Living Life in Rural Iowa

Sometimes we feel like we are invincible. We have an attitude that nothing will happen to us. We don't think about getting into an accident, becoming ill, becoming injured, and worse. We don't think anyone would want to harm us in any way. Sometimes, we just don't think at all. On top of that, in this day and age, we have become less connected with our family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. We think that social media has become the new normal. Why should we check on our loved ones and friends when social media lets us know when they post and we spill everything on social media. We have lost that connection and, in turn, we have lost touch with those people we interact with on a regular basis. Now you hear stories about people dying in their homes due to illness or injury because no one checked on them for over a week. Someone has a car accident and no one knows why they were where they were. Worse yet, we assume everyone has a cell phone glued to their hand no

We all know that skills are critical to survival and more. As preppers, we know that skills will make or break us. As homesteaders, without skills, you will fail on your homestead. Many preppers dream of being self-reliant and becoming homesteaders in order to survive and thrive whatever life may throw at them. Knowing what skills to learn to be self-reliant is another matter. You need to make a plan for your homestead and discuss what you can reasonably handle. Do you just want to garden and make your own products? Do you want to raise some livestock? What do you want to do? This is your homestead and your vision. You can make it however you like. No matter what, you need to learn skills. Skills are what keep us alive. They help us save money. They help us to reuse items and recycle other things into useful objects. They keep animals alive and productive. They keep us being productive. How do you learn skills? You learn skills by reading about what you want to learn and then

Christmas is coming around the corner. To say that I find Christmas shopping painful would be an understatement. However, I have a few tips and tricks to buy presents that fit into my values and beliefs without sacrificing my pocketbook. I have a budget for everyone on my list and they are well aware of it. I almost never buy toys that are electric, take batteries, or need electricity to operate them. My kids figured this out years ago and started asking their grandparents for those items. I am just not a fan of those toys and find them quite disposable. I honestly wanted to buy presents that would keep them busy whether or not we had power or the internet. I have a tendency to do the same thing for adults. I would rather give an edible or useful gift instead of something that relies on electricity or a computer to operate. Otherwise, I like to give something that would give them something to do like go to a movie or a restaurant versus something they might just discard in a few