Places We Read with a Rant

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

Over the last few years, we have picked up some sites, blogs, websites, that we enjoy reading. There are a few that over time have faded away. We thought we'd share with you some that we find enjoyable. Maybe enjoyable is not the right word, because some of the things we read are very disturbing. Some of these sites have new recipes, for the most part, these are enjoyable, unless of course it involves cauliflower. Living in the land of the free and the home of the brave, I do not have to eat cauliflower. I remember the older Bush president stating one day, "I am President of the United States, and if I don't want to eat broccoli, I don't have to." Well, I will eat broccoli, if Fern makes me, but I have drawn a line in the mud about cauliflower.

Getting back reasonably close to what we're talking about here, some of the sites we read are by no means enjoyable, they display the events that are happening in our world, that I would like to believe are a relative rendition of the truth. Speaking of the truth, or lack thereof, I am astounded by the behavior of not only the 'mainstream' media, but the sub-mainstream media and the unbelievable perversion and distortion of the truth. An example. This morning President Trump tweeted that Senator Chuck Schumer is already criticizing his State of the Union speech, and Senator Schumer has not read the speech yet. I'm not picking on the Senator here, this is just an example of the way the news is betrayed in our country.

Now, I'm not making reference here to a natural disaster, or the tragedy, of let's

say, a plane crash. The mainstream news media gives a relatively honest depiction of what happens during these types of events. Or, they do initially anyway. When the blame game starts about why things happen, the news media gets lost in it's feeding frenzy of filth, always trying to blame somebody for something. It appears the mainstream news media has an agenda which involves obvious destruction of the decent values that most Americans cherish and hold dear. Maybe I shouldn't have had that extra cup of coffee this morning.

Fern put out an article recently called Unbelievable. I find the news media to fall in that category. Let's break the word down. UN-believable. So, what is their true agenda? What do you think is their

agenda? Do you think there is a way to change this? I'll go ahead and say it now, I believe in God and a Higher Power, but besides God, is there a way to stop this decay? Are we going to have to hit total bottom before this thing can be restructured? Have we crossed the line of no return where there is no recovery? And do most people even have a clue what is happening around them?

Let's get a grip of reality here. When a college professor in a New York Times article states that 'Mary Poppins is racist' because she has soot or dirt on her face from coming out of a chimney, and the majority of her face is not covered in dirt or soot, just small patches. This person obviously has some type of destructive agenda. I cannot believe that anyone of reasonable intelligence would imagine this scenario to be racist. It doesn't make any difference who they are, how can anybody of normal intelligence see this as racist????

In my own humble opinion, I don't think we can recover. Yes, this

is doom and gloom, call it what it is. Let's call it reality. I do not think this divide can be conquered, therefore, things are going to get real nasty. I would guess that tonight at the State of the Union address, there are going to be disruptions. So, let's wait and see.


Moving on. Below is a list of sites that we currently read. Most of them are of an adult type nature. Some use language that people may find distasteful or offensive. Others, the content area maybe a little heavy for people to find palatable. Some deal with recipes. Some deal with life and death. We'll give a brief description of each one. There are sites that we don't read as often anymore. Sometimes people just grow apart for various reasons.

You ready? Here goes. These are in no particular order, by the way. Let's just start with a list.

Fox News
This is where we go for our mainstream news. Some of it is questionable, but of the mainstream news, I enjoy this site the best.

Drudge Report
Drudge is a good source for mainstream news. Some of it is also questionable.

Breitbart News
A relatively honest site, but has some questionable stories also.

Donald Trump Twitter
It is what it is. 
 
DailyMail
Fern reads this one to see a different perspective on some of the news.

Western Rifle Shooters
Adult content. One of my favorites. Some stories can be real hard and very graphic. Viewer discretion advised. My favorite site.

Zero Hedge
A lot of financial news and some other just what's happening.

Bison Prepper
Adult content. Language on occasion is salty. Fern reads this to me every morning. A different level of analysis that we enjoy. Also one of my favorite reads. Again, adult content.

Woodpile Report
Ol' Remus is a weekly. Late Monday night or Tuesday morning. Quality content. A first class read.

Rural Revolution
Homesteading blog. Good information. Fern has enjoyed reading Patrice for years.

5 Acres & A Dream 
Another homesteading blog. Leigh is an author and is very enjoyable to read. She and her husband work hard at being self-sufficient.

Mom's Scribbles
Vicki lives in an apartment and still tries to prepare for what's coming. She has some interesting perspectives Fern enjoys.

Confessions of a Crazed Cattlewoman 
Fiona and Ralph have a homestead and occasionally share their adventures. 

Gabe Suarez
Articles about home safety, shooting. Adult content. Always proper. Some good advice.

The Z Blog
A different perspective from a higher thinking level about events happening around us.

The Burning Platform
News stories, various topics.

Bushbeater
I use this site for radio information. He has other information from a military type perspective.


These are just some of the sites that we read, and there are probably some that we've missed. That happens when you get old. If you have some favorite sites, please share. If you find some of these to be offensive, I genuinely apologize. I don't expect everyone to like what I like. I hope you find something here that you enjoy. Please share, really, sites that you like whether it's recipes or news, and we'll all take a look.

We'll talk more later, Frank

Homestead Delusions

It takes a long time for a big ship to turn around, or even change course. So, let's look back at some thoughts we have posted before. What's coming is still coming. That ship is still coming. Here is an article we wrote a while back. Hope you enjoy.

Originally posted November 25, 2013

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

You think you're going to move out to the country and be totally self-sufficient? That is not going to happen. We do many things that decrease our reliance on the 'things from the world' but we cannot do it all. Here is a reality check.

So you're going to move out into the woods and build you a cabin. You're going to trap that fresh spring water. Hunt and live off of the land. What a great life! It is if you're on a Hollywood set somewhere. I'm sorry. Hate to burst anybody's bubble. But it's just not going to happen.

Most of us have seen the older movie, Jeremiah Johnson. It's a great movie about a man that is not happy with the way life was and, "It should have been different." Like I said, great movie, beautiful scenery, good story line, but that's the Hollywood version of it.

The book version, Mountain Man, by Vardis Fisher goes into more detail about the story. In the book, on occasion, he has contact with and trades with the Indians. He goes to a town for items like flour, tobacco, whiskey, black powder and the whole gamut of things that a person cannot make for themselves.




When I say cannot make for themselves, yes, most things can be made. An axe head, for example, can be manufactured. But it's one of those skills that takes years to acquire, and you're not going to carry the equipment necessary to forge

  an axe head on the back of a horse heading up the side of a mountain. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to be totally self-sufficient, but man has been trading with other men since the times of Cain and Able. 

So. I think a person could do it for a couple of years. But it's still going to be real, real difficult. You have to have vegetables. What I mean by that is a lot of us tend

to think that man lives by meat alone, and I happen to be one of them. But I remember reading an account of Lewis and Clark when they were just shy of the Pacific Ocean and were holed up for a winter. The men complained about only having elk meat to eat. In our time right now, elk is considered one of the finer meats of the deer family. But can you imagine eating it for every meal for weeks and weeks? These guys weren't a bunch of little, sissy boys. The Lewis and Clark team were veteran, experienced outdoorsmen.

A number of years back, we were camping with another couple in an extremely remote part of Alaska. This guy was a biologist with the Federal Fish and Game in the area. I was about to drink from a fresh stream flowing from the melting snow when he advised me, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." It seems that most wild animals have been exposed to man and the viruses and parasites that he carries, and that there are very, very few safe streams to drink out of anywhere. So I took his advice and filtered my water.

Now what about that log cabin you're going to build? Do we even need to talk about nails, screws, windows, doors, flooring? So, let's say you don't build a cabin and you have a nice little homestead. Do you know how to garden? I know it seems that you stick a seed in the ground and when it grows up it will feed you. But did you know that rabbits like squash? And so do deer. And I'm not sure, but probably even elk like a nice, tasty squash. Not to mention the gazillion bugs that also like squash. Okay. So. Too much water. Too little water. Too hot. Too cold. Give it some

thought. What kind of fertilizer are you going to use? Are you going to buy it by the ton at the local co-op? Are you going to scrape it out of your chicken house? Oh, by the way, chicken manure has a very high nitrogen content and you can't apply it directly to your future squash plant, it will burn it. That's assuming you have a chicken house and you have chickens and you have chicken feed. 

Yesterday I doctored a chicken's hiney. There is a gland right at the top of the tail of a chicken's hiney. And for some reason, I don't know why, chickens like to peck

this area. Occasionally, when pulling out a feather there will be a little blood spot. The color red to a chicken is similar to a matador's cape to a bull. Which is the reason you don't see ranchers wearing red shirts, but that's a different story. I just made that up about the rancher. But the chicken blood, is real. Chickens will obsessively peck at the color red until they eat that chicken. So, do you have Pick No More in your pocket to treat that chicken's hiney? Didn't think so. What are you going to do?

Okay, but, back to the chicken manure that you can't put in the garden because it will burn the seed. What are you going to use? Compost? Yep, compost will work.

 I'll just get me one of those little green barrels and fill it up with organic matter and twirl it around once a week. Through the magic of mother nature and decomposition, you have compost. But you open up your little plastic barrel and it looks just like it did when you put it in there. Well, gee willickers! I guess mother nature is smarter than I am. I have tried to compost unsuccessfully for decades. I know the guy on the TV gardening show makes it looks easy, but remember they have the ability to edit, I don't. Could I learn how to compost? Probably. Have I ever been successful? No. 

That squash looks a little tougher to grow all the time, doesn't it? When I'm spending all day long trying to forge that ax head, I'm probably not going to have a lot of time for that squash seed. And I'm getting real tired of eating elk meat, but by golly, I'm going to get that ax head made if it's the last thing I ever do. And it might be the last thing you ever do.

Okay. So we decide to give up and we're going to drive down the hill in the car where the gasoline came from the Middle East, transported in a super tanker

made somewhere in Greece, with an electronics navigation system made by a Japanese company outsourced to China. And what about the tires on that car? The good Lord only knows where the tires were manufactured, but the rubber for the tire came from somewhere in some jungle that I can't say. Gettin' hungry yet? By the way, the Lewis and Clark expedition was complaining about eating boiled elk, not barbecued. So, how is that squash seed doing?

You want to be self-sufficient? Are you going to develop a photovoltaic cell for your solar panel? Okay. So you don't have a photovoltaic cell for your solar panel, and you're going to eat off of a wood burning stove. Where are you going to get the wood? I know, I know! You're going to chop the tree down with that imaginary ax head that you never got forged. Then you're going to cook boiled elk and squash for dinner.

Now what I've done here is taken two items, a squash seed and an axe head. Do you know how many hundreds of thousands of items that are in our houses and cars everyday that we take for granted? Nuts, bolts, thread, wires, metal, plastic, wood, and the list is endless. If you want to read a good series, read Laura Ingalls Wilder - about seven or eight little books. It will give you a pretty good idea and perspective about a self-sustaining type of living. These were tough, tough people.

Okay. So. Let's say you have a house, a chicken pen, you've got some goats, your garden's growing, you've had some water wells dug and they're producing. Now you've got a chicken pen for your chickens. For your goats you've got a barn, corral and adequate fencing. And you're good at repairing your fence that your neighbors cut during deer season. Life is good. 

Then one day here comes walking up the tax man. You will never, ever be totally self-sufficient. Not to mention all of the items that you use every day of your life. At some time or another, most will need to be replaced. And that is if you have good health, no problems, you never need to go to a dentist or doctor or a psychiatrist. Okay.

But I want to let you know that it is fun trying to be self-sufficient. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

We'll talk more later. Frank

Critter Tales by Leigh Tate

Leigh, the author of 5 Acres & Dream The Book and the blog, has just released her second book.

Critter Tales: What my homestead critters have taught me about themselves, their world, and how to be a part of it

Leigh shares her experiences with a variety of homestead animals in a comfortable, conversational way, while at the same time providing valuable information whether you are experienced, a novice, or still in the planning stage. Leigh is also hosting a giveaway of Critter Tales on her blog if you are interested. Here is the official book description.

Critter Tales is a book for everyone who is interested in farm life, farm animals, and especially in homesteading with farm animals. Each section begins with the author's careful research into the needs and care of various kinds of livestock: chickens, goats, llamas, livestock guardian dogs, guinea fowl, farm cats, pigs, and honeybees. The tales which follow describe real-life learning about those animals: opinionated chickens, goat drama, critters that won't stay put, mysterious deaths, choosing the right breeds, the population dilemma, dealing with predators, and how the animals themselves don't always agree with "the experts." The sections conclude by discussing how each critter fits into the author's primary homestead goal of self-reliance and sustainability. Includes 92 tales, 216 photos, a list of resources, and an extensive index.

We look forward to reading Critter Tales and thank Leigh for sharing her experiences with us. 

Until next time - Fern
  

There's Nothing You Can Do?

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

We recently received a comment that I can't quite shake. It wasn't anything major, traumatic, big or little, but I just can't shake one statement made toward the end of the comment.

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"Do you have any suggestions or resources you can point me towards, given that we're not in a position yet to make a go at homesteading?"

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This benign statement, and probably stated with no malicious intent by the commenter, hit me in a peculiar way. You see, there are always things that we can do to prepare ahead of time. Please excuse my exaggeration here, but there are a bazillion things that we can do for a pre-homestead mode. Having a house and a little bit of land does not make a homestead. In my opinion, a homestead is in someone's thought pattern and attitude. If you would, please read my response, and then we'll discuss it more. But please let me qualify, I am in no way or means attacking this sincere comment, or the individual that sent it.

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"Hi, I'm new to your blog, over from SSM's. I feel the unease too, but it seems hard to prepare since my husband and I are paying down debt and living in an apartment. We're hoping in the next 3-5 years to be able to pay everything off and get a little house with enough room for me to have a veggie/herb garden, but that seems remote, and I still worry about what we can do now. Do you have any suggestions or resources you can point me towards, given that we're not in a position yet to make a go at homesteading? Or just soldier forward, paying down what we can, saving what we can, and getting into a place we own as soon as we can?"

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"Sure you can practice homesteading. You can grow a handful of plants in pots.You can start changing the way you dress to be less noticeable. You can put a small go bag in each one of your vehicles, and a larger one for adults and able bodied teenagers in your house. You can get yourself in better physical condition. Quit some medications that you can. Lose weight if you need to. Go to a farmer's market and buy 20 pounds of carrots and learnto can. That'll take a canner, jars, lids, and storage space. Quit buying useless petty junk, and buy solid tools that you can use for the rest of your life. Start paying attention to your surroundings, know who you are and where you are at all times. Study maps of your area, know how to get out. Start looking at property, go visit pieces of land, know where water is, and how to treat it. Learn to use a firearm, and prepare yourself mentally to do

the unthinkable. Study history. Get involved in a church. If you need to, drive to a country church and get to know the people. And if I've missed anything, do that too. Beans, bullets and bandaids. Learn first aid. Learn survival techniques. Take classes at the local college or vo-tech, but take real classes. Get your ham radio license. Learn how to use a radio. Make sure your vehicle is in great condition, and it has in it what will last you at least two weeks if you have to leave immediately. Know your local laws. Get a concealed carry permit and practice, practice, practice. Shoot to stop, not to kill. Get to know your Creator. Ask and talk to people that know what they're doing. Learn to tell the difference between truth and fiction. You say there's nothing you can do where you are now? Get a grip, it's near. Ta-ta."

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You see, I know folks that live in the country, have small amounts of acreage, and mow every square inch of it. They have a beautiful lawn. Are they homesteaders? Are they preppers? Are they survivalists? Who knows? So, a house and a piece of property is not a homestead. A homestead is a frame of mind, how we see life in general, what we think about ourselves, our family and our future. I could just as easily use the word prepper or survivalist, but the author of the comment chose the word homestead, and it has a much better ring, and not the negative connotations of other terms.

But let's pick one topic in my response. Let's take the automobile. You're going to put gas in it to drive it, why not keep it full of gasoline all the time? Keep the vehicle well tuned, tires at proper inflation, windshield clean, your to-go bag ready and in the vehicle. We all know gasoline is expensive, but practicing your escape routes and alternative routes, is a small investment in your future. 

Pick a couple of areas where you think you might want to live. Drive out to these places, buy gas at the local gas station, go into the grocery store and walk around, see if you like the people and see what their attitude is like. While you're out there, look at the houses. What shape are they in? Are they growing gardens, or are they mowing lawns? Check out the porches on the houses. What kind of fences do they have? Open the windows and listen to the birds. Are they raising horses for show, or do they have goats, chickens, dogs and cats? 

Drive out on a Sunday morning and go to church. Meet the people that are sitting beside you, in front of you and behind you. Pay attention to how they talk to each other and how they dress. Watch their kids play with each other. While you're there, pay attention to the message also. If you go on potluck Sunday, even better. Linger around a little bit after church and shoot the breeze. Pay attention to what kind of vehicles the folks drive. You can tell a lot about a person by how much they try to put on the dog. There are lots of things you can do with a car or an automobile. 

Like I said earlier, there are a gazillion things you can do to prepare mentally, spiritually and temporally. Pick another topic, any one you choose. Let me help you. How about food preparation? Just imagine how many different ways you can branch out thinking about food preparation.

So, are there things to do before you make the big move? You say you want references or resources? Go to the right hand side of this blog and scroll down to sites that we recommend. You'll find these folks to be good, decent, honest, reliable people. Most of them are very experienced at what they do. This will give you weeks and weeks of reading, pick something, start with it and change your life now. If you choose to dally, that's your choice. If you choose to change, prepare and get ready, then this instant is the time to do it.

We'll talk more later, Frank