Will be "out of pocket

That's what they call it around here, when one is without the phone or the computer or whatever....unreachable...out of pocket.

That will be us this weekend. We are going to spend the weekend with Dewey and see what Arkansas has :o)

I believe my computer is back up. It glitched on Sunday evening and I lost my Windows OS. I finally got it to take the disks to do a destructive recovery...

yes, destructive recovery means just what it says...I lost everything here. Might have some pictures missing, but I think they are mostly imported to that Picasso thing here with Blogger. My emails are gone, my files are gone, all of my graphics and my downloaded books are gone. I was going to transfer things over to the new flashdrive Monday...but it all went 'poof' on Sunday.

Guess I wasn't meant to keep any of them. I'll start again. I had just found some really neat off the grid bloggers around different areas, too :o( But, I'll find them again.

Either way, we have things to get settled and things to get readied for our trip. See you all when we get back Monday!

I have to tease a bit...

I'm excited. I'm sorry. It's just rude, I know, but I have to tease a bit.

Just checked online and sent a message to Dewey that the paycheck came through this morning. So did the income taxes. Told him now was the time to decide if he wanted me to pick him up and fly off to Hawaii :o)

We are rich in a great many ways here in our family, on our homestead. But very rarely does that fall under the financial category. Today, however, it does. For us, anyway.

We are sitting on just over $12k. Woo Hoo :o)

My excitement for the dollar amount, though, will be short-lived. By 9:15, I will have less than a paycheck amount remaining. But....

• The big loan will be as close to GONE as I can get it today.
• The smaller loan will get a sizable kick in the shorts, as well.
• Property taxes and yearly garbage bill will be paid.
• A small handful (very small, but still...) of essentials bought and stocked

Then we're back to normal here :o) I will be doubling payments and eating beans and rice for a couple of months, then both loans will be totally GONE. Then the real fun livin' will begin...house planning, land clearing, all that good stuff.

I see a real pretty glow coming from the other side of this debt fence...and it ain't no fire over there, it's a party going on!

The topic of Discussion is now CLOSED, thank you

The topic of immunizations, vaccines, shots, childhood illnesses and diseases...whatever name you care to address it with....
This topic is now closed.
I have enjoyed the links and articles shared, and I have been very blessed by those who have shared with me on this.
Truth is, however, we aren't going to change one another's minds, and honestly, that's ok with me. I'm not your health conscience. I have my own full plate here with 9 children. I allow for myself to be mistaken and I expect for you to do the same ;o)

My point here -- LOL, well, besides being a dog with a bone -- is that you can find any study, any set of statistic evidence, anything you want or need to back up your view point. It's not rocket science, folks, really it isn't.

If you want to keep arguing vaccinations vs none, why not just take it to the next level...let's keep mothers eternally pregnant? I mean, if women are going to keep having children and truly want them to be safe, keep them in the womb. It's the only sterile environment you're gonna find.

My argument would still be if you are going to have children, read up on all the information available to you on every subject that comes up, make the best informed decision you can based on what you know when you know it, and pray fervently that you are following the right direction and guidance.

This is an imperfect world we live in in case that slipped anyone's attention. We are not perfected yet. That comes later on for Believers. Do the best you can while walking in this world and wait patiently for the better one. You have a lot of day to day decisions to make in this life -- be informed enough to live with those you make without regret.

Back in 1924 Mark Twain was quoted as saying, "There are three kinds of lies — lies, damned lies, and statistics." When Mark Twain made this statement, his point was that numbers could be manipulated by the unscrupulous to misrepresent facts, to justify a particular bias, or fulfill a particular agenda.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Other candidates for promoting autism in susceptible children exist besides rubella (German Measles). Zecca , et al. at the New Jersey Medical School's Children's Hospital of New Jersey in Newark compared rubeola (measles) virus titers between autistic and normal children. They found a 3-fold increase in rubeola titers over expected normal range among 16 children diagnosed with autism from their clinical practice. A Wilcoxon-Kruskal-Wallas test comparing 13 rubeola titers from normal children revealed a statistically significant p-value of 0.005 for the difference between autistic and normal children.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On February 17, 2000, The FDA cleared a new pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine with questionable safety, and a US government advisory panel is reported a plan to selectively target African-American and Native American children for immunization. This plan was criticized for making children of racial minorities "human guinea pigs". It is possible that 1% or more of the children who receive the vaccine may develop insulin dependent diabetes or another autoimmune disease from the vaccine.²

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that children under 2 receive the new pneumococcal vaccine, asking that black and Native American children age 2-5 be selectively targeted for immunization. This policy came under criticism because the vaccine had not been properly tested for safety and the FDA had been told by an expert that the vaccine might cause autoimmune disease.

The controversial vaccine was the conjugated 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine, which is a combination of 7 different vaccines, each to a separate strain of pneumococcal pneumonia bacteria. The vaccine is similar in structure to the already marketed hemophilus meningitis vaccine, which has been linked to insulin dependent diabetes.³

Dr. Classen told the FDA that the 7 valent pneumococcal vaccine could be 7 times as toxic as the hemophilus vaccine, possibly causing an estimated 400 to 700 children to develop insulin dependent diabetes per100,000 children immunized. These cases of diabetes may not occur until 3.5 to 10 years following immunization.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The U.S. government has paid more than $1 billion to compensate victims of vaccination injuries and continues to compile a database of all reported "adverse events'' from vaccine administration. This database, available on the Internet , was instrumental in helping health officials detect bowel obstruction problems that led to the recent withdrawal of the rotavirus vaccine.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Vaccine Safety Website

This site is dedicated to the promotion of safer immunization practices through the application of scientific principles to vaccine research. The website highlights research into the long term effects of vaccines and discusses potential harmful effects of vaccines. The content of this site is not intended to be anti-immunization but instead to promote the concept that the goal of immunization is to promote health not eradicate infections. It is hoped that through the collection and dissemination of information about the chronic effects of vaccines, safer immunization practices will become available for those who choose to be immunized.

There is growing evidence that immunization cause a large number of other chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, allergies, asthma, cancers, and Gulf War Syndrome. Data linking these diseases to vaccines includes human and animal data. In some cases the increased risk of developing these diseases following immunization exceeds the risk of the infectious complications prevented by immunization.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

December 8, 2008: Newly published data in the Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews , provides further evidence for the link between vaccination and the to the epidemics of childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and altered blood lipids. Asians and other non white minorities are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes/metabolic syndrome as an adverse event from vaccination while whites are at higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes and autoimmune disorders from vaccination. Down load the draft: DMS.pdf

Some pictures from the homestead

The goofy cat....lying on the messy floor....playing with a red feathered boa. He was going wild with this thing. He yanked it out of the bedroom, rolled all over the floor, crept back and 'stalked' it, then pounced viciously on it.
He's weird.

Here is dingleberry again...goofy cat...he's camped out, rather comfortably it appears, in my plant! He wanted that sunny window for himself, I guess. But lying in my plant?!

He didn't care for us taking his picture either -- we interrupted his nap. He stood up staring at us after this one, arched his back and stretched, then climbed out of the plant and crawled behind it to squeeze himself between the other plants on this table.

We've also caught him napping in the log cabin dollhouse that sits on the buffet...

No, he isn't 'growling' at us, although it does look like it, heh? Too many nights watching those old MGM movies, I guess :o) No, he's just yawning.

Here is our tomato, bell pepper and eggplant starts in the dining room. Three full shelves of them :o)

It takes up a bit of room, and those sitting on that side of the table have to be a bit more careful about moving their chairs around, but hey, it's for a good cause...the garden and pantry ;o) And it's only for a handful of weeks. We'll live.


This just came across my mailbox...

Simply put: Nationalizing ailing banks could mean the government would tell some bank execs to take a hike, and then oversee taxpayer dollars as credit courses through the banking sector's veins. When all is well, after quickly re-privatizing the banks by selling assets and operations to new investors, the government then steps back and lets a newly regulated bank sector float on its way.
...Of course, the economy would still stink, but the death spiral we are in would end."

LOL...I'm not laughing at the economy at all...I'm just laughing at the irony of having this pop in on a day when the bank didn't transmit the paycheck. Hmmm....would a nationalized banking system have ensured me a deposit this morning? Maybe I should be all for it....

Naw...don't think so.

I like this definition here...

Vaccines are ineffective for the very simple reason that they do nothing to remove the root causes of childhood infection.

In reality, childhood infections such as measles, whooping cough, chicken pox etc, are not caused by germs, but by the toxic conditions of the body, a condition known as Toxaemia. Famous American physician, Dr Henry Bieler, author of 'Food is Your Best Medicine' writes, "The primary cause of disease is not germs. Disease is caused by a toxaemia which results in cellular impairment and breakdown, thus paving the way for the multiplication and onslaught of germs".

The causes of toxaemia are numerous. In third world countries the causes are related primarily to malnourishment, impure water, poor sanitation, poverty and overcrowding. In the developed countries like USA, Australia, England etc the causes are more related to over consumption of animal, dairy and refined processed foods, particularly cereals and grains, chemical additives in food and water, drugs, vaccines, pesticide residues and industrial poisons. Other causes can include poor parental health, traumatic childbirth, impoverished or polluted breastmilk, too early introduction of solid foods, spinal misalignment, muscular spasm, and nutritional deficiency.

This, in a nutshell, explains why vaccines are ineffective. Vaccines fail to address the root causes of disease and do nothing to remove the toxic conditions of the body out of which infection arises. Instead, vaccines are aimed at stimulating our immune system to fight off germs when in reality the germs are just feeding on the body's internal toxaemia which is their true biological role, a role that Biology refers to as mutualistic symbiosis .

"…these organisms (germs) live, multiply and thrive only in tissue encumbered with toxic matter from injudicious eating, poisons from stagnant bowels, acids from unbalanced foods, drink and drug poisons, and various disease products in the form of serums, vaccines and antitoxins……..germs reduce dead and dying organic matter back to its inorganic constituents suitable again as nourishment for plant life." George Teasedale - Nature Heals! Why Be Sick

This explains why millions of children in third world countries continue to die each year from measles, polio, tuberculosis etc despite being fully vaccinated. Vaccines do nothing to correct the nutritional status of a malnourished child. In Australia, aboriginal children are the most heavily drugged and heavily vaccinated group in the country yet they have an infection rate 100 times higher than white Australian children.

Vaccines neither remove the causes of disease or alter a child's susceptibility to infection and it is for this reason that vaccines have proven to be ineffective at preventing childhood infection.

"There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunisation of children does more harm than good."
Dr J Anthony Morris, former Chief Vaccine Control Officer, US Food
and Drug Administration

"Official data have shown that the large-scale vaccinations undertaken in the US have failed to obtain any significant improvement of the diseases against which they were supposed to provide protection."
Dr A. Sabin, developer of the Oral Polio vaccine (lecture to Italian doctors in Piacenza, Italy, December 7th 1985)

"The only wholly safe vaccine is a vaccine that is never used"
Dr James A. Shannon, National Institute of Health, USA

taken from VacLib website

There is simply too much information, too many studies out there, contradicting vaccines as being the safe medicine they have tried to claim all these years. Some parents are never going to immunize their children because the information is just too great. Other parents will forever fall in line behind doctors who say they know what they are talking about. Some parents suffer fro information over-load and some simply don't want to research anything.

We don't have to agree on any of this. If your children are immunized, great. If you have chosen not to do some or all of the immunizations, that is fine too. I am simply sharing my opinion, as you also free to do. To date in this country, that isn't against any laws, either politically given or morally given :o)

Anti-tree hugging, anti-establishment rant :o)

Ok, just to break up the discussion on vaccinations and religion here....

I hate banks. I really should just widen that to include any and all banking institutions and all they reach out for.

No, I'm not talking about the recent bail-out junk, although I do think it's wrong for those mega-corps to take government handouts and still take possession of their fancy custom jets (even if they were ordered several years back) and those who really reaped a harvest and a half with the home loan scams and bail-outs having their annual hoopla....er, business convention....there in lovely Vegas. Gosh, I can't wait to watch my taxes jump a bit more...maybe they want to take a world cruise this year to gather their thoughts and revamp for the coming year, spending all that bail out money.

Ahh, yes, I digress. I usually do, don't I? Well, then, back to banks.

There's no paycheck in the bank this morning. None. Nadda. Not a single penny even pending in my account.

Someone forgot to enter some information I suppose. Someone took a day off somewhere and poof, transactions just quit, apparently.

I don't know what's going on. I just know there's nothing in the bank. I'm hoping it's not too far-fetched to add "yet" to that statement, but I honestly don't know what's going on.

No one with Dewey's company got paid this week. Not the workers, not the foremen, not the superintendent (that would be us...) and not even some suppliers and deliveries. Something didn't go the way it was supposed to and things just didn't post anywhere.

I hate banks. A paper paycheck would have been here. But, no, too many folks are jumping on that green wagon these days and paper is a big politically incorrect no-no. You are better off to have paychecks and all other possible transactions done hands-off. Electronic deposits are the thing now.

Great. I'm green. I'm saving a tree. I'm adding to the quality of life for countless woodland critters. I've just saved a tiny piece of our ozone by saving that tree that would have made my paper paycheck. Whoopie.

Of course, you could also say that I just took a handful of jobs from Americans out there, too. The mailman doesn't have to deliver my paycheck...the postal service doesn't get any revenue from transporting my paper check either, no stamps, no envelopes, etc. Someone in somebody's payroll department isn't printing off my check...they get an extra coffee break today.

Kermit the Frog was right....

it's not easy being green.

I'm not saying a word...

...because this site says it much better!
I won't add a thing. Not a word, not a syllable. Honest.

Vaccine Awakening

In the past three decades, the numbers of doses of government recommended vaccines for children and medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics has tripled to 69 doses of 16 vaccines, with 48 doses of 14 vaccines targeted to children under age six. Pharma lobbyists have persuaded most states to pass laws requiring two to three dozen doses of most of the 16 government recommended vaccines. Last year New Jersey became the first state to mandate influenza vaccine for children attending daycare and school.

In the past few years, Dr. Jefferson has authored several independent reviews of influenza studies published in the medical literature for the Cochrane Collaboration, which have been published in the British Medical Journal, questioning the quality of published scientific evidence for influenza vaccine effectiveness and safety for the elderly as well as children.

Clearly, if the makers and marketers of vaccines can influence the quality and quantity of the scientific evidence published in the medical literature proving that vaccines are safe and effective - evidence that is used by states to mandate vaccines and by the U.S. Court of Claims to deny compensation to vaccine injured children - then Congress was wrong in 1986 to protect the makers and marketers of vaccines from liability for injuries and deaths caused by those vaccines.

New Followers here...

Sorry I've missed saying hello to everyone who recently started following here.

Goodness. Folks following my blog. That's quite an honor. I saw folks from all over the world -- Lindy in South Africa, Irina from Romania...there are 44 bloggers who visit here and have listed themselves as followers.

Of my blog. Can you imagine? I sure can't. I mean, I visit a lot of blogs, have a decent handful (and them some) I visit regularly week to catch up with, blogs I laugh with, blogs I learn from, blogs that inspire and motivate me to move on forward. But...folks coming here? I'm just a plain, boring mother of 9 living in the sticks here, complaining about the clay and mud, the rain and humidity, the size of the bugs they grow here in Mississippi.

Oh, and you have those days I find an old soapbox and pull out my megaphone. That alone should scare off most folks :o)

Seriously, I wanted to say hello to everyone. I rarely make it to the bottom of my front page here, so to find 44 folks here was a big surprise for me. I hope I share something worthy of a stop here in your busy day. Thank you all for coming by at least once ;o)

Farm Blogs From Around The World

Farm Blogs Around The World

Farm Blogs From Around the World is a place to to gather in one place the best farm blogs from around the world.
In his own words, Ian describes his efforts this way:

At Farm Blogs I am trying to gather in one place the very best of global blogging about farms and anyone involved in food or natural fibre production on any scale.

The idea behind Farm Blogs From Around the World is that people involved in farming/rural blogging recommend the blogs that they themselves find the most interesting.

When a blog is recommended to me, I add the blog to the blog rolls below, then contact the recommended blog, asking for their own recommendations.

And so it grows, organically, hoping that good bloggers will lead us to great ones.

Thanks for your interest and support.

He is collecting a wonderful list of blogs from every corner of the world -- AFRICA
AUSTRALIA CANADA FRANCE GERMANY NEW ZEALAND SLOVAKIA U.K. U.S.A.
I saw many online friends there. Definitely worth visiting -- you might make some great new friends in the homesteading and farming world of blogs!

Gardening Plans on the Homestead

We have garden plans moving around the homestead right now.

I must admit, not having had much luck with gardening here in this clay 'stuff' they call soil, I' a bit more than anxious about starting the gardens this year. The past 2 seasons have been more of a waste than anything one might call a harvest.

I suppose it's not a wasted work, really. I mean, yes, a bit of money is spent and to have nothing come of it is a drag, but there is experience gained even in the miserable failures.

Right now I am putting together a fruit tree and bramble list. Debi is gearing up to place her order through their local 4H Tree Sale, and I am jumping on her bandwagon :o) It's a bit daunting thinking that in 2 weeks I'll have this order of trees and bushes arriving that need dealt with! No tiller yet, muck soil...I'm not even sure where I want anything yet!

Yes, I tend to jump into things head first...that is, as in not setting a good plan in motion. I do hope this adventure works as well as the others I have handled in the same way. Note: I don't recommend doing something large scale without a good plan of action!

Here is what I'm thinking of getting for the homestead:
6 apple trees -- 2 each of Jonathan, Granny Smith and Stayman ($45)
2 pears -- Bartlett and one other for pollination ($15)
(I read it better to have another variety, but one will work)
2 peaches -- 1 each Red Globe and Bell of Georgia ($15)
4 blueberry -- Jersey....and another high bush variety I don't know yet ($28)
4 blackberry -- 1 Early Harvest, 2 Arapaho and 2 El Dorado ($20)
4 red raspberry -- Heritage ($20)
2 grapes -- either Concord or Vanessa (seedless) ($10)

A grand total on the homestead fruit orchard here: $153.

Am I getting ahead of myself here? No one to help pant but the children. No idea for sure where I'm planting anything really.

On the veggie garden front, we stopped at seed starting with 72 tomatoes (20 being cherry), 40 bell peppers and 12 egg plants. I will probably sow the rest of the goodies out directly in the ground. I usually start the tomatoes and peppers because we use so many of them. The egg plant was just sitting there staring at me, so I planted them, too :o)

Well, I have to figure out where everything will be planted now...

A note on our immunization choices...

As I said, we do not make a blanket statement about immunizations. We listen to doctors (when we need to see them...they always ask about immunizations, then proceed to give us their 10 cents worth of lecture). I take their sheets and information, look into their arguments if they are new or revised, and we determine what our stand is at that point in time. Each child is evaluated based on their health, our understanding of the information available and other deciding factors.

Part of our 'initial' reasoning behind the non-immunization stand was in how the immunizations were originally created. Polio/PolioVax, MMR II, Meruvax II, Imovax, Hep A, and the Varivax and chicken pox vaccines were derived, originally, from cells from fetal and other tissues, including those of aborted babies. The Varivax product also contains MSG in 2 forms, even though MSG is not recommended for infants or children. It also contains neomycin. We once used duck embryos, dog kidneys and reabbit kidneys to create viruse immunity boosters...then some disturbing adverse reactions were noted and we switched over to the fetal tissue from aborted babies instead. Not that I want dog kidneys injected into my children...but I don't want to have a hand in the abortion of babies for their cell tissue and research, either.

I'm not sure when exactly the last case of Polio was recorded in the US. There are outbreaks in other countries due to wild polio virus strain, but we are not in the habit of visiting other countries, so I'm not concerned so much with that. We have no known risk factors for contracting the wild polio virus, and if I should contract it the odds are I would never even know it.
Whooping Cough/Pertussis is a serious illness, however the vaccine has higher risk factors than most of our other 'standard given' vaccines. B. Pertussis is accountable for nearly 10% of all cough illnesses in children yearly. Teens and Adults both commonly carry the whooping cough virus, and the main reason they provide a good carrier is they do not stay home when sick. Whooping cough starts off looking like a regular cold, just longer term.

When was the last time you stayed home thinking you had a cold and didn't want to share it with anyone else? When was the last time you stayed home from church, the grocery store or even work because of a cough, a runny nose, or even a mild fever? How about Sunday School -- your children 'feel' fine, but are coughing or sneezing all over, or have runny noses. You are spreading all manner of diseases and germs to others, but no one thinks about it. Aw, it's just a cold. Is it? How do you know exactly?

The vaccines are not fool-proof and you could still be a 'silent' carrier of the disease. Typically, according to fact sheets, the most common occurrences of whooping cough these days are in teens who have obtained all immunizations to date. And most cases are undiagnosed because they are viewed as simply being a long running cold.

What about the children who cannot receive the Pertussis vax -- such as those with a history of seizures or epilepsy? Do you know if your infant between the ages of 2-6 months old has any developmental issues or neurological conditions? You'd better -- the CDC and AMA advise against the Pertussis vax for them as well. Most children who contract whooping cough are too young to have received even the first immunization so to say that so and so doesn't have it because your children are immunized is a moot point. I concern you for choosing not to, but what about someone who can't vaccinate?

Measles is a serious concern mainly for children under 5 and for adults. Most cases reported by the CDC are through those traveling overseas, moreso Asia and Europe. It isn't considered to be mainstream in the US these days. And a 'live' vaccine can be given within 72 hours of exposure for the same "permanent" protection as the immunization given on schedule.

They recommend re-vaccinations now for anyone who received a shot (MMR) before their 1st birthday, anyone vaccinated with a 'killed' measles vaccine, and those of us who might have been vaccinated prior to 1968.

Rubella vaccination is primarily to protect pregnant mothers and those wishing to get pregnant. Cytomegalo virus (which was one of the factors in our losing our daughter at 6 mo. gestational age), influenza, toxoplasmosis...these all affect a first-trimester mom in the same way Rubella will. Why isn't there a vaccine for them?

Not to mention the whole Thimerasol/mercury and Autism discussion. The CDC is still saying that "additional research on the cause of autism is needed" despite the sudden revelation that tests were tainted originally.

Add that to the fact that children given the Varivax or Chicken Pox shot should not be around pregnant women, those with chronic health issues or immune-deficient people immediately following the immunization because of the increased risk of their passing the disease to them based on their recent immunization with a live virus.

Children who receive the chicken pox shot are still shown to end up with a more mild case of cp at some later date, or even shingles. Typically, an outbreak of cp produces a higher 'immunity' rate than the shot does and has little side effect, although teenagers are at a risk.

We practice good health-keeping and try to eat a proper diet to keep our immune systems working at their peak potential. We watch ourselves and know how our bodies work and react to various things. We missed every Sunday and Wednesday of church in January because of one or another of us having "a cold" or a runny nose. We do not parade around public when sick or not feeling well. You won't find my children out playing with yours or sitting next to them in church if they have a runny nose, a cough or anything else typically looked upon as being 'mild' or 'nothing'. We aren't shopping at WalMart, coughing our germs along the aisles and shopping carts. We stay home when sick. We 'quarantine' ourselves basically.

If everyone did this, perhaps the vaccines wouldn't be necessary at all and eradictation would still be prevelent. Instead, we make excuses for 'having' to be here or there, despite being sick or under-the-weather. You keep your germs to yourself and I'll keep mine to myself. We'll all feel beter for it ;o)


www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index
www.909shot.com/Loe_Fisher/blfpolio197.htm
www.cdc.gov Health Topics, Pertussis pg 63
www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/measles/history.htm
www.aapsonline.org (Mandating Vaccines)
www.access1.net/via/

About Doctors...

I totally agree with Kris and her comments on my little rant there about immunizations ;o)

We are not a family of doctor haters here -- although Dewey would probably argue that to some degree. It isn't that we totally dislike them, we just don't have much use for them most times.

I was thinking over the past visits to the doctor we've had. They were pretty much non-existent back north really. I went during pregnancies (ok, my OB would even argue that...I did go, but usually not until around my 6th month for a first visit). Yes, I was considered high risk, right from baby #1, but there wasn't any point in going for me. I knew when I became pregnant, I am very aware of my particular issues, how my body reacts to pregnancy, and I am right on top of any and every variance to my body's norm. In other words, I know myself very well. We refused all the testing done as well. The outcome of some test was not going to alter the fact we were pregnant and were going to have whatever baby The Lord sent us.

Some parents run to a doctor for everthing from a runny nose on up to other non-medical things. That's definitely not us. We try to prevent things, like illnesses and accidents. Sure, things happen, but much of it can be avoided with just plain old fashioned common sense practices really.

Aside from pregnancies, we had very few doctor visits. Dewey made me take Jennifer in when little Jacob, barely 2, closed her index finger in the bathroom door. Fully closed the door. Her finger on the hinge side. Sure, it hurt, it swelled, it ws bleeding a bit. But it's a finger. They weren't going to do anything for a finger that we couldn't have done ourselves (splint and wrap). But, he was adamant. Of course, he didn't go sit in the emergency room waiting for over 3 hours...I did. But, I went because he wanted it looked at. (that was the last time he actually got adamant about a doctor visit, btw...because of what happened...)

We waited, Jennifer and I. She had a small container that started off as ice, to help keep the swelling down. It looked more like kool aid after 3 hours of waiting.

Finally in a room, we waited again. A nurse came in a few times to look at the finger. Then the doctor popped in, looked at it, said the nurse did a really good job of cleaning it -- Jennifer, about 10 or 11 at the time, got tired of waiting and scrubbed all the dried mess from her finger herself....and was quick to tell him she did it herself, too.

They ordered an x-ray. An x-ray.

It came to us. Three people wheeled in this room-sized, monster-mega-yet-portable x-ray contraption. They x-rayed her finger.

Yes, there was a time back in the day when I was not as vocal as I am now. Perhaps I got this way paying for stupidity all these years. Like some $380+ dollars for an x-ray of an index finger.

Good news -- the finger wasn't broken. Not that they would have done anything aside from slap a couple tongue depressors on either side and badaged it up. The doctor took out a little bandaid-sized pack of Neosporin ointment, dribbled a couple drops on her finger and put two bandaids on it. He tossed out the remaing Neosporin.

I thought Jennifer was going to attack the young man, LOL. He left the room and she was upset -- "that's all? We have that stuff at home. And he just wasted it."

We also went when KatiAnne took a dive off the top bunk and landed on a rubbermaid tub and cracked it. It cut her face in 3 places. I did think they were deep punctures, that's why we went. It was Thanksgiving morning. I had 35 family members coming over. I would not have gone if I thought it was nothing serious.

That doctor made us wait about 2 hours, then he pulled out what looked like a sharpie marker. It was that super glue stuff in a pen. Really cool, actually. He dabbed two places on her face and pinched them together to hold, then threw that pen out and got a new one to use on the last hole. Waste...which I paid for yet again. We went back home and discovered some of the family had shown up when they heard what happened, and had tried to help Christopher watch the youngers. LOL...the family members were flat out exhausted being babysitters :o)

Now, down here, we have had several visits....

• KatiAnne swallowed a 36" pull chain like those on a ceiling fan. I worried about it being strung out, instead of balled up, and damaging her intestinal tract before passing. It was balled up on the x-ray. I was happy.
  
• Abigail 'sliced' her arm open one day. It was a pita-pocket kind of slice, and I was not convinced I could keep it laid back properly for decent healing. I'll be darned if that doctor didn't just pinch it closed and slap some Bandaid brand super glue on it with a couple butterfly closures. I paid $175 for that visit. I really hoped that glue stuff cost a lot. It doesn't. It's less than $7 at WalMart. It's a standard part of our first aid kit here at home now, too.
• Obviously we went when Jacob and David were burned. That in itself was a fiasco, but it was necessary for Jacob. I also now know which hospitals locally are plum useless to go to.

Jennifer has grown very competent and very confident in the years of watching how things work, both with doctors and with Mom. When things happen now, she's Miss Calm, Cool and Collected. She doesn't blink an eye at injuries until she knows exactly what's going on. Abigail came wimpering up one day, blood oozing from a pretty decent cut on her leg. She was just about to start a panic. Jennifer just brought her in, cleaned her up and treated it and covered it with a sterile gauze strip.

She'll make a great nurse...or a great Mom :o)

Yes, I admit I'm different from most folks...

I actually like being different from the majority of the world at large. Not even from a 'religious' point of view, but in many other areas as well.

There is a rather heated debate going on on not just 1, but 2 boards I lurk at. It's interesting to listen to everyone's banter, although it's going in some flaming directions right now.

It's about the recent change of direction the vaccinations/mercury/autism path has taken.

I still plan to keep my personal stand here, but a lot of mothers are running out now and trying to 'catch up" on the vaccinations they once refused. That's their business and I'm not chiding anyone who does or does not vaccinate. This new 'revelation' in the medical world hasn't changed my mind one bit, though. So, I expect the same option -- do as I deem appropriate for my own children.

If you've been here or at my other blog more than a handful of times, you know my take on all of this. You also know that I tend to think a bit differently than some on 'government' type things. I'm not political, I'm certainly far from 'politically correct' and tactful, and while I often keep my mouth and opinions quietly to myself (Honest, I do. May not look like it around here, but I have bit my tongue on things I believe more often than pulling out the soapbox. Really.) that doesn't mean I don't have them.

I have done the 'research' and discussion over the years and I have kept up with what I need to know about things, including vaccinations. I could find you a hundred or more websites with articles, studies, doctor testimonials and so forth that are very PRO vaccinations. I could then find you an equal number or more of those same articles, studies and testimonials from doctors and medical groups and other equally licensed and studied folks as to the CONS of vaccinations.

Anyone who has ever taken a debate class in high school could do the same thing.

Vaccinations are a personal choice. In my case, I have chosen to make that choice based on my understanding from years of discussions with various doctors, reading from medical journals and doctors studies, listening to the viewpoints of friends (both for and against on all of these). I know why I have chosen not to vaccinate, and I stand behind that decision and fully believe it to be the best for my family. We do not have a blanket policy of not vaccinating. I have reexamined this decision with each and every child. Children are different. My decisions revolve around that fact.

I don't belittle anyone's decision to and not to vaccinate. What I suppose I would 'belittle' is the fact that there are too many folks who aren't even doing the research to make their decisions. Don't stand on a soapbox with me if you're only 'reasoning' for vaccinating is because your doctor recommends it. Your doctor isn't raising your child/ren. If you can't take time to inform yourself, then just shut up and move to the back of the line with the other government robots.

But, that's me. I'm different. Right now, with this 'revelation' in the medical world, and all the back-patting and "I told you so" conversations going on, no one is looking at the big picture. Remember, I'm different so my 'big picture' is probably very different from yours. Years ago, you didn't see masses of folks speaking out against anything. What the party line said, everyone listened to and obeyed, without question. My grandmother and my mother never spoke against something a doctor said. They had all the learning, all the information. What they sais to do was gospel pretty much. Well, life changes. Their grand daughter/daughter is very quick to ask questions, lots of them, and I want real answers, not some line they've practiced for the quirks in their practice.
Sure, you've always had some radicals in society, bent on doing things against the grain, but they were pretty much the quiet and the few. Now, we have the WORLD wide web -- blogs proclaiming the ignorance of government at every turn, radio talk shows, even the rare news show. People are standing up against what Big Brother says on so many levels and they aren't keeping private and quiet about it. The only reason for stupidity and ignorance now is your own laziness. (and yes, I include myself in that statement. I'm not throwing stones at anyone.)

Now, mass immunizations have been pulled into it. People once kept quiet and did what they were told by doctors. ]These days, people have access to virtually the same articles and information doctors have, and they are arming themselves with information and making decisions that go against the grain. Of course it makes sense to start vocally debunking ideas that have been left open, such as this Thimerasol/Mercury/Autism link. A lot of people who chose not to immunize made that choice based solely on the reported autism link years ago. That's as far as they researched. Well, with that theory supposedly debunked now, they have nothing left.

My thought on just this autism link -- If they don't have a 'cause' for a disease or illness, how can you truly 'rule out' any particular thing?

My 'I'm different' thought rolling around my head quietly this morning -- having every single child given shots upon shots, and then boosters, starting basically at birth, what better way to get your indoctrination into each generation.

I know. I'm different. Perhaps a bit bent. But, you really have to wonder, honestly, which side am I bent toward and is it really the wrong way?

Well, now...that was quick

ATLANTA – The peanut processing company at the heart of a national salmonella outbreak is going out of business. The Lynchburg, Va.-based Peanut Corp. of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Virginia Friday, the latest bad news for the company that has been accused of producing tainted peanut products that may have reached everyone from poor school children to disaster victims.

"It's regrettable, but it's inevitable with the events of last month," said Andrew S. Goldstein, a bankruptcy lawyer in Roanoke, Va., who filed the petition.

They certainly don't waste time waiting on anyone to sue them for their negligence. Boo Hoo for them that they don't pay proper attention to foods and machinery that feed this country and now have to suffer major financial set backs. And the fact they sent out product KNOWING it was tainted?! The rodents, feathers and feces found in the overhead areas of the plant that were sucked into the air ducting over where all the food was processed?! ICK. Yeah, I feel real sorry for them.

The salmonella outbreak was traced to the company's plant in Blakely, Ga., where inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaking roof. A second plant in Plainview, Texas was shuttered this week after preliminary tests came back positive for possible salmonella contamination. So far, the outbreak has been suspected of sickening more than 630 people and may have caused nine deaths. It also has led to more than 2,000 product recalls, one of the largest recalls in U.S. history.

Companies file Chapter 7 to liquidate their assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors. A trustee is automatically appointed to oversee the wind down, as opposed to a Chapter 11 filing that gives a company breathing room while it tries to reduce its debts and continue in business. The company said in the filing that its debt and assets both ranged between $1 million and $10 million.

The board had considered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy but decided on an outright liquidation. It said in a court filing that the recalls had been "extremely devastating" to the company's financial condition.

"We kicked the tires on trying to reorganize, but the fact of the matter is they've absolutely closed down," Goldstein said. "They're prevented from carrying on business. There didn't seem like there would be any prospects."

And then you have the wonderful medical world...I suppose it's a good thing they are telling you about it, but still...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Thousands of patients at a Veterans Administration clinic in Tennessee may have been exposed to the infectious body fluids of other patients when they had colonoscopies in recent years, and now VA medical facilities all over the U.S. are reviewing their own procedures.

VA officials also said a problem was found with equipment at an ear, nose and throat clinic at the VA medical center in Augusta, Ga., and 1,800 veterans have been notified they may have been exposed to infection there.

A spokesman at the Alvin C. York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., said the clinic is offering free blood tests and medical care to all patients whose records show they had colonoscopies between April, 23, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2008.

Christopher Conklin said in a telephone interview Friday that notification letters were sent this week by registered mail to 6,378 patients of the Murfreesboro facility. He said no related health problems have been reported, and every measure is being taken to assure that affected veterans are screened.

One veteran who received notification, Gary Simpson, 57, said, "The fact that it took five years for them to catch a mistake like that — it seems like somebody should have caught an incorrect valve and incorrect cleaning of the equipment during that time." His wife Janice called the discovery "sickening" and "horrifying."

Conklin said a valve on equipment used in the colonoscopies was discovered wrongly connected Dec. 1 and the mistake was traced back to April 23, 2003.

Does anyone watch out for things anymore? What kind of poor training do VA hospital workers have that they connect machinery up WRONG. Forget the fact they obviously don't evn know how to maintain or clean the equipment.

This is just sickening.

We have power...

Seems a lone tree out in a cattle field a few miles over just cracked in the wind and went down -- across the power lines. Dropped 2 of them across the roadway and looped one way down as well. The mail lady called the power company -- seems when I called (after some half hour without power) no one else had reported a problem out here in the sticks. They weren't even sending anyone out to check. Told me to call back after a couple hours if it was still out.

So helpful.

But, with the mail lady calling to tell them lines were actually down and blocking a roadway, bingo, they drove out. She had to wait for them to direct them where the lines were down.

Some days I truly wonder about the electric system out here.

As for my husband and his leaving comments for me....ain't he cute? LOL...he hates computers. He reads the blog and might tell me something with the email, but he never pays attention as to how to leave an actual comment here.

Until today. He's been back and forth between the jobsite and home, waiting on his Valentine's gift to arrive....a Blackberry Curve. He was told he needed one for work, and they were talking about getting him one. I got him one. It cost me a mere $22 and some change, plus we ended up with some free pre-paid phone with $20 in time on it. So, I think I did pretty good...I got a Blackberry for $2 ;o) Can't beat that. It only ups the cell bill $20 a month, to boot.

Dewey will not like it. He hates technology, really. His life would be perfect if he could manage with a pencil, some paper and a good eraser. But, that's not the life he works in. He needs to be 'connected' in all sorts of ways on the job. This will work good for him, I know.

Just have to keep him from slamming it out the window when it won't do what he's trying to get it to do :o) It should be there anytime now. I had it overnighted to him so he could get it going today. Set hiim up a new email just for work, even sent off for his rebate :o)

I'm such a good wife LOL.

And what do you s'pose my dear, loving husband will get me for Valentine's Day?????

Probably more fence posts :o) That's what I got for our anniversary. The lady at the feed store told him he'd be in trouble getting me something like that. I would want something like flowers. Her husband just laughed and told her she knew me well enough to know that I'd much rather have the fence posts ;o)

He was right. I love the fence posts.

Power Outage

Well, I was going to post this morning, but our power went out so it's off to bigger and better things for us now....more school work :o)

Prayers to all in the paths of those storms and tornadoes throughout Oklahoma.

Love the article, LizBeth! Thanks!

Thank you, LizBeth, for the heads up toward that Backwoods Home article. I love it. Just my kind of thing ;o)

Yikes. Bite into that bagel and you might just be eating barber-shop sweepings. Or Chinese pigs. Doesn't sound kosher to me!

Little surprises like that lurk everywhere. You won't find the following chemical in bread, but check out some yogurts, juices, or candies. Look for a common ingredient variously described as carmine, carminic acid, cochineal, or just the anonymous E120. It's a red dye, designed to pretty up the color of some things we eat.

It's also the abdomens and eggs of female beetles, boiled, dried in the open air, then crushed. Bon appetit!

.....
Furthermore, there's evidence that fructose actually makes us more hungry. So we consume HFCS, then we crave more food—and of course, the foods we eat load us with even more fructose. And there you have it—obesity, sugar highs, and unbalanced processes in the liver, pancreas, and other organs.

.....
It is so very like government to spot an artifically induced problem and "solve" it by ordering an artificial "solution"—which, at most, acts as a Band-Aid upon the original "wound" of bad nutrition.

But then, saying, "Maybe we should eat whole, minimally processed foods" would just be too simple, wouldn't it? Can't build bureaucracies or federal give-away programs around that, can you? And we can't be without our junk foods and our gunk foods, can we? Not even if it kills us. So we render crap food artificially "healthy." Yeah.

When we go into our kitchens to begin mixing up simple, basic loaves of homemade bread, we turn our backs on Authority and much that it has wrought. We reject—consciously or not—the belief that we must trust other people to predetermine what goes into our bodies. It's a form—and an important one—of owning our own lives. "Take your pig bristles and your boiled beetles," we say, "and shove ‘em."

It's a long journey from Wonder Bread (or whatever the junk food of our choice) to homemade whole grain foods. In part, it's a journey back in time. But it's not an act of foolish nostalgia for "good old days" that never were. It's also a journey forward—from having our diets directed by others for their own convenience to choosing our own better, healthier, more independent lives.

The entire article is good...these were just my favorite parts ;o) The article says it all, quite nicely.

Want a good read today?

Visit Les Riley's site...

There is plenty to read of worth there, but a favorite of mine this morning...

Oh Grow Up! Here's a teaser blurb...

The gist of the article, is that the country is full of “twenty something” men who are still living as if they were teenage boys. Not wanting to get married; drifting from job to job (or not keeping a job at all); “partying”; whore-mongering; playing games; just generally living like unrestrained, hormonal, pagan teenage boys — rather than moving into “manhood”.

Set aside, for a moment, the idea that “adolescence” itself is a modern, ungodly, humanist construct (some would say myth) built on psedeo science. Is there something for us to learn from this ?

It is easy to sit back and shake our heads and say this is just another example of the continuing degeneracy of Western culture or this is just the unrestrained sin nature bearing fruit — and we just need to preach Jesus to the world.

Too often, though, this trend in young men with no direction, ambition, sense of purpose, or duty seems to be infecting the Church as well. I am not meaning to imply the actual gross hedonism (drunkeness, fornication, not working, etc) is going on among Christian young men. God forbid. But leaving aside the particular gross sin, it seems that what this article describes is a real danger for out-of-school, unmarried ( and some married) Christian young men.

They are not looking for a wife, or a calling, or a mission, or a life’s work — a field of Dominion, so to speak; opportunities to be doing the Father’s business; opportunities to use their time, talents, and energies to advance the Kingdom & reputation to the Lamb (and frankly, too often, the Church or individual older Christians encourage this).

mercury in HFCS?

I must live under a rock. All the wandering I've been doing lately, I hadn't once heard all of this news. Not that I'm surprised by it, really, but for crying out loud...when is it going to end?

Nevermind...I already know that answer.

I'm telling you, just how much more do you need to know to start making changes in your life? I'm not being sarcastic here at all, I am being very sincere. If all this contamination and 'hidden' and 'proprietary' ingredients are being crept out into the public view like this, how much more do you think is still being covered up by those powers-that-be?

Insane. Just insane. It's all for our own good, you know. We are too ignorant and selfish to make decisions for ourselves. We need a big brother to keep us on the right track.

yeah.

Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup: What They’re Just Now Telling Us

February 3, 2009

As if we needed another reason to avoid high fructose corn syrup. (You’ll want to put down that soda now.)

Last week two studies were released showing that mercury was found in some high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

One study tested 55 brand-name foods (containing HFCS) from grocery store shelves in Fall 2008, and found mercury in nearly one-third of those products. Do you have any of these at home?

• Coca-Cola Classic
• Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
• Smucker’s Strawberry Jelly
• Nutri‐Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
• Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup
• See the complete list of foods tested.

The Mercury Risk

Mercury is a toxin to the brain. There is no “safe amount” to ingest. It is especially dangerous for children and unborn babies whose brains are developing.

Even if the doses are small, it’s a concern because Americans consume so much HFCS on a regular basis: 12 teaspoons per day on average.

The Questions

How could the mercury be there?

HFCS is produced using many chemicals, and those chemicals are made by various manufacturers. Some of those manufacturers still use an outdated process involving mercury to make two of the chemicals, which can then be sold to HFCS producers. Consequently, mercury residue can end up in the final product.

The FDA knew about the possibility… and did nothing. In 2005 a researcher at the FDA named Renee Dufault tested samples of HFCS, and found mercury in nine of twenty samples. The FDA chose not to tell consumers, change industry standards, or do any more testing. Renee Dufault left the FDA, and those test results are now published in the current issue of Environmental Health.

How did the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) respond?

This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance. Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years…

In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996.

The CRA’s response basically assures me that any HFCS I consumed during my childhood did in fact contain mercury. They do not want to assume any responsibility or do additional testing for the current findings.

What to Do

So how do you know if the HFCS in your other food contains mercury? They won’t tell you. The HFCS manufacturers consider it “proprietary.” You may want to avoid it altogether.

You can call the customer service number on the back of food packages and express your concern.

In 2007, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation that would phase out the use of mercury, but it did not pass. Four chlorine factories in the United States (and more outside the U.S.) still use mercury to create those chemicals, which can then be sold to HFCS manufacturers. You can send an email to the CEOs of those companies.

High fructose corn syrup is as safe as sugar? Give me a break.

Sources:

• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) report and press release
• Environmental Health article by Renee Dufault, et al.

• 
  

MRE's with recalled peanut paste?

WHERE IT WENT

As well as tracing the contamination back to the source, officials have to follow serpentine trails forward to try to figure out all the final destinations. The list of recalls, and possibilities, keeps growing.

Recalls now include cookies, crackers, cereal, candy, ice cream, pet treats and much more.

In addition to having its products spread through the marketplace, Peanut Corp. has been a supplier to the government.

Federal officials said Friday they are shipping 660,000 new emergency meal kits to Arkansas and Kentucky after discovering many packages they sent earlier, to help people recover from an ice storm, contained the recalled peanut butter.

The Agriculture Department said it had shipped some of the company's potentially contaminated peanut butter and peanuts to eight states, including school lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho, in 2007. The department has suspended business with the company.

On January 28, 2009, PCA announced it was voluntarily recalling all peanuts and peanut products processed in its Blakely, Georgia facility since January 1, 2007 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella......

PCA has not manufactured any products in cans and jars since 2007. However, because the January 28th recall notice indicated that PCA does not sell products directly to consumers in stores, and because the expanded recall includes PCA products made since the beginning of 2007, the potential for confusion may exist. .... FDA continues to update its website to alert the public about any new recalls.

PCA sold its Casey’s, Parnell’s Pride, Reggie, and Robinson Crusoe labels to 99 Cent Stuff, 99 Cents Only Stores, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree Stores.

Nice to see the government agencies on the ball. Peanut butter "stuff'" has been on the recall list for how long now? Yet they sort of forgot to test their MRE's before shipping them off to emergency victims?

Canned peanuts, canned nut mixes, granola mixes with peanuts...food service packaging, school food services, high-end shops and low-end shops. Even dog treats.

Yep, folks, start planning out your spring garden needs now. It's just plain common sense anymore.

I suppose you could just increase your insurance coverage and go with that.

A Weekend in Tupelo...

Ok, not so unusual really, for us anyway.

But Dewey was home and with us. Surely someone noticed we weren't wandering places like Lowe's, Home Depot, Scruggs and Tractor Supply alone this time.

While drooling over tractors and various attachments at Scruggs, Dewey got talking :o) When I joined the fun, I was shown a picture of a wonderful family -- 10 children and counting! I've been blog-visiting this morning and saw many more photo's of the clan...you've got to see the little one. He is flat out adorable!

I was given a little business card with mom's name, "10 kids" and their city listed. Then teeny tiny print to fit it all in...a website and an email address.

Several of the children have blogs as well...Dad has a blog well worth the read....but my favorite so far (aside from the pictures everyone shares) is The Chocolate Biscuit. Grab some tissue so you aren't drooling on the computer screen.

I tell you, just reading and enjoying the pictures and all was great fun, but can you imagine meeting another large family so close by? A simple living (I read all about the money-saving plans in place as well...) large family. Ten arrows in their quiver and counting.

See why it's a good thing to brave the traffic and get into town once in a while????

Monday, Monday...

Yes, I have another little soapbox...but I moved it to the bottom of this post.

Dewey finally got in and we got quite a bit of stuff started here, including some homestead planning the children and I will get started on.

He arrived home loaded to the gills with garden seeds...and peat pots to start them in...and seed starter to plant them in. Ten bags of seed starter...a gazillion seed packets for everything you can think of...and 744 3in. peat pots!

I have no windows that allow much for lighting really here, and with temps dropping off and on still into rather cold nights, the porh isn't really a good place for starts either. So, we picked up some cheap shelf units and built a seed starter home ;o)

ugh...and of course, they don't want to load up from the computer now ;o( I'll try again later.

We live in a really spacious home, you know...not. We put these things together, then tried to figure out where they were going to sit. We bought some grow lights for them, as well, so I needed a place with an accesible outlet. You would think that would be an easy find, having an electrician for a husband...again, not. We finally settled on one wall, where my table sits, and they now cover the bulletin board.

It's not an ideal location in terms of practicality, but it's what I've got to work with. I had to keep the two shelf units together -- those dumb lights are some $10 each, then another $10 on the grow bulbs! I bought 4 lights and 8 bulbs and nearly choked. I'm going to make them as useful as I can...we'll grow plenty of violets and take them along to sell at the farm market. Any other uses you can think of?????

So, my table is in the middle of that half of the living space now, the shelves along the wall, our big school board still open and in use, and to make more room here so we weren't climbing over furniture to get in and out of the house, I sent the couch along to eldest son :o) Yes, we are now a couchless family, but really, no one much cares. We never really used it that much and no one ever comes over to visit, so what we have is just fine. We still have the recliner, then it's the dining room table and chairs :o) That's where we end up spending our time anyway -- at the table.

I know they have granted that extension for the digital switch-over, but our PBS and NBC stations are going digital on the original target date anyway. Woohoo. The children were hoping for some sort of reprieve with television. They enjoy Nature, Masterpiece Theater and such. I do like our local news...well, only the weather portion. They do have excellent storm coverage when needed. Oh, well. I am ready for the TV to be just a pretty (ugly) box in the cabinet there. Special occasion video watching :o)

I am getting a better quality weather radio. I found one in the new Emergency Essentials catalog, but I don't know if it's the one I want yet. I like that it's solar, hand-crank and battery operated. There is also an adapter you can get for charging cell phones. Does anyone know anything about other good weather radios out there I should look into?

Today on the homestead....geography lessons! The middles were looking for Arkansas and ended up in China. LOL....they had the wrong map altogether, but still...we need some serious map skills if that's as close as they can get! Not that we aren't just a suburb of China with all the items sold on local shelves these days...

We are canning more meat up, and I must get some patterns drafted off for a couple of friends. I put it off at first, then 'life' caught up with us and I couldn't get to it. Poor Sister Penny has been so patient, but she;ll be nekked soon if I don't get a move on!

If all goes well, we might get the chance to play Farm-opoly tonight. Or Horse-opoly. Dewey bought both at TSC while pricing fence posts and fencing for the homestead. And tillers. He found what he wants, in lieu of one for the tractor. And an auger -- for the tractor, not one for us to use by hand. Yes, we have a good old fashioned post hole digger here, but if we had to rely on that for fencing installation, we'd have critters free-ranging all over this mountain side! I cannot, even on a good day, with soggy rain-filled soil and no pain in my wrists, work that blasted thing. I'm all for one on that tractor. I could put in fence posts all day and night with one of those pretty little things ;o)


Now, that soapbox I mentioned:

I know this is a very controversial topic, but I have to just say one little comment...really, just one....
I watched the interview on TV with Nadya S. -- the octuplets mother. And I read the bit from her mother on radaronline.com where the Today Show link lead me.

I'm not saying right or wrong or any of that. It's one of those topics, plain and simple. Like The Duggars, The Pearls, and Michael Bunker. You either find things you agree with and believe to be right on the money, or you hate the very sound of their names. There aren't many who find middle ground with those particular names at all. These octuplets are causing the same emotional stir across blogs and forums as well.

My only comment...my last comment if I can help it (self-restraint isn't really my strong suit...but I will try...) is this. She was very polite in terms of any comments about her mother. She said her mother has been a great help and comfort in her time in the hospital, taking care of the siblings at home, allowing her the time to be with the babies, etc. Her mother, however, laid immediate blocks and remarks across newspapers and online notes. She will not help any of these children any longer. She will not help in their care in any way and has not supported her daughter's wacked out decision to have these new 'kids' from day one.

Some prize Grandmother that one is. I'm sure those children will be feeling the love just radiating from their grandmother as they grow...not. No wonder the daughter felt so strongly about having children and making a 'connection' with them that she lacked.

I don't care one hoot if she agrees with her daughter's choice or not, it's a moot point at this stage now isn't it? Don't provide money, don't provide help of any kind. Turn her out onto the streets. That isn't important at all. Agree with her choices or don't. But to allow those children to grow knowing that they are basically hated and totally unwanted by their own grandmother? That's just wrong. I realize this grandmother is probably looking at this as her "tough love" stand or something, but that stand should be against her daughter -- not innocent children who did nothing but be born. Hardly their fault they popped into a dysfunctional family with issues that go way back.

Ok, there, I'm done. Really. I'm done.

Tax Refund...got a plan set in stone?

I don't really care to call it that. Sure, it is technically a 'refund' but still...it's just an interest-free loan to the government that they are giving back to me. I really would have preferred keeping the money in our pockets all year long, but that's another post altogether.

Either way, we apparently loaned the government a pretty decent amount over the course of last year, and it's on it's way. Paperwork hoops have all been jumped through, i's dotted and t's crossed in their proper manner.

On the plans for this refund? Well, Dewey has his eye on a backhoe. I'd like to get all my school wish list in place.

But, what's going to happen with it is we are going to stimulate our own economy. We are paying off the bigger of the two loans, and then doubling up on the smaller loan and knocking it out of the way as well.

Yes, seems a bit backwards. Ramsey says snowball it from smallest to largest. That's good advice. I'm not saying anyone should do any different. But for us, that big loan is the thorn in our sides. We at the very least will pay a huge lump down on it, then refinance it so we can double it up anyway. Whatever gets it gone works for us.

These loans are the reason Dewey is working in Arkansas. He's on his last trip home now. They are jumping up to running 2 full-time crews, with him doubling his hours as well. Whatever isn't paid off with that refund, will be within no more than a handful of paychecks with those kind of hours.

See, tax season ain't so bad, if you're going to be doing it anyway. Personally, I think you shouldn't be doing it that way, but that's part of that whole other post I mentioned... As it stands, if you have to get a refund for all that involuntary lending you did while working, make sure you put it to good use. Dot those i's and cross those t's on paper and commit to that plan without fail. Don't just spend it away on little things. Make it make a difference in your lives for the long-term. Don't, not in these days and those to come, make a decision based on short-sighted wants.

On another note -- Dewey mentioned his employer is talking about 2 more jobs -- possibly up in Illinois. Should The Lord lead us to continue on with the work, it will be a whole family move this time, at least for the job term. Enough time apart. They don't call it a family so you can chat over the phone and internet instead of in real life, in person. Children need their Daddy. So does Momma, truth be told. He told his boss I'd be moved before he was if we were heading anywhere north for a few seasons :o)

Either way, it's in The Lord's Hands. He led us to the job he's on now, and He will lead us where we need to go from here.

Link to the House Plans

Ok...the link...

http://www.countryplans.com/20w_loft.html
this is the same drawing I shared in the first post on these houses. The new plan is just with an added sunroom and such.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=1503.msg13982


I'm sure there will be some changes here and there, but not from my pen. I'd make a total mess of it :o)

Dewey is due home tomorrow so maybe I can get some drawings out of him this weekend. He was about an hour into the trip home now but when your lead man won't answer his phone....
he's turned around and is on his way back to the jobsite now and will make an attempt to head out by at least noon tomorrow now. Oh well, an anniversary can be celebrated any day, right? It's a special day, but every day with your husband should be a special day.

I won't go into my thoughts on employees and such. It's more than enough to sit here and ponder the fact that some folks are so ignorant they have no clue what a blessing it is to have a job in these days.

This Would Work Better...another house

I found this modification someone shared on a builder's board. This has Dewey's basement, plenty of play area for my pantry and storm shelter, a great wrap-around deck, and a loft.

This view shows the exposed/walk-out basement.


This is the front view. This man has a sun-room set up on the side. I like the bank of windows, I could set all my houseplants and such out there, but I'm not sure I'd like them much during the summer. Maybe if they were tucked into the timber side back in the clearing where Dewey plans to build...I wouldn't have direct sunlight, but still get plenty of outdoor views so I didn't feel I was in a cave.


Just another view he shared, trying to show the air-flow he had planned. There are interior windows above the sun-room area to help with flow as well.

He has open sections in the loft for air/heat flow. I'm not sure about that -- maybe just end the loft and put a railing up so you were more open to the main floor.



This is an interior someone else did using his plan. They only showed the loft section, but I love the 'cabin look' of those cabinets and all the open beams.


I think Dewey could easily take this and make it work for what we are looking at. Exposed/walk-out basement suits everyone -- my mother is worried about children being outside playing when a storm hits and not getting back into the house. Generally they don't creep in that quickly...but, if my pantry was there, and we oriented it right, I could have just backup to the door and unload any storage items directly to the pantry :o)

Another house plan thought...

Yes, I got carried away with survival type blogs this evening. Yes, I found enough 'out there' information to make your head spin.

But I did find some really neat stuff, too :o) Survivalist types aren't all wacked out in space you know. Most are really on the ball and dead on the target if truth be told.

But, that aside...I found another house plan I think I could work with, although it's more a traditional style home, and Dewey is looking at basements, and honestly, I do think I'd prefer that. I like the "cool" aspect of a basement.

Anyway, maybe Dewey can play with this one...

Just thinking of things, I'd like to keep the loft idea that Kris has...maybe expand it a bit more for more usable, actual living space. I would have the 'upstairs' over that bedroom and bath section.
If the children's room were up there, we'd need to extend the house out a bit more than it is to make room for 3 bedrooms side-by-side.

I don't see why we couldn't keep the basement thought on some level, maybe a walk-out? Or just digging in a bit, as Dewey planned already, where the children had full-size, above grade windows in each bedroom for emergency use. That would put them maybe 6 foot below grade, then the 3 foot windows.

If the basement was a full footprint, the children could have bedrooms under the living space, and we could dig back into a hillside and go completely underground for a pantry under that bedroom area, and a storm shelter under that bathroom.

Ahh, but that's what my wonderful husband is for :o) He is most definitely the 'left brain' side of this family, where I am more the right side most times. Yeah, who am I kidding...I'm a righty all the time. That's how I roll :o)

What do you think? What would you keep, what would you change, what would you add? I am looking for something with a pretty open floor plan, lots of natural lighting, definitely something to help with keeping the cooler the better during the summer when I turn into a mush-baby.

Honestly, my only real must-haves are a good sized pantry/store room and that storm shelter. I don't really want an external storm shelter, but I'll take it if it's all I can get. Anything aside from those two musts I can work with and adjust to.