Life is hectic and especially so today. If it is not hectic, it is uncertain.
I am trying to find balance in our home and this led me to realizing that we must tie up our loose ends to find that balance.
This time I made noodles without eggs. This was so simple, just flour, warm water, a pinch of salt. Knead until a nice soft dough (not too soft) and cut into strips.
This is not a political statement, I do my best to not be political on my blog but we are at war. We are studying ww2, the year of 1942, right now here on my blog but we are also at war in our real time of 2026.
When we study history we see what our generations before us went through. Rationing was a very serious thing and this could happen again. What we need to learn today is how to cook basic and simple. We need to learn what to do if something more serious happens and we cannot buy gasoline/petrol, or shipments are not coming to the stores.
We studying ww2 history we learned that people got busy doing what was needed to get their family through this serious time. They stated gardens, the had to learn to cook different than how they normally cooked due to shortages and rationing. They volunteered in many areas they were needed.
Where are our small farmers in our area outside of our towns and cities? What are we growing in our backyards or on our balconies?
I can no longer avoid writing "too serious" about this for it is too important. This has to do with each of us. Any wartime, the citizens, not the ones running the government, are the ones to feel the pain of the war. The loss of loved ones, the higher expenses, the shortages that affect everyone that are not wealthy.
Then there is the what if the grid goes down? Do we know how to live without electricity? Can we cook? Do we have stored food and water? Do we know what we need to have stored? Our ancestors knew how and we need to know how.
Do we have stored water in case our water supply is disrupted? We already know that a certain country has already figured out how to break into our water supply computer system and was planning to interrupt the system in many places. Is it a matter of time? Do you have a rain barrel for extra water? Do you have stored drinking water?
This is not to panic, this is to remind you that we live in a time where we need to live prepared for most anything. This could be from storms if not war. This could be from having utilities cut off because of not being able to pay the bills.
So many people play follow the leader but often that leader is not going in the right direction. It is not wise to live completely dependent on everything being there for us when we want it or need it.
If we focus on "learning" how to make and stretch meals on basic simple food we can rest better. There is no credit card for this, there is no someone is going to come save us. We must know how to take care of ourselves.
Many of those that had the knowledge are no longer here to help us to learn.
If you had a Dutch oven (cast iron pot with lid) do you know how to bake in it without a stove? Could you make a fire outside and put hot coals on the top of the flat lid and bake this cobbler?
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It is okay to learn both ways and most helpful to do so.
If water were scarce have you actually practiced a washbowl bath?
Have you gone outside and washed your clothes to learn how the old way? I have and I can actually get my laundry cleaner, it is not easy but it does not require electricity.
My notebooks that I have filled with my studies for reference.
We have learned through the years to do things that our generations before us did such as using a sun oven. These actually work, again they are not as easy as using the stove or oven but they can cook your meal on a sunny day and save money by not using the oven inside the house.
Garlic that has grown all through the winter.
I am getting concerned about the unsettled times we are in. My concern is that people are not trying to learn how to take care of their families or themselves should something very serious happen.
Even if things do not get bad, we still should learn how to live without modern conveniences.
Charles and I have purchased things over the years to help us live without grid. But we are taking it further back for the knowledge of how to take care of ourselves if things got really difficult. Many people today cannot afford to go out and buy a camping stove or some of the gear to help survive some kind of disaster. Do we have a backpack that you can have ready to leave if you need to? Have we thought that through?
Do I know how to heat food or water by building a fire? These are not silly things to learn, this is smart to learn these things, it can save lives.
Albert is molting, he has had a pretty tough winter hanging out in the oregano container.
Albert and I are still picking through his molted feathers and hope that he will be back to his handsome self soon. :)
Albert said he can tell you how tough things can get, he has been through rain, snow, high wind, hail, ice and heat, along with a few bug bites.
I have a forum here on my blog, it is up in the top menu. You can sign up to comment or simply read along without signing up. The sign up is simply to make the forum safe to keep out the spammers.
We have a wonderful group of people that share their ideas and stories and we all learn from each other.
For our forum questions, do you have any good information to share what you do to keep your home prepared for the what if's?
Do ever practice cooking without the grid?
Does your family have an emergency plan?
How do you store emergency water?
Any thoughts you would like to share how to stay prepared.
Or we can talk anything but politics.
Grandma Donna
