Water, water (issues) everywhere

Well, maybe not everywhere, but came across a couple of informative articles I thought I'd share:

--In the United Kingdom, there are new bans going out on hoses due to water issues, according to this article. It is interesting to note that there isn't actually a ban on watering your garden per se,  you just can't use a hose to do it. Also, there is a video at the top of the article, but I wasn't able to view the entire thing--it kept stopping at a certain point no matter how many times I tried to replay it, so there may be even more information involved than I know about. ( Hard to know if the problem with the video is due to the video or my computer--could go either way. :) While it would also affect peoples' opportunities to wash cars and the like, the thing that I would worry about would be the gardens, which is what is mentioned specifically in the article. Here's my question--if you want to limit the watering of gardens, doesn't that in theory leave you with a double problem? If you don't water your garden, you stand to be short of both food and water, the way I look at it...

--In Idaho, there is an article about a proposed rate hike on water that can be found here. There is a link included in the article if you wish to comment on this issue. More money for less water is one of the issues mentioned in the fourth paragraph of the linked article, and points out clearly just how much of a hike is being proposed. More money spent on water means less money for other needed items...

Water will always be needed, and it's a good idea to have some put away in your supplies. Rules are different everywhere, but do what you can---for drinking, sanitation, and watering those gardens...

A thank you, a bread recipe, and water links

First, I would like to thank those who have commented and/or e-mailed  information. I don't check the e-mail connected to my blogs all that often, so I don't always see things right away. I do need to say that if you send me an attachment, I won't open it (computer issues, etc.) so please just cut and paste anything you would like me to see. Sorry--I really do want to see what you have to say, and I appreciate your efforts. Also, since I am rather not technologically inclined, please excuse me if it takes me more time than expected to figure out how to use pictures and further explanations sent recently with what will be an awesome post--given that I do eventually figure it out.... :) I have also heard more about possibilities with wordpress, and have to figure out what I want to do on that subject. Ah, technology--not my area of expertise, but one can always keep learning... So thanks again to everyone!

Turning to things that are much simpler when it comes to technology, one of my children and I have been gathering what amount to be heritage recipes, and, since I am involved, I am all about looking for the recipes that are basic and easy. Above is a recent example from when I made Irish soda bread, the recipe for which is found here. It is very easy, doesn't have all that many ingredients, and most of the family liked it. (As you can see, it has raisins in it, and so wasn't welcomed with enthusiasm by one of the children.) It's dense bread, and it was the first time I had made a "ball" of bread that I can remember--pretty fun. And I figure it's good to have a variety of recipes that involve the flour, salt, oil, etc. combinations. (Speaking of oil, the linked recipe calls for corn oil, but I used vegetable oil, since that is what I had. Wonder if it really makes a difference taste-wise...)

Speaking of searching for recipes, when I was looking at one, a measurement of water was lit up as a link. I found it interesting that when I passed the mouse over it accidentally, a question popped up in a box, and the question said something like this: "Did you need a 1/2 cup water?" That reminded me of this recent article from Preparedness Pro about water storage. She also has an article about dust bowl conditions that might be of interest. I know that there are a lot of things to do/learn/worry about when it comes to emergency preparedness, but clean water--whether it is endangered by dust bowl conditions, the after effects of tornadoes or earthquake, or for whatever reason that you can think of--would have to be at or near the top of the priority list to get your hands on before, during, or after an emergency. Just linking here in case you haven't seen it, since it gives a lot of food for thought. Hope none of us find ourselves short of water, 1/2 cup or otherwise.

When I went back to link these articles, I realized that there were comments there I'd like to look at, so I'll be going back to look myself. Sometimes you can learn a lot from comments. But I think I may have mentioned that before.... :) 

Making the blog better--one comment at a time

The title is in reference to the readers, not me. Once again, I have received an awesome comment that warrants its own blog post. Many thanks to V, who wrote the following:

"A button light is pretty simple. Take a small amount of oil and pour it into the bottom of a jar or other clear, glass container. Take an old button, preferrably metal or another material that won't melt. Thread a thin piece of cotton material through the button hole so that when left on it's own, the button holds the fabric straight up. It's recommended to not pull the cotton all the way through, just enough to form a lightable wick. Leave material on the other side of the button for both weight and to soak up the oil to the flame. Drop the button carefully into the oil (it helps to pre-soak the end of the wick you intend to light with a bit of oil) and then light the wick when you need to use the lamp. You can use almost any type of oil, I traditionally use olive oil or canola in a pinch. "

I was very excited when I read this comment--thanks again, V!

I have been wondering exactly how to make a button light ever since I fairly recently reread The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I don't have any metal buttons that I know of, but it looks like it's time to look for some. Interesting that just last night I was talking to someone about preparedness, and she said that the place to look for ideas was in the Little House books. There are a lot of ways to "make do" there, such as the button light, and you gotta love having more detail on exactly how to make use of such resources, such as above. Thanks for making the blog better with your comments--the more people there are that know about more options, the better off we all are...

Have you called yet?

This is the same post that I put over at my other blog just now, because it is that important. Before you begin reading, I just want to say that our Idaho Senators are Senator Crapo and Senator Risch. I hope that they get more calls on this than ever. Thanks. Marie


I usually don't talk about anything political on this blog, but I think this issue is so critical that I am now. Perhaps you have heard about the fact that a section of the healthcare legislation requires Catholics to act in ways that are contrary to their beliefs.

I disagree that they should have to do that. Fortunately, according to an e-mail that I received yesterday, some people in Washington also disagree that they should have to do that (understandably, considering that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and religious freedom is part of the Constitution) and the Blunt Conscience Protection Amendment will be voted on soon. Unfortunately, the timing of the vote is unclear, so time is of the essence for the phone calls to your senators. 

I consider this issue to be non-partisan, and want to protect our Constitution. The e-mail I received talked about a movement that Glenn Beck that has organized, and included the information that you can find here. If you go to the link, you will find out what you can do to stand up for religious freedom--in step-by-step detail. There is even a link so that you can find out who your congressmen are, and information in case you want to e-mail your representatives. 

If you already know all the information that you need to know, and just want to call the Capitol Switchboard, the number is (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your representative, and they will put you through to that representative's office. 

Glenn Beck's campaign is called "We are all Catholics now". You may be familiar with the poem talked about here, where the basic idea is that when someone doesn't stand up for other people there are fewer and fewer people to stand up at all.  We have to stand up for each other when it starts, so that we can stop it before it goes any farther.

I'm not a Catholic, but I will stand up for their right to have religious freedom. I called my senators this morning asking them to support the Blunt Conscience Amendment. Sometimes we don't know what we can do when things that are obviously unconstitutional are paraded before us, but we can do something now, and quickly, before religious freedom is taken away. When enough people are willing to speak out, things happen.

United we stand.

Need info on Wordpress

I am considering switching my blogs over to wordpress, but have only ever blogged on blogspot. If anyone has answers to the following questions, I would greatly appreciate if you left info in the comments:

--I have only gotten to what amounts to the first page in wordpress, because it then gives you a chance to pick free, or to pay for your blog for $99/year. I ( probably along with 99.99999% of the blogging community) would prefer to have the free option, but there is a big difference (understandably) between what one is able to do when blogging free and when paying for it. So my first question is, when it says that with the free option that you don't have the "no ads" feature, does that mean that once you start blogging, random ads pop up on your page? That issue is my biggest concern--you may have noticed that I don't advertise (outside of links within the posts or on the blogroll, or when I find a reaaaallllly good deal and mention the business offering said good deal) on my blogs, and would prefer not to start now. I am not a professional, and am just trying to help others while I am trying to learn myself.

--Would you still continue to read my blogs if they did have the random ads on them? (Yeah, always amazing to me that people read my blogs. Many thanks... :)

--What is domain name and mapping, which is not included in the free package, but is included in the paid package?

--If you have switched to wordpress, did you delete your original blog after importing the info? Seems like that would be the best option, but am wondering if others have kept both blogs, and then only added new posts to the newer blog.

Granted, that is only on the sign-up page, and I may find that I have other questions later, but you have to start somewhere, right? Anyway, if you have any info to share, please do, and thanks in advance.

On an Idaho water supply note, I have now heard from three people that despite our really weird (almost) no snow winter, there isn't really a threat of drought because there has been enough snow in the mountains to make it so that it's not an issue. I'm grateful for that!

Whole wheat waffle recipe

It was not surprising to see my husband making waffles recently--but it was surprising to see the batter in the blender. Turns out he was making his mom's recipe that she made while he was growing up--and thanks to his mom, who gave me permission to post the recipe on the blog:

Whole Wheat Waffles

1 cup wheat

1 cup milk

Blend wheat and milk in blender 2-3 minutes. 

Add another 1/2 cup milk. Blend another 2-3 minutes. 

Add 2 eggs and 1/2 cup oil (scant). 

Add:

1 tbs. sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

Blend for about 1 minute. Pour from blender onto hot waffle iron.

Yeah, I was impressed. I love recipes where you just start with the wheat kernels and work from there. The only thing we would do differently, and that didn't make this recipe the biggest hit with the children, was the fact that there was some crunch to the waffles--not a lot, just some of the kernels were not as well blended as they could have been, so we would blend the wheat a little more, as my husband's mother suggested. The waffles were tasty, though... :)

If you try them, hope you enjoy!

Answering a question, and people can trump a GPS

I was asked in an e-mail for help in contacting other preppers. The best way I can think of to contact other people is to go to this site  and when you go to this page  on that site, send an e-mail to American Prepper with your questions. Did you know that the founder of the American Preppers Network is from Idaho? Yeah, he's the one to ask....

Happy 2012! We headed south for a few days on a road trip right after Christmas, and someone was generous enough to loan us a GPS  (global positioning system) to take with us so that we would hopefully never get lost. (As a side note, my husband has about the best sense of direction I have ever seen, and really doesn't get lost, but the GPS is still an interesting piece of technology to work with, so there it is.) It can be amusing to listen to a mechanical voice give you directions, even  (or perhaps especially) if "her" directions to "make a legal u-turn" when possible sound suspiciously like "make illegal u-turn" when possible... 

So anyway, we headed on our merry way. The borrowed GPS we used is handy because you can feed in an address, and it will then give you directions to the desired location. It worked really well most of the time. It was the two times it, shall we say, "got confused" that showed that common sense plus previous research on a location is priceless regardless of how much technology you are working with. 

Example one:

Ah, this was kind of a biggy... the GPS was programmed to take us to a particular address in a given city--and asked us to exit at a non-existent exit many miles in advance of the city we were actually traveling to. Fortunately, my husband knew enough about the area that he didn't even entertain the idea of taking the route offered, and reset the GPS. There's no shame in asking for directions if you can find someone to give them to you, but it might be a tad bit embarrassing if you are in the wrong area altogether and the people you stop to ask don't know what you are talking about. (Or they do know what you are talking about, and realize that you are about 30 or so miles off-course...) 

Example two:

We were in the aimed-for city already, so we were looking for help from the GPS  with the more detailed directions. Thing is, the location we were looking for was a pretty large building from what we understood, and the GPS was leading us out in the middle of nowhere....so of course we turned around, and just looked for it with our eyes. When I think back on that experience, I think the GPS was "turned around" somehow, because we passed what could have been the other end of a street we had seen when we were following its directions--if it was, it was a looonnngg street. In any case, the only way we got there was to look around, use common sense, and ignore the GPS...

So, what's my point? I guess in this case, one point that can be made is that it is best to think of technology as being the back-up plan in an emergency. If we have technology (electricity, and all that comes with it, as an example) woo-hooo, (seriously) our lives will be that much easier. We just have to know what to do when the technology isn't working, electricity or no. What could we do if the things we do with technology were no longer available? 

For example, what about lighting? If you read my most recent post on my other blog, you will remember that  one of the things that showed up as Christmas gifts were a couple of flashlights, to replace flashlights that had somehow disappeared from where they should have been. Those new (and older, truant flashlights) have a place to be so that they can be found when the lights go out. If the older truant flashlights had been unavailable during a blackout, we would have had to fumble our way to our candles and matches. And hopefully there would be daylight before we had to devise a plan C, if necessary. 

Technology is great, but sometimes fails, and common sense and ingenuity can come to the rescue if necessary. Having somewhat recently reread The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I am intrigued by the "button light", I believe it was called, that Ma made when they ran out of other means of lighting. It involved a button, a piece of cloth, and some oil...if anyone already knows how to make this, please share. In any case, I will most likely look up how one is made, because I loved the ingenuity of it. When the family ran out of fuel, they made sticks of hay to burn, the method for which is also described in the book. The sticks burned quickly, but they kept the family alive. 

So, yeah, I pretty much figure that people can think of new ways to do things when they have to, and can figure things out when technology just isn't working right. I just figure it's best to have as many back-up plans as possible to deal with such events before any back-up plans are needed....