Neighbors & Friends

As some of you know, I recently had major back surgery. Even with the best laid plans, there is always a gap, and sometimes a large gap. A couple of examples. 

We never thought about a bedside toilet. We didn't realize there are some made for smaller people, bigger people, taller and shorter folks. Not trying to sound crude here, but it would be nice if the people that designed these bedside toilets would actually take the time to sit on one of them. Sometimes it is apparent that these are not designed for use by a man. 

Next example. Bedpans. While in the hospital, I was advised to just use a bedpan. Okay. A short review here. I have 16 staples in my lower back, am in unbelievable pain and am told, just put it underneath and let it go. That just doesn't work. I can see where a metal bedpan would be a tremendous benefit during a hail storm, or if you want to play pirate with your kids, but otherwise, I saw no practical use, with my accompanying condition and the use of a bedpan.

We did some modifications to the couch before my surgery. Instead of spending a lot of time on my back in the bedroom laying down, this gives me another option closer to where most of the living and doing occurs in our house. 

I had a good plan of building 'legs' to go on the legs of our couch. And in our opinion, that was one of those great plans, but the couch was just not meant for long-term sleeping right after surgery, as I quickly discovered. But in just a few days, when I could move around a little better, the raised couch became a very good resting place.
 

We discovered these small sliders on the bottom of the legs.

I got out my forstner bit and fixed that problem.

 

The real reason for this post is the utilization of your neighbors and friends. I am, by all serious nature, a hermit, recluse, loner, pick any term you like. And I'm also one of those types that seldom ever asks for help. But there are times that we adult males need to get over some of these things. When I arrived home from the hospital, there were more cars parked in front of my house than I have ever seen. One of my male neighbors and friends, was there to help me up my steps, which if you can't hardly walk, steps are tough to negotiate. It seems that everybody and their cousin has extra medical supplies that were gently used once and are now available for loan.

But, let me back up a little bit. I have a neighbor, who is also a relative, and we share a common fence line. She was nice enough to come over and open up our chicken house every morning, then come back and close it every evening. Since the hospital is an hour and a half away, for Fern to make two trips a day, would be a minimum of six hours driving time, not to mention the time on site doing chores. So, opening and closing the chickens saved us about four hours a day.

The animals need feed and water. Other neighbors from down the road, helped feed and water our animals several times, which was an unbelievable help. This helped Fern cut down her trips to do chores to once a day. That puts us down to three hours drive time and 30 minutes chore time. 

As most of you are aware, if you let yellow squash get too big, the plant will quit producing and gradually die. So, what does that mean to us? We are not going to be using any of these crops right now, but after my back issue settles down some, we would still like to have harvestable crops. Some more neighbors of ours helped us by harvesting the mature crops in the garden. You think, well, that's free food for them, and that is true. But the bigger issue to me is keeping our garden producing. It's also good for the neighbors, because some of those crops did not do well for them this year.

Other relatives picked up our mail at the post office for us and drove to our closest pharmacy, 25 miles away, and had our prescriptions filled. It's nice to be able to call the pharmacy and talk to the folks there on a first name basis. 

Our local preacher and spiritual adviser has called to check on me everyday. He also came to see me in the hospital. We have not always attended his church, but I have known this man for over 30 years and appreciate the time he takes to contact me everyday.

I know I'm going to leave some events out here, but it humbles me to know that there are people, good decent people, that will step up to the plate when someone is in need. Some of these are friends, some are neighbors, some are relatives, and some are combinations of the above. So, when I get over this, I will still be a hermit, but I want to genuinely thank everybody that helped and are still helping. I also want to thank everyone for their prayers, because I do believe in God and the power of prayer.

Well, it's about nap time. Be appreciative of what you have, and for those around you. Now if I could just get someone to wash my car....

We'll talk more later. Frank

 

Please Enjoy the View

Sorry, folks. We interrupt this blog to tend to our health. I am happy to announce we are home from the hospital this afternoon. Please browse through the older posts and see if you find anything of interest. We will be back after a day or two. In the meantime, here are some random pictures from around the farm.

We are blessed.

Until next time - Fern

Tangible Assets, Re-Posted

This weekend seems like a good time to re-post an article that we wrote last year at this time. The goals it talks about are still in place. We have learned a lot since last year and continue to do so. With our stay in the hospital, I haven't had much time to devote to the blog, so here is something that I enjoyed re-reading.

Tangible Assets

Originally published July 6, 2013

Tangibles. What are tangibles? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tangible as 1) capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch, 2) capable of being precisely identified or realized by the mind or 3) capable of being appraised at an actual or approximate value.

So. If I have a packet of bean seeds that I can touch, identify and appraise the value of, then in my opinion, I have a tangible item. Many people would refer to their wealth as tangible assets. The things they surround themselves with indicates their status among those who share the same ideology. Take gold for example. Many would categorize gold as a tangible asset, a means of maintaining wealth in these times of economic volatility.

Now, let's go back to the title of this piece - Real Assets. How will one ounce of gold help you survive? Can you eat it, heat your house with it, grow food with it, wear it, drive it.....? What good will it do you if the dollar is devalued to the point of no return? How much is gold worth if the dollar is worth nothing? We always think of gold as worth X number of dollars. If the value of the dollar is equal to zero, what is gold worth then? Can you protect your family with it? The precious metals you need to protect your family are brass and lead. In the long run they may end up being much more precious than any other metal.

Tangibles. While we were in Alaska we were able to increase our savings. When we moved back to Oklahoma we invested our savings into our homestead, one of our most important tangible assets.  One of the first things we did was upgrade the older house we bought. We put on new siding that will not burn and added porches on the east 

and west sides of the house for increased ventilation if the power grid goes down for an extended period of time. We also installed a storm cellar, had two water wells dug and put in stainless steel hand pumps, had a barn built and had the fencing dozed and rebuilt. We bought a tractor to help us work the land and invested in many tools for gardening and animal care.We acquired goats, chickens, cats and a dog. We consider all of these to be very important tangible assets and key to our survival.

We have often talked about tangible assets in the past few years. Our discussions have included pondering what else we may need if we were never able to obtain another thing in this world. What if the 'things' we have are it? Can we make do? Patrice Lewis from Rural Revolution has written a World Net Daily article titled Tangible Investments.....That Breathe. Patrice talks about her cows being a tangible investment. Her family depends on them for food and income. We feel this type of investment in tangible goods is not only prudent but necessary for our future survival given the economic condition of our country and our world.

With that in mind, we continue to learn as much as we can about food production, processing and storage. Our new pond is just one example. How does a pond represent food production? First, it is another way to store water - that most precious necessity of life. Second, we stocked it with fish. What better way to store meat than in it's own natural habitat?

We have a flock of laying hens that also provide us with meat and
eggs. In the past, we traditionally have frozen the fryers we butcher

each summer, but we have begun to can our meat to decrease the dependence on electricity for the freezer. Our goats provide us with milk, butter, cheese and wethers (castrated males) each year that we butcher for meat. So far we have frozen the meat from the goats, but plan to can the next batch we butcher.

We are working on a rain catchment system that we can utilize for watering the animals and the garden, thus decreasing our dependency on city or well water. A greenhouse with solar panels and a 12 volt well pump are also in the plans. 

One of the things we feel is very important at this time is to obtain items now before the prices rise even more and we can no longer afford them, or the items are just no longer available at all. This includes the materials for future projects that we have not had the time to complete, but would like to if we were to rely totally on our own means to survive.

We have been learning more and more about gardening and canning food. We have had gardens in the past, but have not been as serious as we are now about how to grow different vegetables. It is important to know which ones grow well in your area, how well they keep and if you can save the seeds in a manner that keeps them viable until they are needed. We now grow all of our seedlings which has entailed learning when to start them so they will be ready to plant at the appropriate time. Do you have enough seeds and in a large enough variety to grow what your family and neighbors will need to consume to remain healthy and able to work hard every day? We continue to buy and feed our livestock commercial feed, but are in the process of trying to grow feed for them as well. There is so much to learn and not enough hours in the day to learn and do all that we would like.

Frank has read recently that if you have a minimum food storage of six months, within that time you can grow some food to eat if the season and conditions allow. Six months. That is a long time to wait for something to grow to the point that it can actually add nourishment to your diet. Can you wait that long? Have you stored up for a long winter or summer or downturn in the economy?

Tangible assets. Have you had a talk with God lately? What do you and your family need to do to be ready?  Do it now while you still can.

Blessings to you all,

Frank and Fern
 

How Green is the Garden

The garden is lush and green this year. We have been getting plenty of rain, which is great. In years past, we would be watering a lot by now, but not this year. We have only had to water two times so far. One of the differences this year is the addition of a lot of grass and weeds. Plans don't always work out the way you think they might and the weeding has been put on the back burner more often than not this year. Nevertheless, we have many things producing, in spite of the neglect.

I want to share another garden with you. Our friends, Grace and Moe Joe, have planted a garden for the second year. They have figured out how to maximize some small spaces, a 10' by 24' garden plot, and a 'flower bed' by the house, as well as some container gardening. They have grown enough to preserve a variety of items, as well as cook fresh food everyday, and give away the surplus. There are so many different ways to grow food, I wanted to share their examples. 

I am sorry for the brevity of the last two posts, I am publishing this one from the hospital. Frank has decided to invest in a small amount of titanium as a precious metal. So far, everything is going well. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

So.....Happy gardening everyone! I hope your harvest is abundant.

Until next time - Fern
 

Things You Might Want to Read

There are many things afoot in our country that are getting some attention and causing a lot of distraction. I have read quite a few articles lately that not only give me pause, but much to ponder. I don't usually list articles to read, but as your time allows, some of them are a little lengthy, I would strongly recommend these articles. Some of them are a week or so old, but all of them together paint an interesting picture of the signs of our times. I can't say enjoy the read, because it may cause concern or fear. So, I will say, be brave, have courage and stand your ground, the major challenge is yet to come.

These first articles are a two part series dealing with the influx of people entering our country illegally.

• The UN is Positioning to Lock Down the U.S.
• Analysis: United Nations Assets Will Be Deployed in USA to Resolve "International Crisis" on Border

I found this article to be very interesting. It is about the economic health of our country from the perspective of one of the very rich. It's different.

• The Pitchforks Are Coming For Us Plutocrats 

This article is a history lesson about the planned demise of capitalism, and the rise of socialism.

• Cloward-Piven Strategy

There are many other sources of information to read 'out there' that give me reason to diligently increase my knowledge and skills. The independence with which we live can only continue by the sweat of our brow, the knowledge in our mind, the perseverance of our souls and the blessings from God. All else appears to be working against us. Don't be caught flat footed and unprepared.

Until next time - Fern