Finished Learning???? No!

It has been a while since I posted anything here. I actually forgot that glendalynn.blogspot.com was my blogspot and when I went to see if I could use this name it was already taken - by Me!

Well, that means I need to get it refreshed and use it for my life now.

I am finished with formal education at BYU. I graduated in 2010 and then went on to get a Master's Degree in Adult Education. I worked for about 8 years at Community Counseling Centers / ChangePoint Integrated Health in Snowflake/Taylor Arizona. And now I am working for Rose L Brand and Associates, P.A. in Albuquerque NM. I don't know exactly what my future holds, but I am ready to move forward with this Blog to see if I can use it to my benefit - and the benefit of others.

My focus covers a lot of different topics, so I hope I can make this easy enough for those who are following me - and informative enough for those who would like more information. 

Here are my interest. 

✔Essential Oil Lotions: Lotions combined with essential oils, colloidal silver and maybe CBD. I have some friends who are experts with the CBD so I hope to be learning from them.

✔Rya Rugs: This is a cross between needlework and latch hook with a pattern. It's hard to explain but I will show pictures and the process as I have re-created it.

✔Tapestry: What I really mean by tapestry is re-creating a Persian rug with the rya stitch. My biggest difficulty has been finding fabric to work with. I don't really want to have to weave and create, but I am running out of options. I can't find a fabric that will hold the stitches I want do create. I will keep you updated 

✔Circular Loom Knitting: Knitting on those circular looms has changed my outlook on knitting. I have made the hats - sure, but I have also made a queen sized blanket with just a small green loom. I used the 10 stitch design but some of the rows around were actually 20 stitches. I will try to show that process.

This all sounds somewhat daunting and a bit much for someone who hasn't blogged in quite a while, but today is a whole new day.

GlendaLynn

New Post - New Focus

I am working on the Irish Census (1901 and 1911). This might seem a little random, but in these turbulent times I have had to isolate and with nothing to keep me focused except randomness, I decided to see if I could find a closer relationship link for Ant and Dec.

If you don't know who Ant and Dec are then you probably don't watch Britain's Got Talent, I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here, or Saturday Night Takeaway. These are British shows that feature Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. Last year they did a show called Ant and Dec's DNA Journey and found out they were related through DNA, but they are both from Ireland and their ancestors lived within 75 miles of each other - for goodness sake. They must have a closer connection. Well, I've been trying to find it.

I have found McPartlins married to Donnellys, but they just don't "fit" yet. So, I've been working on the 1901 and 1911 Census records for Draperstown and Desertmartin. At the moment I am just trying to connect anyone. Next I will branch out and add all of County Londonderry. Then I will start adding the surrounding counties. It might sound boring to some, but I have a messed up sleep cycle and what else can one do at 3 am (get into trouble?).

Anyway, I hope to have some pages up soon with families and connections for Draperstown, County Londonderry, and Desertmartin, County Londonderry. These are where Declan says his family is from. I have found some of his family members there and am trying to connect more people to his family. I don't know what family history they already have compiled (they are very private people), so I am doing the best I can with the information from the DNA show.

For me - its been entertaining. Some day I will connect to the Donnellys and McPartlins in a more personal way. Some would say "we are all connected, in some fashion or another". I say "I am".

A Sunday in May

We're thinking about making a greenhouse. Well..... actually, I've stopped "thinking" and now I am moving forward. I've seen a lot of different designs and contemplated them. I've finally decided on one made out of cattle panels.

Okay, not everyone knows what cattle panels are.
Here is the video I watched that got me excited about doing it this weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DKlXs8iov0

It took me a couple of hours to find it again, so I am posting it here so it won't get lost.

Here are some images I found on the "net". Some good ideas. I especially like the one against the building. That one will be my hubby's garden shed. After I get the greenhouse done, that is. 

Why do we prepare #2

Check out these articles about why we even bother to prepare for an uncertain future.

Why keep a deep pantry
The reasons we keep more than a couple of weeks of food in the house. With the disasters that are happening all over the world why would you put yourself at risk for not being able to feed your family?

100 Items to Disappear First
When things go bad, these items will disappear off the shelves and will not be available any longer.

Hurricanes, Floods and Power Outages
Because simple things can happen - not just the end of the world as we know it scenarios.

My Fight Against Sugar

Check out this website that gives 83+ healthy recipe substitutions. Included are some sugar substitutions. Not substituting MORE sugar - but substituting something else INSTEAD of sugar.

GREATIST! Here are some of the ideas:

Happy reading......Glenda

Back Again

It's been a while since I added to this blog. I don't know how long I will be active again, but until I have to focus my thoughts on something else I will fill these pages.

I got married in January. A huge step after being alone for 20 years. What I've noticed is that I have a lot of "stuff". I want less clutter. I look around and see stuff everywhere. I need to pare it down without giving up the things I think will be needed in a hard economy. Beautiful things are wonderful to have around me, but maybe I can fill that spot with another bag of rice or a container of beans.

I hope I can get rid of things without feeling deprived and going out and buying more "stuff". That is my goal for this spring. We have a rummage sale/parking lot sale coming up at the end of the month. I am going to take some things today to the storage unit where we are holding it so that I can move forward with my goal of paring it down.

In the mean time - here are some more books and things that might be helpful in the hard times coming.

FOOD PREP- 251p. Basic Food Preparation

HEALTH-265p. A Complete Handbook of Nature Cures

HEALTH-410p. Anticancer Therapeutics

HERBS-276p. Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada

Secret Hiding Places

Solar Stuff

Today's handouts and books are all about solar cooking. From Florida Solar Energy Center there is a 3 pg handout called Recipes for Solar Cooking, publication number FSEC-FS-33.

Next is Solar Cooking Pack which describes its objectives as:
• To learn about the problems which come with cooking in the developing world and how solar power
can help.
• To learn about the basic principles of solar cooking.
• To build a solar cooker.

The Solar Cooking Project, best practices is a book (40p) about the solar movement in Darfur. The introduction states: "Information in this manual is based on the field experience of organizations and individuals supported by the Solar Cooker Project (SCP) of Jewish World Watch (JWW) in Darfur refugee camps in Eastern Chad. The goals of this
manual are to help NGOs initiate solar cooker projects in partnership with the SCP in Chad and inspire others to increase the use of solar cooking technology in sun-rich, fuel-starved regions around the world."

Solar cooking comes in may different flavors, from parabolic cookers pictured at the left, to solar ovens made from anything you can imagine. Mostly foil, cardboard and reflective glass. There are as many ideas as there are designs.

simple cardboard box cooker

elaborate wooden box cooker

drawing solar into the house

This last book is from Solar Cookers International and is called Solar Cookers, How to make, use and enjoy. Their introduction states: "What exactly is a solar cooker? It is a device that allows you to cook food using the sun’s energy as fuel. Is it really possible to cook with the sun? Yes, and this booklet will show you how. It will walk you through the process of building a simple solar cooker, using the cooker, and teaching simple solar cooking concepts to others."

Back-yard Camping

This first book is 21 pages called Cooking (no author) but has to do with cooking out with girls. It covers everything from planning to shopping to meal ideas to measurements at first and then lists the recipes

The Girl Scout Gourmet (54 pg) includes non-cooked meals, stick dinners, frying pan dinners, one-pot meals, foil dinners, dutch ovens, box ovens (with instructions), and Pudgie Pie. For those of us who didn’t know, a Pudgie Pie is a sandwich grill. You put bread on one half, then your ingredients, then the other bread and close. I think this would be the perfect solution for cooking in my wood stove. I am definitely on the look-out for a Pudgie Pie iron.

The Girl Scout Gourmet uses the iron for cornbread, fried potatoes, French toast, and quesadillas. I am anxious for winter so I can fire up my stove and give these a try. That reminds me that I also need a fire pit in my back yard so I can BBQ. So much to do, so little time.


[Update 11/17/17: I would love to have someone share some vegan pudgie pie ideas. A cornmeal or wheat bread base with some bean spread in the middle sound intriguing.]

So as a follow-up here, I am going to put some information about permanent fire pits.

Here’s a picture from a site called How to Build a Backyard Fire Pit for $28. Even with inflation it shouldn’t be much more than that. Especially if you forgo the bottom layer and just put 12 bricks in a circle.

If you wait until the last minute you might be reduced to this type of fire - but it is just as serviceable if you ask me.

Pictured below are some other ideas and plans.

Don't Forget the Vegetarian Barbeque

Just because you are not Vegetarian doesn't mean you don't like a good grilled vegetable every now and then. It brings out a special flavor in the veggies. Here is a link for 50 of the Greatest Vegetarian Barbeque recipes. This one is a website, not a pdf, but has quite a few recipes to choose from.

Grilled Veggies

You can use this Veggie Tip Sheet to liven up your meals with vegetables and fruits. This Vegetables Made Easy sheet also has some tips for grilled and roasted vegetables. Here's another one pager called Grilled Vegetables. Between the three of them you should get some great ideas.

I am looking at the picture at the right and wondering what those yellow veggies are. Probably a type of squash, but they look like they're coated or battered.

72-hour /Bug Out Kits

Hurricane Meal Plan Recipes (4pg) give 3 days of creative, delicious meals for your family. You should consider putting these items into your 72-hour pack so that they will be ready when you have to bug-out because of a hurricane.

Consider the aftermath of a hurricane or tornado (pictured). In a tornado situation you need wet weather gear, in a hurricane situation you might need a place to set up a tent on your own property that will be safe until help arrives, or until you can start building.

The Survival Mom (dot.com) has a guest post by Varian Wrynn called 36 Lessons Learned from Testing a 72-hour kit. 

Another 72-hour kit idea comes from The Great Northern Prepper (dot com).  Check out this site to see this and other good ideas.

My kit looks a lot like the one on the right. I have it in a rolling suitcase in my trunk. It's about time to rotate food again (every 6 months or less), and as Vivian Wrynn suggests above - test it. That's not going to be easy for an older person.

About dot com has an article that details How to Make a 72 Hour Kit for Emergency Preparedness  and gives the following suggestions.

Food and Water

(A three day supply of food and water, per person, when no refrigeration or cooking is available)

• Protein/Granola Bars
• Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
• Crackers/Cereals (for munching)
• Canned Tuna, Beans, Turkey, Beef, Vienna Sausages, etc ("pop-top" cans that open without a can-opener might not be a good idea because you don't need to hunt for a can opener.)
• Canned Juice
• Candy/Gum (warning: Jolly Ranchers can melt and using mint gum might make everything taste like mint.)
• Water (1 Gallon/4 Liters Per Person)
• Make sure you take what you will eat. If you are vegetarian/vegan/ or intolerant to any foods you won't be able to eat them. Make sure you take things your children will eat as well. All the "prep" food in the world won't make a difference if they won't touch it. Just remember that a lot of candy will not be nutritious and will end up just making you sick while you wait to be rescued.

Bedding and Clothing

• Change of Clothing (short and long sleeved shirts, pants, jackets, socks, etc.)
• Undergarments
• Rain Coat/Poncho
• Blankets and Emergency Heat Blanks (that keep in warmth)
• Cloth Sheet
• Plastic Sheet
• Make sure your "stored" clothing is in the proper size range. Store clothes at least a size bigger than your child if they are growing fast. Put a reminder in your phone or on the calendar to switch out clothes or at least check for sizes ever 6 months. This goes for adult too if they are loosing or gaining weight.

Fuel and Light

• Battery Lighting (Flashlights, Lamps, etc.) Don't forget batteries!
• Extra Batteries (put a reminder on the calendar to check every 6 months for usability)
• Flares
• Candles (make your own candles in a tuna can or something small like a baby food jar)
• Lighter (check to make sure the fuel hasn't evaporated)
• Water-Proof Matches

Equipment

• Can Opener
• Dishes/Utensils (metal are nice, but heavy. A good melamine would be handy but remember that you need something to clean them. You might prefer paper so that you can burn it or throw it away)
• Shovel
• Radio (with batteries! check often)
• Pen and Paper
• Axe
• Pocket Knife
• Rope
• Duct Tape

Personal Supplies and Medication

• First Aid Kit and Supplies
• Toiletries (roll of toilet paper- remove the center tube to easily flatten into a zip-lock bag, feminine hygiene, folding brush, etc.)
• Cleaning Supplies (mini hand sanitizer, soap, shampoo, dish soap, etc. Warning: Scented soap might "flavor" food items.)
• Immunizations Up-to Date
• Medication (Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, children's medication etc.)
• Prescription Medication (for 3 days or more. If you have to bug out you would do well to take all your prescriptions with you as you might not be able to return. Even better - improve your health so you do not have to take prescriptions)
• Personal Documents and Money
• (Place these items in a water-proof container!)

Scriptures and other

• Genealogy Records (make sure you have them backed up on a flash drive - you won't be able to carry large binders with you)
• Patriarchal Blessing
• Legal Documents (Birth/Marriage Certificates, Wills, Passports, Contracts, etc)
• Vaccination Papers
• Insurance Policies
• Cash
• Credit Card
• Pre-Paid Phone Cards
• Passport if you have one

Miscellaneous

• Bag(s) to put 72 Hour Kit items in (such as duffel bags or back packs, which work great) Make sure you can lift/carry it! I have a suitcase on wheels that works well
• Infant Needs (if applicable)

Notes:

• Update your 72 Hour Kit every six months (put a note in your calendar/planner) to make sure that: all food, water, and medication is fresh and has not expired; clothing fits; personal documents and credit cards are up to date; and batteries are charged.
• Small toys/games are important too as they will provide some comfort and entertainment during a stressful time.
• Older children can be responsible for their own pack of items/clothes too.
• You can include any other items in your 72 Hour Kit that you feel are necessary for your family's survival.
• Some items and/or flavors might leak, melt, "flavor" other items, or break open. Dividing groups of items into individual Ziploc bags might help prevent this. 

Outdoors Cooking - Campground style

What I wouldn't give to be able to enjoy camping. My favorite thing about camping is the fresh air, the noises of the forest and the gently moving water to stick my feet into. And the food. What I don't like about camping is not being able to sleep and the insect bites. So today's information will have a bit about cooking and maybe I can find some sleeping solutions and insect bite solutions that will fit my lifestyle. Either that or I will have to stay home.

This Patrol Campout Cookbook from Boy Scout Troup 261 in Parkville Missouri is a good place to start if you have never cooked outside before. 48p of meal ideas and recipes. Just remember that your food storage must reflect the items you want to cook. Do you have enough of what your family will eat. Do you have any special diets or needs that need to be addressed. As a want-to-be vegan I am rethinking what I have in my home. Will I have enough fresh vegetables? No, probably not, but they can be grown if I have the seeds available. I do believe I have enough grains, but I am working on getting other grains besides wheat and white rice. Quinoa, Kamut, oats, barley etc.



Most of the cookbooks I have on this site were here before I turned vegan. I am sure they will benefit someone, but I have looked and there are not a lot of recipes that I can use. I hope to include vegan recipes as I progress.


Here's Backwoods Cookbook. 11 pages of ideas for cooking outside.
Three Easy Steps to Outdoor Grilling from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Then don't forget to check out this Home Canning Meat pamphlet (8p) and other home canning books that I have posted previously. Also check out the pages link that lists all of the booklets/cookbooks/downloads available.


11/17/17 - Notice that much of that food on the grill is vegetables! We can have delicious food right along side the meat eaters. Of course that BBQ sauce would taste just as good in a vegan format. Hugs, Glenda

Going Dutch?

Today's recipes for Dutch Ovens will get you going for your camp outs or ZA future. This first one is 500 recipes for dutch ovens called 500+ Camping Recipes !! There is a very stern warning about selling this work or adding to it. If you want to have it printed I would suggest you find the author (none that I could find) and contact them for the printed version.

In any case you might want to start with this beginning guide Scouts Guide To Beginning Dutch Oven Cooking, if you haven't cooked in a dutch oven before. It has recipes for pancakes and peach cobbler. Nice!

So, if you are wondering where the name Dutch Oven came from, look at the link HERE and it will explain everything. It turns out these heavy-duty pans were introduced to the US by the Pennsylvania Dutch - hence the name we US'ers use. Thanks dutchoven.org.uk for explaining.

That site is also helpful it you want to purchase a new dutch oven. Also included on the site is care and suggestions for cooking. Like I said before, Nice!

This looks intense. Make sure you have the right equipment before you stick your hands in there!

Here's another one with 850 recipes. 850 Dutch Oven, Camping, Cast Iron recipes. That ought to be of SOME help, eh!

Chicken? Turkey?

11/17/17 - With my new focus I hope you can find some whole food recipes that you can take camping with you. I will post recipes as I find them.

Hugs - Glenda

The Great Barbeque

For a few days between here and Father's Day I am going to post some of the recipe books I have found for outdoor cooking. In between days I will give you the random weird things I have found while looking for barbeque recipes.

I'll start with Cooking Over Campfire Coals from 4-H Youth Development and Illinois State University. 7 pages of tips for equipment, how to start a fire, safety tips and more.

This list is various 1-10 page booklets and recipes for tin-foil dinners.

Tinfoil apples with cinnamon and tinfoil potatoes are good options for plant based meals while you're camping.

Taco Tin Foil Dinner

Camp-out Tin Foil Dinners

Troop 29 tin foil dinners

Tin Foil Cooking

Foil Dinner Recipes

Foil Cooking

Cooking Over Campfire Coals

Here is one if you want to have a competition

FoilDinner Score Card

 happy reading - Glenda

Water, Water Everywhere, and Not a Drop to Drink

Last night as I was learning about irrigation and opening up that option on my land I realized that I probably don't have enough water storage, or even water options for the future. Sure, I could probably harness some of that irrigation water and drink it, but then again, I don't know where it's been. It is not purified or even clean looking. So, I think some options about water storage are due here.

This option is available for someone who has a large garage or other storage shed to put things into. I don't. I have a carport and a little shed out back. (I only have a tiny corner lot in a small farming community.) What to do? What to do?

So I have to think of other options.

Actually buying water in a can, might be an option, but I don't like the thought of having all that un-recyclable metal around in a Zombie Apocalypse. We won't have an way to recycle if the resources are limited.

So water in a can is probably not a good idea.

I do have a few plastic containers full of water. Not so much in the little individual sized containers, but more in the gallon size. These have been okay for the most part, except for a few water disasters. When I first got this little house I put some water under the counter in the kitchen and hit a nail that went right through that thin plastic.

Not so good.

I still have the bulk of my water in plastic.

I guess I could do THIS!

 

Then I could just store empty containers??

But

Instead

What I have decided to do is this.

Just like Mrs Tips at mrstips.com I am putting my water in glass.  I have a friend who doesn't do much canning in jars because she is wary of earthquakes. This is probably a valid concern, I guess, but I tend to think that if I store things properly they won't fall off the shelves and break. So my water storage is on the bottom. If it breaks it might get the floor wet, but that would be the least of my concerns anyway (in an earthquake that big.) I do make sure I diversify. A little of this and a little of that.

This should give you a few ideas about water, eh?

happy posting - Glenda

Back to the Basics

Today we're going to go back to the basics of food storage and upload a couple more things that will benefit our Zombie Apocalypse survival.

To start off I found this little WWI war pamphlet called Wheat for Liberty. It's just 3 pages of recipes using alternative flours. I have another one called The Heart of Wheat by Linda Dunlap, but I can't seem to get it to load. Check back later to see if I succeeded.

These little booklets and recipe books were produced during the war periods to save the wheat for the troops. What will we be asked to give up in the next "conflict". It might be wheat or some other foodstuff, but it could be that we give up cars or gasoline or electricity. Are you ready?

This next book Making the Best of Basics, Family Preparedness Handbook has a tremendous amount of good helps and suggestions. It goes through Basics, Secondary and Tertiary supplies and what they are needed for. One page reminds us that things like aluminum foil, can openers and toilet paper are also important to our supply for the future.

Well, the fact that I am putting things like these on the net (and compiling and searching) should be commentary enough about what I think is coming.

Hope you have a great day - happy posting - Glenda

Diatomaceous Earth and it's Uses

Today's post on Diatomaceous Earth is for Mom. These are just a few of the articles about DE that I found in a rush this morning. I will still have to check them out to make sure they are factual.

I hope they are helpful

Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth and It's Many Uses
Diatomaceous Earth #1
Diatomaceous Earth #2

Here is couple of web links
How to use diatomaceous earth
Soothe Yourself

DE can be purchased at your local feed store. I just got a 50 pound bag for 25 dollars. You must make sure it says "food grade" on it in order for it to be consumable by your family. Using this at a rate of 1-3 tablespoons per day means this will last a long time.

Here's another full length article about toxicity in our world.
Mad as a Hatter by Galen Weston Price
The information about DE starts on page 9

Drying Foods

Dried fruits have always been a favorite of mine, for snack time and for any time when I need a little sweet pick-me-up. I haven't done much drying myself, but have enjoyed the product of other's labors. The fruit from the fruit of their labors - so to speak.

There are multiple booklets out there on drying food. This one is a 4 pages pamphlet from The Ohio State University  Extension. Booklet # HYG-5347-09, it's called Drying Fruits and Vegetables.

And here are a whole bunch of links to food dehydrators. These are plans of various complexity, but I think at least one of these would be easy for you to make.
Sun Dry Your Fruits and Vegetables
Solar Tunnel Food Dryer
Solar Food Dryer
Solar Drying 
Solar Agricultural Dryers
Preserving Food by Drying
Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables
Preservation of Foods
How to Build a Solar Food Dryer
Dry It You'll Like It


11/17/17: Pardon me if I have included anything that might be offensive to my strict vegan friends. It will be a process to clean up my blog to strictly vegan/animal friendly. I probably won't take any recipe books off just because they have meat in them because recipes can be adjusted, but I probably won't but things on this blog that are just for meat. Hugs Glenda