Mother

and a whole bunch of applaud (I couldn't find a clapping smiley). My own research has shown the same thing that G&V and HM found. We have been duped and our health eroded by the powers that control our country,,,,greed and money. Try this for informational reading. http://www.coconutoil.com/ Please remember though, the research studies might be only as good as the funding they recieve. If possible, try to follow the funding resources back as far as possible. Often it will be found that the studies were surreptitiously funded by those who want to use the studies to sell you something. Sometimes this information is well hidden behind non profit organizations or universities. We must all make up our own minds about what a healthy diet is for our particular situation as often what is healthy for one is not for another. One good way of finding out if a change in your diet might help is to try it for several months and see how your body reacts. In the case of coconut oil and healthy fats you might be pleasantly surprised. Thanks G&V for this reminder that we aren't always told the truth.

You might want to remember that thieves have time to read the how-to's and watch the videos as easily or even better than you. I was told by a detective that most anywhere you could think of to hide something, a professional thief already knows where to look. I do like the tampon idea though. I just hope no thief is reading this thread. LOL In thinking of fire here we've been contemplating places to hide money outside of the house. We've thought of such places as inside wooden fence posts or in a hollow tree (waterproof and rodent proof containers of course). Buried like a treasure is of course another possibility as is putting it in an outbuilding, perhaps in the garage in a special oil can on a shelf of others. I keep envisioning something happening to us and one hundred years later someone finding our old useless dollars when they are bulldozing, digging or ?? Our own brand of a time capsule. Think if I do something like that I'm going to include some kind of note just in case and just for fun. Speaking of that, I always wanted to get a lot of those fake hiding places and only leaving sympathy notes in them for would be thieves. Big sigh, I do have a bit of the devil in me, don't tell anyone.

Thank you for that post, Mommadogs.

Super Post Westie, Some of us are going to need these. I've cooked for crowds of fifty to one hundred people many times but only have few recipes. Lots of good ideas and recipes here. Putting these and other recipes in our own book is a great idea. I just started. Thanks.

I am here as well Cat. I haven't got the book but will be looking for it. Thank you for doing this.

Karelle, It is so nice to have you here. I've often wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you and her dad did raising Darlene. She is special to us all. You must be excellent parents to have raised someone with such a loving, giving heart. Her faith in the Lord sustains us all when we feel we can't go any further and her faith in us is just as strong. To those of us who have gotten to know her, she is a blessing. You must be very proud of her, I know we are. (((((((Karelle)))))) Welcome to Mrs. S. We are honored to have you here with us.

to Mrs. S Zoombies. I make a similar banana butter and can it. I've kept it for years with no adverse problems. I have preserved it with both water bath method and with pressure and both seem to be fine. My recipe is similar but I sometimes add other fruits or nuts making it into a type of conserve. I especially like golden raisins cooked into the batch. This is a tasty way to preserve bananas that are on sale or those which are over ripe.

There is a lot of information on getting prepared for a pandemic in the Flu forum. I've bumped some of it up recently. Unfortunately it might involve a lot more than just stocking up on meds. It's possible that we would have to isolate ourselves for months at a time, not leaving our homes, not recieving mail or other items into the homes unless they could first be assured they weren't carrying the disease, being cautious even of wild life surrounding us depending on the source. We might have to choose who or whether we allow anyone to come to our door or onto our property. Those that leave probably wouldn't be able to come back if we wanted to stay safe. Are you prepared to live that way? Masks, disposable gloves, and months worth of everything we need could be indespensible. A daunting thought but might save lives.

Great resources Leah,

I agree with Skagit. I always feel better if I feel in control. Now it's true, we can't always control everything that life sends us but having food in the pantry and knowedge for survival in my head goes a long way to soothing. I do get worried and tense though so I believe I'm going to take Krissy's idea and go verbally abuse my chickens and see if they like it too. Oh yeah, that's another way I relax.....I see humor in the most unusual places. LOL Thanks Krissy!

Grace, welcome to the world of pioneer living. You certainly have the heart and the soul and thats a fine start. I love your patio gardening and your ozs of production. Have you ever read Countryside magazine? If not please look for it on line. There are dozens of people who write in that live in a town or a city but their lifestyle is "beyond the sidewalk". That sounds like you. ((((Grace))))

Way to go Cricket. I want to mention that even in pioneer days there were women who just didn't get it!!!! Usually they were the ones to suffer the most because they couldn't fathom an alternative way of life. It truly is the attitude that makes the difference. We might all want to remember that as we try to gain a bit more self sufficiency. It is NOT doing without. It is doing it better. Waiting for more modern pioneers to respond

It seems we've come to a stand still here in the Pioneer Living forum. I know we are all busy with gardens, canning, prepping and etc, myself included, so I wasn't too concerned but I had a thought on the pioneer lifestyle I'd like to share with you. For most of our married life (almost 46 years) we've lived some semblance of the pioneer/settler life. We've livd without electric and running water, without HOT water (yuk), we've been over 80% food self-sufficient (at various times), we've had animals that most people wouldn't begin to be near (27 year veteran wild life rehabber), had various and sundry livestock, butchered, salted, canned, froze, smoked, and generally "did it". The one thing I've learned is it's a lot harder to do it all the older you get. It's almost impossible to do when your health is deteriorating and disabilities get in the way. Still, I love the lifestyle and though we've had years we lived in a mobile home park in town and times we've taken a year or two off, we always seem to be drawn back to a way of life that seems to help us live lighter on the earth and on the paycheck. Many years back, when I realized that I was unable to do a lot of the things I used to I began to adapt. I've found that I CAN adapt and still live the life I love, the pioneer lifestyle, EVEN IN TOWN. Even without raising all our own meat and other foods, I can still live it. I know you are wondering how I can live that life when in town. But living the pioneer lifestyle is as much attitude and perception as it is physical abilities. Take milk for example. When I can't raise and milk cows, I raise and milk goats. (Okay, so I often used to do both at the same time.) When I can't raise and milk goats I buy milk from a local dairy direct from the farm. When I can't do that, I look for the best buy for my money at the store. In all instances,I use that milk in the same way the pioneer did. Depending on it's cost, I make yogurt, cottage cheese, hard cheese, sour cream and etc just as if I were milking that animal myself. Now lets take those products a step deeper. If I needed to, I know how to care for the animal, keep it healthy, doctor it naturally in most instances, milk the animal,and handle and store the milk properly with or with out refrigeration. I can make yogurt in a variety of ways from the crock set near the open fire as the pioneers sometimes did (I say sometimes because only those people from certain contries even knew about yogurt then), I can make it in a jar wrapped in towels, in a wide mouth thermos, in jars placed in hot water in a modern cooler, in a gas or electric or wood heated oven, in an insulated cooker, in an insulated commercial yogurt maker, AND in an electric yogurt maker. Adaptability. I can make cottage cheese using the old fashioned method of just letting it clabber naturally (Raw milk that is), with a culture and rennet or nettle tea (both of which I can make/find), and by boiling the milk and adding vinegar (which I also know how to make from apples and etc). I can make hard cheeses the same way. I can use crocks, bowls, enamel ware, or pottery, plastic or stainless steel. I do it with or without a thermometer. I do it with fresh from the animal or processed from the store. Adaptability! The pioneer lifestyle can encompass so much more than just moving into a log cabin and doing everything the hard way. The key here is to know how the pioneer did it, at the most basic level, and then adapting it to your level. Pioneer lifestyle does not mean you have to heat your home with a smokey fire that you have cut the logs for with an axe and haul it a mile by hand. It can mean using a "modern" wood stove adapted to give the most BTU's possible with the smallest amount of wood. It can mean using a super chain saw that buzzes though the wood in no time and loading it on the back of a pick up truck. (Still have to haul it in by hand though and the ashes out to the garden). It might mean relying on modern heating sources such as gas or electric but also using modern OR ancient ways to insulate your home against the weather or turning down the thermostats. It might mean wearing more clothing, like the pioneer did or utilizing one room and lowering the heat in others. It might mean going to bed earlier and getting up earlier to conserve energy. I'm not saying be cold (or hot), I'm saying think outside the box, be aware, adapt. A pioneer lifestyle in a modern world might mean looking at every facet of our lives and deciding to take back our lives, doing what we can for ourselves. If it only means you can make braided or crocheted rugs out of plastic grocery or bread bags then do it. If it means growing a pot of herbs on a windowsill, do it. If it means using a stainless steel milk bucket instead of a wooden one, then we do it. (did you ever try to clean milk out of a wooden bucket?) The pioneer were masters at saving. They saved every piece of paper and string that their few bought products came with. They saved every can, reusing it until it rusted away. They reused their ashes, their water, their peelings, their scraps, their clothing, their bedding and a whole lot more. Life has been good to us. It's given us all manner of plastic that will last many lifetimes before it breaks down. We need to use it again and again until it is finally recycled into other uses to keep from having to use precious resources to make more. We need to rethink how we buy our food, reusing all the packaging that we can in whatever way we can. We can BE pioneers, modern ones, no matter where we live. You only have to go into the Urban Homesteading to see hundreds of ways to live pioneer in the city. Okay, now I'm hearing some of you saying,,,,,but I have to work eight or more hours a day. I don't have the time and energy to do all that. I NEED my modern conveniences. Yup, I agree. I no longer work outside the home but I depend on a LOT of modern conveniences but because I KNOW about the pioneer way of life, because I've practiced the skills they needed, I automatically added them to my lifestyle even when I DID work. It is not difficult but it does take a change of attitude, an adaptation. Because of physical difficulties I now use a breadmaker (most of the time that is) to make fresh ground whole grain bread. I grind flour enough for several loaves and store it in glass jars on my cupboard near the bread maker. It takes me only minutes to throw the ingredients into the pan and turn on the machine. Yes, it DOES take energy. But because of my disabilities I can ues it and still get a wholesome healthy product WITHOUT all the packaging that comes with commercial bread. Because I buy my grain in bulk and store it in recycled buckets I save on the packaging of the flour. Because I use left over potato or other vegetable water for the liquid or milk that is slightly souring, I am using a product that would otherwise have gone down the drain in most homes and am saving on vitamin and minerals in the process. Because I often use left over bits of cereal or bread or even cookies and cakes in my bread, I am not wasting what would normally have been discarded. (yup, you can use all of those things, dried and crumbled in bread, along with purreed left over veggies and fruit, scrapings from the peanut butter jar and etc). And if you have a breadmaker with a timer on it you can set it to come on so you will be greeted with the smell of fresh made bread when you walk in the door tired from work. I'm not telling you any of this to show how I can do things but to point out that it IS entirely possible to live a pioneer lifestyle in a modern world no matter your circumstances. But it helps to know how the pioneer DID live in order to adapt it to your own modern life. That's what this forum is about. This thread is about Pioneer lifestyles. I'm inviting all of you to examine your life and then let us know how YOU adapt that lifestyle into your modern life. It would be fun if you could actually point out how the pioneer did it and how you do it now, keeping the pioneer attitude intact. If your reply is a specific thing, then feel free to place it in another pioneer category or in it's own thread. With times so tough and the economy so poor we all need to step back and see where we can be pioneers in a modern life.

What a wonderful resource thread. SUPER!

Great goings Quilty. For medicinal purposes of course..

You are right Leah. The SCA people have authenticity contest and they have to document so much of what they do. I quite often go to them if I need some info.

I'll add that Leah, thanks. Mommadogs, I could really use that list if you want to post it here. I'd try to coordinate it all togher with what is up already. We might end up with a lot more than people could assimilate but we'd be able to offer something for everyone that way.

I have posted this locked thread as a Table of Contents mainly so that we would have a way to access the information that, hopefully, will follow. You may still give me ideas to include here in the Living Pioneer in a Modern world thread and I will periodically update here. I will also try to mark (*) which subject already has a thread started for it and even try to give the link to it so that members can jump directly to the area, as it's possible we may lose some of them off the first page. If you post a new thread using one of these categories it would be helpful if you would use the category title first and the particular subject next for ease of use. (For instance the title of the thread could read: Primitive Skills- Fire or Kitchen-Dehydration.) As you provide info for particular threads remember that the whole idea of this is to Live Pioneer in a MODERN World. We want people to realize that they CAN use modern things to do these traditional skills and tasks IF they would be available in a SHTF situation but that it is good to also learn to do them without. For instance, it's good to be able to start a fire with matches or a lighter but it's advantageous to know how to start them with the face from your watch as a magnifying glass, or a bow drill, or one of the other more primitive means. Lets see if we can include several ways, as there is no ONE way that is correct for everyone. I'd also like to encourage all of you to remember to include ideas that will help members no matter WHERE they live; big city, little town, rural, deep wilderness, wherever. PRIMITIVE SKILLS: Fire Shelter Leather and tanning Making tools (including needles) Primitive cooking Primitive containers and utensils Weapons (both making and using) Snares and traps Hunting and fishing Fiber, Rope, cordage, and knots Urban resources The primitive lifestyle Primitive first aid Native American lore and crafts THE KITCHEN: Meats (butchering, curing, smoking, larding, preserving, etc) Dehydration Pickling Spirits and wine *Rendering lard Apple cider, vinegar, and butter *Maple and other syrups Dairy *Laundry and alternatives *Cooking and its alternatives *cooking with a stove top oven *non-modern cooking *cooking on a wood heat stove *cooking and it's alternatives Coffee, tea and alternative drinks Using a wood cook stove *Hearth cooking *hand thermometer for outdoor cooking *Making Do in the kitchen (substitutes and etc) *non-electric gadgets *Making do *Cast Iron cooking, cleaning and care Root cellaring and caches *Preserving in the old methods *A book at Amazon *Free book (17, 18, 19th century food Wildcrafting (wild foods) The kitchen garden Field gardens *Water (finding, hauling, storing, conserving) *heating water with a solar shower *Water, Treading lightly Refrigeration HOUSING: Non-traditional homes Hidden homes SECURITY and WELL-BEING: Home defense Extended families and how to cope To do it alone or to be part of a survival group (pros and cons and ways and means) AROUND THE HOUSE: *Lamps and lighting *oil lamps Cleaners and cleaning Spinning and Weaving Needle skills (can be separate threads) *crochet *knitting *tatting Natural dyes Feather and straw ticks *Clothing *Night caps * *Outhouses *parts 1&2 *Deeper country skills CHILDREN: Chores Toys and games (old fashioned) Wilderness and primitive skills *education, entertainment, safety, skills *Clothing *Slings and wraps USEFUL HAND MADE ITEMS: (in no particular order) Lanterns (wooden, tin, candle, etc) Gourd items (utensils, bowls, dippers, etc) Pen and ink (quills, etc) Paper making Wood carving (canes, rolling pins, clothes pins, toys, Etc.) *Hand made furniture Candles Straw and wheat work (weaving, mats, hats, bee skeps, Etc.) Baskets Brushes, mops or brooms (Cornhusk, straw, twig or string) Leather work (shoes, belts, aprons, lacing, etc) Rope making Pottery (Wheel thrown, slab work, hand ) Paper Felted work (liners for boots, gloves etc) Netting Shoe making Snow shoes Rugs (all kinds) *Instructables *"old Timer's Page" *Neat site with plans (dehydrator, pit privy, smoke house, etc) *All purpose handbook 1838 free download ENERGY: *Fireplaces, woodstoves, etc *Firewood *Treading lightly, keeping warm Solar, wind, hydro Heating, cooling, *Electricity, treading lightly THE BARN: *Animals/livestock *Build a goat cart *milk cow Traditional and alternative methods of care of animals Pack animals Transportation Farming with Threshing, winnowing, storing grain Fencing (split rail, wattle, etc) Tools (sharpening, making, using, etc) Wood work (all kinds) Gun smithing *Knots LIFESTYLES: Alternative ones *Pioneer lifestyle Ideas for different areas and situations Changing lifestyles MEDICAL: *Pregnancy and birth Childhood and illness Death and dying Home nursing Diagnosing Grassroots treatment Handling minor emergencies Handling major emergencies and accidents Medical supplies Herbs and herbalism Salves and lotions Syrups and lozenges Teas and extracts *Link to free Medical book More to follow as it comes available

Michelle, I believe it will be fine to post links here. I'd especially like to post some links to other Mrs. S threads here to try to tie it all together. PSC, I'm HOLDING you to that contribution. LOL Susie, that's an excellent idea. I believe we've talked about that in other threads on Mrs. S so we'll have to try to link to those. Don't suppose you'd like to look for them would you? In the mean time I'm going to try to get a thread up today that contains a sort of Table of Content listing. Then you can all start choosing your favorites and making threads on them.

Michelle, You might want to hold off on doing all of them until we see what the majority want to start with as if we put a thread up for each thing I'm going to have on this list we'll push these things right off the page and maybe off the second page too. That makes it hard to follow. I'd sure appreciate it if you would start threads on those things you are especially interested in though. It would get the ball rolling for us all. Mt3b, I'll put that subject on the list, thanks MommaDogs, I'd be grateful if you could post that list here and then I'll try to coordinate it all into some semblance of organization. Thanks

Betty, it looks like it's going to be a whole lot more than just two things. I wasn't expecting this response but I'm really excited to see it. Michelle, I had planned to start a different thread for each of the different topics. I'm going to start by getting a list of skills, both what you all have listed and some that I have. I'll post it in one thread and then if someone has info on a topic they can start a separate thread for that particular subject. I'll do the same with the food, shelter, water and etc. Some of the threads may be just handled in that particular thread but others may take several to handle the subject. We'll see how it goes. If by some chance we have two similar threads I'll combine them. We might have to play with it a bit but eventually we should have some really great info posted here. I hope to get the list of skills and etc up tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your offers of help on this. I WILL be taking you up on them. Angela, scroll back a couple of post to what I said about the two subjects.

Hang on to those thoughts everyone. I'm going to try to set this up so each section, skill, task whatever has it's own thread so people won't have to wade through a bunch of stuff they aren't interested in. I'm going to start with putting up several threads and you can jump into them. Once we get them all up we should have a nice bit of info all sorted into neat little packages (yeah right LOL)!!! Keep the IDEAS coming though. We'll try to work in as many as possible.