It seems to be a good morning for updates and a coffee chat. My mind is racing and it's been a busy few weeks around here. I share a lot of long posts on social media, but none of them even touch the amount of information that races through my brain on a daily basis. My brain can get a little scary!
So, where to begin....? With the second pot of coffee brewed, lets start with the farm. I know I say often how much I love my farm life, and I truly would not change this life for any other. I love being on a farm, in the middle of nowhere, with the space to just "be." The thing about farm life, it takes a lot of WORK! It's not something that you can just do when you get the urge. It is a daily effort. This life doesn't care if you're ill, having a bad day, just want to rest, or go on vacation. I am not knocking anyone that chooses not to live this way, but I do live this way. So, time away takes planning, preparing and pushing my work off on someone else. That typically means that I do not get away from here often, or for very long. I enjoy getting to spend some time away, but it usually reminds me how much I have changed and how different my life truly is. I was able to take a 4 day "vacation" recently. I got to spend some much needed time with my Dad and extended family. Aside from my Dad, my extended family hasn't been to my farm/home in all the years I have lived in Missouri. So, unless I go back to Illinois, I don't see them. It was a nice break, but a little taxing also since my Dad is having some health issues. As far as my farm goes, it's been a busy year. We had 2 rounds of lambs this year, this was a first for our farm. We had around 40 head born in January and another roughly 40 head in March/April. We have roughly 40 head of ewes and a couple of rams that are residents on our farm. My oldest sold all but 2 of his full size cow herd, and ventured into mini cows this year. With the rising costs of feed and hay, the limited amount of pasture available in our area, he was faced with either selling out altogether or making a massive change. Mind you, he HATES change!!! We have a small amount of ducks and chickens, and a couple of goats. The past 12 months has required a lot of change for our little farm. Around our farm, we watch a lot of signs to give us direction. The weather, the wildlife, the weeds, etc. These may seem to old wives tales or the way we see it...old farmer observations. Some things technology just can't provide. Hay last year was short. Hay this year, is already in very bad shape. We are told we are in a D2 drought, in early June! A local farmer that has studied the weather patterns through the years, has said if we don't start getting some rain by the 15th of this month, the crops/hay won't make it. This is a very serious issue for livestock producers, grains, clear down to grocery shelves. I have worked hard to make my garden work this year. Obviously, without rain/water nothing will grow. Well, watering has been required, almost daily for weeks. This in turn increases a water bill since we are not on a well. But that too is a trade off...water the garden that will hopefully feed your family for the winter and pay a little higher water bill, OR have to buy the high priced crap off the store shelves that just seems to be getting higher by the day. With my main garden in, and doing ok...I realized quickly that it not near enough for the times. Until the last 7 years, I had 3 separate gardens that were chocked clear full of produce. We had preserved 800-1000 jars of food annually for a long time. The past 5 years, I had just my main garden with about half of that preserved annually. Now, after a pantry inventory over the weekend....I know I need more garden space ASAP!! I've said before that planting fruit trees, takes a long wait for production. My fruit trees were put in, in 2014, and this year will be only the second time of getting fruit from them. I have a few more to get planted, but I know it will be years before I see any fruits of my labor, quite literally.
This is a great place to dive into the conversation. Groceries. I know everyone gets tired of hearing me talk about this, but food is essential to life. I have spent years shopping at a local Mennonite store. I have always heralded how inexpensive they were. Sadly, this has changed. I made a trip Saturday to get some fill in items...milk, bread, fresh produce, a few pantry items that we had run out of, and a few other things. I walked out with 8 grocery bags, and spent nearly $200. Everything, aside from the milk, had increased by no less that 25%. So, as my husband and I were discussing the food costs and the pantry got inventory done...it was realized that not only do we need to make an Aldi run, but we have no choice but do everything possible to preserve everything possible. Which in turn, circled around to needing more garden space. Anyway, I did a quick lookup online of Aldi prices on a few pantry items we need...and compared prices to our local store. Here is a few items to compare: Cream soups(mushroom & chicken) Local - $1.29 each for generic, $0.75 Aldi. Peanut Butter local $4.99 3lbs(generic), $1.99 Aldi. Canned Fruit(generic) local $2.39 a can, $1.39 Aldi. These are just a few...with just the differences here, I can justify driving 45 miles one direction to go to Aldi. This was sad to me. Typically, I figure for the time and gas...I can pay just a little more to stay local. The differences currently, I can not justify it. Now, I am not shopping at Wal-Mart. I do everything within my power to avoid that store! Realistically, I do everything I can to avoid ALL big box stores. Those price differences, do not leave me with many choices for my budget. Is the traffic, the excessive amount of people, and the long drive worth it...not usually. In today's instance, I believe it has to be. You see, when I preach about stocking up, and staying stocked up; I do this as more than just being prepared. Have you seen the behaviors of people lately? If people are already pushing and shoving, already being rude and ignorant, road rage is getting worse, theft and crime is getting out-of-control; Just imagine what the stores will be like when supplies get low, prices get even higher, and people start truly experiencing a lack of their comforts. I will continue to shop local on whatever I can, but I also have to be truly mindful of my budget limitations. Having to choose between paying bills, buying medication or buying food, is a reality for many Americans already.
As Americans, we have had many years of overall comfort. If you look back through History, our grandparents/great-grandparents generations, knew true struggles. Just look into the history of the saying, "dirt floor poor," or "don't throw the baby out with the bath water." It's a stark contrast to most of us younger than 60! Many of our younger generations actually believe the food just automatically is at the grocery store...they don't understand food has to be grown somewhere. Even my own generation doesn't grasp the concept of living without cell phones, internet, Starbucks, Dunkin, or fast food. Would you be able to survive if you had nothing at your fingertips besides what/who you have in your home right now? Technology has become such a staple in our lives now. Whether that be constant access by phone - cell, online apps, texting. I know I am super guilty of being constantly connected. It has been beneficial to keep in touch with family & friends from a distance, but look at how many/much miscommunication it has created. The inability of people to be capable to communicate seems to get worse by the day. I know for me, the whole texting thing is an irritant! I don't do all the ridiculous abbreviations, most of them I couldn't even tell you what they mean! I will type out a message, and the responses that come in with "K" piss me clear off. Grammer, vocabulary, spelling; apparently are also lacking in society. It's frustrating to try to have a conversation when you are battling noise - cell phones, TV, or social media. Many times, I get so frustrated, I just stop talking. Why bother trying to have a one-sided conversation. It's not much different from trying to have an online conversation. We are all guilty of listening just enough to react, but not listening to actually hear and respond. We have become reactive instead of proactive. So many have lost the ability to be empathetic. We don't allow ourselves to be able to try to understand other's positions/thoughts. We are just always in the need of being heard, making our point. Which if we are being real, boils down to ego. It's really sad. In the bygone years, our grandparents/great-grandparents, focused on family and community. Family units were put above nearly everything else, followed closely by community. Each family had their own thing they did. Whether that was sewing, gardening, raising livestock, milk, eggs, blacksmithing, etc. They worked together to make sure their families and communities survived. There wasn't room for ego. Once their family was cared for, they shared their harvest with neighbors/community. There was no room for biting the hand that fed you. Everyone pulled together. That is how and why WE, are here today. It had nothing to do with greed, stepping on fingers to climb some ladder, or some cut throat tactic to strip someone else out of something else. It is so sad for me, to see all the underhanded and backstabbing, that goes on in the world today. The sad part of this is, it has filtered into some of the communities that I never thought it would, namely the supposed religious ones. It's just sad!
As you surely see, it's very frustrating for me to keep my mouth in check...most days! I hear people complaining about not having money, yet they are eating fast food all the time, running to an overpriced coffee shop, or maxing out their credit cards for whatever reason. I know that people need to live their lives, but complaining about being broke and not making changes to better themselves has never sat well with me. I know a lot of people are not like me, and can not understand why I rarely leave my farm aside from only when I have to. I get that. I have the experience of both worlds, as I refer to it. I lived in a bigger area, I spent a lot of time and money to go gambling/shopping/vacations. I drove all over everywhere, ate out more than I cooked. I couldn't go more than 24 hours without being around other people. I did the bar scene, the party scene, etc. Now, I don't. I don't usually even want to! I can be cordial to people when I have to go out. So much of the time though, I can see their fakeness. I don't do fake well. I struggle with surface conversations. I have no use for sugar coating most of what I have to say. Because quite honestly, I truly believe in "you do you." I just don't want it shoved in my face, or down my throat. I will treat everyone as good as I possibly can until you prove to me that your character isn't worth my time. I don't base my life on race/gender/etc. I base everything on how I am treated. I attempt to be fair to everyone.
I am needing to get back to my own grind today, and my mind is still racing. As I said on social media, I have had a pretty massive "light bulb moment," in my life the past couple weeks. I'm still attempting to make sense of it, and put it into practice. One thing from that moment, the need to help others is good but not everyone realizes or wants help. Sometimes, they are content to just complain, belittle, and talk about you behind your back. You can't fix this. No matter how hard you try, there will always be someone drilling holes in your boat while you are trying to bale the water out. They are the proverbial anchor slowing down your ability to achieve more. Cut that anchor.
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