Musings About Things on Frank's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Frank! Happy Birthday to Frank!

I have the honor of being married to a man that has a 30 year old mind encased in a 65 year old body. His mind is sharp and more active than ever, his learning curve continues to go through the ceiling, his dreams and aspirations are never ending, there are just

days he wishes his body would keep up. In our discussions recently we have pondered how others meet up with an aging body. We really don't 'see' ourselves as aging or even getting older. There are still so many things we want to do and learn, the list only grows longer instead of shorter. But time marches on and our bodies are aging. Some things we didn't used to give much thought to, now present more of a challenge, some of them much more of a challenge. We still set goals of what we want to get accomplished in a day, but the amounts we are able to complete just aren't as much as they used to be. Sometimes that's frustrating, sometimes is surprising, and sometimes it's just downright disgusting. The aches and pains tend to interrupt things when we keep pushing and pushing to get something finished, even when we know it is past time to stop for the day. Such is this thing we call life. We've heard about it for many years now, and it would seem it is now our turn to experience it for ourselves.

We got an interesting envelop in the mail today. We have been waiting for the inevitable W4's and 1099's to arrive so that we can see how much we have to pay the piper this year. In years past we had our withholding set up at the highest rate so that we would get a tax refund. For the past five or six years we have changed our withholding to the lowest rate. We would rather owe at the end of the year instead of face the possibility of the feds deciding it would be a good year to start keeping, instead of disbursing, 

the refunds to help feed their ever insatiable appetite for spending The People's money. Well, the envelope we received today was from the Oklahoma Tax Commission which informed us we will have to pay federal taxes on last year's state refund. What?? Enough is enough, folks. When are they going to start taxing how much we pay in taxes, how many breaths we take, and how often we go to the bathroom? After all, we are using up oxygen when we breathe, not to mention how much each exhalation we complete is adding to the devastating, Earth killing global warming! We probably shouldn't even talk about how much water is used each time we go to the bathroom. But they have already regulated that by limiting the amount of water you are able to use with each and every flush.

It saddens us to see the state of families now days. So many people are caught up in the world. The shiny, dazzling, fast paced world has so much to offer in the way of activities and distractions. Over Christmas, a family we know had scheduled a vacation to Cancun, a once in a lifetime trip.

But they left their two year old daughter with grandma, for a week, at Christmas. I guess she would just be too much in the way. What will this girl think when she is older and the family is sitting around looking at the pictures from this 'once in a lifetime vacation' and reliving what a good time they had, and she realizes that she wasn't there? That she wasn't wanted there? That she would have been in the way? What does that say to a child? When I asked the grandmother how the girl was managing, being away from her parents and brothers, the answer astounded me again. The only person this girl ever cries for is her grandmother, not her parents. This grandmother takes care of the girl most weekdays while her mother attends nursing school, which is very admirable on both their parts. And it's great this little girl is very comfortable and happy with her grandmother. But to think she has bonded more with her grandmother than with her parents bothers me. What does that say for this family? And so many other families in our society?

We saw a young man yesterday that Frank has known for a number of years. He has read some of this blog, and has shown an interest in radio communications, using GMRS and MURS. The last time Frank saw him they talked about the possibility of getting a ham license. But yesterday

when Frank saw him and asked about using radios, the young man just smiled and said he hadn't been doing anything with them. When Frank reminded him that time may be short to get things set up, the young man laughed at him. Laughed at him like he was humoring someone that either wasn't quite right in the head, or didn't know what he was talking about. Laughed at the possibility that something devastating may come to pass in our country and world. There are many people out there that have this very same attitude. These same people that rush to the store in a panic right before the big storm comes through, only to find the shelves bare and people fighting over the last case of bottled water. The experience Frank had with this young man bothered him. It bothered him to think that this young man, his wife and young daughter may not make it when the time comes. He may think back and remember the warnings he received and did not heed, and because of that, unspeakable tragedy may be visited upon his family. 

It's not like it's the first time we have been laughed at and ridiculed for the way we live and the warnings we share with others. We had people thinking we were nuts way back before Y2K when we wanted to grow

our own food, live off the beaten path and be much more self-reliant. Then Y2K came along and we did the best we could to be ready for the long term. Our location wasn't the best survival location, but we prepared the best we could. Most folks just couldn't fathom the depth of our preparedness and why we would even consider going to such lengths. They laughed then, and we knew, should a devastating collapse come upon the world that we were much better prepared than they. Not only had we tried to gather 'stuff', we began very serious preparations of our minds, which is by far the most important aspect of preparation that you can undertake. 

Since Y2K, the experiences we have had and the learning we have pursued have changed our lives. Literally. It is with heavy hearts that we continue to see the vast majority of people ignoring the warning signs all about us, from the economy to the fascist government that is quickly

suffocating every form of freedom, independence and self-reliance that it can possibly rape, pillage and steal from The People. There have been so many instances of people going along with the actions of the government only to find out they are being lead like lambs to the slaughter. They stare around in wide eyed wonder, and their life is snuffed out in an instant. Is that what awaits the Sheeple? I really can't say for sure, but it sure does appear that way. If we live to see the day, the great and dreadful day, of the collapse of our society, country and world, my heart will cry with anguish for those that are not ready. For those that will continue to refuse to look reality in the eye without blinking and turning away. For those that simply will not make it. I mourn for them already.

There are many things in this life that we give thanks for every single day. We give thanks for another day. We give thanks for our warm home and

a roof over our heads. We give thanks for the food on our table. We give thanks for God watching out for us and guiding us every day of our lives. We give thanks that we have been brought to this place at this time in the history of our world. And on this day, I give thanks to God for bringing me into the life of the man you know as Frank. He has blessed me for these many years with his knowledge, skill, generosity, integrity, honesty, willingness to serve others through his military service, law enforcement work, volunteer EMT and Firefighter work, dedication to family, his love for God, and his love for me.

Happy Birthday Frank!
Love,
Fern

A Very Simple Lotion, Failures & Success

A day or so after we made our simple lip balm, I tried my hand at making a simple lotion. I got the recipe from Leigh over at 5 Acres & A Dream. It's in her latest ebooklet, How To Make An Herbal Salve, which is part of The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos, she's been writing. I wanted something very simple, with few ingredients, that I could make from things I normally keep on hand. Leigh's recipe fit the bill.

Trying to make a simple lotion is a continuation of our attempt to minimize the chemicals we ingest or absorb into our bodies. And, once again, I was amazed just how easy it is to make this lotion, even though it failed the second time I made it. But that's getting ahead of myself. I forgot to take any pictures while I made the first batch.

The recipe calls for one cup of herbal tea. I had recently read that lemon balm and peppermint are good for your skin, and I happened to have a few leaves here and there growing out in the herb bed, so I picked them to use in my tea. I brought the water to boiling, turned off the fire, added the herbs and let them steep for about five minutes.

Next, I took 3/4 cup of oil, I used olive oil, and melted 2 tbsp. of beeswax in it. After the tea was ready, I blended it into the oil, until it was well blended. Leigh uses a blender. I used a slotted spoon. I wasn't sure how long to stir it, and I knew I wouldn't get the same consistency as a blender, but I thought it worked out well.

Frank and I were pleased with the results. This lotion is definitely oilier than any over the counter lotion we have used. But, if you give it a few minutes it will soak in and works very well.

 
So, the other day I thought I would make another batch since we have already used up more than half of the first batch. I picked more lemon balm and peppermint, even though there wasn't much left out there. 

 






Made my tea, melted the beeswax and got ready to mix it together. 

This time I used the KitchenAid with the whip attachment to 'blend' the tea into the oil. After I thought it was well blended, it started to solidify on the sides of the bowl, I poured it into my half pint jars. 

 





Very quickly it started to separate. Tea on the bottom, olive oil and beeswax on the top. I scooped it out and remelted everything, stirred it with my slotted spoon, and poured it back into the jars. It separated again. I looked at the recipe over and over and tried to figure out what I had done differently to no avail. So, on the counter, taking up space, my failed lotion sat for almost a week. The other day Frank asked me if it had anywhere else it could be. But I told him for now, it was just sitting there until I could figure out what to do differently with it.

 Well, this morning it was time. I didn't have the time to go out searching for more lemon balm and peppermint, so I used some store bought chamomile and made up a cup of tea.

I scooped off the olive oil and beeswax from the failed batch, remelted it again, and poured out the old tea. This time I didn't bother with the Kitchen Aid. I figured if it didn't work, I would dump it all out and try again another time.

After I poured the tea into the oils, I stirred and stirred with my slotted spoon. The mixture looked exactly like the failed batch and I didn't think it would work. I have been researching a lot about making soap lately, reading and watching YouTubes. I have learned what getting your soap to trace means. It's when you have stirred it long enough for it to become a thick, pudding consistency that will hold it's shape when you run a spoon across the top. What does this have to do with making lotion? Well, as I stood there stirring and stirring, I wondered if I cooled the lotion down enough for the oils to start solidifying, would they begin to blend with the tea the way they were supposed to? So I put the pan into a sink of cold water to cool it down as I stirred and stirred. My arm was getting tired.

It worked. As the oils began to solidify, the tea started to blend into the mixture. I tried stirring with my left hand, but kept splashing droplets here and there on the counter. So, I stirred and stirred until it was time to stop.

There are still tiny, little pockets that look like moisture, but this time, the lotion actually looks rather creamy, like you would expect from a commercial lotion. I really couldn't care less if it looked like a commercial lotion, but since that is what I have used all my life, it is what I have come to expect a lotion to look like. The consistency of the first batch is more like a salve than a lotion, but this batch is creamier, even though the ingredients are the same. Interesting.

There are many things that I have long dreamed and thought of doing. Making lotion wasn't one of them. But, you know what? I think it is so neat, and fun, and healthier, and just really cool. I made a very simple lotion from ingredients I keep on hand, thanks to all the folks out there that share what they know and do, so I can do it too. What a great life!

Until next time - Fern

Under Construction

There has been some really great weather here for about a week now, and we have been taking advantage of it. We have been building some loft shelving in the building that replaced the old red shed. This will give us more storage space for light duty items, as well as utilize our space more efficiently.

All of this work leads Frank to finalize the plans for our solar panel installation, which is very exciting. As we get closer to having everything prepared for this project more research, planning and figuring have to be done to make sure we have everything we need. Some of the ideas we have had during this planning phase have created some changes for the better.

While we spend more time outside in the wonderful sunshine and 76* weather on this balmy January 28th, we aren't spending much time preparing anything for the blog. We hope you'll understand. Please enjoy a few pictures from around the farm, while one of our long term dreams is under construction.

Scruffy

Tiger and Pretty playing in the herb bed.

Little Bit enjoying a piece of sunshine while One Stripe enjoys a meal.

Our always faithful, Pearl.

Blackberry beginning to bud

The beautiful hills

Water flowing in the branch in the yard

Sunset through the radio antennas

Knitting a baby afghan

We're finally getting plenty of eggs.

The bread jar

Sunset reflecting toward the east

Long may she wave

Little Bit

Time to make pots for our seedlings

Enjoy these relatively peaceful days that we have been given. Dream big, plan well, work hard and your rewards will be very gratifying. All we can do and learn now may make life just a little bit easier when TEOTWAWKI comes knocking. Are you ready to answer that door?

Until next time - Fern