Sept. 29th update

 

September 29, 2023. 

You know, each year, I think that the month of September won't be as busy or chaotic as the previous...then, I am proven wrong - year after year. This year, I knew September was going to be a train wreck, and I can tell you...I was pretty accurate. Even though we love each event we host, it's a lot of work before and after, plus work during. So we prepare for it. Although, we are typically completely worn down after each event, we have time in between to rest. This year, the entire month has been back-to-back events, and we are all exhausted...and harvest has begun, so my husband is getting ambushed daily at work too. So, when we had our run in with a serious air conditioner leak that flooded a corner of our room...I had to actually accept help, so that my husband didn't have to deal with it. Thankfully, I have one brother here that was able to get everything fixed and put back in order, in no time! Both of my brothers stepped up to help beyond anything I could have asked to help with my oldests wedding too! Their significant others also stepped up and showed me they had my back during really stressful times this month! I had a very dear friend that made sure she helped every way possible with everything this month too. It is amazing to me how much the help I have had this month, has made more time for me to do others things I needed to do. 

So, as I am limited on conversation on social media, I decided to write out an update today. I have a lot to say and I am tired of worrying about being flagged or sent to Facebook jail, again. While I am focusing on my own stuff, walking the walk as far as practicing what I preach, doing all I can to stay focused on more positive aspects in my own life, yet staying in touch with fact too...I am attempting to understand other perspectives. I don't always accomplish this. I am pretty sure footed in my beliefs and knowledge. I am a person that would rather deal with issues head-on instead of avoiding them. I do, however, understand there are times when I have to put issues on a shelf when they become too overwhelming. I will go back to them when I know I can fix them. I am a fixer...not a whiner. 

Obviously, there are areas that can not necessarily be fixed by me, alone. Our government is a big one. Anyone with half a brain knows there are serious problems in our country, created by both political parties over many decades, and many of them are culminating now. Out of control government spending, can account for the majority of federal debt currently. Why on Earth we are printing fiat money to send and support other countries, when our own is such a mess, is beyond me. Understanding the nature, history, and level of "not our business" happening in that other country would be a good starting point for many. Not many people understand that since the early 90's Ukraine has never registered their boards...therefore, technically, there is no invasion...it is a civil war. That is not popular knowledge, but you can look it up and find the facts with not much digging. We have no right to impede in another countries civil war. We are not the world's police. We have enough problems right here in America. Closer to home:  we have millions of laws on the books, and the large majority of them are not being enforced. We have a founding document that has trampled on, and literally ignored for many decades. If people truly knew and understood their rights, they would know that about every law written for 100 years, went against our Constitution. People would understand that for 150 years plus, we have been blindly following Admiralty/Maritime law, not Common Law. We would understand that any law that goes against the Constitution, or law that is made in DC or states, that did not include enforcement by ALL including politicians, would be null and void. i.e. Social Security, Obamacare, etc. When Congress excludes themselves from their laws, that voids the law by own Constitution. 

We know the inflation rates are not the supposed 8% or whatever they currently claim. That is the core rate...which does NOT include housing, food, fuel, or utilities. So, if we add in all those, the true inflation rate would be well over 20%. When a loaf bread in January of 22, was $1.49 and in September of 23 is $4.99...that is a big inflation. Utilities are up, fuel/diesel is up, food is stupid high, insurance - both auto and health are through the roof, building supplies are high, feed/grain is high, fertilizer is high, and that is just a starting point. When you add in the interest rate increase - you start having bigger issues yet. Mortgages are not only getting more difficult to get but the 8% plus interest rate is unbelievable. Auto loans, credit cards and now the repayments of student loans that the Democrats claimed would not have to be paid back...guess what, they lied again. It's part and parcel of both parties to tell people what they want to hear, so we keep voting these rejects into office. Sadly, they have all but proven that none of them care about America....they care about power, lining their own pockets and their posh lifestyles. 

Anyway, I could talk for days about laws, executive orders, continuity of government, etc. but I will let that rest for the moment. I try to keep my overall outlook more on what I can fix/control. That is my home, farm, and family. While there are days the family area is questionable as the kids grow up and have their own directions. Finding a point when I just have to say, "just remember the choices you make have consequences. Whether good or bad...you have to deal that." That is difficult when you spend so many years trying to do your best to protect them from stupid decisions, and teach them to make educated decisions, and attempt them from making some of the dumb decisions we have made. While many people will give advice and it is well meaning, but they don't have to deal with outcomes of those decisions. My husband says, "they don't have a dog in the fight, so they don't have to deal with end result." Fortunately, my husband and I are fairly close on  beliefs in most areas. Not exact, but close. He is just a lot more aggressively blunt. 

Every year, we spend 6-8 months preparing for the remaining months of the year. Living on a farm, in the middle of nowhere, you have to. When you are going to drive 25 minutes to an hour in any direction to get to a store...you have to be prepared. After 25 years of living this way, I don't want to think about anything else. You learn to have no less than a 6 month supply of food, back up supplies for animals, vet care, health care. You keep some extra supplies for emergency repairs - water lines, lumber, tin, dog/log chains, heat lights, etc. We begin about April, to restock everything. Take inventory of everything. We count the bales of big round hay, small squares of hay, straw, the amount of feed we used, and what repairs we've had to make since October/November. This allows us to prepare better for the following winter. We have done this, in some fashion, since 1998...and my husband much longer than that. He grew up this way. I start planning my gardens in January, seeds usually around mid-March or April, get the gardens worked by May, so I can start planting in May. This year, I was a little later getting seeds going, so I had some plants that didn't get in the ground until July. So, I still have tomatoes setting on now. This has been a blessing and a curse this year. Usually I am done with my garden by this time. That way I can move on to the final winterizing projects before it gets cold. I just picked another wagon load of tomatoes last night! I have a ton or more of green tomatoes still on the vines. My bell peppers have begun flowering again too. I have banana peppers and jalapenos, coming out of my ears! I still have potatoes to dig, and once we have our first frost, I will be digging my sweet potatoes too. Then I can put the gardens to rest for a few months. Until then, I am preserving everything humanly possible. We turned our extra bedroom into wall-to-wall shelves for more pantry storage, canning supply storage, and back ups for back ups. We have been hit hard by increased expenses of everything. Everything is going up except our income. There is constant chatter of job loss, so that adds insult to injury. I am doing all I can to make sure my family will eat, even if the costs increase beyond our means or there is a job loss. Having a small farm means expenses to maintain that too. Feed/grain, hay, straw, mineral, heat lights, tank heaters for the waterers, fence maintenance, keeping neighboring animals out of our chickens/sheep, out of our gardens. Farm equipment repairs that risen nonstop for 3 years. Vehicle repairs and maintenance that have also increased for 3 years. 

Overall, I spend a lot of focus on maintaining my family unit. The importance of a family farm, staying family...not shirking the responsibilities that each family member has. Sadly, we've seen this shift and it has caused more responsibility onto others. I know the family unit model has changed over the years, but that goes against what we have lived by. Anyway, the transition to running a farm has pretty much fallen to my husband and I's shoulders. It is what it is. We will go as long as we can. It's just sad to see the shift. We tried to raise our kids by better standards, but they have to stick with them even in the face of adversity...once they are grown, it's up to them to carry on that tradition. Again, sadly, that has been fading out for decades too. Our "old fashioned" values don't fit into this crazy society. We are several generations removed from those values, so it's not surprising to me, that it is the way it is. 

It's amazing to me the shift I have felt, just this year. While I see parents thrilled to ship their kids off to school, have them move out, get married, or whatever...I am different. I love having my kids here, and I have for years. I love knowing their quirks, their learning styles, I have loved teaching them...even the trying days, I have loved knowing I was giving them true life lessons/skills that would help them become more productive members of society. I love meals, when all our kids(including our bonus kids) are at the table. When it's loud, they are all talking over each other, when my daughter pops off some remark that stops everyone mid-thought. When my husband and I just look at each other and know we have something special. The nights we lay in bed and talk about how amazing our kids, and our lives are...even when we are faced with issues. My kids, all of them, have been such a huge part of my world for 23 years now. I love seeing them expand their horizons, I am just sad that so far, those horizons are not the directions I hoped. It also becomes difficult to change your parenting style as your kids get older. You still want to protect them from the evil in society, but the more you try...the more push back you get. So, you have to adjust to just letting them learn some hard lessons, the hard way. Yet, they still come to you complaining about a stupid decision, that you tried to warn them about. At this point, being a parent is tough. It's hard to watch them struggle, but trying to help just gets you grief. So, for me...learning to bite my tongue, has been hard! We have to trust we have raised them correctly, and eventually they will get to learn just how much we have always had their backs. 

Both of my boys now have good, but very strong willed women in their lives. One is married now. I just keep thinking back to my husband and I when we started out. I was stubborn, strong willed woman...he was just as stubborn, and think their women are in the same boat. I pray they don't make the same stupid mistakes we have made. I hope they are wiser than we were. As the Mom, I hope my bonus daughters understand the give and take that is required to make a relationship last. The strong backbone, the determination, and even the mumbling under their breath that will occur, on both sides. I hope they will learn that if they are not growing together, they will grow apart. That the only thing in a relationship that is 50/50, is the divorce/separation. I hope they step into their roles knowing that it takes both people giving everything they can to make a relationship work for both of them. Some days the women have to give 90%, because the guys only have 10%...other days, it will be reversed. I hope they learn early that no relationship is perfect, that it's ok to table an issue until they both calm down and logically tackle it together. I hope they learn effective communication within their relationships. Conflicts will occur, but learning to argue with respect, and actually listening to hear each other is what will make a difference. Learning that you need to not only be a united front, but keep individual identities is necessary. Learning to accept that none of them will be right all the time, and that admitting you are wrong isn't a bad thing. Learning that finances will be play a huge role in your relationship, learning to live within their means, and not living with massive debt will help keep a relationship from failing. Having the hard conversations, the ones that cause feathers to ruffle, are a necessary evil. Learning to accept that sometimes, an outside opinion can help...sometimes, it causes more problems. They need to learn and understand when to take advice and when not to. Being Mom, I am always rooting my kids first. I want them happy, but I am also the Mom, that will point out when my kids are being foolish. 

Anyway, I wanted to get a few more thoughts out of my head this morning. I am also planning a video soon, of the fall gardens. Sharing some recipes, some money saving tips, some easy food preservations, and whatever else seems to be helpful. I want to see all of us survive this economic mess our country is in. While I try to catch up on the news being spoon fed to us each morning...most of my days are spent focused right here. I know it's hard to digest all the chaos in the world, but facing it head-on is my way of dealing with it. Yes, I'm worried and scared for our future generations...but I also have had the wisdom to know I have to dig to find the truth. While it gets overwhelming...I don't want to ignore things and be blindsided. The more I know, the more I can prepare and be ready for whatever bullshit comes our way! 

Have a good and productive weekend!