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A Man with a Guitar & a Message
Have you seen/heard the red-bearded man singing his song, Rich Men North of Richmond yet? He goes by the name Oliver Anthony online, but his real name is Chris, and he lives in Farmville, VA. He’s not a professional musician, he’s just a man with a guitar and a message. If you haven’t watched & listened to it yet, please do so now. [WARNING: Contains foul language.] (Feel free to listen to it again…and again.) What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Here’s mine…
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Creating a Domain in the Real World
In recent years the Powers-That-Shouldn’t-Be in this world have been shoving us all into the virtual realm, whether we like it or not. And frankly, I don’t like it. I was already quite a bit behind the times, technologically speaking –– as I’m typing this post on a hard-wired desktop computer hooked up to a printer/copier/fax machine that’s nearly two decades old. (And my wired landline telephone is stationed just around the corner, with another extension linked to an answering machine.) While I was on the cutting edge of web-design-from-scratch and the blogosphere nearly twenty years ago, I have failed miserably at keeping up with the latest & greatest of…
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Cultured Home Dairy Products
This past week, with the help of friends, we made our first batch of cultured butter & buttermilk, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese and whey, all using raw milk obtained from our own milk cow share. It was very empowering & freeing, especially given how good for us I know these cultured foods are. Many years ago I bought the book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and have only read portions of it thus far, but I refer to it often for a handful of recipes, and am seeking to systematically learn more about preparing & preserving food through alternate means. I knew when the time came for me…
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Freedom Scorecard
I came across this snazzy little tool presented by Tag at LifeDoneFree, which he calls a UGS Calculator. (“UGS” stands for “UnGovernable Score”.) Basically, it’s a gauge to determine how free you are based on what you deem is needed to be free. For a while now, I’ve been trying to keep tabs on taking care of our First- Things-First needs, and thensome, to get as free as we can be. And I really like how Tag has put this spreadsheet together to help monitor one’s progress on achieving freedom in the many aspects of our lives.
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Longing for Community
For many years we have longed for community. However, we weren’t interested in just any kind of community, because we’ve seen (& been a part of) a variety of communities over our lifetime that have left us feeling empty & stagnant. For us, given our concern for what we see going on around us & our passionate vision for the future (particularly for our kids!), we have desired to develop relationships with folks who are dedicated to actively cooperating their way out of the System. And then, naturally, we’d like to cooperate with them to achieve that in our own respective little worlds. So, beyond simply meeting & knowing people…
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Opting out of CBDC
Yesterday, I received an email announcing a 5-Day CBDC Opt-out Challenge, which appears to be promoting the idea of utilizing cryptocurrency. While I’m not a big fan of crypto, I personally do not want to jump on board the CBDC wagon. So, I’m doing what I can to migrate away from using digital dollars. We sell products online. We’ve been doing it for decades now. It’s what has enabled us to stay home to raise & homeschool our kids and build our homestead. But now, seeing the direction things are going in the world out there, I don’t want to continue down that path much longer.
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Scrolling Without Comment
I saw a meme this morning that someone shared on Facebook which read: “I saw a post I didn’t agree with. -I chose not to get offended. -I chose not to change their mind. -I chose not to comment. -I still like the person. I just kept scrolling and went on with my day.” – Dr, Shawne.com I realize the intent of this post was likely to point out the idea that it is possible to still like someone who posts something we don’t agree with. But when I read it, I homed in on the part that said, “I chose not to change their mind. – I chose not…
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I Will Not Comply
I came across this song today, and I found it very catchy. (It reminds me of my time spent at Denim & Diamonds nearly 30 years ago.) I love the lyrics. (It sums up my year of 2020.) How about you?
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Return to Print Publications
I was happy to read today that 2.9 Billion People are Still Offline. (Of course, I had to see that tidbit online because that’s the only way I’ve been able to get news regarding world events these days.)
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I’m Not a Cow Person
I’m not a cow person, but we have cows — a lot of them. In fact, we just had one born on the homestead last week. Check out this momma & her calf. If I had my druthers, I’d get rid of most of our herd because we have too many for our land to support them all. But my husband keeps reminding me that we need them because they are doing precious work for us that would otherwise take decades for us to do. They are bringing fertility to the land. A lot of it.
