"The two most important days in your life were the day you were born and the day you find out why."
Mark Twain
April 7th, 2020--Day number 24 of the great American Emergency.
Who would have guessed that something of this scale could take out the entire world! That *virus that must not be named* has touched almost every human on this planet.
Time to saddle up the ponies and get on the trail to a new adventure, kids. Life is changing so fast that this ol' gal can't make head nor tails of who's got what and how many. Life as we knew it are now the good ol' days. Ooops, wait a minute. We are under a stay at home order. Cancel the ponies, but the adventure begins now.
Staying home can be a blessing I guess or a curse, depending how you want to examine it. I have used this time to clean out some stuff that needed cleaning out. Between sneezing from dust and grunting from moving around shit, I came across a box of old books and such that I have had for better part of a hundred years.
If you are paying attention the universe will tap you on the shoulder, but in my case it dropped it on my foot. An old white cassette tape. This plastic relic looked like it had been through a war, it was in rough shape but I think it should still work. A hand written label on one side claimed it was a recording of Paul Solomon, 1972. Paul Solomon, was an Orthodox minister who discovered he could do what Edgar Cayce did, answer questions while in a state of "waking sleep". Actually he didn't make the recordings, his wife did while Paul was napping on the couch. She asked him specific questions, and he would answer as she recorded his answers. Well, thank goodness I don't get rid of stuff because I had to listen to this thing. Way in the back of the closet I still had an actual cassette player. (Don't just love old people?)
I plugged it in and was grateful when it began to play. I was very curious and so listened to this recording intently. All of a sudden the freaking hair on the back of my neck stood at attention and goose bumps rode up my spine! He was talking about the destruction of the two tallest buildings in the city of "York that is new." As I listened, not believing what I was hearing, he continues on about the coming food shortages and stresses we need to "SAVE SEEDS seeeeee", he says. Well, I'll be slapped on the ass and called Bertha if that ain't the most freaky thing!
Save seeds he said. From 1972, that was 48 years ago! There was a bunch more on that tape but for the sake of sanity we'll just go with this for now. Save seeds. SAVE SEEDS. I also heard today that big box stores like Wal-Mart are ceasing to have a garden department and are not selling seeds. That was what blew my hair back and got me all creepy feeling. In all seriousness, how many people really know how to save and properly store seeds. I have been at seed saving for at least 40 years and there are things I'm still learning about the plant world.
I'm no sleeping prophet but I have a feeling that those who have knowledge of seed saving are going to be very popular in the near future. Wait until the real food shortages show up next year!
Well, that whole prophet business shook me up pretty bad. I had to think about it for a few minutes, so I went into the kitchen and put the tea kettle on for a cup of tea. Then it hit me!
Barter and community! Yes, everyone has their own talents. No one can do everything, nor would they have enough time in the day to do it all. That's where barter and community comes in. They have things or skills and we have things and skills. Then we make a trade. I trade you one or two of my things for one or two of your things of equal value.
"Hey Buddy, you got toilet paper or feminine products? Wife says don't come home without em'. She'll kick my but if I don't find some. I got a couple of gardening books I'll trade, got some girly mags in the truck if you're interested."
That's kind of how it works if you are not familiar with the aspects of barter. Both parties have to go away happy with the trade.
What else can we barter? Skills will be a very good bartering item, especially if you are in the health care genre. There is a long list of skill sets that can be traded. Probably a good idea to give your skill set a going over and see what shakes out. What do you know how to do very well that others may need?
On page 3 of How to Survive and Thrive When the Power is Out, There is a list of items that sell out first, if you had the forethought to already have extras on hand to trade, you'd be set. Check these out;
*Toilet paper, dah, that was a no brainer.
*Large plastic trash bags to put in the toilet when the ability to flush stops. Put the plastic bag in the toilet bowl and have everyone do their business in there, change when it gets pretty full.
*You will be a hero if you have an extra hand can opener to trade.
*Candles, lamp oil, or solar powder mini lights
*Alcohol and cigarettes- people will be going crazy without those, you could most likely trade for anything if you have these in the barter box.
*Sugar and flour, maybe even a cook book or two.
*Clorox bleach!
*Condoms!!!! See next.
*Baby diapers and formula- there is a recipe to make your own baby formula in the book on page 87. Also, an ancient way to tell if you are pregnant. Cool, the ancients had it covered.
*Fresh clean filtered water and something to haul it in.
*Ammunition is always a welcome trade.
*Kids games and entertainment items
*Shampoo and soap
*Matches or lighters
*Insect repellent and bug spray. Garden de-buggers too!
*Work gloves, especially if city folks aren't used to manual labor. Gloves will be a very welcome item for trade.
* How-to books. Girly mags, eh? Maybe.
* Freeze dried food--I make a rice dish that is shelf stable for years. Recipe down below.
*Comfort food; popcorn, trail mix, hard candy, crackers etc.
*Duct tape
*Kids clothes and shoes or boots
*Sleeping bags, blankets and other camping or household items
As you can see the list is extensive and only limited by your imagination.
Pilaf recipe-- 1 cup white rice
1 cup dried vegetables-I usually use dried broccoli because it holds it flavor and looks good after it has been cooked.
2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes or the equivalent in the powdered stuff.
Put this into a ziplock plastic bag, seal and date. Put the recipe on the bag too, since most people don't know the first thing about cooking at home any more. ( 2 cups cold water in a pot, put the rice, vegetables and bouillon in it and cover. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the water. Serve hot)
Now watch this hair raising video.
Stay safe, kids. Please like and share.
April 7th, 2020--Day number 24 of the great American Emergency.
Who would have guessed that something of this scale could take out the entire world! That *virus that must not be named* has touched almost every human on this planet.
Time to saddle up the ponies and get on the trail to a new adventure, kids. Life is changing so fast that this ol' gal can't make head nor tails of who's got what and how many. Life as we knew it are now the good ol' days. Ooops, wait a minute. We are under a stay at home order. Cancel the ponies, but the adventure begins now.
Staying home can be a blessing I guess or a curse, depending how you want to examine it. I have used this time to clean out some stuff that needed cleaning out. Between sneezing from dust and grunting from moving around shit, I came across a box of old books and such that I have had for better part of a hundred years.
If you are paying attention the universe will tap you on the shoulder, but in my case it dropped it on my foot. An old white cassette tape. This plastic relic looked like it had been through a war, it was in rough shape but I think it should still work. A hand written label on one side claimed it was a recording of Paul Solomon, 1972. Paul Solomon, was an Orthodox minister who discovered he could do what Edgar Cayce did, answer questions while in a state of "waking sleep". Actually he didn't make the recordings, his wife did while Paul was napping on the couch. She asked him specific questions, and he would answer as she recorded his answers. Well, thank goodness I don't get rid of stuff because I had to listen to this thing. Way in the back of the closet I still had an actual cassette player. (Don't just love old people?)
I plugged it in and was grateful when it began to play. I was very curious and so listened to this recording intently. All of a sudden the freaking hair on the back of my neck stood at attention and goose bumps rode up my spine! He was talking about the destruction of the two tallest buildings in the city of "York that is new." As I listened, not believing what I was hearing, he continues on about the coming food shortages and stresses we need to "SAVE SEEDS seeeeee", he says. Well, I'll be slapped on the ass and called Bertha if that ain't the most freaky thing!
Save seeds he said. From 1972, that was 48 years ago! There was a bunch more on that tape but for the sake of sanity we'll just go with this for now. Save seeds. SAVE SEEDS. I also heard today that big box stores like Wal-Mart are ceasing to have a garden department and are not selling seeds. That was what blew my hair back and got me all creepy feeling. In all seriousness, how many people really know how to save and properly store seeds. I have been at seed saving for at least 40 years and there are things I'm still learning about the plant world.
I'm no sleeping prophet but I have a feeling that those who have knowledge of seed saving are going to be very popular in the near future. Wait until the real food shortages show up next year!
Well, that whole prophet business shook me up pretty bad. I had to think about it for a few minutes, so I went into the kitchen and put the tea kettle on for a cup of tea. Then it hit me!
Barter and community! Yes, everyone has their own talents. No one can do everything, nor would they have enough time in the day to do it all. That's where barter and community comes in. They have things or skills and we have things and skills. Then we make a trade. I trade you one or two of my things for one or two of your things of equal value.
"Hey Buddy, you got toilet paper or feminine products? Wife says don't come home without em'. She'll kick my but if I don't find some. I got a couple of gardening books I'll trade, got some girly mags in the truck if you're interested."
That's kind of how it works if you are not familiar with the aspects of barter. Both parties have to go away happy with the trade.
What else can we barter? Skills will be a very good bartering item, especially if you are in the health care genre. There is a long list of skill sets that can be traded. Probably a good idea to give your skill set a going over and see what shakes out. What do you know how to do very well that others may need?
On page 3 of How to Survive and Thrive When the Power is Out, There is a list of items that sell out first, if you had the forethought to already have extras on hand to trade, you'd be set. Check these out;
*Toilet paper, dah, that was a no brainer.
*Large plastic trash bags to put in the toilet when the ability to flush stops. Put the plastic bag in the toilet bowl and have everyone do their business in there, change when it gets pretty full.
*You will be a hero if you have an extra hand can opener to trade.
*Candles, lamp oil, or solar powder mini lights
*Alcohol and cigarettes- people will be going crazy without those, you could most likely trade for anything if you have these in the barter box.
*Sugar and flour, maybe even a cook book or two.
*Clorox bleach!
*Condoms!!!! See next.
*Baby diapers and formula- there is a recipe to make your own baby formula in the book on page 87. Also, an ancient way to tell if you are pregnant. Cool, the ancients had it covered.
*Fresh clean filtered water and something to haul it in.
*Ammunition is always a welcome trade.
*Kids games and entertainment items
*Shampoo and soap
*Matches or lighters
*Insect repellent and bug spray. Garden de-buggers too!
*Work gloves, especially if city folks aren't used to manual labor. Gloves will be a very welcome item for trade.
* How-to books. Girly mags, eh? Maybe.
* Freeze dried food--I make a rice dish that is shelf stable for years. Recipe down below.
*Comfort food; popcorn, trail mix, hard candy, crackers etc.
*Duct tape
*Kids clothes and shoes or boots
*Sleeping bags, blankets and other camping or household items
As you can see the list is extensive and only limited by your imagination.
Pilaf recipe-- 1 cup white rice
1 cup dried vegetables-I usually use dried broccoli because it holds it flavor and looks good after it has been cooked.
2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes or the equivalent in the powdered stuff.
Put this into a ziplock plastic bag, seal and date. Put the recipe on the bag too, since most people don't know the first thing about cooking at home any more. ( 2 cups cold water in a pot, put the rice, vegetables and bouillon in it and cover. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the water. Serve hot)
Now watch this hair raising video.
Stay safe, kids. Please like and share.
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