Hopes, dreams and plans

Recently, in my firewood post, I mentioned not having enough firewood to last us for the winter because we had hoped to move.  A number of people inquired what had prompted us to want to move and were really quite concerned that we, perhaps, were moving somewhere that wouldn't quite fit our preparedness lifestyle.  That is oh, so not the case!

When Sir Knight and I moved into our Little Shouse on the Prairie, we intended to make this our home forever.  We had three children and great plans of building a house in a year.  Then, life happened.  Nothing worked quite the way we had it planned (which, we have found, is most often the case).  Electricity was too expense for us to have installed, so we lived with no electricity at all for a year and a half.  We spent so much time and energy in day to day living that a year got away from us, and no house had been built.  Rather than take on a building project, we reveled in every little victory, such as drains and cold running water.  We were so busy homeschooling, gardening, milking a cow and trying to raise wholesome children, that the years got away from us.  Soon, rather than three children, we had squeezed five wonderful children into our 300 square foot loft.

Miss Calamity shares her "room"
with Princess Dragon Snack and....

Master Calvin (who is really too big
for his portable crib - but it is
all that we have room for!)

Years went by, improvements were made.  Our desire to become debt free outweighed our desire to build a house.  We became "permanent" shouse dwellers.  Our children grew older (as we had younger children to keep us on our toes) and we began to notice that something was missing.  As I busily went about my daily duties, I began to notice that Master Hand Grenade, as soon as he was done with school, was just kicking around.  Even though we live in the country, there are only so many things a young man can do without the help and supervision of an older, wiser man.  Sir Knight was gone at work every day.  Master Hand Grenade would get the wood in, feed the animals, do whatever chores I needed him for and then he would kick around until his dad got home.  What he really wanted to do was work on the car or saw logs or run the tractor - but he needed his dad.  Master Hand Grenade was getting lazy.  I didn't have anything for him to do.

Sir Knight and I began to talk about how to remedy our situation.  Now, not only did we have Master Hand Grenade to consider, we also had another MIT (man in training) in the form of Master Calvin.  We talked about finding a Godly man that could apprentice Master Hand Grenade.  We discussed many options, but none of them panned out.  We still had a problem.  And then, we knew the answer.

The answer, and the real desire of our heart, was to move.  The more we talked about what we wanted for our family, the more we realized what we wanted, what we needed, was to move back to the small town that I grew up in, and live in close proximity to my parents.

My parents are wonderful, godly people.  My dad is the man to disciple our sons while my husband is at work.  My mom has the desire to teach her grandchildren about our great God.  Sir Knight and I and our children would benefit from their wisdom.  And they would thrive with all their children close.  We could help them with jobs too big for them to tackle by themselves.  I miss home.  My heart longs for home.

Our family prepares.  My parents prepare.  There is strength in numbers.  God is good.  He will do with us as he pleases.  We are waiting on Him.  Our home is beautiful and I am thankful that we live in this wonderful place.  We have been blessed with tremendous friends and neighbors.  We are content to live here, if that is what God has for us - but home calls to me and to Sir Knight and to our children.  They start every sentence with "when we move...."

Maid Elizabeth and I often break into song.....


The Song of Exile


Land of bear and land of eagle 
Land that gave us birth and blessing 
Land that called us ever homewards 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

Land of freedom land of heroes 
Land that gave us hope and memories 
Hear our singing hear our longing 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

Land of sun and land of moonlight 
Land that gave us joy and sorrow 
Land that gave us love and laughter 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

When the land is there before us 
We have gone home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 


And, yes, home for me is in the mountains.  If God wills it, we will go home across the mountains.

Have you ever seen the likes of this?

This is the Goldstream River in Victoria, B.C.  Apparently, it began flowing this neon green color and within the course of an hour, the entire river was green.  Within a few hours, it had returned to its normal color.  Earlier that day, a public fountain in Langford had also turned the same shade of green.  No reason has been determined.  Amazing, huh!

Stored food Night - Macaroni & Cheese (with canned cheese)

Fresh Macaroni & Cheese IS a stored foods meal, if you have a supply of canned cheese.  I have been experimenting with canning cheese for a while now, and have been putting it through its paces so that I know what to expect when I open a jar.  I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality and the versatility of home canned cheese.  Although different in consistency from fresh cheese, it performs quite admirably in a variety of dishes.  It slices quite nicely for eating or putting on crackers, grates easily for salad and even re-melts for sauces.

Freshly opened jar of cheese.  Notice the
layer of oil that has solidified
on the top of the cheese

I slide a butter knife around the outer
edge of the jar to loosen the cheese
and it slides right out

Cheese out of the jar.  Notice the "oil"
that I scraped off the top of the cheese

The cheese slices wonderfully

A pint of grated canned cheese

This evening, we made the ever humble Macaroni & Cheese.  Although a simple meal, it is a family favorite.  We started by boiling about 1 1/2 pounds of macaroni.  While the macaroni was boiling, I made a simple white sauce.  I melted butter in a saucepan (however, in a survival situation, shortening, lard, olive oil or most any other fat would do quite nicely) over low heat.  After the butter was melted, I added an equal amount of flour and stirred (of the heat) until the butter and flour formed a smooth paste.  I then added a pinch of dry mustard and our "secrete ingredient", which is garlic powder.  After mixing in the spices, and adding salt and pepper, I put the butter, flour, spice mixture back on low heat, stirring and cooking as the mixture thickens.  After becoming slightly thick, I added milk.  You could easily substitute powdered milk, canned milk, broth or even water.  Stir to combine and continue stirring.  At this point, I put the saucepan on medium (closer to the firebox) to increase the heat.  Continue to stir as the white sauce thickens.  After it becomes sufficiently thick (about the consistency of thin yogurt), move the saucepan to low (or turn down the heat).

White Sauce Recipe

2 T. Butter (margarine, lard, oil etc.)
2 T. flour
1/4 tsp. Dry Mustard Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
Pepper to taste
1 C. Milk (canned milk, powdered milk, stock, water)

Adding flour to the melted butter

The beginnings of a white sauce

Having added the milk, the sauce is
beginning to thicken

Nicely thickened - ready for cheese

While preparing the white sauce, I had Miss Calamity grate a pint jar of canned cheese.  I added about 2/3 of the cheese to the white sauce and stirred over low heat until the cheese melted into the white sauce.  Something to note:  The consistency of the white sauce with the melted cheese made from canned cheese is slightly different than the consistency of white sauce made with fresh cheese.  The canned cheese separates slightly and is not as creamy.  However, when I added the cheese sauce to the macaroni - it went together perfectly, nothing odd at all!  

Adding cheese to the white sauce

After the macaroni had boiled to al dente, I poured it through a colander to drain the water, put the macaroni in a baking pan and poured the cheese sauce over the macaroni.  I stirred the cheese sauce and pasta together.  It produced a wonderful, creamy Macaroni & Cheese.  After stirring the sauce into the pasta, I sprinkled the remaining cheese over the top of the macaroni and popped the pan, uncovered, into the wood cookstove.  The oven was at a medium temperature (I could hold my hand in the oven for about 30 seconds).  The Mac & Cheese was nicely browned and crunchy on top in about 30 minutes!

The cheese sauce on the pasta - note that
there is a slight separation in the sauce

It stirred up wonderfully

With the remaining cheese sprinkled on top

 While the Macaroni & Cheese was baking on the top rack, we put French Bread on the bottom back.  Two loaves, we put in tin foil, which makes a softer crust.  One loaf, we put in a paper bag, which produces a nice crusty crust (Sir Knight calls them razor crust - you can guess which one he prefers!).

Miss Calamity buttering
garlic bread

Macaroni & Cheese made with home canned cheese was a hit.  It tastes every bit as good as the same recipe made entirely from fresh ingredients.  I would have to say that Stored Foods Night just got a little bit better!

Our Stored Foods dinner

The untold beauty of the firewood pile

Here in the cold north, we can truly appreciate a warm fire on a brisk evening.  Sir Knight and I were getting uncomfortably low on wood (we thought we would have sold and moved by now!).  We found a fellow to bring wood over (through a friend of a friend - the way things work in a small town), but it had to be split before we could stack it in the shed.  Splitting and stacking always provides focus for our children, with great encouragement from Sir Knight, of course.  Even the smallest ones get in on the action!

Princess Dragon Snack hauling wood

Master Hand Grenade setting the example

Sir Knight & Master Hand Grenade
manning the log splitter

Master Calvin doing his part

Miss Calamity stacking high on the pile

Princess Dragon Snack "supervising" from
the log splitter

The dwindling wood pile

The increasing wood stack

It seems to me that children thrive when they are part of something bigger than themselves. They need to feel useful, needed, as we all do.  We need our children.  Their assistance is a necessity if we plan on keeping this family warm, fed and clothed.  They are part of something bigger than themselves.  They are part of a family.

Essential Preparedness Tools of the Trade Part VII - Hot Water Bottle

Our shouse gets very cold in the winter!  We stay toasty during the day, as our wood cookstove pours out the heat, but at night, it is another story altogether.  We stoke our stove at night and it just barely boils along, putting out very little heat.  It is ready to spring to life every morning, but just keeps the shouse above freezing at night.  During most of the winter, this isn't really much of a problem at all, but when the temperatures dip below zero, it can get a little frosty.

Filling the hot water bottle

Sliding it into it's fleece cozy

One of the ways we have found to keep the kids warm and toasty, even on the coldest of nights in a metal building, are hot water bottles.  It becomes a nightly bedtime ritual.  One by one, starting with the youngest children, they bring their water bottles into the kitchen to have me fill them before they run off to bed.  Sometimes, they have me fill their bottles a little early, so they can squirrel them away at the foot of their bed, then, by the time they are tucked in, a toasty warm bed awaits them.

Tucked at the foot of the bed ready to
warm cold feet

The winter Master Calvin was born was bitterly cold.  We had an uncharacteristic arctic wind from the North and our shouse was literally an icehouse.  It was so cold, that Sir Knight and I had Master Calvin sleep with us, just so he didn't freeze.  During the day, when he was napping, I would tuck a hot water bottle dressed in a polar fleece cover into his basket with him.  He slept contentedly for hours in his cozy basket, even when we could see our breath in the shouse because of the cold.

Ice on the inside of our window,
in our bedroom

We have one hot water bottle per person in our family.  Not only do we use them for warming tootsies on cold nights, but for earaches, tummy-aches, cramps and even injuries requiring a heat treatment.  We have used our hot water bottles to warm brand new babies and brand new kittens.  There is something about hot water that soothes most anything.  Hot water bottles are the perfect alternative to heating pads, perhaps even better, due to your ability to control the temperature.  They require no electricity, only a wood stove and a pot of water.  They will slowly and effectively warm a hypothermic person, sooth a crying baby or relieve joint pain in an elderly loved one.

Hot water bottles have medical uses also.  They are available (online and at certain drug stores) with a douche and enema kit.  Although not particularly romantic to talk about, these medical instruments could be the difference between extreme discomfort (or even death) and a quick, effective remedy.

Master Calvin cuddles with his bottle

The Little Stinker!

I believe that the addition of a hot water bottle to every bug out bag is a must.  Consider having to "get out of dodge" with little children or aging parents in the middle of winter.  When making camp for the night, you have hungry, cold, tired people on the verge of panic and hysteria.  You have no ability to offer them any sense of normalcy.  You can't give them much food.  You can't provide them with shelter.  There is no heat other than what can be extracted from a small camp fire.  But you can heat water.  Immediately, there is hope, relief, warmth.

Hot water bottles are a cheap investment with a tremendous return.  I would suggest one for each member of your household, plus extra for whoever else you might be caring for.  And don't forget a few to have on hand for charity.  Hot water bottles are an essential preparedness tool of the trade.

Our life in Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words....

My nightstand - I thought it summed
me up in a nutshell

I know, you really wanted to
see a close up of the handgun!

Canning cheese

Hand-dipping turtles

Ready to pass out to neighbors

Singing Christmas Carols with our
dear friends

What your preparedness minded
daughter brings home from
her day job at the grocery store!

Our Dragon Snack

Thank you for visiting our life in pictures!

The Great Men of History

It should have been a simple repair.  Generally, when our water pipes freeze, I just heat them up with the blow drier for a couple of minutes, and, wallah - running water.  But not this time.  The pipes just wouldn't thaw.  I wasn't too concerned.  It was just a minor inconvenience.  We did have cold running water at the bathtub, so I could keep things running fairly smoothly.  I was hoping for Sir Knight to get home, because he seems to have the magic touch with the hair dryer.  He always puts it in just the right spot and miraculously, water starts flowing almost immediately.  But not this time.

Sir Knight got home from a day slaying dragons, to a wife saying "before you get too comfortable...."  I told him that I had been unable to get the pipes thawed and that I had been at it off and on all day.  I also informed him that using the generator to run the hair dryer was not working because the dryer kept flipping the circuit breaker.  Maid Elizabeth and I had a system.  She would run out to the generator, make it back into the shouse just in time for me to yell "go flip the circuit breaker", run outside again and, well, you see were this is going!  It had been nothing short of frustrating.  By the time Sir Knight got home, I really didn't care if we had running water at the present, I just wanted to be done messing with the pipes.

Riding to my rescue, Sir Knight rolled up his sleeves, and humming a little tune (I think it might be his theme song) went to work on the pipes.  He cheated though, and used a torch (now why hadn't I thought of that?).  But still, the pipes wouldn't thaw.  What in the world? And then he saw it - the pipe was not only frozen, it had completely split at a seam!  Had any of my efforts, or the early efforts of Sir Knight worked, our entire bathroom would have been flooded.  And so, Sir Knight went to work.  Still humming his theme song, he dug through the tool box, found a little of this, a little of that and a hose clamp (don't ask) and fixed that broken pipe.

After his great success with the pipes, he was ready for a cup of tea.  But before he sat down to enjoy the evening, he decided to head out and start the generator so that we could charge batteries as we enjoyed our afternoon cuppa.  The generator started with one pull and Sir Knight came into our cozy shouse ready to put his feet up.  And then the breaker flipped.  Yes, you read that correctly.  After having tripped the breaker a gazillion times trying to run the hair dryer, it would no longer "hold".  There truly is no rest for the weary.  We really had to charge batteries, so it was back into the dark night for Sir Knight.  He had yet another dragon to slay.  With a flashlight held between his teeth, blowing on his hands from time to time to keep the frostbite at bay, Sir Knight re-wired the generator.

As Sir Knight lay on his back in the snow, in sub-zero temperatures (with a wind chill), holding a flashlight between his teeth, fixing the generator yet again, I started thinking about great men.  I don't mean wealthy men or successful men or powerful men, but GREAT men.  Men that persevere in the midst of crushing adversity, men that fail only to dust themselves off and start again, men that rise from the ashes like a Phoenix taking flight.  Men like my husband - the slayer of my dragons.

The great men of history have not been formed in the halls of academia or the nurseries of grand homes.  They have not been chiseled from the boardrooms of commerce or the venerable marbled columns of congress. They have been hewn out of adversity.  The stoic men that built our country held fast the British and overcame the British and Hessian armies through sheer grit, determination.  They met adversity as Great Men.

"To compound Washington's problems, the enlistments of the majority of the Militias under his command were due to expire at the end of the month and the troops return to their homes.  Washington had to do something, and quickly.


His decision was to attack the British.  The target was the Hessian-held town of Trenton just across the Delaware River.


During the night of December 25, Washington led his troops across the ice-swollen Delaware about 9 miles north of Trenton.  The weather was horrendous and the river treacherous.  Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain to produce almost impossible conditions.  To add to the difficulties, a significant number of Washington's force marched through the snow without shoes. 


The next morning, they attacked to the south, taking the Hessian garrison by surprise and over-running the town.  After fierce fighting, and the loss of their commander, the Hessian's surrendered.  


Washington's victory was complete, but his situation precarious.  The violent weather continued - making a strike toward Princeton problematic.  Washington and his commanding officers decided to retrace their steps across the Delaware River, taking their Hessian prisoners with them.  


The news of the American victory spread rapidly through the colonies reinvigorating the failing spirit of the revolution.  The battle's outcome also gave Washington and his officers the confidence to mount another campaign.  On December 30, they again crossed the Delaware, attacked and won another victory at Trenton on January 2, and then pushed on to Princeton defeating the British there on January 3.


Although not apparent at the time, these battles were a decisive turning point in the Revolution.  The victories pulled the languishing Revolution out of the depths of despair, galvanized colonial support, shocked the British and convinced potential allies, such as France, Holland and Spain, that the Continental Army was a force to be reckoned with."
                                            EyeWitness to History.com

The list of great men is long, but, I'm afraid, not current.  I do not see Great Men leading our country, standing in the gap between good and evil.  I do not see Great Men being hewn in the school of adversity.

Our country longs for a Great Man.  We long for a leader that will stand for truth and righteousness regardless of the personal cost.  If a Great Man were to lead us, we would follow.

Our family is lead by a Great Man.  That is a beginning.  If many Great Men were to rise in families, more Great Men would follow in their footsteps.  If we embraced adversity and allowed it to form our boys into Great Men, our country would experience a revival unparalleled.

And behind every Great Man, there is a woman, quietly, humbly, encouraging, serving, helping her man become a Great Man.

Maid Elizabeth

Oh, how the family of God humbles me so!  So many people have emailed or left comments on my post about Maid Elizabeth getting ready to head to the Philippines to serve in a Missionary compound as a midwife that we have been overwhelmed.  The generosity of God's children is amazing and we feel so undeserving - but His plan is perfect, and Maid Elizabeth will humbly accept the blessings you have offered.

If any of you feel called to help Maid Elizabeth reach her goals (and please, don't feel compelled unless God lays it upon your heart!) please email me privately so that we can touch bases.  Maid Elizabeth would like to have a chance to thank each of you personally, and write you to tell you how God is using you and her to serve His children in the Philippines.

My email is located by clicking on my "About Me" section on the left-hand side of my blog.    Please know that your kindness has so encouraged Maid Elizabeth and has ministered greatly to this young lady.

Thank you, dear friends.

Enola Gay

Your Station in life

A number of years back (actually, it was when I was expecting Miss Calamity), some friends came to us and asked Sir Knight to consider hiring a woman who lived with them that originally hailed from Honduras.  She (along with her three year old daughter) was displaced due to Hurricane Mitch and, through various circumstances, ended up at our friend's front door.  They had taken her and her child in, provided them with food and shelter and where helping them through the mire of emigrating to a new country, but they really needed a break.  They were requesting that we hire her a day or two a week to perform general housekeeping duties.

I rebelled!  I didn't want a housekeeper.  I was in charge of my household, thank you very much, and I didn't want anyone else invading my space.  Besides, only useless, wealthy people had housekeepers, not homesteaders with a limited budget!

Sir Knight and I discussed the situation at length.  The reasons for hiring this young woman were many.  It would provide our dear friends with two evenings a week that they could have dinner as a family without guests.  It would provide them with two days a week that they were free to take care of family business without interruption.  But most importantly, if would give them a break.

Sir Knight thought it would be a wonderful opportunity, not only to give our friends respite, but also to lessen the workload for his very pregnant wife.  Still, I had a hard time with the concept.  I had a hard time, that is, until I thought of my Great-Grandmother.

My Great-Grandmother was a lady of station (my Great-Grandfather was an accountant) in Seattle during the Great Depression.  They employed help (for kitchen duties, along with sometimes being a Nurse for my Grandpa and my Great-Aunt).  The Great Depression brought reduced circumstances, even to my financially comfortable Great-Grandparents.  The logical solution to their economic distress would have been to let their help go, but that is not what my grandparent did.  You see, they believed that their station in life dictate that they help those in greater need than themselves.  Rather than let their household help go, my Great-Grandmother, along with her little boy (my grandpa) scoured the hills and vales in the Capital Hill section of  Seattle picking the plentiful blackberries that grow there with wild abandon.  Pails in hand, they dirtied their hands with berry juice and blood, with the intent purpose of providing for their hired help.  My Grandmother would take the berries home, wash and pick through them, package them attractively in pails, put her best gloves on and take the berries to the local bakeries. These bakeries would buy the berries for their pies, and my Great-Grandmother would use the money she earned, to pay her hired help.  It was her duty.  It was her station.

As I thought about hiring this young lady from Honduras, I realized that it was my duty.  It was my station that dictated that I help provide for someone less fortunate.  It was the right decision.  Mary, as our housemaid was called, was a wonder.  She was sweet lady, with a great desire to please.  She was eager to learn all she could about life in America and was a willing student of our culture.  Amazingly, she saved every cent that we paid her (which wasn't much, believe me!) and sent it home to her mother and father.  She sent the money with specific instructions.  Her father was to build a house with a CEMENT floor (only the very wealthy had a cement floor) and buy chickens.  Not for eating, mind you, but for egg production.  She wanted her parents to have a viable business, that would see them through the hard times, and she wanted them to have hygienic living conditions. And all of that, she provided with a few dollars from us!  Isn't that amazing?

As Christians or preppers or Shoestring Survivalists or whatever you want to call us, we have a station in life. We have a duty.  Charity is non-optional.  We must plan and prepare for those less fortunate than ourselves.  We don't get to say "I told you so" or "you got what you had coming".  Because our eyes have been opened, we get to rise to the occasion.  We may have to get our hands dirty.  We may have to go without or work extra hard to provide for those of reduced circumstances, but, as human beings, it is our station in life.  When the financial collapse comes, it will be us, not the government that must stand in the gap.  It will be our chance.  It will be our duty.  It will be our station.

And so, we let go....

Maid Elizabeth is leaving us.  Not forever, just for now.  She has been training to be a midwife of and on for the last four years.  Last spring, she was given the opportunity to apply to a missionary group in the Philippines that serves the local population with prenatal and birth care free of charge.  She, along with a group of other apprentice midwives applied in September and just last week, were notified of their acceptance.

What should have been a day of great celebration turned into a day of mixed emotions and frustration.  Maid Elizabeth, with a great desire to go and serve, had to make decisions regarding her willingness to deal with airport security, and being out of country with such uncertainty surrounding our country and the rest of the world.  After praying and crying and ultimately talking to her daddy, she decided that she would plan on pursuing what she believe God has called her to.  Maid Elizabeth is going to the Philippines.

She will be gone for three months (leaving May 31st and returning August 31st).  She will be taking shifts giving prenatal care and birth care.  She should be present at between 25 and 30 births a week, some as an assistant and some as primary caregiver.  She will live in a dormitory with the other apprentice midwives and will usually work about 60 to 80 hours a week.

At this point, Maid Elizabeth is in "hurry up and get everything done" mode.  She has money to raise (airfare, lodging and in-country expenses) and skills to learn (suturing, taking blood, setting IV's....) and certifications to keep current (EMT, neonatal resuscitation) before she leaves.  She is excited, scared, thrilled and terrified all at once.

As her parents, Sir Knight and I are very proud of her.  We have also realized how hard it is to let our little girl go.  We know that she is God's, and that He has always held her in the palm of his hand, but to actually let her go is something else entirely.  Our faith will grow, as will her's.

And so, we let go....

Another article in Backwoods Home!

NoCal Gal, this is for you!  I just received my new issue of Backwoods Home Magazine, and the article I wrote on canning bacon is in it!  But what's more, the Backwood Home website has the article, in its entirety on their website!  I am so excited to be published that I wanted to share it with all of you!