling of several cattle panels and garden fencing. Therefore his ticket to ride went to two other smaller animals, and that beast lived to see another day. 🙁 Knowing this mammal needed to end up in our freezer, sooner than later, yet our freezer space would be limited given the other two animals, we had to come up with either another massive freezer or another plan to…