And just one more thing...

Ace is just wonderful :o) LOL...not that she knows I've said that, but if by chance she stops by, she'll see it. I've shared a lot of information there, been lead down a fair amount of great bunny trails from her blogging. I have a couple of folks I love to visit because I know I will find out things that the common folk simply don't have time to hear. Things that in the long run, I really need to know and be prepared for. And no, she didn't even pay for this advertisement ;o)

Today was one of those informative days.

The FDA wants to regulate Tylenol? Tylenol? A prescription for simple Tylenol? Great timing there Big Brother.

When You Kinda Know You Shouldn't...But You Just Can't Help Yourself..

Now, understand full well that I KNOW I should just keep my mouth shut here. I really, really do...will I...well I just have to say ONE more thing....

I had decided to stop doing prep posts because frankly at this point....either you do or you don't. BUT...I decided to throw one more flag out there...you decide...

Remember over a year ago when children's cold and flu medications were taken away?

FDA may put restrictions on Tylenol

ADELPHI, Md. – The makers of Tylenol, Excedrin and other medications are trying to dissuade regulators from placing new restrictions on their popular painkillers, including possibly removing some of them from store shelves.

Here is the full article http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/658416

The weird thing is, this isn't being very widely reported. AND if this goes through you will need a PRESCRIPTION to take two extra strength Tylenol. Oh, AND this may go through for things like cold and flu meds as well. OHH! And just in time for socialised medicine..YIPPEE!

OH, AND it is coming up on what is predicted as the biggest and baddest flu season ever...pandemic level 6 remember?

OH AND there appears to be a dog strain of the flu and one that is medication resistant...and the deaths are still rising.

Danes find drug-resistant swine flu strain
ATLANTA – For the first time, a case of swine flu has proven resistant to Tamiflu – the leading pharmaceutical weapon against the new virus, international health officials said Monday.
The resistance was seen in a patient in Denmark, who has recovered.
"The goods news is they just found one," said Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention.
It appears the strain developed in a patient who was taking the drug to prevent illness, and it has not spread to others. That's a much better scenario than if the patient had not been taking Tamiflu and picked up a drug-resistant strain already spreading through the public, said Bridges, associate director for science in the CDC's influenza division.
Also, it is not a mutation that includes pieces of both seasonal flu and the new pandemic form of the virus, according to Roche, the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company that makes Tamiflu. Scientists have been worried about the new swine flu swapping genes with seasonal or other types of flu and perhaps mutating into a more dangerous or more infectious form.

Here is the full article http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/658774--danes-find-drug-resistant-swine-flu-strain

Hmm, sounds like a great time to outlaw a fever and pain reducer.....

You make your decision...if you wait, don't be surprised when the shelves are bare and you need a L....O.....N.....G visit to a doctor to get a tylenol.

Anyhoo, off to post more fun stuff like how over a million bats have died from a fungus....

Many Blessings :)
Ace

That 2010 Census...

I've been hearing alot about the Census, and specifically their 10-question long form. Supposedly the shortest form they've ever done. must be all those budget cuts.

Oh, you know me, anti-government and all. I am hoping for someone to simple forget where I live. Fat chance of that, thanks to that idiot GPS tagging. Still, I can hope to slip through the cracks. The government does that sort of thing all the time. And there are some pretty good sized cracks here in the bone-dry MS clay.

What is the Census? According to the government themselves --

• 
  

The census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years.

The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

The next census is in 2010.

Your participation in the census is required by law.

It takes less than 10 minutes to complete.

Federal law protects the personal information you share during the census.

Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.

• 
  

I just don't care much for any of that, really. We don't need more Congressional seats...there are enough folks already there. There is no Federal money to hand out to local and state governments...we're sinking under unpaid bills and stupid financial decisions. Unless I missed the CNN headline about the Fed deciding to start printing lots of new money to spread around, there just isn't any to be allocated, so my private information isn't needed by anyone but me. And Federal Law protecting your private information....don't even get me started.

You are required by Law to answer the questions, according to our Constitution...

Title 13, Section 221 (Census, Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers) of the United States Code reads:

• (a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.

• (b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500.

• (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.

(U.S. citizens living outside the United States are not required to respond to the census.)

In other words, you can be fined up to $100 for not answering and up to $500 for lying on the census form. I did hear something about that fine amount being raised, but can't find anything to confirm that. Makes sense though -- invasive questions that most sane folks will try to refuse to answer, big fines for doing so...maybe that's the plan for lifting us from the financial depression.

I'm just a rebel. A paranoid troublemaker. I don't do alot of things that are required for me to do. It's just how I am. I don't know much (ha ha...a given, I know...) but I try to gather as much information from both sides of something that I can before I make a decision. My choices don't have to be popular...they just have to be right for my family at the time given the knowledge I have at my disposal and the brains granted me by God.

The U.S. Census Bureau today opened one of three data capture centers that will process the 2010 Census questionnaires as they are mailed back by households across the nation. The 236,500-square-foot facility will bring more than 2,500 jobs to Baltimore County, Md.

“Processing the 2010 Census questionnaires accurately and safely at the data capture centers is a crucial step to a successful census,” said Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg. “The data from each form processed at the facility will help provide a complete count of the nation's population and a new portrait of America.”

The Baltimore Data Capture Center is expected to process about 40 percent of the census forms mailed back by respondents. The remaining forms will be sent to the Census Bureau’s National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Ind., and the data capture center in Phoenix, which is set to open in November. The 2010 Census forms will be mailed in March, and the majority of the data processing will occur between March and July.

The Baltimore Data Capture Center will be managed by Lockheed Martin. Its subcontractor partner, CSC, will manage the hiring efforts for the 2,500 new employees, most of whom will be hired starting in December of this year. Each worker will take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with any other government or law enforcement agency. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data are used to distribute congressional seats to states and to allocate more than $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete.

If anyone has any links to share about the upcoming Census parade, I'd love to see them. I still have some time left to glean and learn.

Homeschool Radio Shows...Great Summer Fun!

Do you visit Homeschool Radio Shows? You should, if you don't already. They have some really great CDs and freebies each week. This is one of the examples...this week they have a great find for How to Teach Reading. It's a 6 part series with all linked, and would be useful to any homeschooler, as well as others just interested in being a volunteer.

Once kids have learned the letters of the alphabet and that "a" sounds like apple, b like bat, and d like dog, they begin to be able to sound out simple words like b+a+d. With repetition they begin to recognize easy words at a glance, making reading more fun and allowing them to concentrate on sounding out words with more difficult phonics sounds. If they read often enough, eventually they recognize almost all words at a glance, only stopping to sound out new words or names they don't already know. If you don't believe it, take a look at the following paragraph that appeared on the Internet. It's not really research from Cambridge University, but it does illustrate my point:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Read, read, read with your student, teaching a little phonics as you go along, until he/she recognizes almost all the words he sees. Your reader gets practice by doing some of the reading himself and repetition by following along word-by-word as you read, even if he can't sound out all the words independently. Within a few months you'll see dramatic improvement.

We have several of their resources ourselves and have listened to them repeatedly. It's hard to find good audio books, and even more difficult to find ones that are suitable for all ages and interests. The audio short stories and presentations we have from them are dramatized and great fun to listen to. We have all of the Adventures in Listening with Adventures in Research, short dramatized stories of various science history such as how the first paper was invented using wood pulp instead of cotton, inventing the lightbulb, etc. And the old Lassie radio shows are there...The Leatherstocking Tales, Frankenstein, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, etc. We love these stories and they make for great listening at night.

I like books, don't get me wrong, but there's something about being able to sit and listen to a well dramatized presentation of a story, too. When I was younger (and I'm not all that old, you know...) a local radio station was still on the air and they had a studio at our local Mall. Every Saturday night, from like 6-8 pm, they would play old radio shows. We listened to everything from Lassie, to Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys, and so many more. It was fun. I looked forward to them coming on each week. Now, I can find a Christian station that might play some episodes of Adventures in Odyssey, but nothing of the old radio shows that my Grandmother might have listened to, the old commercials, the comedy time with Burns and Allen and so forth. And the classics...The Leatherstocking Tales, Frankenstein, The Lone Ranger, old time detective stories, Agatha Christie mysteries, etc.

It's just good clean fun. Check out Homeschool Radios Shows and visit their weekly freebie site as well for some good downloads and links worth knowing about.

Swine Flu Multiple-Shot Vaccine May Overwhelm States

From Bloomberg.com

By Tom Randall
June 26 (Bloomberg) --

The vaccine being developed to combat a pandemic of swine flu will require multiple shots to provide immunity from the new virus, and the added immunizations may overwhelm U.S. state agencies, health officials said.

Two injections will be required three weeks apart for swine flu, also known as H1N1, and a third will be needed for seasonal flu, health officials said at a meeting today at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. Children younger than 9 years old will need four shots, the CDC said.

The U.S. government took the unusual step of purchasing all of the swine flu vaccine, and the shots probably will be administered through vaccine clinics set up by state health organizations, the CDC said. The agency estimates that at least 50 million vaccine doses will be available in the U.S. by Oct. 15, and enough vaccine to immunize everyone in the country will be available later in the season.

"Public health departments are under-funded and will get fatigued," said William Schaffner, an influenza expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, in an interview at the flu conference. "One shot probably gives you very little immunity, 10 to 20 percent at most."

Two state health-agency representatives said today that vaccinations would be slowed if states are responsible for administering shots instead of doctors' offices and pharmacies, said Jeanne Santoli, head of the CDC's routine vaccine distribution activities.

No Decision
The CDC hasn't yet determined the role state agencies will play in disseminating the vaccine, and it will be working with states to ensure fast distribution, she said.
"Probably each state will decide what works best. There may be some states that lean toward the public sites and others that lean more toward the private," Santoli said.

Because swine flu is a new virus, most people have no natural immunity. The first shot provides an initial exposure, and the second shot boosts antibody levels in the body, Schaffner said.People older than age 50 are getting swine flu at far lower rates than younger people, evidence they may have some immunity from prior exposures to a similar virus, and will only need one shot, the CDC said.

Dosage Tests
Children under 9 have little immunity to any flu strain and need two shots for protection against seasonal flu, as well as two for swine flu, the CDC said. The agency is conducting tests to find the most effective dosing for different age groups.

The new flu is spreading at an epidemic rate earlier than the last two pandemics, in 1957 and 1968, Nancy Cox, director of CDC's flu division, said today in a presentation.
In those years, the virus emerged in late spring and subsided during the warmer summer months before picking up again in the fall.
The 2009 version is currently widespread across 11 states and circulating in parts of 19 others, according to a report presented yesterday at the CDC. (Note from Deanna...this is terribly out-dated information even according to the CDC's own updates!)
The number of seasonal flu cases has declined as swine flu spread after it was first identified in April.

"This new infectious disease is not going away," said Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a conference call.
"In the U.S. we are seeing a steady increase in the number of reported cases. The number reported this week was the largest number reported so far in the outbreak."

Ferret Studies
A study conducted on ferrets at the CDC, presented today, found the swine flu virus may have symptoms that are more severe than those of seasonal flu and may be more difficult to transmit between people. The study is small and the results may not apply to humans, Cox said in an interview.
Ferrets are often used to study flu because the virus behaves in ferrets similarly to the way it does in humans, making the animal a good model, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said in an interview.

Scientists have used laboratory tests to confirm 27,715 cases of swine flu in the U.S.,
(again, this is woefully behind the actual-to-date data from the CDC itself)
and as many as 1 million people may have been sick and not had testing, the CDC said.

One reason the swine flu vaccine may be administered through state health clinics is to allow the U.S. to closely track vaccine use and side effects.

Vaccine Side-Effects
In a 1976 outbreak of swine flu, some people who received the vaccine developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that causes temporary full-body paralysis and may sometimes lead to death. The CDC estimates that 1 of every 100,000 people receiving the vaccines got the syndrome. Increased rates haven't been seen in other vaccines, and scientists still don't know what caused the link in 1976.

With rare side effects that occur in 1 in 100,000 patients or fewer, a state-run monitoring system is needed to collect enough data to alert health officials to problems with a new vaccine, the CDC said.

Companies working on swine flu vaccines include
Sanofi- Aventis SA, of Paris, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc, both based in London, CSL Ltd. of Melbourne and Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: June 26, 2009 16:11 EDT

Colorado Pandemic Meeting Transcript

The June 25, 2000 (typo...should read 2009?)

InfraGard meeting was on the pending pandemic.
The speakers were Robin K. Koons, Ph.D., epidemiologist for the Colorado Emergency Preparedness and the Director of FEMA for the State of Colorado.

This InfraGard meeting was non-restricted, so these notes may be shared:

[begin transcript]
It is anticipated that 30% of the working population, 42 million people, will become ill. 70% of the working population, 150 million people, will not get ill, and will have to run the country. In 1918 out of the 30% that became ill, 2% died.

Infrastructure may not meet human needs. Supply chain resources (warehousing, trucking, grocery store stocking, fuel deliveries) could break down because of current just-in-time inventories. Grocery and convenience stores may not have product for sale.

Police, fire and rescue services might be restricted because of manpower shortages.

Hospitals may run out of patient room.

How do you know if you have the H1N1?
You wake up with a fever of 102-103 degrees and you do not have the energy to lift yourself up so you can get out of bed. You are horizontally stuck.

Preparedness in general:
* Social distance is six feet. Inside six feet you can receive a droplet from a sick person. Keep your distance!
* Avoid people with coughs.
* Wash hands frequently.
* Have available hand sanitizers, masks, disposable rubber gloves.
* Don't stick your hands in your eyes, nose or mouth.
* Masks help you not put your hands on your face. Glasses keep your fingers away from your eyes.
* Stay away from humans.
* Everything you touch can kill you (grocery store items, filling station fueling nozzle, building door handles, restroom faucets and doors, customer service pens, credit card machine pens, grocery carts, restaurant menus, arm chairs in the doctor's office, magazines in customer waiting rooms).
* Establish a family care plan. See www.ready.gov for additional details.
* If you live in a city, arrange for window shade alerts. A specific window shade always pulled down at night, always put up upon arising in the morning. Watch each other's windows to make sure your neighbors are OK!
* If you live on a ranch, coordinate with multiple neighbors for backup support for feeding. Set up a telephone call system to check on neighbors. Consider GMRS, multiple mile radios (change the default code), for communication in case you can't get a telephone dial tone. As in any emergency, too many people checking up on each other can overload the phone system.
At work:
* Hold meetings by teleconference instead of face to face.
* Spread workers out. Keep distance between them.
* Quarantine critical workers to keep them away from people.
* Have paper towels available to be used for opening restroom doors. Have a waste basket outside the restroom door so the towel can be thrown away after exiting.
* Have hand sanitizers available.
* Cross-train employees to make sure each task in the business can be done by at least three people.
* Provide for a backup authority for making decisions in case all decision makers are out sick.
* If the influenza comes back in January, decide when you reach the point where you shut down for "X" number of days.
* Companies can expect 25% absenteeism for 4-8 weeks.
* Workers may need time off to take care of themselves or their family. They may be gone for five days more than once. The influenza could come in waves of 2-3 months and could mutate so you get it a second time.

People who have been exposed to H1N1 are contagious before they are sick. If you have been exposed to H1N1, you may be contagious even though you are not yet sick.
If you have been exposed, keep your six foot social distance and watch what and how you touch objects.
Prepare for 30 days of water, fuel, groceries, vitamins, medications. (Note from Deanna -- I would strongly recommend far more than 30 days, but that is a good place to start)

Prepare to survive without help from the outside.

The Pandemic Rule: No one is coming to help. [end of meeting notes transcript]

This Week's Homestead News...Projects, Plans and Updates

...with much cooler weather ;o) So nice to only be in the low-90's with a heat index of barely 95. What a change from 110 heat index. Almost pleasant :o) I'll still be looking forward to some temps in the 70's come November though!

We received a notice today from our water association. Seems they were caught not testing as they should. Nice going. What exactly does my monthly bill go for if it isn't the testing and upkeep on the community system to ensure I am getting the safest, and best quality of water they can provide?

They seemingly forgot to test for Lead/Copper and VOCS in their last quarter. VOCS stands for Volatile Organic Chemicals. They aren't good, and certainly not something you want in your drinking water. Glad we don't drink ours, but still...the stock does, and we do use it for cooking where it has to be boiled. They skipped... forgot... testing for the December 2008 quarter, so they are testing now...now that they've been caught with their pants down and have been slapped on the hands by the powers that be. By law, being caught means they must notify each participant in the community water system that they will be completing the required testing asap. Otherwise, I imagine we'd all still be in the dark about it.

Whoopee. Now that we've increased the cancer population in the area even higher than it already is. Guess this will be a boon for organized government health care when it goes through.

VOCS: Synthetic organic compounds are chemicals synthesized from carbon and other elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen, or chlorine. They do not occur naturally, but are manufactured to meet hundreds of needs in our daily lives, ranging from moth balls to hair sprays, from solvents to pesticides.
This contamination originates from a variety of sources, including household products and leakage or improper disposal of chemical wastes from commercial and industrial establishments.
Volatile organic compounds have a variety of harmful health effects. At high levels of exposure, many VOCs can cause acute central nervous system depression (drowsiness, stupor). Virtually all VOCs cause skin and respiratory irritation. Long-term exposure to many VOCs is known to cause liver and kidney disorders, severe nervous system problems, and a wide range of cancers. Drinking water containing one or more VOCs at levels above standards should not be consumed. In addition, because little is known about the compound effects of exposure to multiple VOCs, attention should be given if two or more VOC chemicals are found in your drinking water. It goes without saying that all sources of VOC contamination should be eliminated or avoided if at all possible.

Aside from that, we have a summer routine in place for schooling. We have our Trail Guide for the US going...though we stalled on North Carolina and are really only getting started this week now. We did maps today. Science is our reading and going through Spring/Summer in the North Carolina Forests. One lesson each for math and English each day. And 2 workbook pages for reading -- which could be 10 pages to read, or up to 20 pages. We were going to start reading My Side of The Mountain (we bought the trilogy by Jean Craighead George), but next week if the class registration meets the required 30, we will begin an 8 week study using Nim's Island. If the class doesn't go, we'll start reading My Side of The Mountain out loud and using it for parts of our science study.

I've never done a CurrClick class before, but I've heard some great things from those who have. We're excited. I've ordered one copy from Amazon, will be picking up a paperback copy this week from Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble in town, and we've printed off a couple other studies I found online for it as well here and here.

This Saturday is our visit back to the Natchez Trace for their Dulcimer Days. We've been looking over our book for our dulcimer...seems easy enough to learn. We'll see :o)

Another craft we are going to work on is Step by Step Noah's Ark, by Leena Lane and Gillian Chapman. You build Noah's Ark using a shoe box for a base, cardstock, popsicle sticks, and the animals and Noah's family are made using chenille stems, yarn, wood beads and cotton balls. It's really neat. I can see a Navity set with the children in Sunday School this year. I think it would make a fun project.

Sewing is coming along, but I still haven't touched the new church dress I have cut for myself. I have too many other things to keep up with...I always do my own sewing needs last.

The cleaning and organizing is coming along...slow, but still moving along. I have yet to attack my closet. It needs it. I need to organize it terribly. Actually, I need to confine a tidy little fire in there....but, that's not likely to happen, so I suppose I have to clean it by hand the old fashioned way.

On the job news front....doesn't look like we need to worry about South Carolina. The project has some set backs and they are not opening the bid process until at least next year. The other project that had been mentioned has been laying men off heavy the last couple weeks, so I don't imagine he's going there either. Seems unlikely, anyway. Scuttlebutt has it that perhaps economic times have hindered all. Maybe we'll get to partake in that dream job of being a cart jockey or door greeter at WalMart afterall ;o) I don't care what he does just so long as he's home. We don't need big paychecks here. We moved from big money down here to pennies. Life goes on. It actually improves, and I say that from experience.

If he's unemployed come the end of July, life will continue along same as it always does. No one is going to read about the Southern homesteaders who panicked in the Depression era meltdown and turned up missing or anything like that, though the news seems to be crawling with stories about folks reaching bottom and not bothering to look up for an escape route. It's sad. Life doesn't revolve around a paycheck, nor does it stop from the lack of one. We simply don't live like that. If we never received another penny, we'd still make it just fine. Sure, we'd miss the internet and the cell phones...but what else? We have access to food, and the continued ability to produce it...our water is free, of course it takes fuel to get to it (note to self -- gotta work on that!)...we have a roof over our heads, and as much as I hate hate hate summer in the South with its heat and wretched humidity, I am made of stronger stock and will not go into the throws of depression or insanity without a/c. There. I said it. Don't remind me I said it until such time as we are penniless and living without electricity, though.

Seriously though, it does appear that perhaps we will be out of work come July 31st. I am making appropriate plans for extra stock to fill my comfort zone this month and next. The finances don't worry me in the least -- there are jobs, and to even maintain our current lifestyle of living with luxuries (internet, cell phones, unlimited electricity for that a/c, gas for the car...) we don't need but $300 a week. I'd feel more 'comfortable' with $400, but I'm not greedy. I can pinch a penny pretty far when I need to. I am keeping a positive note on it all -- it does damage to a man's pride and sense of leadership when he's unemployed. No point having him stress over it...I sort of feel like this is why that verse says the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her there in Proverbs. He knows that we can survive and that we aren't looking down on him in anyway as not providing. That's just a pile of worldly bunk. Providing isn't a paycheck. It's way more than that. Way more valuable in the long run.

Well, I'd like to veg out a bit tonight. I'd like to watch something on the video...maybe a Christy episode or something. No...I love John Wayne movies...my favorite is The Quiet Man. Think I'll grab the crocheting, a glass of sweet tea and relax through a movie. We hardly watch anything anymore. It's 8:20 and the children are still outside after doing animals for the evening...playing in the yard waiting on fireflies to appear. More likely they will only find mosquitoes and chiggers....

Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 in Denmark

ATLANTA – For the first time, a case of swine flu has proven resistant to Tamiflu — the leading pharmaceutical weapon against the new virus, international health officials said Monday.

The resistance was seen in a patient in Denmark, who has recovered.

"The goods news is they just found one," said Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention.

It appears the strain developed in a patient who was taking the drug to prevent illness, and it has not spread to others. That's a much better scenario than if the patient had not been taking Tamiflu and picked up a drug-resistant strain already spreading through the public, said Bridges, associate director for science in the CDC's influenza division.

Also, it is not a mutation that includes pieces of both seasonal flu and the new pandemic form of the virus, according to Roche, the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company that makes Tamiflu. Scientists have been worried about the new swine flu swapping genes with seasonal or other types of flu and perhaps mutating into a more dangerous or more infectious form.

Until an effective vaccine is developed, the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza have been considered the best available defense against the swine flu virus, which has caused nearly 28,000 reported illness in the United States, including more than 3,000 hospitalizations and 127 deaths.

Tamiflu resistance has not been seen in nearly 200 swine flu samples tested in the United States, Bridges said. But the resistance has been seen in other types of flu. Late last year, CDC officials reported that the most common flu bug circulating at the time was overwhelmingly resistant to Tamiflu. Health officials have believed it was probably a matter of time before a swine flu sample tested resistant, too.

The Danish case was isolated, however, and guidelines from the CDC and the World Health Organization continue to recommend Tamiflu as a treatment. No details were released on the patient's age or gender, or on when the patient was sick.

"It is possible to see occasional reports of resistance while a drug remains largely effective," said Terry Hurley, a Roche spokesman.

Tennessee Preppers Network: Global Wheat Fungus Inevitable

Plain and simple of it is get your stock in place NOW because it cannot be contained and it will spread globally. This means you either pay big bucks for next to nothing later on, or you simple go without.

This will create issues for everyone. When wheat prices rise more than just simple grains go up. Even if you don't grind your own flour or aten't making bread from scratch, this will effect you. Read your labels...there's a lot of things that have wheat as an ingredient. It's not just bread items.

What will you substitute for bread? How much are you willing to pay for that loaf of bread?

Monsanto has you by the scruff of the neck on this one. I'm sure they have already made plans for some super wheat to force into your near future.

One link brings up good points...
...think through its implications on a macro (global) scale. Then think through the implications of a wheat famine at a personal level. Where will you and your family get your daily bread? Have you stored up for seven lean years?
I cannot more strongly urge SurvivalBlog readers: Get your food storage squared away, immediately. Supplies are plentiful now, and prices are still reasonable.
But the threats that we are facing are numerous, large, and all too likely. And, of these, UG-99 is almost a certainty in the next decade, and it will directly affect the global food supply. Stop dawdling and get ready. You owe it to your family to do the best that you can to prepare.

In a recent exchange of correspondence about Ug-99 with reader Jim M., he wrote:
"I think stored food should be viewed more as a supplement, especially wheat in view of UG-99. Alternative sources of complex carbohydrates should be sought by preppers. Other grain seed should be planted and replenished by those with land and climate to do so: oats, barley, rye, spelt, millet, maize, quinoa. A few thousand square feet of each suitable grain type would provide continuous seed viability as well as training for larger-scale crops and harvests in the future.
Starchy tubers could also figure greatly in extending long-term food stores. Anyone with even a sunny balcony should be able to grow their own potatoes for instance and there are plenty of other tubers they can try.
"Preparedness is keyed to trends and to the emergence of general threats, not specific dates. It has not been since Y2K that we've had specific date target. And that was clearly an exception to the general rule.
Perhaps we'll someday read about a large asteroid with a predicted earth-crossing orbit (like Apophis), and have a multi-year countdown to disaster. But otherwise, we just have to be ready at all times for a variety of potential situations

Check out all the links and resource pages at TN Preppers --

Summary:
Now is the time to be putting away your stores of wheat if you haven't already, before prices start to rise more than they already have.
As a reminder, hard wheats are usually used for bread making since they are higher in gluten.
Soft wheats are usually best for pastries and pastas.
Also, consider alternate sources of grains: spelt, millet, barley, rye, kamut, triticale, amaranth and quinoa.

Grace From God: Basic Character Traits~Children

http://gracefromhim4.blogspot.com

Brandie is starting up a good series on Training up a Child. Worth reading, I think, from her preview today. She is starting with Godly character traits for the younger children -- definitely not something seen often enough in today's soft soap Christianity.

Think about it -- if you aren't training your children to have simple things like respect for others, reverance for God and His Word, what are you creating? We already have a world of the "independent free will lifestyle" immature adults, so why train/allow more children to follow in those messed up footsteps?

You are supposed to be stewards -- training up the next generation FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Do you honestly believe He needs more selfish man-children running around? He wants the next Noahs, the next Abrahams.

What are you waiting for? You don't have a lifetime to train them up for God. Your range of influence in this societal mess we've built doesn't even last 18 years. Too many parents -- and now the government -- are barely allowing you as the parent to have even the first handful of years within your influence.

The Catholic 'saying' used to be *give us your children for 7 years and we'll make them Catholic for life* (or something close to that -- the point was allow the church to catechize your children, train them up, in the Catholic doctrine and they would not stray). If the church used to have such high standards, why don't you take the reigns and do your job as parent over God's future army?

(From Brandie...)
Basic Character Traits~Children
by GraceFromHim
Grace From God

For the next 6 weeks or so I want to do a series on Training Children.....the Character Traits that are vital in their Christian upbringing.
Character development must become a most important, and prominent goal in our homes if we are to mold our children for the Lord.
You will be able to impliment these traits in your childs life through daily devotions and memorizing scripture with them.
We will pick a verse a day to memorize and the we will review at the end of the week we can share our progress.
Please join me in this journey, if you can take a button and place it on your blog I would really appreciate it, as we are in this journey together.

Some Traits We Will Go Over From Birth To Age 6
To Be Attentive
To Be Obedient
To Be Content
To Be Neat
To Be Reverent
To Be Forgiving
To Be Grateful
To Have Faith
To Be Truthful
To Have Right Values
To Be Meek
To Be Unselfish

After going over each of these clearly we will move into the youth to teen years.

Looking forward to it :)

Wave 2 beginning for H1N1 and its variants?

Looks like it well could be with the recent increase and quick decline of patients in Buenos Aires...
Just something to consider, but worst-case scenario not being far off now for us in this H1N1 stuff, what are your plans at home? What sort of 'sterile room' quarantine spot do you have prepared?
What supplies do you think are important to have?
What are you going to do when the government with full martial and military backup come knocking on your door with forced shots of who knows what "for your benefit" and the general welfare?

(From TN Preppers -- link in left sidebar)

Saturday, June 27, 2009
Declaration of Medical Emergency in Buenos Aires

Most recent on H1N1 (Swine) Flu:
From Recombinomics
Saturday, June 27, 2009

Medical Emergency Declared in Buenos Aires

Quoted:Some hospitals began to strengthen measures, including the case of Posadas Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the province of Buenos Aires that concentrates a large number of internees from the flu.

Through a press release, the hospital reported that it declared a state of emergency by the Institution that "all staff will be available to the agency needs to be addressed" after the epidemic of influenza A.

In addition, the Posadas created through Resolution No. 640/09 an Internal Crisis Committee itself, with the aim of ensuring compliance and monitoring of the actions that the hospital must develop to deal with the situation posed by an outbreak of Influenza A .

Meanwhile, health authorities in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires have some alternatives to strengthen the system, including the use of military hospital in Campo de Mayo, the release of bed in the hospital's intensive care Malvinas Argentinas, the installation of sanitary units in campaign Buenos Aires and mobile primary care close to railway stations and Eleven Constitution.

The above translation describes the declaration of a medical emergency in Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires Ministry of Health website lists 15 confirmed fatalities, 180 confirmed cases, and 559 suspect cases as of Friday (see Buenos Aires map), but media reports suggest the actual number of cases is higher. Recent reports out of Argentina also described the rapid decline of relative young patients (15-50), with descriptions similar to those used to describe dying patients in 1918.

In addition, there has been an outbreak of H1N1 at a pig farm northwest of Buenos Aires (see map).

The sudden jump in cases and fatalities are cause for concern. In the country the number of confirmed fatal cases rose to 27, but there are reports of 15 more fatalities that are suspect. There have also been reports of travelers from Argentina testing positive at airport checks in multiple countries. These travelers should provide multiple samples for sequencing studies to determine if there have been changes in the virus.

Recently PB2 E627K was reported in a traveler from the United States. However, the sequence suggested the change was acquired in China. Although the E627K was present in the original samples and confirmed in the initial clone, and subsequent sub-clone had reverted back to the wild type sequence, raising concerns that some key changes may not be stable under certain culture conditions, and important changes could be lost especially if the virus is cultured in chicken eggs, which could select against important changes associated with adaptation to human hosts.

Therefore, analysis by multiple labs of these sequences would be useful. The flu season is just beginning in the southern hemisphere, providing a favorable environment for rapid adaptive changes. The movement of a swine H1N1 into a human host parallels the 1918 pandemic, which also was associated with mild infections in the later spring, followed by a much more virulent and lethal H1N1 in the fall.

The rapid developments in Buenos Aires bear close scrutiny and active sequence analysis as H1N1 increases its gene pool transmitting through human hosts. Many countries worldwide, including those in the southern hemisphere are experiencing explosive growth, and the developments in Buenos Aires may signal a new wave of Pandemic H1N1

Heat and your tires

While the summer heat can take its toll on your body, it can also pose dangers for motorists and may cause issues for railroads.

Seasonable summer temperatures are not big problems for much of the nation. However, when the temperature climbs to well above average levels during the summertime for an extended period, roads and rails can buckle and tires canblow out.

The surface temperature of the road and rails can be much higher than that of the air temperature, which is officially measured and forecast for locations at approximately 6 feet off the ground. Official thermometers are also sheltered from the direct rays of the sun and from reflection of heat from surfaces below.

Tires can fail during periods of excessive heat. Due to increased friction, high speed driving, excessive cornering and frequent braking during periods ofvery high temperatures and can cause the tire to heat up beyond their designratings. Once this happens, a blowout can occur.

Not all tires are created equal. Tires have separate ratings for temperature, tread wear, load capability and speed. You may possibly avoid ablowout by making sure your tires are properly inflated. Under-inflated tireswill run hotter than tires inflated to the manufacturer's recommendation. In addition, under-inflated tires will result in poor gas mileage.

You can reduce the risk of blowouts by slowing down on the highway and taking curves or corners more gently. Excessive heat can cause badly worn or old tires to fail even in careful driving.

If you are unsure of the status of the tires on your vehicle, take it to a professional for inspection.
Buckling of highways and bending of rail lines occurs when the small spacing between the individual sections is taken up by expansion of the asphalt, concrete or metal.
In the case of concrete, there is nowhere to go but up.
Asphalt surfaces can deform, creating ridges and valleys.
Both abnormalities can lead to vehicle damage and loss of control.

In the case of rail lines, the steel bends horizontally and can lead to train derailment.

Persistent temperatures of 100 degrees have caused pavement to buckle along stretches of highway in Louisiana and other Southern states this week.

The heat has road and rail crews scrambling to check and repair these surfaces in somelocations in the South and the middle of the nation.

Story by AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski

Nestle Toll House update

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to investigate an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections.

As of Monday, June 22, 2009, 70 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 30 states.
Of these, 41 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows:
Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (5), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (3), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (2), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (1).

Ill persons range in age from 2 to 65 years; however, 66% are less than 19 years old; 75% are female.
Thirty persons have been hospitalized,
7 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS); none have died. Reports of these infections increased above the expected baseline in May and continue into June.

Advice to Consumers
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7.

If consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home they should throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces.

The recall does not include Nestle Toll House morsels, which are used as an ingredient in many home-made baked goods, or other already baked cookie products.

Individuals who have recently eaten prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities.

Consumers should be reminded they should not eat raw food products that are intended for cooking or baking before consumption.
Consumers should use safe food-handling practices when preparing such products, including following package directions for cooking at proper temperatures; washing hands, surfaces, and utensils after contact with these types of products; avoiding cross contamination; and refrigerating products properly.

Advice to Retailers, Restaurateurs, and Food-service Operators

Retailers, restaurateurs, and personnel at other food-service operations should not sell or serve any Nestle Toll House prepackaged, refrigerated cookie dough products subject to the recall

Nestle Cookie Dough. And E. Coli

70 E. coli cases in 30 states from cookie dough. Consumers: throw out prepackaged Nestle cookie dough.

There's your Friday morning CDC update. Make your own cookies from scratch!

Tennessee Preppers Network: Giving Away Deficit Dollars

http://tennesseepreppersnetwork.blogspot.com

Another post worth sharing. We can't help ourselves get out of the financial darg net we're stuck in and have to have government-run healthcare and several other "for the good of the people" government rules, yet we can somehow produce billions and billions of American dollars in aid to other countries?

How fast do we need to run toward making ourselves akin to 3rd world status? Oh, wait...we won't be dropped down that far. In the One World order our president is trying to put into force, we'll all be equally forced to the gas chambers.

:::Here's the complete link: International Bailout Brings Us Closer To Economic Collapse. (See TN Prep site for link to full article)

Written by Ron Paul (R-TX), 23 Jun 2009
:An excerpt:

As Americans struggle through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, this emergency supplemental appropriations bill sends $660 million to Gaza,
$555 million to Israel,
$310 million to Egypt,
$300 million to Jordan, and $420 million to Mexico.

Some $889 million will be sent to the United Nations for so-called "peacekeeping" missions.

Almost one billion dollars will be sent overseas to address the global financial crisis outside our borders.

Nearly $8 billion will be spent to address a "potential pandemic flu" which could result in mandatory vaccinations for no discernable reason other than to enrich the pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccine.

Perhaps most outrageous is the $108 billion loan guarantee to the International Monetary Fund.
These new loan guarantees will allow that destructive organization to continue spending taxpayer money to prop up corrupt leaders and promote harmful economic policies overseas.

Could someone please explain to me how we can manage to give away money that we don't even have?????? Does this not make you furious????

Questions to consider on self-quarantine

This was posted in my comments and I wanted to bring it up to post level so no one missed it.

Good questions to start your thoughts moving on what-if scenarios in general, but certainly along the mutated flu strains that *will* be coming our way in another 3 months or so.

What would you do?
Could you stay home...really stay home, not just limit trips but seriously stay put at home for your safety...for 6 weeks?
How would you eat?
Do you have enough storage without going to the store for at least 6 weeks?
What if you need to be homebound longer?

In our case, particularly, we need more water. Right now we go every other week and refill at least half our containers, but in the current heatwave, we'll be filling about 21 of them. On a prep scale of a minimum gallon per person per day, we'd only make it about 6 days. That's not going to cut it. Now, we can fill containers from the hose and tap and boil them, or simply allow the chlorine to dissipate and such...it's not a lost cause completely, but still.

When Katrina hit, even our area as far north as we are had several shortages. We learned a lot about how unprepared Mississippi is as a whole. Meats, staples like flour, sugar, coffee and the like were hard to get -- and not just at Mom&Pop stores, but large chains as well, including Sam's Club.

With the movement of the "swine flu" and all its variable mutations there is a fairly decent probability of localized State issued warnings and maybe even quarantines on some levels. If anything like that leaks out folks are going to start jumping into panic mode and shelves will clear quickly. You can't rely on waiting to the last minute to get things you want, let alone basics. We see that here whenever a serious storm is even looking in our direction.

I'm sure more than a handful think I'm just paranoid and a plain nutcase. That's fine with me. I like to figure the worst-case, most outlandish scenario in my mind and use that as my prep focus.

If and when it's necessary, I'll have what I need, the things that are important for my family. If nothing happens and the (fill in the blank) never strikes and becomes an issue, I'll still be ahead of the game. I stock and prep for a new way of living, not the traditional way of doing things :o)

The questions to ponder:

Thanks for sharing this here, I appreciate it!I really encourage people to stop and think about this. People need to have a plan of action and know answers to questions like:

~When would I consider keeping my family at home, away from all functions (school, church, etc), should the flu outbreak start to get severe in my area?

~How close / how many cases would it take in my area before we decide to "self-quarantine" our family?

~Do I have everything on hand that I might need to stay put, in my home for up to a month or longer?

Tennessee Preppers Network: Crystal Ball? Fall Flu Thoughts

I know -- everyone is looking at the little bit of "swine flu" news being shared and thinking so what. I'm going to pass along the latest post from the TN Prepper list anyway. You might find out sometlhing useful, you never know.

Just a question -- *if* you needed to quarantine your family during a local outbreak, could you? For how long could you stay put, no being out around folks, no running out of whatever? Just something to ponder.

There is a link to the Prepper's site on the left sidebar -- it's the news ticker.

Thursday, June 25, 2009 Crystal Ball? Fall Flu Thoughts

There has been some great reading this morning (heck, actually all week) over at The Market Ticker. If you don't regularly read that blog, I cannot express strongly enough how much I encourage you to do so. You'll get some straight-forward analysis of the current goings-on of our economy, the bailouts, the markets, unemployment, the banks - everything. And it is in plain English, so you'll know and understand what you are reading and walk away having time well-spent learning something new or understanding something more fully.

Okay, fresh from The Market Ticker this morning I found this little gem of information about the H1N1 flu virus (click on the H1N1 link to read the full blog post). I know, lots of people seem tired of hearing about this and think it is just another "no big deal" flu bug.

But not so fast. We know that this virus is different from our "usual" flu viruses because it seems to prefer warm temperatures. That's why we're still seeing increasing numbers of infection of this virus in the U.S. even though it is summer.

I do have to say here that I'm very disappointed in the way the CDC is posting statistics on this virus - they are woefully behind and it has been stated publicly on many forums that most states are hardly doing any testing at all for this virus except on the most severe, hospitalized cases. So the numbers could be much higher and we just don't know it.

There are reports now coming out from Shanghai that the virus has mutated there and has now also picked up a viral sequence (E627K) that makes it also well-suited for cold climates - which has scientists now a bit worried about how this virus will hit those in the Northern Hemisphere this fall/winter. If the virus mutates enough, those who might have gotten it here in the U.S. this spring/summer could get the "new" version of it again this fall/winter.

Also, this particular flu strain is hitting those in the age range of 30-50 years old particularly hard. It is causing something called a cytokine storm in some of these individuals that are otherwise normal and healthy - basically their immune system ends up working too well when attacking this bug causing a fatal reaction.

Scientists are closely watching the development and evolution of this virus in the Southern Hemisphere that is now experiencing their normal winter cold/flu season. They hope to glean some information from the behavior of the virus that might let us have a peek into what to expect in our hemisphere this fall.

Their thoughts on what the virus will be like this fall are not optimistic. Taken from the Utah Public Health Situation Report Dated 24 Jun 2009:
CDC is now estimating that the novel H1N1 virus will be "Category 2" in severity. They are closely watching the situation in the Southern Hemisphere for validation of this estimate.

A category 2 pandemic has the following characteristics:
~Case fatality ratio of 0.1 percent to less than 0.5 percent.
~Between 90,000 and 450,000 deaths in the U.S. (compared with estimated 36,000 deaths during a typical influenza season).
~Excess death rate of between 30 to less than 150 per 100,000 people.
~Illness rate of between 20 and 40 percent.
~Similar to 1957 pandemic.

All this to say, continue to pay attention to this virus and how it is behaving. I recently found a whole forum board dedicated to international discussion and information sharing on H1N1 - you can go here: Pandemic Flu Information Forum (see the link on the TN Preppers site)

If you don't already have a plan of action for your family for this fall in case this virus turns very ugly, you should. You should be prepared to "self-quarantine" if needed and stay put in your home for at least 2 weeks to 30 days, possibly longer, because of waves of infection.

Start thinking now about the items you would need to have on hand to do that. Make your lists and start gradually making your purchases now, so it is not such a big hit on your budget all at one time. I'll post soon on what we think some of the essential items are to have on hand and what we've done to prepare for just such a possibility.

Feel free to share any first-hand experiences you've had with this virus, or preparations you've taken for your family

Adding to the Summer School fun...and general fun

You know me, I have a hard time sticking to just one plan. I like to do a few things spur of the moment. I like to infuse a little 'homeschooling on the fly' into my life. It can be a curse, sometimes, but mostly, it's just fun.

Ok, got a great email from The Long Thread....OH. MY. GOODNESS. If you haven't checked out her site, or signed up for updates on her blog, get over there now...just stop reading my drivvel and get over there. She shares such cool ideas it's just amazing.

The sharing I received today was on 50 Summer Crafts For Kids...lots of links to a collection of great ideas for summer projects to have fun with. Sort of a carnival of summer ideas.

After finding tons of cool projects we can do during these hot and humid days, I checked out her archives of Crafts for Kids and found these (among about a hundred other great ideas!) Those paper stars would be such fun to do and have a start exchange with our postcard buddies. And just hanging them all over to brighten up things. Gifts for Grandma. oh, the places you could use those pretty little things!! We are definitely going to make a bunch of them.

Along the same bent, we found these too -- what a cute gift idea.

And a Fabric Butterfly Mobile...and some pretty Paper Butterflies...
Ok...well...there's plenty more to keep you busy making all sorts of neat crafts this summer.

We've signed up for the Nim's Island CurrClick Live class that starts July 8th and runs for 8 weeks. They offer so many Live Classes at CurrClick...and so many good resources. It's worth checking out the fun there, too. We found the book at Amazon for next to nothing and ordered it as well, and while we wait on it to arrive, we'll just check it out at the library. Hope it turns out to be a great read-aloud!

And we have 2 nightgowns finished now, and I'm moving along to the baby shower gifts...that diaper cake for sure, made from cloth diapers and plenty of fun burpies, and maybe some of those fabric butterflies for fun, and a couple of receiving blankets and changing pads. And I'm definitely decorating the cake with some ideas from the sites shared below...like the baby sock roses.

Here are some tutorials on make the Diaper Cake:
About.com Diaper Cake
How to make a Diaper Cake this one is to buy a video, but the photo's will give you lots of decorating ideas
A YouTube Video for a Diaper Cake
How to Make a Diaper Cake

Summer School Adventures starting...

What do you do when the heat index passes 100? You take a field trip to a park and do some nature exploring, of course :o) Yes, I've been known to be a bit insane at times. Man, it was hot. It was beyond hot. Way off yonder on the other side of hot and muggy. Way. Off. Beyond.

I know -- I've been here in Mississippi for 4 years now, and we've made a few drives down the Natchez Trace, mostly as a by-pass kind of trip, but nothing really in-depth -- nothing you'd even call skimming the history even.

But, that's about to change for this homeschooling brood. We spent about an hour in the park, checking out the swings and playground fun, then walked around the 'lake' there and found all sorts of things...the sun-drenched playground, some hungry geese who thoroughly enjoyed our bread, a hidden Muscovey nest under the wooden band shell, lots of interesting tree shapes to add to our notebooks, even several trees with lines/rows of markings (wood peckers maybe? I'm not a nature person so maybe someone else knows what they are...lines and lines up the trunks as far as we could see, little tiny holes that don't realy go very deep), and the biggest bullfrog I've ever seen in my life. Maybe I just don't get out much, but that baby was huge, let me tell you. I had to sort of lean way over, hanging on a tree limb and squatting down and stretching out my cell phone to get his picture way up under the brush and tree swamp stuff.


And on the way home, we took The Trace (to by-pass Tupelo traffic really) and decided as we were already dripping with Mississippi summer heat, we might as well stop at a couple roadsides and check them out. We walked the trails around the Chickasaw Village site, and the Olde Town Lookout site. Then we pulled into the Visitor Center there at the Tupelo exit. Can't believe I've wasted 4 years not stopping in there! I could spend alot of time and several chunks of the school book budget in there. All manners of books covering the history of the area, the history of the Trace itself, tthe Indian tribes from the area, Civil War sites around, etc. Tons of stuff. I'm going to see what I can find online to get us started with the summer long unit study.




We may even join their Junior Rangers Program, and starting this weekend, we'll make the rounds with their Pioneer Day and their Dulcimer Day they offer each month. We are even taking our dulcimer along for some lessons. I'd like to take a trip and follow the entire 444 miles of The Trace, stopping at all the side areas along the route itself. For now, we will contend with looking through WebRangers and then see what we can gather this coming weekend at the Pioneer Day gathering.

I think we can even tie in our Trail Guide to U.S. Geography studies as well -- doing a virtual tour of the various National Parks online, and meeting up with online folks from those areas.

Of course, you know me...I like my curriculum...I found this the other day, and I would like to given it a try, too. Looks interesting. But...the last thing I need to is to be tossing another iron in my fire, heh? We'll have more than enough read-aloud material after visiting The Trace Visitor Center again this weekend! shhh...don't tell Dewey I'm adding even more curriculum...let's surprise him :o)

Great Homeschooler's article from CurrClick

There are some great online courses starting at CurrClick -- check them out!

The Importance of Community

"My child wants to go to public school," said one mom with an exasperated expression.
"My daughter cried herself to sleep last night because she says she has no friends," said yet another.

Why are we hearing things like this so often within so many homeschool settings? We are using all the right curriculum. We are creative, biblical, high-tech. We have homeschooled in the woods, and climbed through ear canals under our kitchen tables. How could our kids want to go to a traditional school? What went wrong?

I believe the one crucial element many of us have missed in our homeschool journey is the value of community. Every homeschool parent I know is "so busy!" Many of us wonder, how we could possibly get out for play dates, or attend a homeschool co-op?

Many of us are secretly stay up to 10 pm, just trying to make sure our 8th grader's math is finished. We have pizza boxes overflowing out of our garbage pails. And, we can't remember the last time we made a home cooked meal, unless you count macaroni and cheese!

Have you ever noticed that all of us are soooo behind in our curriculum? May I share a realization I have had that I hope may help you?

There is good news. The problem is not that we are so behind! The problem is our own perspective! Many of us have gotten stuck trying to keep up with the "Joneses," while the "Joneses" are trying to keep with us! And, the result is- we are all getting burned out. And, our children, for all our good intentions, are missing out.

So, how can we have a different perspective?
First, if our homeschool (the academic side) is taking over our lives, we are stuck in a homeschool rut! We must retrain ourselves to look at our homeschool from a more holistic approach. Let's try telling ourselves (and try to really believe it) that we do not need to do every assignment our curriculum offers.

Second, if our curriculum consistently requires us to stay up to 10 o'clock every night, perhaps it is time to try an inexpensive alternative.

Finally, we must decide what is truly valuable. To do this, think back with me to when you were a child. What was most important to you? If you are like me- the most important things were friends, family, and candy! Well, guess what is valuable to your kids too? Let's keep that childlike spirit in mind when we make plans for your homeschool.

As a believer, I also want to instill in my children a love for Christ, and make Him the cornerstone of our day.

So let's start a revolution against the "I'm too busy mentality!"
Maybe it is time we join that co-op? Let's choose activities that the whole family can do together. Let's go to that extra church event! Let's organize a group of homeschool kids for a trip to a nursing home, or homeless shelter. Our kids will be doing good deeds, and getting the interaction they crave! Everybody wins!

And, next time the yellow bus goes by, our children just might be having too much fun with their new friends to even notice!

Evonne Mandella is a Jewish Christian and teaches the Currclick Live Class "Learn to Read New Testament Greek Today." She is also the author of the "Read Hebrew Today," "Read New Testament Greek Today," series, and "Wholesome Learning" (a Multilevel Bible Curriculum with a focus on the Biblical Languages. She lives with her husband and her two children in Dothan, Alabama

I'm My Own Grandpa (the song...)

Don't bother asking -- it's too complicated to attempt to explain, and honestly, I don't know that I can even wrap my mind around the logistics of it, but we had to look up the lyrics to the song and then we thought it best to have the visual aid of the written lyrics and the flow chart....

let's just leave it as we have some interesting neighbors on this dead-end road here. (click on the song title below to go to the page with the graphics that put it all together for those who are more visual...)

I'm My Own Grandpaw
by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe

In the '30s, Latham had a group, the Jesters, on network radio; their specialties were bits of spoken humor and novelty songs. While reading a book of Mark Twain anecdotes, he once found a paragraph in which Twain proved it would be possible for a man to become his own grandfather. In 1947, Latham and Jaffe expanded the idea into a song, which became a hit for Lonzo and Oscar. It's also one of the songs on Michael Cooney's album of songs for children. The published words located and shown below do not exactly match those sung in the .wav file.

grandpa.wav 396518 bytes

---

Many, many years ago when I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her and soon they, too, were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life
For my daughter was my mother, 'cause she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matter, even though it brought me joy
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to dad
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter, who, of course, was my step-mother.

My father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run
And he became my grand-child, 'cause he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother, and it makes me blue
Because, although she is my wife, she's my grandmother too.

If my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild
And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw
(This has got to be the strangest thing I ever saw)
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpaw.

Chorus
I'm my own grandpaw
I'm my own grandpaw
It sounds funny I know
but it really is so
Oh, I'm my own grandpaw.

Working the Homestead this week...

Cooling on the homestead --Well, Dewey headed back to Arkansas this morning. He should have yesterday, but things were still in the middle of being completed here...namely the air ducts were still in parts under the trailer. Go figure...we don't like paying for central air that is being used more by the assorted free range critters here than by us! Not an animal in site roaming the yard -- of course, it's been beyond the other side of hot, but still -- and you start hunting for them. Where are they? Under the trailer. Enjoying quite the blast of nice cool air. From my a/c unit.

No wonder the solar oven we live in was running so warm inside. It was cooler outside with the section of duct work pulled open a bit.

I'm beginning to rethink the whole sustainable homestead idea...with animals and such. I don't do heat real well to begin with, and, well, you know, to have the cats and a dog and whoknowswhatallelse taking up residence under my home and living the good life off my dime (well, my several dollars) of electricity just sets wrong with me, kwim?

So, some new duct sections, some insulated whatever-its-called wrapping stuff and we are back in the business of keeping the homestead Mrs. relatively cool again. Not that there is truly much of a difference inside given these temps recently...sunlight beating down relentlessly on a tin box tends to keep the heat level fairly high. Temps today are no different -- still running on the high alert side for the heat advisory. Will be this entire week from the looks of it -- temps going to 98 today and between 95-97 each day this week. That means heat indicies pushing 107 still.

The good side to that -- it's only in the upper 70's inside now that the ducts are looking more normal and most of that air is staying where I pay for it to go. And the laundry has never dried so fast :o)

Laundry on the homestead --Yes, I broke down and bought a new washing machine. A Whirlpool Cabrio Agi. It was the largest tub (5.0 cu. ft) I could find this side of a top loader, with an agitator. Hey even handwashing has an agitator, I just can't wrap my mind around not having that thing in the middle of the machine.
This machine does a wonderfully large amount of clothing in one load. Shhh...don't tell Dewey, but honestly, I have really loved using it. And with the current trend in heat, I think I prefer it to handwashing and using a wringer. Don't tell him, though. Keep my secret and I'll work out a way to email chocolate to everyone, deal?
It handled 12 large bath towels (3 of them were beach-sized, the rest were largest normal body towels) plus 9 kitchen hand towels plus 34 washcloths and cloth napkins. I would never have gotten all that in any of the other washers we've had. And it took all that without so much as a grunt or a struggle. And quiet -- it makes some noise when it fills, and when it spins out the water...that's it. LOL...and it doesn't wander the floor like that poor old beast we put down! Oh, I should have listened to my dear sweet husband sooner and bought a new machine. He really does have some good ideas. yeah, don't tell him that either!
We washed literally everything Thursday and Friday....all linens, even those in the closet, all towels and such, every stitch of clothing, and even several bolts of fabric that needed tending. If it was cotton, it was washed! The washing cycle for a normal load, no extra rinse, no heavy duty, just a monster large load takes about 53 minutes. In that time, the previous load on the line was already dry and ready to come in...even the blue jeans were bone dry. I will give that a plus for the the heat down here.

Sewing on the homestead -- we are working on a lot of sewing needs here. I am so lazy when it comes to sewing. Good grief, I've had my own dress cut for about 3 weeks now and it's partially pinned but not a single stitch sewn. Worst part is I know this pattern very well. I can put my dress together in less than a day, even with normal breaks for other tasks. Might have to have extra time for the buttons, but the sewing takes me no time at all, we've made so many of them. That's laziness :o( On the ironing board today is the 2nd of 3 nightgowns for the girls. Then it's boxers and pj pants for the boys. After that, maybe I'll do my dress as I do need another for church (I have a total of 5 dresses now...only one is decent for church -- you know, no serious fading, no baking stains...I'm always full of baking and cooking stains!) Then 3 dresses for the older girls.
My total list:
youngers/middles --
3 nightgowns
6 chemise/bloomer sets
4 dresses/pinafores
5 outer bonnets
6 pj pants
12 boxers
getting around to pants after summer moves on...
olders (and myself) --
4 church dresses
4 underslips
5 kitchen aprons
4 headcoverings/3 outer bonnets

And that secret project mentioned in this post I need to work on. I haven't done a block a day -- but, I have 'power blocked' a couple days and finished all I need for said project to be put together now. And we have a couple other projects starting up, with many block components cut and ready to stitch.

I tend to get waaaay too many irons in my fire at one time. It's a thing with me. That's how I roll I guess. So much to do and so much to learn about and not enough time to wash the dishes.

Happy Father's Day

Dewey will be heading back out this afternoon after church.

We will be hibernating inside. I understand they need to go through all this every day because some folks just don't comprehend high heat levels and humidity at all, but for me, I don't need to know once the heat hits the mid-90's and I sure don't need to have the heat stroke alert buzz all day :o( Makes me feel way more hot!

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
MEMPHIS TN 454 AM CDT SUN JUN 21 2009...
HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH TODAY....AN STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING HOT TEMPERATURES TO THE MIDSOUTH TODAY. GULF HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID AND UPPER 90S TO PRODUCE HEAT INDICES OF 100 TO 107 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON....

HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE.
DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS...STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM...STAY OUT OF THE SUN...AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

Ahhh, summer rolls in hard. There is still July, not to mention August, to get through. Thank You Lord for a very pleasant spring this year! Now I'll stay locked up until December and wait on the 70 and 80 degree temps to return.

Blogging Privileges...

I've added another button to my sidebar -- I know, I know....cluttered lifestyle, cluttered blog page. It's a thing with me, I guess. You'll adjust to my clutter, and I do try to keep it somewhat organized. This is my notebook, my scribble page, my journal. I keep things here that I want to keep track of.

What I share are things that interest me. Things that spark my interest in learning more or digging into what is shared even more deeply. I share things that are happening here to remember them, but moreso to learn from them as I continue along in this life.

I share what I like. I write what I think at any given time, and I write to engage -- generally I prefer not to engage in arguments and the like, but sometimes you learn more through those times than during peaceful encounters.

I am an open person. There are no secrets, I am not hiding behind some unrealistic blog persona. What you see is what you get in real life as well. I don't do the mask thing. I don't change with every given motion of the wind. Like I said, I am what I am and that's all I am.

So, in that respect, here's the new blog button. Rules of Engagement are linked to the button, and a blurb shared below. I will try to live up to the agreement I am making by sharing this button, commenters should try to do the same please.

Whatever I write on here is my site to do so. If something offends you, you are welcome to press the little red X in the right corner of your screen.

I promise not to steal anything that belongs to you, but if I borrow it I promise to give you due credit. If you like me to not link to you, please let me know and I will be happy respect your wishes. If you are going to link to me or use any of my articles or images, please let me know.

I welcome you to comment and discuss topics with me, but the only free speech on this blog is MINE. I have the right to delete any comment that I deem necessary. As SunnieMom says, “I won’t allow constant unrelated comments to derail the train of thought I am conducting. And I AM the conductor.”

Rules of Engagement:

1. When you comment please make sure to sign-in or sign your name/link to the comment. Anonymous comments aren’t allowed. All comments go into moderation, no need to post them twice. They will appear on the site after I read and approve them. If you wish to edit your comment just click on it (you have a 30min). I do edit and delete those which are unacceptable.
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3. I am a Christian-blogger, and Christ bashing will not be tolerated, and will be deleted.
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