Trying something new...

Well I gone and done it now, I've started selling on eBay.  Kind of scary and exciting all at the same time.  I just have to get rid of some of my stuff.  I just listed some magazines.  Here's one of them:

 I've never done any selling on eBay so this will be an adventure I'm sure ;)

Canning...

I canned up some potatoes and beef broth a week ago.  Here are some pics.  OOOhhhh so exciting isn't it? LOL.

Family tree at Ancestry.com

Search all U.S. Censuses free
From August 29th through September 3rd, Ancestry.com is opening all of its U.S. census records – FREE. Go to www.ancestry.com/census to learn more and start searching.

Look at what I won!

I entered a contest on Quiltmaker's magazine site and actually won four quilt blocks that were featured in their 100 blocks magazine and won the magazine that they were featured in.  How cool is that?

This one has beading on it.

  If you get the chance to pick up one of their 100 block magazines, do because they are wonderful and have such variety in the blocks that they feature.  I enter a lot of contests but never thought I would win this one.  Now what should I make with them?

P.S - They have freebies on their site too.

Michigan outlaws pigs

• On April 1, 2012, the Invasive Species Order (ISO), issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), went into effect
• The ISO prohibits anyone in the state from possessing what MDNR defines as “invasive species of swine,” which can basically include any type of hog raised outside of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
• Any farmer or other individual found to be in possession of such a hog could be charged with a felony and subjected to up to two years in jail and a $20,000 fine
• The ISO threatens farmer’s rights and may make sustainably raised pastured pork essentially illegal, and very hard to come by in the state
• The ISO is not a law; rather, it’s an “action” or “order” that’s been taken by a state agency; as such, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has the authority to tell MDNR to rescind the ISO, and your help is needed to prompt this action

Read entire article here:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/21/heritage-breed-pigs-small-farmers.aspx?e_cid=20120826_SNLNew_MS_1

love this!

 And that's why I'm making it the tip for the week ;)

Free books

I don't think I have shared this before but I have a kindle and love to read so I signed up for emails from ereaderiq.com.  They send out a daily email with free Amazon books.  You tell them what categories of books you like to read and they send you a list.  It is convenient.  If I don't feel like checking the email I just delete it and catch it another day.  I now have 11 pages of books.  Oh don't look at me like that!  Some of them are short stories.  Anyway, if you like to read and have a kindle or other reader check out their site. eReaderIQ.com.  Can't beat free!

Oh and be sure when you click on the title that it is actually free, some of them you have to be a Prime member which I'm not.

New things...

I got one of these radios from Emergency Essentials.  I was very impressed.  It has AM, FM, 2 short wave stations and weather station.  It works on batteries, solar, electricity or crank.  It has an emergency flashlight, SOS light and reading light.  It can charge your cell phone as well.  And it's not too big and doesn't weigh very much either.

What I really wanted from Emergency Essentials though was a solar cooker.  Here's the one I got
It was on sale in June so I had to get it.  It is very easy to use and wonderful in the summer.  No heating up the house!  It came with the two little pots shown, a thermometer, cookbook and a water pasteurization indicator and reflector.  The body of the cooker is plastic which makes it pretty light weight to carry but not too light weight that is going to blow away in the wind.  So far I've made  roasts, chicken and potatoes in it and today I made chicken, potatoes and meatballs.  Figured it wouldn't take too long to do all of that so we have enough for a few meals.  It is like a slow cooker really.  The meat comes out moist and tender and oh so flavorful.  I'm going to try to make some bread and see how it turns out.  The only thing that is difficult about using it is deciding what you want to eat 6-8 hours before it's cooked.  The potatoes don't take as long only 1-2 hours and the meatballs only took about 2 hours.  You don't add any water to the pan when you do the potatoes either.  I think it will be a wonderful thing to have if the electric goes out, of course only if it goes out in the morning cause it does take a few hours to cook everything and it works best on sunny days with little or no wind.  I did set up the reflectors on the first try but found I didn't need them down here in Alabama.  They are sturdy too.  The clips that hold on the plastic cover on the cooker though are hard to get on there but if they were too easy they wouldn't keep the cover on and I really don't want to be running after a cover after it has been pulled off by the wind LOL.  Plus with the clips on I'm sure that the animals can't get into it.  The cats really liked smelling the meat smells coming from it ;)

I was really pleased on how fast the items were shipped and the shipping charge was only $6 on my order which I thought was very reasonable.  Now anyone out there have any solar cooker recipes?

Bacon and Eggs: DHS Classifies New Ammo Purchaces Following Controversy

Bacon and Eggs: DHS Classifies New Ammo Purchaces Following Controversy

Assorted pics from June and July

Here are some of the girls, furred and feathered.  Yes Penny thinks she's a chicken now.  She cries to go out with the girls.  Maybe they have meetings? LOL.  That bush on the right is a cherry.  Had lots of blossoms and even had some cherries but they all fell off. :(  The building in the back is the chicken feeding center.  The girls use it in the winter to get out of the cold too but just the feathered girls, Penny stays inside if it's too cold ;)

Here is Roxy and Penny looking to get in.  

Here are some of the blueberries and potatoes fresh from the garden.  You know how I was complaining of too many blueberries, well I should have kept my mouth shut because then we went into a severe drought and all the unripe blueberries wilted and died on the bushes.  

I canned some pickled beets.

This was the sky one afternoon.  So pretty I had to take a picture of it.

We had lots of grapes.  These are concords.  Hubby had fresh grapes for a couple of days.  What he didn't eat we gave to the chickens.  No I'm not too crazy about grapes.  I did make three quarts of grape juice though and it turned out pretty good.

Drought, ice age and other thoughts

The recent drought, which isn't so recent as we have been in drought conditions for years, got me to thinking about history and I remembered I had read about the little ice age back in the 1300's.  Now I didn't learn about this at school I learned this on my own about 25 years ago.  So here is a link for info on the little ice age:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age  and here's another link:  http://www.eh-resources.org/timeline/timeline_lia.html

and here is some info on the Medieval warm period which happened before the little ice age:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

Makes you kinda think doesn't it?  Although the scientists don't say whether there was widespread drought before the little ice age, they could have had a drought before it and history always repeats itself.

If you don't think this drought concerns you, think again.  Everything and I mean everything that you eat is going to go up in price as well as everything you buy because of the ethanol in the gas so it will cost more to ship things to you.  If you have a family or even if there is just you, please start buying more food NOW while the prices are reasonable.

Also if you only think this is happening to the US, think again because there is drought all over the world and who do you think they get most of their grain from?  hmmm?  Us and Russia and Russia has had a severe drought too.  The price of meat will go down because the farmers won't be able to buy food for their beef, chicken, pigs and fish because of the shortage so they will sell off the herds and us consumers will benefit for the short term.  Notice I said for the short term because as soon as all that meat is processed then there will be a shortage of meat and the price will skyrocket.  So if you have a freezer or can please do so for you and your family.  If you have dogs or cats, you should be buying canned food in bulk.  Anything you can buy in bulk buy and store.  It's better to have too much than not enough when times are bad.   Oh and if you think I made a mistake about the fish guess what, they feed soybeans to farm raised fish so there you go.  Grain isn't the be all and end all either.  Our ancestors didn't eat a quarter of the grain we do and their animals didn't either.  If you diversify your food sources, you will survive.  They knew it back then and we need to learn it now.

Sorry this has been such a depressing post.  I wouldn't have written it if I didn't care and I do.

Craftsy is having a sale!

If you want to learn a new craft or brush up on one you already do check out Craftsy's site.  They have classes you can take when you have time and the classes never have to be renewed.  Once you buy a class it's yours forever.  I've taken several and they are great!

http://www.craftsy.com/clp/summersale-2012-1499

PS - I am not being paid to tell you this.  Just thought you might want to get in on some great classes.  They even have free ones!

Just about says it all...

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests".

- Patrick Henry