Homesteader

Exactly how I feel. We haven't had one in awhile. I love them too much to let go so quickly. I told hubby if he died first, I'm replacing him with a guard dog, though.

What does the tvp do for the soup? I had a bunch gifted to me and can't figure out what to do with it.

In security training, we learned that any additional layer of protection is good. A thief will enter a fenceless yard before one that has to be traversed. Having locked doors is a level of security. Add a dog, and that becomes another level. Having a garage and unloading purchases inside the closed garage door is a security level. Closing curtains when it begins to get dark is a security level. Like peeling an onion, look at one security level at a time and plan accordingly.

We got lost in the national forest last week, but came out to get some fishing bait at the local sporting shop. I was talking to the owner while standing in front of the gun display. He said that he's not been able to get ammo in months and now can't get guns.

What a beautiful little girl. Congratulations!! Once medical facilities are out of the urban areas in Wisconsin, many of them are planning on filing bankruptcy. They don't have covid patients, and can't restart the daily services which are the money makers. Our healthcare is a total disaster! Just don't get sick or injured around here. We had 3 covid deaths in March in our county and TEN suicides last month. The cost is NOT WORTH the fear that's permeated our state.

Hubby has been doing more research on canning lids (he's clueless about how to can). Here's his latest note: If the Kerr jars and their packaging looks eerily similar to that of Ball jars, it's because they're basically the same; both Ball and Kerr brands are now owned and manufactured by the parent company, Jarden (Aug 27, 2020) He also rechecked on the Internet and the best price was 50 cents per lid. Thankfully, I don't need any this year. He also found an article about Amazon taking a bath from 'knock-off' lids flowing in from China. They're cheap and Amazon customers are livid. Amazon will be eating lots of knock-off, cheap, lids from China. He also suggested I refrain from purchasing from Walmart as they sell the China canning supplies. I remember running into that fiasco about 5-7 years ago. THREE of the jars broke in the pressure canner and the lids like to buckle. I tried some this year, and the lids wrinkled but still held their seal. I only used them on tomato juice and was prepared to put the product back through the process if I had failures. I'm saving my good lids for chili, soups, beef, and chicken products in the pressure canner.

We have a Gorden Food Service (GFS) in our large city, and I stop by several times a year. Now that mom is living with us, I seldom go back to the city where I grew up. Dry yeast still comes in a 1-lb vacuum-packed containers. Everything is packaged for restaurants. Love the place. Average Joe hasn't figured it out yet. Maybe you can find a GFS or Sysco or some other restaurant geared wholesale place? I just repackage and freeze. Some of the #10 cans, I open and run through the pressure canner. BBQ sauce by the gallon is recanned into pint mason jars, which make it much more manageable. I just cook from what's in the pantry, plus a piece of meat thrown in for good measure. Spent too many years living in places that still had meat with feathers or hooves. Add a little rice and green vines from the trees, and you're good to go.

I'm finding my cast iron skillet is gaining weight as the years march on. Can't hardly pick it up anymore. My SIL is a real angel and has volunteered to come and care for my mom for a few days so we can get away before winter hits. She helped as a caregiver when my mom was in the assisted-living center, and recently lost her mom to Alzheimer's. It was a horrible and ridiculous ending as she couldn't touch or hug her mom even though they both tested negative. We're running around like crazy trying to get organized so SIL can find things. Sometimes I wonder if all the extra work is worth the vacation. We'll need a vacation after the vacation. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't harvest season around the homestead. SIL said to leave a list of harvesting, canning, and freezing projects that she can work on them. I sure do love my SIL.

I was looking around for oat groats on the net yesterday, and stumbled across USAEmergencySupply site. They are backed up TEN WEEKS on their food supplies. Are they ALL like this? I've been care-giving the elderly and seem to have my head in the sand. We don't need anything due to the wonderful garden harvesting going on, but I would have high blood pressure by now if I was an urban dweller, both for food and for rioting.

I can quite a bit of chicken in half-pint jars. It's perfect for the two of us for a chicken salad sandwich. Now that mom lives with us, I just add other fillers to the salad and stick with the half-pints. I think we lived too long in the 'meat-scarce' European countries. Can't imagine what they're like today.

While everyone else was fighting over the paper products in the TP aisle, I was quietly adding lids and seeds to my inventory. I remember the last shortage and didn't want to deal with that again. I gave a few boxes of lids to our pharmacist friend at church. You never know when you need a drug dealer.

Thank God we don't have to wear masks around here except to medical appts, and we keep that at an extreme minimum as the facilities are still basically shut down.

My brother, his wife, and three dogs are stuck in SD in their travel trailer. They're on the way to their daughter's wedding in WY this coming weekend. They have all the wedding decorations, so they'd better have an alternate plan. When bro and DH worked ND and MT installing a cell system several years ago, the local ranchers told them to be out of there by October or plan on staying for 'a piece'. They actually made it until the week before Thanksgiving. A God-sent gift. All the ranchers farm about 10,000 and head to FL for the winter. I wonder sometimes how the pioneers made it. A PBS documentary last year told of how many of the immigrants lived in caves underground their first winter.

We've been building a deck for my mom to get her out of the second story section of our home. Trying to find treated lumber has been a nightmare. The last load came from a lumber yard out of the cities and about 25% more expensive. (Menards, Home Dept and Lowes are wiped out throughout our state). DH bought the boards right off the flatbed semi. The lumber yard owner said that he can't keep inventory for more than several days. He said its because the mills have been shut down for so many months. It's crazy because all the work is outside, including the cutting and hauling of raw trees. Our carpenter said that if the treating facilities for the lumber have been shut down, we may not see much inventory until next year. It takes months to retool and get the inventory out of those processing plants. That doesn't even address the issue of whether or not the plants even have the chemicals in stock to pressure treat the wood. I talked to our real estate friend from the city yesterday. Most new construction homes are now $100,000 MORE than the original signed contracts. If you don't like it, you have to walk away from your $10,000 ++ deposit. Contractors can't find lumber (months behind on construction), appliances, roofing, plumbing and electrical supplies, and anything else that it takes to build a home. Current homes on the market (except in the cities) have price wars between bidders. (My nephew just sold his home, and had 8 bidders who refused to stop upping the original MLS price. His real estate agent finally said to stop the insanity and choose the best offer. Otherwise, nephew wouldn't get his money and close on his newer home in the country. It's a crazy housing market, my friend said. Cost of construction in Wisconsin is about 35% higher than last year. The average around the country is 80%. She said that the younger couples can't afford to purchase much anymore. A fixer-upper that can't even be lived in yet is going for $250,000 in the greater Madison, WI area. Since that liberal county is mostly shut down, bankruptcy of the middle-class is skyrocketing. DH told me to keep remodeling our home. It's secure, remote, defendable, and far enough away from the cities to be under the radar. He also told me to keep canning.

Famous last words of a caregiver. Thankfully, my SIL has been like a sister to me for 45 years and is an angel. She has started coming one day a week to care for mom while I try to make a spot on my desk. Right now, mom is paging through catalogs to find clothes that fit. She's lost about 100 pounds over the years and hasn't changed her wardrobe in a long time. She's upset that clothing styles have changed from old granny days. Thankfully, she's more patient about stuff that isn't 'just right' for her. I finally put my foot down and stopped sending everything back because she didn't like the color, style, or softness. She was quite the shopper in her day and didn't think twice about dropping everything and heading back to the mall to change out what she had just purchased. In my spare time, I'm in the kitchen canning and freezing the veggies from the garden. Something tells me that election year is going to be a tough road to travel. Even though we have a statewide mask mandate, almost no one outside of the two big cities wears them. The numbers back them up, so they just continue to breathe and go to work.

My DH forgot to tell me that our friends from Indiana were staying with us overnight ... until their truck and RV arrived in our driveway last week. Not a problem. I can entertain for one day while we continue to build our deck and harvest the garden. Our friend announced that his truck was leaking oil out the rear and he needed parts. Well ... 6 days later, we still waiting for the parts. His wife has Alzheimer and has been more than a handful to manage and keeps walking down the driveway on her way back to Indiana. My life has been turned upside down especially with caring for my mom full-time in our home. I feel so bad for our friends. They only wanted to stop overnight on their way to visit their daughter and family in Northern Minnesota. THEY all thought it was a great idea to have their daughter come to our house for several days before they all went back their separate ways. The family arrived last night and I'm making a huge breakfast for everyone. I thought retirement was supposed to be easier than this.

I soak beans for a few hours and make bean soup. I pressure can it before the beans are totally cooked.

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother, We2. Both my brothers and father had Hospice and were heavily medicated at the end of life. It brought me some relief that they didn't suffer but still heartbreaking. MtRider - every time I read about your rolled foot it makes me queasy. I rolled my ankle in college sports and limped for 10 years before having the outside of it rebuilt. Still makes me sweat when reading about others and their pain. The other day, hubby told me to stock up for at least 3 months of food and supplies. I haven't received that order since y2k. I was checking the prices and availability of wheat berries and about fainted. I generally buy a bucket now and then because I make our own breads and pastries. Darn if I can find it again through Wally World.

Have been trying to get mama in to have swallowing issues addressed. One hospital won't do an upper GI because she takes Nitro. Her wonderful doctor decided to order a swallow test, barium, I think. The local hospital said she can't have it without a Covid test. She has been isolated for 2 months at our country home and suffers from dementia. It's too traumatizing for her and she doesn't want the Covid test. The hospital won't budge. They suggest I take her to the big city (hot spot) and have the swallow test done. I mentioned again that she has been isolated for the past two months, why would I want to take her to a hot spot. They wouldn't budge. Bottom line. If you don't want to be tested, you can die at home without any treatment anymore. Our healthcare has failed us miserably. I'm reading more and more about shipments of covid test kits that are testing positive without being used. Are we now being subjected to Covid by these faulty kits?

We only shop where we don't have to wear masks. We gave up on Walmart and other big box stores months ago. I bet they're part of the push for masks everywhere. The small businesses were doing a brisk business because most of us avoided Walmart. When in a pinch, we order online.

I don't have the medical struggles with my mom like you do with your hubby. I do find that I'm washing sheets, clothes, and the toilet seat cover much more often. She goes into fits of diarrhea for no apparent reason and her panty pad doesn't hold everything inside. She is always so embarrassed as I clean her and everything else up. I just remind her that she cared for me as a baby and I can take care of her in old age. I wish I was 25 y.o. like she was when she cared for me.

I am curious as to how people who test positive can get the test over and over until they test negative. Then they can go back to work. As fast as wisconsin is running the people through to get the numbers up, I doubt if the multiple tests on each person is counted as only one positive. Do I trust our govt to be honest? Not on your life! Do I know anyone who has tested positive? No. Do I know any extended family/friends who have tested positive? No. But I know of four local folks who have committed suicide from the stress and devestated their surviving family members. I also know that we're losing military veterans at 22 per day and steadily climbing. I know friends who died in retirement centers because they could not get medical help. I also know that our hospitals are almost empty and going broke as they furlough their medical staff. Why have other counries not isolated and have stellar numbers?

I am watering most days. Our sandy soil eats up all of the bits of rain we've received the past few weeks. I would really like some underground water pipes layed, but prob won't get it in this lifetime. Mom and I were counting on the calender how long she has been living with us. NINE WEEKS!! It doesn't seem possible. I thought we were in the clear as far as liberal city taking away all of mom''s rights. Our govenor mandated masks starting tomorrow. He is known as the little weasel. It's a real slap in the face as he swears in the liberal judge who will now flip the state supreme court. He knows that we won't win the next round of his over-reach mandates. The little weasel. Many of the county sheriff departments hae stated publically that they will not enforce the mask mandate. They have enough to do with BLM riots and the upcoming Democratic Convention in Milwaukee next month. So far, over 100 police departments have declined the initation to protect the liberals who would like to defund the departments. It's getting quite testy around here. I will not wear a mask and will start shopping online. We're saving bunches of money by not window shopping.

I read an article yesterday on capital punishment. The executioners for both electricution and firing squad want the prisoner's head covered. When a mask is applied to the face, the person is dehumanized and easier to kill.

I don't wear a mask unless mandated. In most cases, I just walk away and don't shop there anymore. I have found drive-through or pick-up at the door quite adequate. It has really saved us money on window shopping. It's time we learned to live on less and not demand so much as a nation. With the riots increasing in intensity and violence, I'm not about to expose us to such insanity. I'm so thankful when we retired we went back to the country, and now have mama living with us. I'd be so stressed if she had been left in the city with her depression and dementia.