Woefully Absent

Yes, I admit, I have been derelict in my duty. I can make excuses that health, weird family drama that overflowed from a friend, and other things which seemed important at the time have kept me away. But, in truth, after our disastrous goat birthing it was easy to fall out of the sharing habit.
Not that I didn’t have good responses to the article – I appreciated the feedback and shares! No, it just was still a bit raw – and my other thoughts seemed so minor after that article. I have continued to read up on those of you I follow, and basically I finally decided to pull my head out.
Enough about that.
As for the garden, it has also died a terrible death. I was very sick in the early days of summer and after the goats got in I just wasn’t able to set things to rights. I’m frustrated because it doesn’t promise well in an EOTWAWKI scenario. There will be plenty of distractions at that time and the garden should be an essential priority. So we have located some farmer’s markets in the area and I am trying to take advantage of what I call “Bounty Sales”.
I’ve continued to use my Dutch oven, and I’ve located some great recipes (although pot roast is still my favorite). And, I’ve slacked a bit on canning (any questions why, re-read the first paragraph). However, I’ve also continued to search out great recipes and acquire more jars so that I have the tools I need as I get back into the swing of things.
I even had the opportunity to teach my niece to make homemade bread, and watch with delight as she and a few others tried their very first slice of fresh warm bread slathered in butter.
For the most part, our rabbits are doing well. My husband finished the second hutch so we were FINALLY able to move the baby (hmm, more teenage) rabbits OUT of our breakfast nook. Unfortunately, having been raised mostly indoors, the Texas heat has taken it’s toll on a couple of the yunguns and one adult female. We’ve since set up better waterers (more on that in a later post) and we are trying to work out a way to position the hutches for better airflow, yet still provide adequate shelter in any of our nasty storms.
As for the goats, we’re down to two. A female and a young male (not wether). We learned that the stud we used to impregnate our females has been the sire of quite a few miscarried, and I am willing to try again. However, we are waiting until our male comes of age to give us an emotional break (I can not tell you how hard that night was for me. You’ll just have to read “watching a goats butt” if you’re curious).
I finished paying off my horse, and my husband got a great cutrate deal on a gelding – $50 and a bunch of ribs. Man-o-man did that poor horse need food! Here’s a pic of what he looked like when we bought him …

His feet were in bad shape, and he was sooooo in need of attention. The good, and the bad, is he is now much healthier and has turned into a ball of fireworks. My husband will not let any of the rest of us ride him without a LOT of groundwork. For an idea of my husbands size, check out this great picture. He is the guy on the side tossing the huge bale UP to the trailer!

as you can see, he’s a good sized fellow, and with his bull riding background it’s unlikely much will buck him off. But it looks like Quigley will not fit the bill as a horse for our kids like we had hoped. We plan to make sure he’s healthy and work with him a bit more. Then make a decision if he needs to to someone skilled with the time to work with him.
We have also acquired an additional 38 chickens. They ended up costing more per chicken than I hoped – I was expecting 50 – but there are some good layers, so we can “retire” a few that we believe have slacked off. We also gained about 6 roosters (by my count we only need one) that will soon find their way to the freezer. One of our ladies is great at setting, so we separated her out with our favored rooster + a few harem hens. We now have two baby chicks that seem to be doing well.
Finally, I’ve decided to expand my skills by learning to quilt. I have some experience sewing, but have yet to test my fortitude against the awesome power of the quilt. Yes, I do plan to piece the front using a sewing machine, but I plan to quilt it by hand. At the very least I am hoping to repurpose those items like outgrown clothing that isn’t suitable to donate. My first experiment are a set of nap pads for my kiddoes.
Oh! Those kiddoes (now 3 and 4) ran to their safe spot when our fire alarm went off yesterday. Once they got there they yelled for their stunned cousins to follow. I love that my kids are learning to be prepared.
So, I guess all in all we’re just moving along with our endeavors. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your own preparations, remember there are many of us striving to build our preparations and repertoire of skills towards the goal of self sufficiency.

My thoughts on Colorado

“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”
Richard Henry Lee
American Statesman, 1788
I firmly believe that if people in the theatre had been exercising their right to bear arms the perpetrator in CO would have been stopped before so many lives were lost (2 of those injured were friends of my cousin’s son)

Watching a goats butt

So here I kneel on the couch, pressing my face to the window while watching a goat’s butt. It has been an hour and eighteen minutes since i first noticed tiny hooves peeking out of her rear end We have only had one other baby goat born here, and we lost it. A beautiful rust and black male that died because we didn’t know enough. We had been told by friends who have goats that labor can take up to two days and DON’T TOUCH. We weren’t told to watch the time after the water breaks.
Man ‘o man did I read everything I could get my hands on after that heartbreak! So as Buttercup has neared her time I’ve felt more confident. Until today – at one hour and twenty three minutes after I noticed those hooves. She’s hunching again! Push, girl! Push! …… Nope. All the websites say don’t wait more than half an hour after the water breaks before you help. Our goat farming friend with experience says 1-2 hours is ok. Me, I’m wondering how long I can hold my breath … How long can that baby hold it’s breath? My cousins daughter (a 4H marvel) texted her best friend who lives on a goat farm. The teenager’s Dad also says 1-2 hours. Buttercup has laid down again.
My Mom, a NICU nurse of 30 years has brought over another goat book while my husband tries to feed the rest of the animals without stressing our laboring little momma.
My Mom and I nervously joke about pacing the floor, boiling water, and ripping up every sheet in the house. Her books says “After the water breaks they push a few times and the baby comes.” yeah, right.
We are at an hour and 45 minutes.
Shoot. Why can’t this be easy?
Coming up on two hours. My hands are scrubbed. My jewelry is off. I have a bucket of soapy water and towels. I’m ready…. Nope, gotta pee first.
Ok. Now I’m ready. Please Dear , Lord … Steady my hands and steady my head….
Well…2 hrs and forty seven minutes since I first saw a hoof….
Still no baby.
We’ve finally found the other hoof…and the mouth. We touched teeth. We only pull downward. We only pull when she is contracting.
We fear at this stage we are just waiting on another lost baby. But, I don’t want to risk loosing the momma, as well.
Right now, we are letting her rest. She tried hunching again and passed some fluid. What to do? What to do?
Another half hour since my last post. The head keeps slipping down and around to the side. If I could just get that head up in position maybe she could deliver on her own. We are all taking a rest. Poor little mamma. She cries and bawls. We pray. It’s an hour past my toddlers bedtime and no one’s had supper.
My little girl says the baby doesn’t want to come out. It’s taking a nap.
We’ve come in to eat. Us adults are head to toe goat hair except elbows to hands where we keeping washing up.
Did we make things worse? I honestly don’t know. Frustrations, and dare I say accusations, are high. We are all so very tired.
You probably are thinking I should have called a vet by now. Yeah, that would be nice. The nearest one that will deal with goats is three hours away.
A phone call from a friend who raises goats. He’s home now. He’s on his way over now. We’re just shy of four hours. I try to think of what to say and all that comes out is a heavy sigh.
No matter how this turns out I’m afraid I’m not cut out to raise goats. Our rabbits are doing good. I wonder how many meat rabbits someone would take in exchange for a young weathered goat.
Harvesting grown animals for their meat is one thing. But, I can’t stand the thought if we were the cause of losing babies.
How do you type tears?

I keep hoping we’ll get a call or a message from someone with some practical experience who will show us the magic “release” button on this poor mamma. The friend that called and said he was on his way still hasn’t shown up here. There isn’t much we can, or I guess should do until he does.
He’s here!
Well, the verdict is in. She is fevered. Not only has the baby already passed, it apparently has been gone a while. We can take some relief that we were not the cause.
The baby is not coming out on it’s own.
The decision point came. Do we put her out of her misery. We still don’t know if there is a second living baby. Do we risk killing her in the process of pulling the body? We make arrangements to quickly put her down if she is injured to badly, but want to at least give her the chance.
The details are heinous, and I won’t subject you to them. At one point my husband decided to send me away to protect me from all that must be done.
I went. Not because I couldn’t stand it. Not because I was offended or disgusted. I went because it is how he shows he loves me.
So I go in the house and kneel on the couch, pressing my face against the window to stare at a goats butt.
She is still alive. Now it’s my turn again.
I make up an injection of penicillin. She doesn’t move when I give it to her. But, she is still breathing. Next I mix molasses in warm water and take it out to her. She has moved her head, but doesn’t respond when I pour some on her mouth.
It’s after midnight. It’s my husbands birthday. It’s been six hours – it seems like it’s been days. I keep kneeling on the couch. I’m no longer looking at the goats butt.
I’m counting her breaths. Come on, girl. You can do it. I want her to pull through. But, I have to watch for more than just our poor little mamma. We still don’t know if there is a second baby. If she stops breathing we have to find out.
If you are heading off to bed, sleep a bit for me. It’s going to be a long night. I’ll be kneeling on the couch…

It’s one thirty. There wasn’t another baby.

Dutch Oven: The original “set it and forget it”

Sometimes it amazes me that we will toss our money at all kinds of new-fangled kitchen wonders only to find we already own what we needed to get the job done. Now that’s not to say that Pampered chef hasn’t done some beautiful work with a few of their inventions. However, beautiful and needful are two different things.
If you are a prepper, or have been prepping to prep, you most likely own a Dutch oven. Maybe even a set with skillet, grill, and oven. Here’s the question: How much have you used them?
Many people are amazingly reticent to pull out and use their cast iron cookware that they most likely spent a lot of money to buy. While I was comfortable with cooking while camping, most of my experience has been with backpacking where small and lightweight is the ruling consideration. While my grandmothers had often cooked with cast iron, and I have eaten a few great meals from them, I was a bit daunted to try on my own.
Living in the country,as we do, I am more likely to have easy access to a full on campfire than white gas for my cute little backpack stove. In the interest of practically prepping, and in the spirit of my Wake-up Wednesday challenges I pulled out my box of cast iron set (yes, they were still in the box) and looked for directions.
As my sister commented, while I was ooh-ing and ah-ing over new cast iron, my husbands mom has always cooked on cast iron – but it scares me. So I looked for directions – there weren’t any. I guess that’s what you get when you buy the cheap set. So, I started asking questions and reading things online. There is a wealth of information, so who needs to pay $40 more for stinking directions?!?
(FYI- I bought my set at Academy for only $39)

So the best piece of advice came from a close friend (with an authentic Hillbilly background). She said “cool a pot roast in it! You won’t regret it!” No special recipes or new-fangled bags. Trusting her at her word I finally took the bit in my teeth: I put a roast in the Dutch oven along with my regular seasonings, a couple potatoes, a quarter onion and some baby carrots. I probably also cut up a tablespoon or two of stick butter and put them on top. The whole thing went in the oven at 300 and I “set it and forget it for about 3 hours.
When I pulled it out and took the lid off … Oh, Lordy! Did it look and smell wonderful. Once again RaeRae had steered me right! The roast was one of the most tender I’ve made in a long time, and my roast is normally considered pretty good. I’ve cooked them in crockpots, directly in an open pan, and in cooking bags – but this was devine. Cleanup was a snap. After the Dutch oven cooled I wiped it out (only had to use a plastic sponge on one spot where an onion had stuck) and used a paper towel to put a thin layer of olive oil over the whole pot before I put it away.
Since then we’ve thrown porkchops, steaks, and chicken in it. I then got brave and tried my skillet on the stove. TIP!Never go above medium heat on a stove top!!!! My bit of olive oil smoked up the whole house! Next try I made fig drops (figs cooked in a honey syrup with cinnamon, and lemon slices then rolled in sugar and left to cool). They came out great 🙂
I am proud to say the fear is gone. I have not only added some great Dutch oven recipes to my cookbook, I’m converting my zombie meals for the campfire withe some help from The Dutch Oven Dude

I’ve missed you

To those who follow along, sorry I’ve been absent. My mother had surgery, and just about every one of us within the three homes have been sick in some form or another. I’ve actually started three separate posts (medical preparedness, canning experiments, animal husbandry) and just couldn’t keep it all together long enough to complete and post.
Personally, I have an infected tooth (dental appt tomorrow) that has sent me to the Dr twice. It is also been the root of fevers, extreme pain, and nausea.
All of that said, I’d say my biggest concern after any kind of civil collapse is medical and dental.
We have medical personnel in the family, as well as a decent stock of medical supplies and knowledge of how to use them. My concern is that there are a lot of infections that are resistant to Amoxicillin or other common antibiotics.
All I can do to combat my concerns is continue to educate myself, and those in my family, of alternative medicines and continue to acquire supplies to meet a variety of medical needs.

Wake Up Wednesday : Water

Water is most likely one of the most underprepared item that people store. In many ways, I think it is misunderstood and often undervalued. Unless you have spent any time doing extended backpacking trips (or already experienced a water emergency of some time) it is unlikely that you have a firm grasp of where water should fall in your priorities.
Most likely, all of us are aware of the statistics regarding how much water each person needs, and how often. However, these challenges are about turning “book learning” into practical understanding.
Challenge: Water shortage
Take an old Clean milk jug and fill it up with water. This is what you have for a water supply for the next 24 hours.
For making ice, tea, cooking, brushing your teeth. Any time you would normally turn on the tap you now have this one source for your water. If you live on city water, you may add a second gallon for washing.
Please realize, there are many types of water crisis. Some situations you may still have water access, but it may be compromised. In our home we are on well water. In the case of a power outage we would need to use our generator to even wash dishes or bathe. Yes, we have a generator, but it will also be needed for things like the freezer.
It will be interesting to hear how you fare!

A kick in the teeth

Recently, my family has been hit by allergies – which decided to take an ugly turn. Of the four of us, I think at least 3 now have it in our chest (bronchitis) and at least two (my kiddoes) have sinus infections. With my husband out of work we have no insurance so I have to look elsewhere than a quick trip to the Dr.
Having recently started consciously prepping, I had renewed my old interests in herbals and other self-sufficiency products a month or so before my husband lost his job (anyone want a definition for “timing”?)
When it became obvious that the “allergies” weren’t going away I dug around in my brain and remembered a cold remedy I learned about 20 years ago. I believe I found the basic remedy and reasoning in a Mother Earth News magazine, but please don’t hold me to that as a fact. I was living in Colorado and heavily into backpacking and hiking and it was the first hay day of the Internet so my source could have been anywhere.
The article was written of a group of medical students who did a project while studying herbal uses. They decided to try to come up with something for the “common cold”.

Here is the recipe they came up with:
1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Chamomile/Peppermint Tea
2 Tbs Cayenne Pepper

Take 1-2 Tbs every two hours and drink plenty of liquids till symptoms pass. During cold season take 1 dose daily to keep illness away.

This was one of my first introductions to Apple Cider Vinegar. Now, I have to tell you. It tastes like a kick in the teeth, and there is no way I could get my kids to try it (ages 2 and 3). But, as a Mom of a sick family I have to get well as fast as possible.
On and off, over the years, I have done my own research into herbal remedies and I made a few additions to the recipe. For starters, I located raw ACV to get the most beneficial source I could find. If you haven’t heard about the many benefits of ACV then do a little web search. For this, suffice to understand that it helps your body flush the toxins and impurities that build up when your sick. Next, cayenne has a super high Vitamin C content. It also clears out the lungs and sinuses really well. Finally, the chamomile or peppermint tea was to ease the stomach.
Wanting to really knock this out of the park I added a few things from the cupboard.
I substituted Echinacea tea ( actually echinacea and lemon “Traditional Medicinals” from the grocery store) for the chamomile. I also added about a 1/8 of a Cup of local honey. Now be clear, no amount of honey will soften this mule kick, but local honey can help fight local allergies and I have noticed it does smooth the delivery even if it doesn’t sweeten it.
I started using this concoction yesterday evening and this evening I am clearer headed and whoever was sitting on my chest has been gracious enough to get off.
If you decide to try it I hope you find it as beneficial.

Note: I am not, nor in any way claim to be, a medical professional.

“Well, I like to be prepared.” Twist

I often see people asking the question of whether or not children should be involved with prepping. As a parent of two toddlers it amazes me that the question is even asked. After all, do you ask at what age they should be introduced to church or allowed to meet your family? If prepping is truly a part of your life then you must believe it is a positive thing. Therefore, why would you hide it from your children?
I guess I should also qualify, at this point, that prepping should not be done in a spirit of fear. It is not necessary to dwell on the negative things that could happen in order to prepare for them. I’d say about 80%, if not more, of the things “we” do are completely kid friendly. Even gun usage is something that can/should be shared with children. No! I am not recommending you set your two year old to shooting a shotgun. However, gun safety can be taught to any age. Personally, when I was being raised we were not allowed to even play “bang! Bang!” with a finger gun.

We were taught that every gun should be treated as real and loaded. My parents had guns, and used them for hunting and potential personal protection. (say THAT three times fast) as a military family we moved often and usually lived in areas with a lot of neighbors with children. As such, I think my parents felt it was better to teach a healthy respect of TOTAL hands off.
My husband was raised in a country environment and was shooting BB guns at 5. He was also taught how to carry a gun – and respect of the damage a gun can do. Honestly, I can’t tell you which way is better.
When it comes to the basic concepts of prepping I believe that children are already surrounded by examples and opportunities to talk with them about preparedness. If you’ve had young children within the last few years you are probably familiar with The Fresh Beat Band. A show watched, and loved, by my two kiddoes. On an episode shown today, one of the characters said “Well, I like to be prepared.” at least 4 times. How much more of an example do you need?
Yesterday, our family was watching “Twister”. My almost 4 year old was fascinated by the “bad storms” and we talked about the “safe places” the families stayed in during the storms. We are still doing fire drills and both children (2 and 3) know exactly where to go if anyone yells “Fire!”. In truth, there are many, many, opportunities to discuss why and how to prepare for emergencies.

Lunch for .50 or less

I’m always looking for cheaper ways to make meals. While making one of the cheapest ones I know I decided to share.
Back when I was in high school, (long, long, ago) my Dad came up with the following recipe.

Ramen and eggs
1 pkg of Ramen Noodles
2Tbs butter/margarine (or 1 Tbs Olive Oil)
2 eggs

Boil ramen until soft.
DRAIN NOODLES
Put noodles back in the pan and add butter and seasoning packet that came with the ramen. Coat the noodles.
Add the eggs and scramble them into the noodles.
All done.

This meal costs about .50! If you have chickens , like we do, it’s .17. Even though my husband eats a double batch we can still feed our family of four for under a dollar.
As for the flavor of ramen, it’s personal preference. My husband prefers beef, and I usually like chicken. Sometimes, if finances aren’t in question, I will get the shrimp flavored and add a handful of cocktail shrimp.
Over the years I’ve only met one person that didn’t care for the texture. During hard times it is a great cheap and easy meal.

Wake Up Wednesday : Field to Table

This is a series of challenges to develop prepping ideas into skilled reality.

Have you ever looked out the office window and seen a rabbit hopping across the manicured lawn and thought “See, there’s plenty of food. I’ll be just fine if I need to gather food!”? If you’ve been looking at ways to prep for possible long term survival, you have probably become aware that we are often surrounded by food sources even in the city.
It is a high priority to have a storage of food on hand in case of an emergency. No matter if the emergency comes about from a job loss or the next Great Depression, your food needs are the same. Your food stores will last longer if they are supplemented with items that are foraged. However, no matter how well stocked you are, there may come a time when the pantries are empty and it is necessary to kill/gather your food from nature.
Challenge: Empty Pantry
This weeks challenge is to make a meal from “apex scratch”. In other words, have the main meal ingredients come direct from nature. It is all well and good to have thought through where your meals can come from – remember the bunny out of the office window? However, the practice of hunting or even just killing the animal may turn out to be a little tougher than we think. Even if you are a vegetarian, the realities of gathering enough forage for a meal – from nature – may not be as quick and simple as it would seem.
If you are not a vegetarian, I challenge you to kill, clean, and cook a whole meal for your family. If you do not live in an area where you can hunt your food, at least purchase a live animal. There are many resources on the Internet on how to humanely harvest and clean small game such as chickens and rabbits.
A quick look on Craigslist and I was able to find both meat rabbits a chickens for between $10-15 a piece. This might be a bit pricier than a normal home cooked meal, but if you’ve never processed your own meat then what you are buying is the “knowledge of how”.