Living Life in Rural Iowa

Hey Everyone!If this year has taught us anything, it has taught us to be flexible. I actually like flexibility because my life would not run without some flexibility even though I still have some routines too. With more flexibility, I have been rethinking how I want to get information, insights, and opinions to you all. All this summer I have been more than a bit disgusted with the censorship on various social media platforms. While I get a lot of traffic from those social media platforms, I have been making more of an effort to just concentrate on blogging and sending out emails when I get a post published. I also still have been engaging on social media, but I have been putting as much of my attention there.Truthfully, I find most social media mentally draining. I used to use it as a distraction and a mental break. I like to read up on people's lives, see their pictures/videos, and laugh at funny posts/pictures. This year, though, with the virus and the looming elections, I find…

If this year has proven anything, it has proven that people who stockpile goods are not crazy. Food shortages (or the threat thereof) have driven more people to grow and preserve their own food. In turn, this has caused shortages of many canning supplies and ingredients that we have always had good luck in the past finding in the stores. While things seem to be in short supply right now, you can still find these items if you are creative. Thrift stores, garage sales, Amish stores, small-town grocery stores, and some online retailers could still have supplies on hand. If not, all is not lost. These supplies should be coming back into stock in the next year. If you keep a good eye out and be diligent in buying them, you won't be caught in a pinch next canning season.This list is things I find myself commonly using every canning season. Your list may look a little different, but I know I'm not the only person who uses these items. While I have not had trouble finding lemon juice,…

There is a lot of crazy things going on right now. I don't have to tell you that because if you pay one iota of attention to the events going on around us, you can definitely see that. The world is a crazy place and we are not in control of a lot of it. 
What worries me the most is the loss of our freedoms. While we try to prepare for what we can control, we are losing our freedoms at an astonishing rate. We are facing censorship on a mass scale, loss of choice, and disturbing political/ideological movements. Censorship is what I am focusing on today.
If you haven't discerned this already, this is a personal piece. I have been more and more anxious about what is happening than I ever have been before. Normally, I would be one of those people who just put their heads down and keeps plowing ahead. I do what I can with what I have. 
However, I have a pretty contrary streak that runs in me. I do not like censorship on any scale. I do not like being told I have to wear a mask. I do no…

We live in a society right now that values money over almost anything. Money can buy your way into a multitude of things. Money can buy almost anything tangible and a lot of intangible things. You can pay to have almost anything done. So it makes sense when preppers talk about acquiring gold and silver when the dollar is no longer valuable. Many people find gold and silver to be valuable in our current times. However, any currency - gold, silver, dollar - is only as valuable as long as they are accepted by people for the payment of goods or services. If our society changes or chooses to go cashless, most of the currently accepted currency will be of very little value.That will be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people who are banking on gold and silver being the back-up currency. A cashless society will almost always have a black market to get goods that would otherwise a traceable purchase. Even though there is a black market now, this would flourish into goods and services that …

In my garden, one of the easiest things to grow and to preserve is green beans. They grow without much effort. You plant the seeds, either bush or pole green beans, set up a trellis if they are pole beans, and provide adequate water. They germinate pretty well and they will grow even in my black clay soil. Being self-sufficient means you should be learning new skills all the time. However, I believe that you should pick some easy things to learn first. Canning green beans are one of those easy things to learn. For starters, you will be growing your own food already which is a great skill to learn and practice. Next, you will then be learning how to use your pressure canner which is also a great skill to learn. Pressure canning can seem intimidating. I will admit that when I first started learning how to can my own food, I stuck to jams and anything that could be water bath canned for a long time. I didn't have a pressure canner until my mom gave me her pressure canner. Even then, …

This has been an interesting last six months, hasn't it? 
While I have been deemed an essential worker and am living in a state that did not shut down, this pandemic has affected me a little bit. It has affected my kids a lot although some more than others. We went from a household of two as of March 15th to a household of seven as of April 30th. 
Schools shut down. Colleges shut down. Jobs were impacted for many whether you were considered an essential worker or not (Sorry, but everyone is an essential worker. The government just thinks differently.). Small businesses struggled with being closed to the public and to continue to do business in other ways. Some businesses closed their doors permanently due to loss of income.

Now many businesses are struggling to stay open under the weight of many restrictions and reduced income. States are mandating a lot of things. Schools are struggling with the decision to reopen and how to do run a school. Colleges are placing students under a lot…

The key to surviving and thriving in most situations is being adaptable. Adapting as well as somewhat conforming will help keep you alive. Adapting makes sense because you are trying to survive. 
Some preppers do not want to be adaptable because they see it as an infringement on their rights and freedoms. Some preppers want to make sure the prepping message gets out there which is important but can attract unwanted attention. Some people don't care if everyone knows they are a prepper and believe they can handle whatever the world throws at them.
While all of this is admirable, but at some point, you need to adapt to the ever-changing political and social climate. That may mean you need to change how you are preparing, how you are presenting yourself to the world (in-person and online), and how you are living as a prepper. We don't always want to change because part of prepping is to be prepared for where you are living. However, you may need to change to a safer location. 
5 Way…