Race Wars & Other Current Events

Currently a race war is being incited as a means to separate us. The chaos has begun... but the seed that it grew from was planted long ago. 

First I would like to say that I know firsthand how tedious it can be to sift through all the mindless misinformation that is being circulated worldwide by what mostly appears to be a bunch of raving fanatics or mentally unstable people, in search of the few crumbs of truth that can be found. And I know that there are those of you who will hold a negative view of what I am about to say no matter what, so perhaps this post isn't for you right now, but I do hope you return later on if you become curious. Now isn't the appropriate time for silence, but there is so much empty talk, and we must be careful and prayerful about whose voice we chose to listen to. That being said, I will continue:

I believe that there are faceless people who are in control of the most important matters in world governments. They are smart enough to hide behind politicians and money-men to stay out of the limelight, but they are the puppet-masters. They don't try to control things that aren't of importance to them because it gives people in lesser leadership roles fuel to believe that 'the people' are still in control, and that allows us all a false sense of security. Its how they keep us compliant. They let us have our 'busy-work' to keep us out of their hair while they do other things.

There has been a long time process of redefining education as something that no longer includes common sense for survival. Eventually most people wont know how to survive without depending on the government and/or technology. It looks like we are fast approaching that time, doesnt it? Most people are too out of shape for hard work, and don't know how to grow or preserve their own food, how to hunt or protect themselves, build their own shelter, make their own medicines, or even build a fire to stay warm. The masterminds of this plan knew that simple dictatorship wouldn't work on the masses for the long-term, they knew that we would resist such force and rebel, overthrowing them. So the changes have been very subtly introduced over a long period of time. They have the politicians make rational sounding excuses that everyone wants to believe; it will get us out of debt, it well remedy poverty, it will prevent identity theft, it will help us identify dangerous citizens. It is my belief that all of those things were induced by the very people who are in power. As we grow accustomed to one thing, they add something else, and a once strong people are becoming weakened in the process. I'm afraid it wont be long until people have become so desensitized to each of these new impositions into their lives by the government, that they either wont care, or wont feel that they are well enough equipped to put up a fight when the people of the world are required to take a number to buy, sell, trade, or escape imprisonment.

This is a huge contributing factor in the current race wars that are being incited. I hope people soon realize that. They are using our human weaknesses & ignorance as a means to an end, they encourage our hate, to separate us; divide and conquer.

Race is just one factor used to try and divide us- class is another. The majority of poor and sick have been conditioned to think that they are at the station they belong at in life, that hoping for anything better is fruitless. People can only receive the governments help when certain 'criteria' has been met; they can get food stamps and good medical insurance for their kids, a warm place to lay their head, and help with bills, but only if they don't work, or make much money if they do. The moment a person makes a penny more than it takes just to stay alive, all of that 'assistance' is ripped away. They have made it so much easier to do nothing and collect, than to dare and try to gain their independence from government help. No wonder there are so many people with too much time on their hands looking for ways to fill the gap, and ending up out in the streets getting into trouble. No wonder laziness has become an epidemic. No wonder there is so much depression. Or that so many turn to drugs and alcohol... And since its class separation, someone has to be allowed to have just a little more, to fuel the fire. Ive met middle-class people who look down on those who are stuck in the welfare system. They think if the poor would just work a little harder, and stay off drugs, they could get ahead. Ive also met poor people who hate those in the middle-class because they feel like they were unfairly dealt a better hand. With the poor and middle-class now pitted against one another, and racism being thrown into the mix, there are at least a few who will take each other out, and the majority of the rest will at least stay mutually preoccupied with their hate for one other, while the powerful elite continue on in pursuit of their end agenda. People are being played as pawns.

The path for the Anti-Christ to rise into power is being cleared, that's what all of this is about. He will step out onto the board at just the right time, to bring peace, and will appear to make everything better after all the destruction that is to come. People will view him as a savior, and eventually will claim to be. I dont care to gamble a guess as to how soon that will happen. I do know that the world will continue to get worse despite our best efforts, and that our ONLY hope is in Christ, the true Christ who has already come and made a way for us to avoid the hell that is to come. Read the Holy Bible, it is Gods word and has every answer you are looking for within its pages. It is our guide to eternal salvation.

 This was in the late afternoon, on election day- Tuesday, November 4th, 2014. 


I was working on cleaning up my flower bed and getting my plants ready for their winter nap, and my son was jumping on our trampoline when suddenly he yelled, "MAMA, LOOK!" and pointed at this rainbow that was WAY above us in the sky. (He later said it looked like a big smile, and I think that's exactly what it was.) After a moment of prayerful contemplation, I realized something; if he hadn't fallen flat on his back and into a position that forced him to look up, he would've missed it. That makes me wonder how many rainbows (promises of hope) I miss because Im too busy focusing/working on things in this world, instead of being still for a moment and looking up (to God, in prayer).  

And Ive wondered why life knocks me down sometimes!

That's not all I gleaned from this unexpected moment; I was also made aware that I might've missed the rainbow, if my son hadn't been so genuinely excited about. If, instead, he'd calmly said, "Hey mom, there's a rainbow, you should see it." there's a good possibility that I may not have even taken the time to look up from the mountain of work that lay before me. I am 39 after all. Ive seen LOTS of rainbows. Thankfully though, he was so joyful and excited about it, that he made me want to look too.

It only took a quick glance to see it, but first, someone had to be looking. Then, in order to get MORE people to see it, that someone had to be excited enough about it to get their attention and show them where to look, too. 

Sadly, I dont share my faith that way. 

Even though Im very plain spoken about just about everything else, when it comes to sharing my faith Im guilty of being one of those passive Christians who prefers not to rock the boat. Its not hard at all to be that type of Christian. But its not really doing what Im supposed to be doing as a Christian either. Mark 16:15 says: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'” So how have I excused my negligent behavior? By 'reasoning' to myself; I know that IM ok, so why risk upsetting anyone else? They've already heard anyway, right? Isnt that their decision to make? Isnt that between them and God? So, either I just dont say anything at all about my faith, or, on the rare occasion that the opportunity is laid bare before me, and I cant not speak up- I speak carefully, delicately testing the water with the teeeniest tip of my toe, and pulling back quickly if it even seems (like it might become, at some point, possibly) a bit too chilly. So Im pretty sure my witness probably sounds about as enthusiastic as saying: "There's this rainbow Ive seen, and you could look at it too, if you're not too busy... but if you dont want to, thats ok too." and you know what? Im sorry for that, really, really and truly sorry. Because JESUS IS INCREDIBLE! And you WILL be amazed by Him, if you'll just look- REALLY LOOK! QUICKLY!

Jeremiah 29:11-14 11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 1I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Canning Sour Kraut

*Note: Never can kraut when the signs are in the feet or the bowels. If you do it will smell & taste very bad.

What you'll need:
sweet, white cabbage (how much is up to you; small heads of cabbage generally make about 2 qts of kraut each)
a clean sink
a coffee/tea cup, or something similar sized to scoop the cabbage out of the bowl with
a jar funnel helps to keep the mess down
a large bowl to put finely chopped cabbage into
a large bowl or trash can for discarding unwanted cabbage parts
a cutting board, or a clean flat surface to cut the cabbage on
a butter knife
a medium sized sharp knife to de-leaf & de-core the cabbage and to cut the cabbage up with
if you have an electric food chopper it makes the job alot easier, otherwise you'll also need a large, sharp knife to chop the cabbage finely after youve cut it up
2-4 clean quart jars per head of cabbage, depending on the size of the cabbage.
a rubber ring for each jar
a zinc lid for each jar
pickling salt (you will need 2 tsp per qt)
a large pot for boiling water
a warm, dark place to sit your kraut for the next 2-4 (possibly up to 6) weeks while it 'works', and some towels to set your jars on because they will very likely leak out some.
WARNING* It will NOT smell good when the fermentation process begins. If you have a delicate nose, or just a nose period ;) you may not want to sit it in your living area.

Directions:
Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage & discard
Sit cabbages in a sink full of cool water, this helps crisp the cabbage (you dont HAVE to do this*)
Cut cabbage into big chunks and remove the core
Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil
Cut off & discard any excess left on the core and set the core aside to add to your kraut (the core is my favorite!)
If you have an electric chopper, put your cabbage chunks in on 'shred', if you dont have an electric chopper, use a large, sharp knife and a cutting board or clean counter to chop your cabbage up finely
Place finely chopped cabbage into a big bowl
Put the rubber ring on your jar
Place the funnel in the jar
Use a coffee/tea cup to scoop the chopped cabbage out of the bowl, and pour into the jar.
*Use a spoon to press the cabbage firmly into the jar, fill it up just to the neck of the jar, set aside
repeat until you have all of jars full
add 2 level tsp of pickling salt to each jar
After water has boiled turn heat off but dont allow the water to cool down.
Scoop water out of pot with cup, preferably one with a pour spout, and pour into jars over cabbage
Use a butter knife to press along the sides of the jar and in the center to release all the air bubbles from the jar
water will go down, add more water and repeat with knife until water comes to the neck of the jar & bubbles stop rising
put zinc lid on jar, close all the way down, then loosen back 1/2 turn
set aside on towels in warm (but not hot) dark place to 'work' for at least 2 weeks, you can check it then to see if its ready. It can take up to 6 weeks if you have been keeping it in a slightly cooler area. When its sour enough for your liking, tighten down all the lids, and store in a cool dark place.

Churning Homemade Butter/ Making Buttermilk; step-by-step instructions.

◦Start out by pouring unpasteurized, whole milk into your clean churn jar. Jersey cows usually make the most cream (which means more butter yield), and in my opinion have the best flavored milk, but for our butter yesterday we used Holstein milk. You dont want to overfill your churn jar, or the milk will splash out when you churn and make a big mess. I fill mine a little more than half way full. Wash your milk jugs and save them for buttermilk later.

◦Cover your milk with a clean cloth before replacing the lid to keep dirt from getting in your milk through the hole in the lid. Then set your milk aside in a warm place until it clabbers. It may clabber within a day in the summer, but if the weather is chilly you will have to sit it beside a fireplace or stove, and it could take 3 days, even then. The way to check and see if the milk has clabbered is to gently roll the churn slighty to the side and see if the milk comes away cleanly from the side of the churn. Basically, it has the consistency of yogurt. You may notice that there are 2 layers, and sometime the top layer doesnt ‘set up’. Thats because its part of the cream that has risen to the top.

◦Once you determine that your milk has clabbered, grab your dash and sit it gently down into the milk, then replace your churn lid.

◦Begin churning the milk. You want to get in a good rhythm. The faster you go, the quicker you make butter, but you also make a bigger mess. My speed is an up-down per second, which isnt that fast, and still makes butter in no time. Make sure you’re going all the way down and coming all the way back up through the milk with your dash or it will take a long time to make butter. Just like exercise, its not about the speed, so much as the form. If you are having alot of splashback, you can use a clean cloth to cover the hole around the dash, just dont wrap it so tightly around the dash that it gets caught and goes into the milk.

◦When you start noticing little specks of butter forming on your dash its time to check and see if the butter is ready to gather. If you have lots of little butter clumps floating in the top, youre ready.

◦Remove your lid, and pull the dash up so that the head of the dash is just beneath the flecks of butter, and stir slowly in a circular motion to gather your butter together.

◦After youve gathered your butter, scoop it out into a clean bowl, then replace the lid on your churn to keep the buttermilk that has been left behind, clean.

◦Take your bowl of butter to the sink, and pat it together, like youre trying to form a ball. The butter will be very soft. What you are doing is releasing the rest of the excess liquid from the butter. Drain it each time you have a small amount of liquid, and keep working it until there is barely any liquid coming out. (You can add ice to begin stiffening up the butter, just pick whatever doesnt melt out when youre done.)

◦After removing most of the liquid from the butter (and removing any ice that youve added), add salt to your taste. Start with a little, add more if needed. Mix well.

◦After you’ve mixed in your salt, put your butter in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to let it harden a little more.

◦While you are waiting, place your butter mold into a bowl of ice water. This helps the butter to keep its form.

◦When you remove the butter from the fridge, it should feel firm, but you’ll find that if you squeeze it (which you will!) it is still easily workable.

◦Remove the butter mold from the ice water, reassemble it (leaving it wet), and begin working small handfuls of butter into it. Make sure you press the butter as firmly as possible into the mold, this will help reduce bubbles and imperfections in your final product.

◦After filling the mold with butter, and smoothing off the bottom, place the mold upside down onto whatever container you will be storing the butter in/on, and place back in the refrigerator for about 10 more minutes while in the mold to firm.

◦Gently remove the outer, cuplike part of the mold. DO NOT press down on the stamp handle unless you have to, and then only press it very gently, just long enough to get the butter to begin releasing from the mold, or you will mess up your stamp print.

◦Viola! You have beautiful, and tasty butter!

◦After youre finished making butter, use either a funnel, or a dipper that will fit down into your churn, and pour what is left in the churn (buttermilk) into clean jugs (I used the ones the milk came in), and refrigerate.

(photo 1: pouring the milk, photo 2: (left) butter mold (right) churn dash, photo 3: milk with clean cloths under the lid, photo 4: milk sitting by the stove to clabber, photo 5: checking the milk to see that its clabbered, photo 6: churn with dash, photo 7: churn with dash in the milk, photo 8: churn with dash and lid replaced, photo 9: starting to see butter flecks on the dash, photo 10: checking the butter to see if its ready for gathering, photo 11: gathering the butter together, photo 12: the gathered butter, photo 13: putting the butter into a bowl, photo 14: working the liquid out of the butter, photo 15: draining the liquid from the butter, photo 16: ice in the butter to help it begin hardening, photo 17: chilled butter, photo 18: chilling the butter mold, photo 19: pressing the butter into the mold, photo 20: removing the mold after chilling, photo 21: butter: the finished product, photo 22: getting ready to pour the buttermilk into jugs.)

Seeing the De'il

Late one night just before going to bed, I walked outside for some air, and on my way back in, someting sinister caught my eye. There was a bat flying back and forth from our kitchen to our living room. Time. Stood. Still. Until that moment I would have told you that I wasnt afraid of bats, oh no, I just love to see them flying around at night when we're camping. Outside. At a safe distance. Inside, is, I find, another matter. I discovered that I am actually quite terrified of bats when they share the same enclosure with me, and are in close proximity to my hair. I have alot of hair. Upon sight of the bat in my house, I immediately imagined the bat (the HUGE bat) tangled up in my tresses, fighting to escape, and biting me repeatedly in the process (thus giving me rabies, and the plague, and every other disease known to man) so instead of entering and bringing this idea to reality, I began shouting for my husband, who had already gone to bed. During the time I was waiting for him to come save me I propped the door open in hopes that the bat would rather be outside than in, thus flying out by his own accord. In the time it took my husband to get up, wondering groggily what was going on, the bat was nowhere to be found. He assumed that the bat had flown out while I wasnt looking. I assumed the evil vermin was hiding in the curtains, so we made a thorough check of the house, shaking out curtains and rattling couches, looking in closets, and in every dark corner. No bat. And though he denies it, I think my husband thought Id finally lost it. Too excited to go to sleep, I laid down to read. Just as I started getting sleepy I heard our ceiling fan making a strange whooshing sound and looked up. The black devil! He wasnt just in my house, now he was in my inner sanctum! I did the only smart thing there was to do; I covered my head and screamed to the top of my lungs that he was back. My husband jumped out of bed (no choice but to believe me this time!) and chased the bat from our room. From across the house I could hear my daughter worriedly asking, "Mom? Whats wrong?" but before I could tell her to flee from the house and save herself, she began screaming to the top of her lungs. The bat had made its journey from our bedroom, through our boys' bedroom, and into hers. It travelled this path for about an hour. Or, ok, more like a minute (lets face it, in 'bat in the house' time, this does indeed equal an hour. At least.) Finally, my husband was able to get it closed out of the bedrooms. I layed there in the darkness, head still covered, and completely petrified as he worked on shooing it the rest of the way out of the house. He returned a few minutes later and assured me that the problem had been taken care of as he'd 'heard it whoosh by his head after opening the door, and then saw it fly by as he stood outside'. Good. No sleep in sight, I pulled my book back out and began to read again. Oh, the evil wing'ed deceptor. Just as I was dozing off I heard the 'fan' noise again, and turned to see that Draculla had indeed returned for blood. This time my husband jumped to action just in time to see him fly into the boys' bedroom and hit my oldest son squarely in the forehead as he sat up in his top bunk. My son's reaction to this incident? A sleepy mumbling of the words, "He hit me." after which was proceeded promptly by his laying back down and going directly back to sleep. (Teenage boys. 'Nuff said.) Once again my husband returned to the bedroom uttering the uber reassuring words, "Im almost sure this time!" Great. I read for another hour. Nothing. Another 30 minutes. Still nothing. So I finally went begrudgingly to sleep, and managed to stay so for what was left of the night. And this, is how the story ends: Recently, with the weather cooling we've been having critter problems; spiders that want to snuggle up with us in the bed, mice unwelcomely making themselves at home in our home, etc. so we have mouse traps set for the larger of the afore said beasties, and the next morning when my husband awoke, he came to me saying, "Well, guess what was in the mouse trap?" It wasnt a mouse.

Putting in my two scents

Someone asked what my favorite scents are, and when I starting thinking, I could clearly smell them, one by one. Scents are a big deal to me. Sometimes, I'll catch a whiff of something that immediately jerks me back to another place and time in a flash, with no regard as to whether that place was good or bad. When its a good memory that Im pulled into, I hold on to every detail of that precious re-visit for as long as I possibly can. Scents can also lighten my mood intensely, or, no surprises here; have an intense allure. Isnt that why we wear good smelling things for our mate? Its all very instinctive and well planned out by our creator. Sometimes my sensitivity to different smells is even mildly useful in regards to health; I can smell when I have a cold coming on, and sometimes I can even smell sickness in someone else before theyre actually feeling ill. Obviously I cant prevent an illness by knowing its there, but I can prevent giving or getting a cold with this nifty pre-symptom information.

Im sure most of us are similarly affected by our sense of smell, but have you ever thought about what made a certain scent special to you, and why? It sounds simplistic and it is, but Ive learned alot about myself by doing nothing more than being a little more mindful of the inner workings of my body rather than taking them for granted.

Here are a a few of my favorite scents; crab apple blooms, honeysuckle, the breath of someone when they first come in from being outside on a cool day, line dried clothes, cloves, cinnamon, apple cider in the making, smoke & honey mingled together on a warm day (Ive grown up around bee keepers), newly fallen leaves in autumn, the skin of someone I love, apple or pine wood fires, sassafras or spicewood tea brewing, and fresh mint.

Blessings dont always come wrapped in pretty packages

I grew up surrounded by old fashioned mountain survivalists, one or two bikers of the like you dont see very often these days, and just good ole, small town people in general. The kind of folk who enjoy a kind of freedom of spirit that everyone wishes for. People who value good morals. Trustworthy folk. It was a life that meant you worked hard, minded your own business. People were loyal to their friends, most were kind and generous, courteous and respectful, genuine, and, not the type you’d want mad at you. I once thought the whole world was like that, but as you know, its not.

I left those good people, and times behind too early. I wanted to grow up fast, get out of this small town and live, and I did. And my life changed. When I was 15 I had a baby girl.

When I got my license I decided to go to a Harley rally. I’d never been to one alone before and had always been under the impression that admission was free, but I was about to receive a rude awakening. I was nearly 17. I strode up to the entrance in my short cut-off blue jean shorts, belly shirt, knee high moccasins, and one year old perched neatly on my hip. One cute & clueless little country bumpkin biker child & baby; check. Pervy 30something gate keeper unashamedly gawks at me & asks for my $20 entrance fee. When I tell him I dont have it he rubs his chin and contemplates for a moment, “Well give me a tit shot, and I’ll let you in anyway.” How kind. And unfortunately, already having learned by that tender age what monsters men can be, I was only momentarily shocked, and I gave him instead a good look at my back side walking away. As I was going I felt an arm slip through mine. I turned around, ready to fight, and looked up into the face of a warmly smiling, older, red-headed, wooly booger of a man who simply says to me, “Come on, I’ll walk you in.” I’d noticed him standing by the gate, but never wouldve guessed he would be like one of the men I had adored in my childhood. As we approached the man who wanted the 'tit shot', my escort flared his nostrils and glared daringly at him. No words couldve been as effective as that look that clearly asked in its silence, “Do you want to say something now?” The previously bold man melted into a speechless stupor, and my companion and I passed through the gate, arms linked, no further confrontation necessary.

That was the just the beginning of one really great day. To make the story short, the gentleman who escorted me in was the president of a Biker club. My daughter and I were treated like VIPs all day. We went back stage and met the bands, we were fed and looked after and entertained greatly. At the end of the day this man gave me his number and asked me to keep in touch. He also offered me gas money, which I refused. Then he and his friends offered to follow us as far as they were going on our route home to make sure we made it back without any problems, and they did. These were the kind of people that I had known as a little girl.

That day I decided maybe I could start trusting people again, my already tired faith in humanity had been greatly restored. A beautiful soul is a real treasure, often well hidden beneath a burly, mean looking shell. Its an old lesson, but one worth repeating; its unwise to depend solely upon your eyes to guide you. And for heavens sake children, dont try to grow up so fast. Learning everything the hard way hurts.