Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Gardening Day

     Good morning. Today my husband and I are going to go shopping for garden goodies. I started a couple seed packs about a month ago and some are doing great and some are doing nothing. The cucumbers, peas and watermelon are doing really well but the strawberries have only one started and the bell peppers have not started at all. Maybe they just take longer to start but  I really hope for the strawberries. We have decided on a good spot for a strawberry bed now just need plants to put into it.
      With the rain we have got off and on for the last two days it may not be a good day to till the garden but we are going to try. The tomato plants are not doing well, by my opinion, they need out of their pots and into the ground. I just hope that we have seen the last frost. Also I need to plant the pole beans and get them started.
       So today will be a busy day. A lot of playing in the dirt. And a lot of  good time spent with my husband. I may just wait on the seeds that have not started yet a little longer. But I know me when I see those pretty little plants at the store I will just have to bring some home.
                                                                               
                                                                               April Whitehair

Monday, April 29, 2013

     Good morning. Yes it is that time again, coffee time.
     I have mentioned before that I am a prepper well that is only a prepper in thought. Sometimes it takes a lot  of thought for me to do anything. I think it would be a good idea for everyone to be prepared for emergencies. Or as best as you can be given your financial situation. But even money may not be helpful if TEOTWAWKI  does actually happen.
     If you are like me you just seen that long crazy word again and probably have seen it a time or two and have no idea what it means except that you know that it must be bad. You know all caps and all.
     Well I have seen that word and the word SHTF and had to look them up to know what they are so I can know what am I actually prepping for.
     TEOTWAWKI  the end of the world as we know it.
     SHTF  shit hits the fan.
     There you now know more than people who know nothing about prepping. Also I am going to tell you some other things that I have learned or read about or just thought about in regards to prepping. This will just be a think list, just some things for you to think about.

     What emergencies might happen to you?
     What emergencies have happened in your area in the last five years?
     Who depends on you?
     Who might need to depend on you?
     What do you need to care for those who depend on you?
     Are you ready to step up and lead if the current leader of your home can't?
     Can you protect those in your group?

     I would suggest you answer those questions. I will walk through those questions with you and maybe help you think of some things that you never thought of.

     What emergencies might happen to you?
        Power outage. Job loss. Flood. Fire. Earthquake. War. Terrorist acts. Hurricane. Tornado. US or world economic collapse.  These are just some samples of your answers. Some apply to me and some don't.

     What emergencies have happened in your area in the last five years?
         In my area last summer we had a power outage that lasted a week. All the businesses around did not have electric so they were not open. Gas for the cars became hard to find and in great demand. Food was what ever you had in your shelves. Water came from those who had city water, not us, and even those were warned to conserve.
          Our little creek behind the house can flood sometimes. The flood waters have never got in our house but has got to our back door.
          Job loss is possible to anybody. Please always include this into your plan. Even if you live off government assistance or Social Security. The government may not always be there to sign those checks.
          Terrorist acts as we have seen can happen to anyone anywhere at anytime.

     Who depends on you?
        I have three in my home. So I could stop counting there. But, here comes the what-ifs, what if what caused this emergency also injured or killed those around you? My sister is my neighbor she has two children, 8 and 9 years old, hope I got their ages right. She works at a local university and we all have heard of really bad thing that can happen to good people at schools. If something happened to her who would take care of her kids during this time of emergency? Of course I would. Make that a possible five or six that would depend on me. I also have some elderly neighbors would they be ok, will they need some extra help? Food, water, a shoulder to cry on?
    
      What do you need to care for those who depend on you?
          This list can go on and on. But just the basics and some other thoughts.
           Shelter. Food. Water. Medications. First aid. Lights. Heat. Games for the kids, I know how is this a basic need? If the electric is out and the kids who are so use to playing video games can't play them you will be ready in an hour to pull your hair out and maybe even theirs if you here "I'm bored" one more time. They are bored you are stressed so lets just play Candy Land!
            Like I said this list could go on and on. One thing I did when we had a power outage for about an hour one evening I started writing a list of things I had wished I had done before the power went out and things I needed to buy to be prepared for next time. My Mom who you may know from other posts has Alzheimer's and when she seen me writing my list by lamp light that powerless evening she asked what I was writing, I told her thing we needed for when the electric was out she said "Put on top of the list ELECTRIC" God love her. She was right the one thing we need most when the electric is out is for it to come back on. I just thought that was cute and had to share that with you.

     Can you step up and lead if the current leader of your home can't?
        You may already be the leader of your home. Or maybe your spouse assumes those roles in an event of an emergency. If your partner can not help you do the things that need done, are you ready and able to do them. In the event of TEOTWAWKI and you can't just get in the car and drive to your local grocery store would you be able to load a gun and shoot and kill wild game to feed those who depend on you if needed? Do you know how to start your generator if needed if you have one? Many other responsibilities may fall on your shoulders. Knowledge and skill will be needed.

     Can you protect those in your group?
        To start this I need to say I am a supporter of gun rights. I believe everyone has the right to protect their family. In the event of war or terrorist in your area you should and need to stand up for your self, family, community, and country. Also you need to think if there is no police to call if there is someone trying to steal what you have in your home to keep your family alive, what are you going to do about it? It may not be a terrorist, it may be someone, anyone who wants to take your supplies.
Can you protect your home? But please don't only think of guns and ammo, also think other forms of protection. Knives, sling shots, big rocks, bats, golf clubs, bow and arrows, etc... Yes some of those seem crazy. But I would rather be safe, protected and crazy than dead.

        So there is some of my thoughts on this topic. I also want to remind you that I live in a rural area those that live in big cities need to have other things on their list and other ideas for protection. Please apply those question to your own situation.
      
         I would love to here your thought about this subject. Please leave a commit if you have thought of other things that might come in handy in the event of SHTF of TEOTWAWKI.
 
     Thanks for reading.                                  April Whitehair

Sunday, April 28, 2013

     Good morning again.  It is Sunday and I am awake a little earlier this morning than I usually am because it is church day. I would like to tell you a little about my church. My church is a little one room church built over 100 years ago and it feels like home. I love to go to church each Sunday morning because its like me time. My wonderful husband stays home and helps keep an eye on my mom(she has Alzheimer's) and I get to get out of the house and have a great fellowship with the friends and family that attend our church. Mom don't like to get up early and get dressed or go outside when it is cold out. And today is a cold rainy day. So I am up getting ready to go to  church and I am having trouble writing this cause there is so much more that I would love to say about church and my path back to church but I don't have the time right now to tell you. So maybe for now I will leave it like this I enjoy going to church, I am by no means a perfect person. I have made many mistakes in my life. But it is not the mistakes that define you its your heart and the direction you feet are pointing. And today my feet are pointing to a little country church.
                                                                                      April Whitehair

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Cucumbers and Patience

     Hello. It's morning and I am awake. But my coffee hasn't kicked in yet. I just checked my seeds I have started for this year and well I am amazed!
     We have a little land not much but enough if your smart about what and how you place things. For the last two years my husband and myself have planted gardens that were to big for the three of  us. And the garden also becomes over run with weeds. Neither of us seem to like to weed the garden and it just turns into a mess. So this year I decided that we would only plant a couple plants and keep it one rototiller width and about five or six feet long. Just two tomato plants, a bell pepper, a hot pepper, a cucumber, and couple strawberries. A good mix for us. Well... That all changed when I started looking into the prepper websites and I got interested in all that. So I think I am a want-a-be canner but I don't have a canner and I don't really want to put money into buying a new one and using it once and not liking it and wasting all that money. I am really trying to be frugal. Also buying a used pressure canner to me seems like it might not be safe and you have to get it checked by someone and to me that just sounds like money, money, money. But anyway, back to the garden. When I was at my local grocery store I ran across there seed packets and they were all so pretty and well I bought some, one cucumber, pole bean, bell pepper, strawberry, and pea. Ok I know that is more than what I had originally said I would plant but I guess I decided in an instant that all those things would be a good idea. I have also found some seeds from a watermelon that my husband grew last year and I saved and forgot about. So I started all these seeds except for the pole bean, I am waiting for after the last frost to plant those directly out side. The seeds in the packs look so small and such a small amount and I have never started seeds inside before so I plant them all in a garden mix of soil that we purchased when we bought the two tomato plants. I started these seeds about a week to two weeks ago an have been very impatiently waiting for them to grow. Every day I check them and talk to them and encourage them to grow. Well the cucumbers must be very obedient because they have started and boy did they. That one little pack of seeds has now grown into over 90 two inch tall plants. They are so beautiful!. But what am I going to do with 90 plants. I have enough room for maybe a couple. So I have been thinking about who I can give them to. My sisters, neighbors and family will not have to buy cucumber seeds or cucumbers at all this summer. So maybe I should really think about canning again. Also my peas and watermelon have started but no such luck for the strawberries and the bell peppers. I don't want to even tell you that I lost faith in my bell peppers so I have bought another pack of them and started those also. So if all the bell peppers take than I will have a real mess on my hands. And if my strawberries don't start soon I will be buying more of those also. Hum maybe I need some patience. What do you think?
                                                                                    April Whitehair

Friday, April 26, 2013

     Good morning. Last night I went to a lecture at a local university, it was about traveling nurses and wilderness medicine. Well it was suppose to be about those things but to me it seemed to be just about the lives of the speakers. I would have liked it to have been more about the wilderness medicine because of my interest in prepping. Information on wilderness medicine might come in handy when/if SHTF happens. But anyway being able to get out of the house and be around other adults and have adult conversation was wonderful. Most of my life is spent with my mother who has Alzheimer's. So all day I repeat the same things and explain who I am. I try to do it with love and understanding. But sometimes I just need me time. So I try to go to these lectures that Salem International University(my local university) puts on for the community. They also have a great dinner after and it was probably my favorite part. Not just for the food, even though it was very good and I ate the extra salad that belonged to the empty seat next to me, but because I can have good conversations with my table mates. The one main point that I got from the lecture is a good one and so basic that I thought I would pass it on to you. BE FRIENDLY! See told you it was very basic but I know that a lot of people have trouble with this. Life can be so busy and you seem to rush, rush, rush. But if we all would be a little more friendly it might just change the world if not at least change your day or the day of the person you are friendly to. Plus you just might make a friend.

                                                                             April Whitehair

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Who I Am

     Hello. My name is April. I am 33 years old. I live in the most beautiful state in the USA, West Virginia. I am very happily married to the best man in the world, Terry. About two years ago we moved in to my Mom's home because she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she needed a little extra help. More about her and our life living with this disease in a later post. Neither myself or my husband has ever been blessed with children but that doesn't mean that our home is empty of love. We have fur babies! My mom has a Yorkie that she has had for more that three years. His name is Lucky. They are each others best friends and I don't know what they would do without each other.
We also have 4 cats. The oldest cat is Fuzzy. She is a stray that showed up on Mom's porch about ten years ago and never left. We have know idea how old she is. She was already fixed and an adult when she showed up. We as a family have never been able to turn down a hungry, scared and in need animal. We have another cat Blackie, whom I believe, if I have my story right, name was originally Angel. She was my niece and nephew's kitten, who live next door, but Mom with her Alzheimer's had trouble remembering her name so she started calling her the color that she is and it just stuck. Blackie had never been fix and had several litters of kittens most of her babies didn't make it. But her last litter Blackie decided to move in to my house while she was pregnant and gave birth to six and five lived. I was able to find good homes for three of them and kept the two boys, Bob and Itsy Bitsy. Blackie and her boys got fixed so no more babies for this house. Five fur babies is enough for us. My animals are truly like my children. Doctor appointments, special food and treats, and enough love that they in no way could ever think that they are not loved. Will have more on all my fur babies in a later post.  
     I am a happy Christian who loves to go to church and enjoys getting together with all my family and friends. Though I have been a Christian all my life I am just recently returning to the Christian way of life.
     I  am also a beginner prepper and a aspiring farmer. All of these things I hope to talk about in this blog. My baby steps into the prepper life and small land farming. I do hope that something that I may write about will help or inspire others. Please check back later to read my thoughts and hopes and dreams. I am sure I will share my good days as well as my bad days. I hope to make new friends and learn something about myself while blogging.
   Write again soon.
                                                                 April Whitehair