Crazy times

Now, this blog is going to rub a lot of nerves. I know this ahead of time. The thing is, I am not BIASED. I have voted every year for the person I felt was capable of doing the job...NOT BY PARTY! I believe in research, and I believe in respecting those who have differing opinions than my own. Even if I do not agree with you, I will respect your opinion. I expect the same in return. It takes all types to make the world go round! What I do have issue with, are those that are supposedly "tolerant" yet getting in your face, degrading you, and being completely disrespectful. I will not push my beliefs on anyone, and I will not tolerate that stuff being pushed on me. We can disagree without hating each other.

I may only be 45, but I can not remember ever having a time in life, as we are currently experiencing. I am very disturbed by the direction so much of 2020 has gone. I am concerned by the current virus but I am not panicked. We took measures into our own hands about two weeks before cases started showing up in our local area. When you have people in your house that have health issues, you have to take precautions...whether it's the flu or this virus. I have spent the past 11 years, dealing with being cautious over everything, so this is nothing new. The difference now, is that for the minimal amount of cases and death(please do not think I am in any way disregarding the lives lost!), the country has shut down. I truly do not understand the reason for all the panic, aside from media propaganda. I don't agree with all the shut downs, and closures. I don't agree with people being forced to stay home, or even in some states and cities, being forced to stay indoors. However, at this point, it's hard to know what to believe with all the crap floating in news and social media. The thing is, I do not understand putting millions of people out of work, the economy that had finally gotten better in my rural area is now sinking again, schools are closed, livestock and grain markets are in the tank, and for what?!?!?!? Because a virus, that has affected less than 5% of our population has killed less than 1%? Has so much of society forgotten history and forgotten how to research? This is NOT a political or religious issue, folks.

I have been on social media, although a lot less, enough to know and see it's being played in both those directions. I have seen several touting biblical passages about this being the end of times. I have seen politicians for BOTH parties playing pathetic games with not only tax payer money but more government interference in our lives. AND SO MANY ARE OK WITH THIS!!! I am not! Everything the government puts there hands on turns to shit! For just one example, research the whorehouse the government tried to take over and bankrupted it! Look at the mess the healthcare sham has costed not only tax payers but how many medical professionals left the field because the government NOT your doctor was in charge of what healthcare you or could not receive. Look at the cost of the having to purchase healthcare whether you could afford it or not, and whether or not you used it...i.e. the penalty that would appear on your taxes if you didn't have it! Yet, so many want the government involved.

We have had so many people complaining about presidents...both the current and former. Here's another thing...you better be more worried about the piece of crap folks that are spending a lifetime in the house and senate; constantly increasing their pay, making laws that apply to us but not them, and then leaving office with a LIFETIME supply of our tax money, free benefits, and then they move on to high powered jobs with the lobbyists that have bought their votes. Sure, I have my own opinions on the job being done by our current president. I believe that my opinion is more based on the ridiculous amounts of money the house of representatives have spent trying to get a duly elected official out of office. Do I like our president, not fully, but just as I did not care for the last one...I RESPECTED him. He was elected, therefore, I was raised to respect that office!


Now that that is out of the way, let me tell you about how life works on my little farm. I have two people in my house with immune difficulties. One, has an overactive immune system. The rears its head in the form of psoriasis. Through the years, this can lead to Lupus, and Fibromyalgia to name a couple. The second, about died at 4 months old from a severe allergy to the bases used for all vaccines. That means no vaccines and severe allergies - which has meant monitoring all foods, clothing, medications, and anything that may come in contact. It meant me going back to school to learn natural health, herbalism, and being hyper vigilant at all times. It has meant being the bad guy when all the junk foods, soda, and snacks would instigate an allergy attack. Having severe allergies myself, I have had to learn, many times the hard way, what I can and can't eat/be around. Everything from laundry soap, body soap, fabric softener, shampoos, dish soap, and even toothpaste!

My little family farm, is small by most standards. We have a decent home, and about 25 acres of hay/pasture. We have livestock - cows, sheep, and chickens for now; with goats and ducks being added soon. We raise a good sized garden, our own beef, our own lamb, our own chicken and eggs. So, the majority of our foods are raised or grown right here. It is very satisfying to cook an entire meal and know exactly where it came from. I do not have to worry about chemicals, food coloring, or preservatives. We have several fruit trees and vines, but because of the chemicals sprayed around us, they have not produced. So, that means having to invest in more trees/vines and plants and relocate everything we can to not lose anymore money. As we have changed over the past 10 years, we have learned a lot of hard lessons, but also experienced some of the most amazing memories.

This past August we began an adventure hosting an exchange student. I can say it has been the greatest experience! We haven't just hosted though. We gained another daughter and her family into ours. We have been so fortunate to have experienced this young lady, and to have her adapt into our family so well....it's been beyond awesome! With all this craziness going on, it has hampered our ability to get out to do several things with her that we wanted to. Now, it seems as if it is going to squash all spring plans as well. It has been an incredible 8 months!!!

Life around here gets kinda crazy. There is always work to do. This year we added sheep to our farm. This was a big undertaking with a farm fenced for cows and horses. We are still trying to get all the new fence up. Having 3 of us working full-time, trying to teach daily, keeping up with animal chores, household chores, paperwork, budgets, holidays, birthdays, and extended families...it can take on a life of its own. While this quarantine crap is not much of a change for us, aside from everyone being home full-time, it's cancelled so many plans. Since everyone is home, we have had more time to work on projects around here, more time to get on each others nerves, and a LOT more laundry and dishes for me!

It is very difficult for a lot of people to understand why we don't have to just go visit, make a trip or go on vacation. Honestly, we are all homebodies. We love our home. Aside from that, there are animal chores a minimum of twice a day(right now it's more often with calves ready to be born and still having lambs too), when everyone is working the guys are gone by 7 and not home until around 6, I am in and out of meetings and teaching daily, then there is supper prep and eating, clean up and family time. Weekends are always insane with trying to get other small projects done, or make a dent in big projects, usually catching up on paperwork, making lists of feed deliveries and veterinary care, making sure records are kept to government standards and trying to squeeze in a little time for just living. We do not have hired hands, and we do not have people that will take care of everything here for any length of time...it is too much to ask! We reserve asking for emergencies only.

For me, my days are full from 4:30 am until around 10 pm. I rarely stop, and unless I am just completely burned out, I usually survive on about 4 hours sleep and whole lot of coffee! I do not have the time, energy or patience to deal with games, ignorance or stupidity. If I feel someone is bringing too much toxicity into my life, I will put a lot of distance between them and me. Toxic is toxic, no matter. I do my best to be kind to all, but sometimes when you give an inch...a mile is taken.

I know I am very unique. I have my own beliefs, my own thoughts, some very stubborn opinions, and most of the time a lack of filter from brain to mouth. Most of the time, I am an open book. If I get questionable vibes...I will distance myself. I do not trust easy, so my inner circle is VERY small. I've seen it posted many times: different people get a different version of me. This is very true! I am always myself, but I may water down my thoughts for those I don't feel can handle me at full strength. While those in my inner circle know how I really am. I tend to watch my tongue most of the time...until I am home and am in a comfortable location. My home is my sanctuary. It is the one place I can let go...a bit wild, mouthy, sometimes I can make a sailor blush with my language, and I have a temper that can get pretty ugly. On the other side of all that, I try to always see both sides to every story. I try to be there for friends when they need me, I tend to care too much about others, to the point of exhausting myself worrying about them. I tend to research, read and study anything and everything that catches my attention. From Biology to Architecture, from gardening/landscaping to photography, from medical statistics to holistic care, from psychology to PTSD and so much more. I love to learn, and have yet to stop.

So during the crazy times we are currently living in, I have learned what I can around teaching my daughter and my host daughter while school has been out. I have researched some new gardening techniques to help make a smaller garden more productive. I have researched ways to improve landscaping without spending a lot of money. I've working with the guys outside building fence(not my smartest idea!), taking care of the animals, planning and laying out new pasture paddocks, and making a game plan to continue improving our farm even though the markets have all crashed.

I suppose on that note, I am going to end this blog. 3 weeks into this quarantine and I am ready for life to be back to normal.
Salli