In Memoriam

This clip was aired only once - not for advertising or to make money - but to remember.  I am not normally moved by tributes, but I will let this one speak for itself.....

Tell me again that this isn't a religious war.

Specialization is for insects

Years ago, I stumbled across a quote in a classical education book from which I was gleaning wisdom to enhance our homeschool.  It stuck with me like a burr.  The truth evidenced in its words was such a contrast to our current education system and culture, that I saw, with new eyes, the crumbling nature of our society.  It comprised the authors thoughts on what it meant to be human....


A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein


When our children go to State schools they are tested to see what their propensities are and they are then directed toward studies and jobs encompassing those strengths.  If they are good at English, they are encouraged to be teachers or journalists, if they are academically weak, they are encouraged to go to trade school, if they are good in math they are encouraged in the sciences.  Or, perhaps, they are just encouraged to specialize in current societal voids.  In other words, their energies are directed to one specific area rather than to developing themselves as a whole person.

As we all know, there are people with God given gifts in the arts or languages or sciences.  Of course, we should encourage those gifts, but not at the cost of the whole person.  We should be encouraging our children to be true "renaissance men" and renaissance women".  We should be training them not only for academic excellence but also real life, nitty gritty living.  


Sir Knight and I make it a priority to see that our children are well-rounded.  They learn reading, writing and arithmetic along with canning, hunting, running a household, computer skills, land navigation, shooting, sewing and anything else we have the opportunity to teach them.  We listen to classical music, memorize poetry and read classic literature.  We gut and skin deer, butcher chickens and hogs and render tallow.  We provide first-aid and minister to the elderly.  In other words, we live life to the best of our ability and try to provide comfort and encouragement to those we meet.

Our country used to be populated with people who could do anything.  They did what needed to be done and they did it with skill and grace.  The west would never have been won had we waited for people people with a specific skill set.  It was won on the backs of well-rounded, can-do type people with vision and the ability to get things done.  That is what I want for my children.


We can not rely on the State or anyone else to raise up our children to greatness.  We must be active in their education.  God gave us the job of educating our children and nobody else has greater influence in their children's lives than parents.  What an awesome and wonderful responsibility with which we have been entrusted.  Here are the thoughts of another Patriot regarding our children and who they ought to be...


We are steadily asked about the age at which to teach young people to shoot. The answer to this obviously depends upon the particular individual; not only his physical maturity but his desire. Apart from these considerations, however, I think it important to understand that it is the duty of the father to teach the son to shoot. Before the young man leaves home, there are certain things he should know and certain skills he should acquire, apart from any state-sponsored activity. Certainly the youngster should be taught to swim, strongly and safely, at distance. And young people of either sex should be taught to drive a motor vehicle, and if at all possible, how to fly a light airplane. I believe a youngster should be taught the rudiments of hand-to-hand combat, unarmed, together with basic survival skills. The list is long, but it is a parent's duty to make sure that the child does not go forth into the world helpless in the face of its perils. Shooting, of course, is our business, and shooting should not be left up to the state.”


-The late Jeff  Cooper


We are complete beings created in the image of God, not animals created with a solitary purpose. Living a full life is for human beings, specialization is for insects.

Pinecone Firestarters

Every fall I ask the kids to go to a little valley on our property affectionately known as "Pinecone Valley".  We have lots of Ponderosa Pine trees and that particular valley is full to overflowing with pinecones.

When the weather gets that tell-tale nip in the air we collect all of the pinecones we can find and dip them in paraffin wax that has been scented with Fir Needle Balsam (I know, not pine, but it's what we have!).  They smell SO good and make phenomenal fire starters.  We love to give them out as hostess gifts, even if the recipient doesn't have a fireplace or wood stove, because they look beautiful in a basket and make the whole room smell wonderful.

Yesterday, we got out the wax pot, the fir needle balsam and the pinecones and started dipping.  Neighbor girl happened to be here, so Miss Calamity, Princess Dragon Snack and dear Neighbor Girl did all of the work (which they happened to think was quite fun).  I don't think I have ever had pinecones so full of wax before, but, let me tell you, they sure will start a fire!

Paraffin is available in grocery stores in the canning department

You can melt it to make candles or seal jams or make pinecone firestarters!

I like to add essential oil because they smell heavenly

Neighbor Girl, Princess Dragon Snack and Miss Calamity

Everybody dipping at once!

It is smelling like fall!

Barrels

As many of you know, I have a pretty in depth "bucket list".  My buckets have socks, soap, pasta, laundry detergent and Ham radio equipment in them.  Not to mention beans, boots and bag balm.  I have, however, recently experienced the great delight of barrels.  Not that buckets have lost their appeal - not at all.  But barrels, now there is something to really crow about!  No longer do I have to stack 15 buckets of hard white wheat on the shelf, I can just fill a barrel to overflowing!  That leaves by buckets to tend to supplies that require less space such as baking powder and Italian seasoning.

My wonderful Sir Knight is always thinking of me.  Yesterday, he came home from work bearing gifts.  Some might think flowers or candy or Chinese take-out, but no, he brought barrels!

I was so excited!  Flowers wilt, candy goes straight to my hips and I have never really been that fond of Chinese take-out - but barrels!  Sir Knight really knows the way to a damsel's heart.

Now comes the hard part.  Do I start  a powdered milk barrel or add a rice barrel?  Should I fill one with Kamut?  Or maybe Spelt would be better!  Choices, choices.  What's a girl to do?

When things aren't what they appear

I begin every day on my knees.  No, I don't have a hard time getting out of bed and no, I am not looking for my slippers.  I am doing battle.

Over the years, I have come to believe that life is one battle after another.  Some battles are physical, like cancer or a traumatic injury, but most battles are spiritual.  The wars I wage daily are not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities.

When I was a little girl I worshiped the God of my Fathers.  When I grew older, God called MY name.  No longer did I see God through my fathers eyes, but as MY own Savior and the Rock of my Salvation.  But, when God called my name, it was just the beginning of the journey, not the destination.

As a baby Christian, God carried me through each day.  He led me gently beside still waters and ministered to  my soul.  He gave me an excitement and a passion for His word.  As I matured, things got tougher.  He began to teach  me His ways and I learned that His ways are often not my ways.

When Sir Knight and I decided to leave the Seattle area and move to the Idaho Outback, we found the perfect property.  It was everything we had ever wanted.  It was a log home on 50 acres at the end of a dead end road.  It had two ponds, a 50 gallon per minute well, a barn and views that just wouldn't quit.  It was literally picture perfect.  I prayed over that house.  I knew it was ours.  We were meant to raise our family there.  We put earnest money down, used our house in Seattle to secure financing and were well on our way to our dream life.  We packed up all of our worldly possessions, rented our Seattle house, put all of our things in storage and moved in with my folks, just until we signed the papers.  Three days before Christmas, the "dream house" was to become our reality.  We drove to Seattle to sign the papers and wham - the financing fell through.  Just like that, our dream evaporated.

We ended up in a dumpy rental (across from a drug house) for about six months and finally ended up buying a house in a town just north of Coeur d'Alene.  It met none of the criteria we had wanted in a house, and to tell you the truth, I have no idea why we bought it, but we did.  It was a life-changing event.  The house itself was nothing special, but God knew what He was doing when He put us there.  He was changing the course of not just our lives, but our childrens' lives and many lives of those around us.  It was in this house that God called Sir Knight's name.  It was in this house that I quit work and stayed home with my children.  It was in this house that I began homeschooling, homesteading and seeking to become a Proverbs 31 woman.  It was in this house that I learned to love my husband and my children.

What originally had been a tragedy became one of our greatest blessings.  God knew that our "dream house" would have financially bled us dry.  He knew that I would have had to keep working to afford it.  He knew that He was going to call Sir Knight and that the people that he would use were not near our "dream house" but were near this house that met none of "our" criteria.  God knew.

Years later, when Master Hand Grenade was in the NICU and the doctor told us to say goodbye to our 8 day old son, my newly Christian husband thanked God for the days we had had with our precious child.  He thanked Him and gave our tiny son back into the hands of a loving God.  The God who sees the beginning from the end, knew that we needed the people he surrounded us with in our "not dream home" to pray and to lead and to hold us up.  God did not take Master Hand Grenade that day, but instead gave him the gift of life, and us the gift of faith.  God had a perfect plan.

When our beautiful daughter Chase was born still, God surrounded us with His servants that had walked this walk before we did.  He carried us through the valley of the shadow of death and gave us a glimpse of eternal life.  Many years later, he gave us the privilege of walking through the valley with our dear friends.  What seemed to be a tragedy was indeed a great blessing.  It allowed us to minister to other children of God and show them His great mercy and faithfulness.

So many things in our life don't go the way we think they should.  Disappointment follows disappointment.  Generators break down, animals die, cars break, jobs are lost and children are sick, but through it all, God is faithful.

I'm sorry to say that I don't trust God easily.  I fight.  I yell.  I cry.  But over and over, God gently says "Trust Me, I've got your six.  I will fight the fights.  The battle is mine."

And so, I start my days on my knees.  I praise on my knees.  I weep on my knees.  I plead on my knees.  And over and over again, God reminds me that "things aren't what they appear".

Better than Crispy Cream's Doughnuts

When fall is in the air, warm, wonderful, homemade doughnuts are on the menu.  A number of years ago, I searched for the "perfect" doughnut recipe and came up with this gem.  They are easy to make, light as a feather and perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  The one problem that we have found with  making our own doughnuts is that our children shun any doughnut that has been out of the fryer for more than 10 minutes!  Spoiled kids!!!

Generally, we dip half of the doughnuts in a glaze and frost the other half with  maple frosting (my personal favorite).  When we have any left over, I don't cover them overnight.  When they are covered they seem to get heavy and moist.  When we leave them uncovered they stay crispy and light.

Better than Crispy Cream's Doughnuts

1 T Yeast
1 3/4 C lukewarm Water
1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1/3 C Shortening
5 C Flour

• Dissolve yeast in water.  Add sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of flour.  Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally.  Stir in remaining flour until smooth
• Cover and let rise until double (50 to 60 minutes)
• Turn dough onto flour surface - coat lightly with flour.  Gently roll dough 1/2" thick with floured rolling pin
• Cut with floured doughnut cutter
• Cover and let rise until double (30 to 40 minutes)
• Heat oil to 350 degrees
• Slide doughnuts into hot oil with a wide spatula
• Turn doughnuts as they rise
• Fry about 1 minute on each side
• Remove from oil
• Dip in glaze

Freshly cut out doughnuts

Frying half the batch at a time

Doughnut Glaze

1/3 C Butter
2 C Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
4 - 6 T Hot Water

• Heat butter until melted
• Remove heat
• Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth
• Stir in water, 1 T at a time, until desired consistency

Dipping the doughnuts in the glaze

Cooling on the wire rack

Maple Frosting

1/2 C Butter
3 C Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Maple Flavoring

• Thoroughly cream butter and powdered sugar
• Add maple flavoring
• Beat until spreading consistency

Try them, I think you'll love 'em!

Maple Frosting

I recommend.....

Many of you have asked for cookbooks and other resources that we find helpful in our off-grid/prepared lifestyle.  I thought it would be easier to start a page of recommendations and links than to try to remember to whom I've told what.  On the left-hand side of my blog is a link that says "Paratus Familia Resources".  All of the cookbooks that I will recommend will be linked on that page (don't think that didn't take me forever to figure out!).

After seeing my lovely friend Patrice's practice of book recommendations, I thought I would follow her lead and recommend some myself, starting with the most beloved of my kitchen tools - the More with Less cookbook.

My Titus 2 mentor, "Lady Pauline" introduced me to the More with Less cookbook about 15 years ago.  I had just started ordering bulk foods and grinding my own grains, and this book walked me step by step through making just about everything from scratch.  The author is Mennonite, so the book is full of recipes from church members from the States, but also from missionaries all over the world.  There are tons of ideas for using leftovers to create whole new meals and also certain recipes they tag as "time savers" because they are so quick to prepare.

The yogurt recipe that I first tried is in this book, along with various methods of incubating it - depending on what you have available.  I still use this tried and true recipe, and I still use the method of incubating that I found in this book.  I make one of the granola recipes regularly along with potato rolls, white sauce, skillet beef and lentils and so many other things that I couldn't possibly list them all here.

If you are looking for a basic, down to earth approach to cooking from scratch, this is the book for you.  I have purchased a copy of each of my daughters to put in their hope chests so they will never be without so many of the recipes they have grown up with.

I will be recommending more books in the days to come.  Who knows, you might find your favorite on the list!

Princess Dragon Snack

Little Miss Dragon Snack whacked her toe on a chair as she was running through the house the other day.  It was already swelling by the time I got over to her and these pictures were taken the day after.  The swelling is down a bit, but the bruising is growing.  Poor little Dragon Snack!  Perhaps she should start wearing shoes!

A Nation of Beggars

Destroyer of the human spirit

1 in 6 Americans are availing themselves of government assistance.  Yes, you read that correctly.  1 in 6.  The assistance comes in many forms - Medicaid, Food Stamps, Cash Benefits, WIC, Welfare and Unemployement.  Apparently Medicare and Social Security don't count because they are not considered "assistance" but rather "entitlements".

Let me tell you a little story.  When I was growing up, my parents decided to jump off a cliff and follow their dream.  This dream led them from a home, surrounded by family and friends and a wonderful support network to 25 acres of raw land in the middle of nowhere (quite literally) with nothing.  Really, we had nothing.  We knew no one.  Neither of my parents had a job.  Our property was beautiful but devoid of any infrastructure.  There were no buildings, no well, no septic system, no power.  Just rolling fields, tall timber and two creeks.

As I said, my parents moved to this secluded wilderness with no jobs and no prospects, but with an intense desire to live their dreams and the internal fortitude to achieve their quest.  It was no walk in the park.  We spent the first month and a half living in a tent, taking baths in the glacier fed creek and working.  Hard.  We built an outhouse, fenced 25 acres, hand-dug a spring and lined it with cedar, put in a septic system, had power brought in, moved in a single-wide trailer, cut and split eight cord of wood and hauled a winters worth of hay for our five horses.  We accomplished all of this in three months, quite literally by the sweat of our brows.

Fall rolled around and my dad had to find work.  There was very little to be found - nothing in his previous profession of iron working.  There were not a lot of skyscrapers in the backwoods!  He eventually found a job pushing a broom on the night shift of a local saw mill.  He hated every minute of it, but he did it, and was thankful for the work, because he needed to provide for his family.  After working there a short time, he was hired to mechanic for a logger.  This logger was busy, so my dad spent much of his time on the ground under huge logging equipment.  It was a terrible job.  Cold, hard, back-breaking work it was, but it was better than being a janitor at a saw mill, and he did it without complaining.  Our very first Thanksgiving was spent with my dad at his job.  We all lay on the cold November ground beneath a skidder so that we could have Thanksgiving Dinner as a family.  And you know what?  We were truly grateful.

The first winter was the hardest.  We had not lived in our new place long enough for my dad to be able to hunt, so we had no meat.  Money was non-existent, so we had to make do with little or nothing.  By the grace of God, our pastor had connections in farming community about 8 hours away and brought home a truck load of apples and a truck load of potatoes and gave them to families in the church.  We went into winter with some jars of canned goods that my mom had canned from her large garden before we left, a couple hundred pounds of potatoes and about a hundred pounds of apples.  That was it.  Nothing more.

Our nearest neighbor (about a half a mile away) took pity on us and brought a rabbit to grace our dinner table occasionally.  Another neighbor gave us extra eggs from time to time.  As a rule, we didn't eat breakfast or lunch, but my mom always found something to make for dinner.  We never went hungry.  A cause for great excitement came when my Grandma would send a "care package".  It was like Christmas in a box!  She sent breakfast cereal,  cans of soup, toilet paper, toothpaste and all kinds of goodies.  We had never felt more blessed.

We kids never knew we were poor.  My brother and I both have the BEST childhood memories of anyone we know.  Neither one of us ever felt deprived of any good thing.  We had our parents, a roof over our head, food in our bellies (such as it was) and a God that loved us.  What more could children want?  Nothing. 

You may ask what this little story has to do with the price of tea in China.  Everything!  While we were busy being poor, we were learning the most important lessons in life.  We learned that hard work really does pay off and that good things are worth waiting for.  We learned that there is pride to be had in a job well done.  We learned that going without wasn't a bad thing.  It wasn't something to be avoided, but rather something to be embraced as it built our character.  We learned to stand in the face of the impossible and, through sheer grit, make it possible.  We learned to stand on our own two feet and never admit defeat.  Our parents taught us to be adults.  They taught us to be responsible, to fight our own fights and to stand up after we had been knocked down.  They taught us independence.

Our government is destroying what is best in the human spirit.  By always "bailing" people out our government is crippling its' citizens.  Just like a parent that continually provides money and shelter to their drug addict adult child or the parent that lets their adult children live in their basement, eat pizza a play video games all day "just until they find direction", our government is creating generations of "adult children", dependent on them for their daily bread.  It is stealing our independence, our self-esteem and our very individuality.

It is not bad to suffer.  It is not bad to struggle.  Hardship and strife do not produce hopeless, helpless shells of humanity, rather they produce vital, strong, merciful human beings capable of changing their world.

Our government should not be in the roll of indulgent parents.  They should be facilitators of freedom, justice and independence - none of which are dependent on the almighty dollar.  By constantly "assisting" people, our government is destroying the human spirit.

If my parents could make it through years of hardship to realize their dreams, I daresay the majority of the American public could benefit from a little "character building" themselves.

Our Life in Pictures

Our Photo Album of Adventures for the past couple of weeks

"Littles" having a backyard picnic

Master  Calvin

Miss Calamity and Friend's Daughter serving Princess Dragon Snack and her doll friends Tea

Ever the attentive waitresses

A perfect dolly tea

Master Calvin very swollen after a bee sting

Maid Elizabeth astride a camel at our local fair

Sir Knight and Master Hand Grenade heading to the fair - Sir Knight had people stopping him and asking to take his picture!  You would have thought he was one of the fair exhibits.

Miss Calamity is thinking of giving up being a cowgirl to become a camelgirl!

Princess Dragon Snack and Master Calvin taking an afternoon drive

All of the kids with our family friend

My First Bread

When I was growing up, my mom made all of our bread.  She baked every weekend, and alternated between white bread, wheat bread and French bread.  She would make and slice about 6 loaves at a time and put what we didn't use in the freezer for future use.  Mom always let me "help" make bread, but my favorite part (other than tasting) was kneading.  She would say "Enola made the bread", but in reality, I had just pushed it around the table for a few minutes.

Those hours helping my mom were hours well spent.  I learned what temperature the water or milk had to be to activate the yeast (not by using a thermometer, but by putting my finger in the liquid).  I learned how much flour to put in while kneading and what dough looked and felt like when it was ready to rise.  My mom taught me to knock on the bottom of the loaf to "hear" if it was done.

The first bread I was allowed to make all by myself was French Bread.  My mom had gotten the recipe from a friend years before, so this bread was affectionately called "Andrea's French Bread".  It had few ingredients, required little attention and rewarded the baker with unfailingly perfect results.  I will never forget the first bake sale that I brought this bread to and could proudly announce "I baked this myself"!  I think I was about 10 and more than a little proud of my accomplishments!

"Andrea's French Bread" has morphed into "Enola's French Bread" over the years.  I have added Olive Oil to improve the texture, but other than that, it is still the perfect, simple "first timer" bread recipe.  Give it a try - you too can make wonderful, homemade "from scratch" bread!

Andrea's French Bread

4 C Water
3 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Yeast
2 Tablespoons Salt
1/3 (more or less) C Olive Oil
11 C Flour (sifted)

Dissolve yeast in water (I use the hottest tap water in my kitchen - it should be hot, but not so hot you can't keep your finger in the water- about 110 degrees if you use a thermometer) with the sugar, salt and olive oil.  Let those ingredients "sponge" (sit until the yeast is big and puffy because it has been activated) for 1/2 an hour up to 3 hours.  Add sifted flour.  I begin with about 6 cups of sifted flour and add from there.  Knead until smooth (about 5 minutes if using a Bosch or other bread kneading machine, and about 10 minutes if kneading by hand).  Put into a greased bowl.  Cover with clean dish towel.  Put in warm place and let rise until double in size.  Punch down, turn dough over so that the greased side is up, cover with towel and let rise until almost double.  Punch down and cut into three pieces.  Shape French style loaves, place on cookie sheets and cut 3 diagonal slits in the top of each loaf.  Let rise until double.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  Turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Enjoy the unmistakable fresh from the oven bread smell as is permeates your home too!

Adding sifted flour to the "sponge"

Kneading the dough

Putting dough into greased bowl

First rising

Shaped loaves ready to rise final time