my ordinary world...

I am definitely not complaining, because for every bitter cold day we've had this winter we've had weeks that remain in the high 40's or better.  But dang... folks it is COLD! I was stunned to see the temp read 12°, with a real feel of simply 1°.  I don't feel that I will be leaving the house today.  I would love to live further north during the summer months, but I am not sure I would love to live further north in the winter months. 

I am debating on building a fire, simply to chase off the chill.  Although, I am 99% sure I am not going to, for the simple reason that I cannot walk away from a fire.  Sweet Hubs kept it going all day yesterday.  I cannot say I accomplished much on my to do list, the warmth of the fire was too alluring for me. Pups and I spent a very relaxed day doing basically nothing, just reclining and resting in the warmth.  Was it wonderful, of course it was, why wouldn't it be?  Do I feel a tad like a lazy bug, yup. 

Definitely not a bad way to start the week, from a relaxation standpoint.  Unfortunately, I'm now behind on my self-imposed to do list. It's another day, the sun has risen and I have plenty of time to catch up, it's a fairly light list this week. 

Being without a longarm and waiting on supplies for other things, means that I can focus on household things.  Ya know paying bills, doing the taxes, planning the spring planting.  Those kind of things.  I also have a few maintenance items to take care of around the house.  Repairs caused by puppies mostly, they sure can be destructive. Unfortunately it doesn't really fill my creative soul, doing those kind of tasks. 

I know, I know... spoiled wife, first world problems.  Winter is tough on me.  I love everything about it, except the limitations.  I look out back at the yard that once held grass, and long to fix it, so that it is useful and puppy friendly.  I have projects in the garage that I would love to work on, but frostbite is not my friend, and it's just as cold out there, only without the wind. Which limits me to inside projects, and I'm running a bit low on those. 

I love being a stay at home dog mom, I adore being able to take care of our home and my "family", I just haven't mastered it yet.  Sometimes I find myself drawn into the blurriness that society has created.  I hear my neighbor questioning my early retirement, like it was a crime.  I see the puzzled looks on faces as to why I would be comfortable staying home. I see things like my niece posted about her transition to homemaker and full time mommy and the struggle it is causing.  And then I question why society has become this way?

Why is it not okay to simply be the one taking care of the home? The one that is responsible for all things based around the home. My husband loves being taken care of, he rarely does any actual chores around the house. Although he gets props for doing the dishes for a week while my wounded thumb healed. And I take pride in the fact that he doesn't have to.  In fact my only regret is that I wasn't able to do this when my children were younger. 

I feel a lot of the struggles we are currently facing in our country/world, could be resolved if we returned the task of raising and taking care of the children to at least one parent.  I am not so sure we ever needed both parents working, but we sure bought into that didn't we? I know I did.  Even though my soul longed to be at home with my babies, I was often working two or sometimes three part time jobs. I'd bought into the lie that we needed stuff and therefore we needed to constantly be in hustle mode. 

Hindsight is always 20/20 and from the lens I look through now, that time in life could have been far better spent. As it was, between part time jobs and taking care of the household, I am afraid like most kids mine got what was left of me, not the best of me. 

Since the debacle of 2020, I am so impressed to see an increasing number of people reevaluating life.  It's priorities, what is important, how to spend time and resources.  My own daughter's parenting style is very free range, although she is deeply involved and available for her kiddo's.  Well and all the ones she acquires.  As kids are drawn to her like moths to flame. 

I think we will endure some rocky times as our society continues to shift, I really think the pendulum is swinging back, there will be labor shortages continuing while things balance.  I feel that we are learning to adjust spending expectations and desires versus true needs.  The lines at the grocery seem to indicate a bit more cooking at home.  So much is changing.  

My homemaking heart is thankful for the shift I am observing.  Mom and Dad's out with their kids doing "free" things. Playing together at parks, spending time being part of the world. It feels like the shift towards family is happening again.  I can hardly wait for the shift to move back towards communities. 

my sweet handyman

I know that I am old fashioned.  The tech world hurts my very soul.  It disconnects us, it softens us. It creates a dependency that I am not comfortable with. Does it have a place?  Or course there is good, as with everything, it needs boundaries. I don't feel society, which has been in awe of it all, the ease, the "magic", etc... has been aware of what it has been replacing in our lives. 

For example, while I've been typing I've been pondering making a couple of batches of soap today, it takes 6 weeks to cure, and I definitely prefer to make it during the cooler months as opposed to the warmer ones when I have other things to do.  

There was a time that women were tired of that lifestyle, cooking, cleaning, taking care of basic needs non-stop.  It was easy to shift us away from one perceived treadmill to another.  Especially, when the original treadmill was portrayed as something bad and something that only a second class person would do. Failing to realize that joining the rat race was simply the same thing.  The difference was that you were doing things for someone else and needing to replace that in your own life by labor from another. 

I do not like to use chemical laden things on my skin or hair.  I want to know every ingredient, be able to pronounce it's name and not worry what it is a bi-product of.  I'm fussy. As a result even when I worked full time, I still found the time to take care of making my soaps and shampoos. Heck, I've even discovered non-chemical ways to launder my clothing.  Soap nuts and wool balls are amazing,  FYI!

My personal pendulum swung back suddenly, it took me a moment to thrive in it.  I don't have a time clock and there are times where it doesn't feel that I have vacations or time off.  And then there are days like yesterday.  I did the bare minimum.  I took a day of rest.  In fact Hubs and I took Sunday as a day of rest also.  I don't know when the last time we did that was.  It was refreshing and peaceful. It made sense why God commanded a day of rest. I mourn that we as humans do not honor that day, as it felt like an incredible reset. I guess it's because we've been sold on the idea that success is equal to non-stop hustle.

I hope the global pendulum continues to swing in the direction that it's been heading. I hope that we stop looking outward for solutions and continue to look inward.  And that more of us continue to remember to pray!

Well, time to refill my coffee, fold the laundry and get busy on that to do list that I create to keep my life running smoothly. 

Love and prayers...

Looking at the evil...

It sure feels cold this morning.  I have a long list of to do's, but I need to write.  I put it off all day yesterday, even though I knew I needed to write.  I found a million little things to do.  Oddly, more and more of the stuff that was eating at my brain and heart found a way to make itself known over the course of the day. Even while doing something as mindless as playing solitaire on my phone. 

I need to write about an observation I've been having.  A feeling that is getting stronger and stronger by the moment. A lot of the reason that I quit writing daily in the first place.  For the longest time I've felt this feeling, this sense of good versus evil, right versus wrong, I am not sure either of those descriptions are entirely accurate, but they are also not inaccurate.  I am not sure there are words available that fit the thoughts completely.  

Yesterday, while trying to move myself out of the bubble I was in, the longing to write, the inability to string together the thoughts, I found myself listening to every random podcast that interested me in the slightest.  I did this while I was working on a few canning projects cranberry juice and a lovely orange rhubarb jam, nothing major, simply distractions. I needed the distractions.  

One of them I was listening to felt like a whack upside the head, a jarring to my own memories and thoughts.  The person was speaking of a dream they'd had and the huge impact that dream had on them.  I understood what he was saying, although that wasn't what jarred me.  He was speaking of how God speaks to all of us in different ways and it depends on whether or not we are listening as to the impact of the words.  

It reminded me abruptly of a drive to work a few years ago.  I think I might have even written about it in the past.  Hubs was heading south that day and was going to take the motorcycle.  I did not want him to for whatever reason, I was convinced it was a terrible idea and wouldn't end well.  As I was driving to work I was filled with panic and ended up having a full blown panic attack, I turned around and came home, made him stay with me until I was calm.  Oddly, I remember the calming started as soon as I made the turn to come home, I was still a wreck when I got home, but I could breath and had stopped shaking. 

He rode his bike that day, I ultimately calmed and went to work.  I don't know which one of us was protected from something horrible happening that day, but we both ultimately went about our days and came home to one another safely at the end of the day. 

I've had many moments like that in my life, times when I felt anxiety and stress come into my world, often seemingly without reason or cause. My daughter's car accident, when our other daughter came into our lives are just two of them that jump into my thoughts.

Lately, I have felt very strongly drawn to prayer, to listening to different pastors sharing God's messages and leading me lots of research and questioning things.  And also to a strong sense of peace. 

We are living in a very evil time.  I think most folks are absolutely blind to it, they have slowly become jaded and cold where things are concerned. Even our churches are blinding us, leading us to look away.  We have been controlled for so very long that we are missing what is right before our very eyes. 

If you haven't heard about all of the vileness surrounded a certain fashion house, it might be time to do some homework.  Instead of ignoring the millions of invaders at our southern border, maybe stop and question some of it.  The information is out there, if you want to see it.  If you want to understand. 

I've always loathed the grand gala's at the beginning of sporting events and the like, half-time shows have always seemed off to me.  Looking at them now, I feel an even greater sense of discomfort and dislike. They have always seemed distasteful and almost dark.  Never quite making sense in the context of the event they were associated with.  

I'm not a fan of anything high fashion and have never felt the need or draw to wear a companies name on myself or my belongings, if I like the quality and style, I wore it.  But just to have it, regardless of the cost, nope never going to happen. I don't need your so called status symbols. Heck, I usually remove the dealers signs from my vehicles, I am not paying to advertise for you.

Slowly it dawned on me in the past few days that even the ads in my so called mindless games are designed to elicit dark feelings.  I mean seriously... sexualized anime for a game?  Nonstop ads for sexualized e-books, most often dealing with werewolf's and the like... seriously? 

If they aren't about sex, then they are dealing with children, animals and women being tossed aside in harsh conditions and asking you to save them in a game.  What kind of emotions and feelings are they working to pull out of you, to draw you into a game?  And you don't have the option of playing the game with the ads popping up.  What are they trying to do?  

Hubs and I have both noticed that while watching a few of the old shows we enjoy that the commercials have evolved to just a few topics... pharmaceuticals, fast food or weight loss or don't forget medicare and "money, money, money" (I loathe that one).... odd those things seem to be all there is.  

Listening to the pharmaceutical commercials is enough to send a sane person off the chain... Have you ever really listened?  Hmmm... eczema or death... seems like a no brainer to me. Those side effects seem worse than the original problem.  But I know many people that take medication on top of medication.  Heck Hubs used to, now he takes nothing and is doing so much better than when they were medicating him for what they diagnosed. 

Has anyone seen Died Suddenly?  I'll admit I haven't.  I can't.  I have too many loved ones that I feel it would shatter me.  

Again... evil... 

The more I learn, the more I dig deeper into the stuff not covered in the official narrative (main stream media), the more I feel the depth of evil that we have become enslaved to.  

There is so much going on right now.  Interest rates increasing, inflation, sorry I think we are heading for a depression, we've already blew through the recession.  Don't forget all of the evil with taxes, but definitely ignore the evil with FTX and why the guy that is responsible is still not arrested and all that baloney.  Let's go after the drones (meaning us) but not the rich and powerful.

Don't forget all the clean energy, another total crock of you know what... and I used to be a huge proponent of it, until you start digging past the hype and glamour.  I'm thankful I never bought an EV or put solar on my home.  All those folks that have bought into it... might want to stop and take a deeper look.  Heck even the vehicles and such cannot be made without petroleum.  

What is happening to our children in the schools is beyond unimaginable.  And yet, we choose to believe what we are told.  Instead of opening our eyes and truly listening and hearing what is blatantly out there for all of us to see.  

For God's sake, think. 

The evil being created and used to control us is unreal, we are not part of a earthly battle, we are the pawns in a supernatural one.  I know that God wins, I know that he has already won, but this journey is going to be a touch rocky.  

There are many that do not know this, that are going along to get along.  I'm thankful that I am waking up, refusing to go along to get along.  At some point in this game the chips will be called in.  At some point everything will be painfully obvious to everyone, will it be too late?

This is definitely a battle of biblical proportions, it is definitely the darkest before dawn... I'm no longer hearing a still small voice, I am hearing a loud booming roar... 

But God!

thinking out loud...

There is rain moving in. Or at least the promise of rain.  The air is thick with it, not humid, but heavy.  Like it wants to burst forth with life giving water and soothe the land.  It was supposed to start around 3 am, now it looks like it might come around 10 am.  Who knows if it will actually fall.  I didn't water the garden yet, just in case.  It's a beautiful 71° outside right now, so I'm not too worried.  

The pups are taking full advantage of the cool weather and running around like crazy.  Chasing leaves that are falling because of the heat, butterflies and imaginary sounds.  They have been at it for over an hour now, nap time is going to hit hard. They've only stopped for come inside for a quick drink of water and a touch of kibble. Playing in the cool weather is much more to their liking this morning, they have lots of stored up energy to burn off since yesterday was sort of blistery hot during the day. 

I was going to sit in the garden to write this morning, but it's a touch too noisy for me to be able to concentrate.  I guess one of the neighbors is having a deck built or repaired or something, and the crew working on it definitely got an early start.  Around 6:15 this morning you could hear the sounds of saws and various power tools.  I get it, I'm definitely not mad at them at all.  When it's as hot as it's been by mid-day, you are much smarter if you start early and break in the middle when the heat is high and uncompromising. 

When I lived in Crete, that is how life moved.  The days started super early, and slowed dramatically from around noon to three. During the heat of the day the shops closed, the men headed to the little cafe's and sat outside talking and playing games.  I don't remember what the women were doing, I just know that around 3 pm we would walk down the hill to the bakery and bought fresh bread for dinner most days.  I remember you could smell it baking throughout the village.  The men worked outdoors, they were farmers and fisherman primarily in the small village I lived in, they needed that moment in the shade.  They would get back to work in the late afternoon and work until evening when it became cool and welcoming once again. 

Hubs and I were drinking our coffee this morning and chatting about my inability to remember the day of the week.  He mentioned that he was a bit jealous of the fact, one bit of discussion led to another and had us wondering why the work day model was ever developed or accepted over all.  It's so unnatural. I work super hard, probably harder than I ever worked when I was employed in the traditional sense.  My days are often long and filled to capacity. I definitely do not follow the Monday - Friday grind.  I work when I have things to do. I rest when I am worn.  Sometimes that means I do absolutely nothing in the middle of the week, and sometimes I am busy as all get out the entire weekend long.  I think the reason that I don't remember the days is because Monday is no longer a day for me to dread and Friday is no longer a long awaited moment of release. 

They are now simply moments of time when the sun is up or down. Somehow we were all convinced to become slaves to a system that doesn't benefit us.  Our children have their natural sleep cycles disrupted to go to sit in schools for hours on end.  Not really learning how to think, it's more being taught what to think.  Long gone are the days where education was for their collective benefit.  They grow up being convinced that the only way to be successful in life is to trade off those five days a week in exchange for the two that you get to semi-claim as your own. And even those lines are becoming far more blurry than before. 

I saw a meme this morning that struck a serious nerve in my heart this morning.  It had a picture of chickens at the top and said "free range animals", at the bottom was a picture of a busy pedestrian street, packed solid with people that said "free range slaves".  Ironically, my daughter made a comment the other day that was basically along the same lines.

We've been so programmed to think of slavery in a single way that I fear we have over looked what is truly going on.  We punch time clocks and do what is required to earn dollars that are taxed at a ridiculously high rate and then we pay more taxes on everything we buy with those few remaining dollars. We end up trading our lives to support what is basically a slave system.  We don't benefit.  We toil. And thank the very people that enslave us.  We have slowly become people that have to be consumers because we have forgotten how to be our own creators.  It has been taken away from us. 

There was a time you built your own home, grew your own food, made your own household goods.  There was a time those skills existed for all of us, gratefully and willingly passed down to the generations that followed. You learned trades, you farmed the land, you might be a shop keeper, of even a healer.  But slowly the trades narrowed as we no longer made things, the farmers had to fight to stay a small farmer or else become part of the huge agricultural complex, those mom and pop shops got gobbled up and spit out by the mega shops that were buying cheap crap from other countries and selling it to us for even less. Finally, healers became part of big Pharma and stopped healing and started treating symptoms of the greater ill, because there is no money in healing. 

Slowly we became conditioned to march in lockstep.  To stop seeing what wasn't working and moving towards accepting it.  At least that is how it feels from my personal place in the world now.  When we don't do what is wanted, there are punishments.  Higher prices, lack of things we have forgotten how to make, things become unavailable or worse illegal, even being controlled by a credit score that impacts everything in your life.  We are forced into compliance, maybe without physical whips and chains.  But the punishments are there just the same. 

all the girls together

Last night we gathered with family and friends, we laughed, we talked, we had fun.  Most of us stayed up way past our bedtimes.  Today I am feeling the effects.  Today I am super weary.  I want to snuggle up with my pups and sleep for a few more hours, I'm tired.  Five hours of sleep was simply not enough. I won't take a nap, I would feel far too guilty if I did.  Knowing that my family and friends that gathered last night to celebrate are struggling through a day where they cannot rest, I'm still caught in that mindset.  If they can't, I won't. But it will definitely be a very early night tonight. 

I know I go down some strange paths... these are just my crazy thoughts and my questions... 

that is the question...

Yesterday's mini-tantrum is over.  I have found the best way for me to not feel overwhelmed is to simply get busy.  And busy I was, for the most part.  I also had some snuggle time with my baby boy to make up on and he made sure he got every minute he felt he was entitled to.  I guess he filled his snuggle bucket because he is now laying on the floor, not on me, chewing on one of their chew toys, quite content. Well, he was, until his sister sat up ripped it away and basically threw it, before returning to her bone.  She is a feisty one. 

Hubs and I got up early so we had time in the garden before the heat moved in.  I have never been a fan of mid-west heat/humidity.  This year is no exception.  But if you plan your day well, it is easy to work around. We watered the grass and all the gardens before the sun burst over the horizon, sat amongst the plants with our coffee and chatted while I gathered today's harvest.  

I love when mornings start like that.  I don't need my mornings to start off with the news, that's for sure. Why bother?  It isn't factual information and it's always doom and gloom and pushing us further and further into a sense of fear and hopelessness. I'm really getting worn out with all the news and articles about how it is so unbelievably hot, this is a "once in a lifetime" occurrence, etc. That's what they say when a bit of snow falls... guess what, I have pictures sent to me by my family of more snow falling here than I have ever seen from 1983, their car was completely buried.  Well, that was just a minute ago and I've now lived here almost 20 years straight and we barely get snow, and when we do, they make it into a big crisis.  Guess what, it's called weather and snow, sun, rain they happen. 

I know for a fact that it's been this hot many years in a row.  It's July in the mid-west, this is sadly normal.  Drink some extra water, expect your grass to turn brown and your leaves to fall.  It happens every year.  What doesn't happen every year is the rising rates on everything.  Causing folks to turn their a/c up, not being able to water the crops and farm animals, etc. 

I'm tired of folks not paying attention.  Really tired of it.  Stop being led by the nose and open your eyes and your own memory please!  For over two years it has been a solid exercise in manipulation and surprise, based on the number of masks I saw at the grocery yesterday - it's working fabulously on some of you. 

None of us are weak minded, not a single one.  It's just a matter of how much are you willing to be convinced of something.  It's like when you go to a hypnotist, some people simply can't be hypnotized and some... well humor can be had at their expense. 

I read several articles that the "president" (yeah, don't go there) may announce a climate emergency, for everyone clamoring for that to happen I sure hope you do a bit of homework about what that could lead to.  Did you learn anything from two weeks to flatten the curve?  Have you figured out yet that statistics can be manipulated to fit whatever story you want them to?  Do you understand the power that will give a very unscrupulous group, that have already proven they don't give a crap about us or this country?

but why? that is the question...

The issues facing our farmers are due to the restriction of supplies, i.e. fertilizers, feed, water (you think they are rationing now?). The weather didn't cause any of that, supplies are being limited intentionally.  Think toilet paper, do you really think the American people bought that much toilet paper?  Remarkable how much of it suddenly reappeared a few months later.  Now stores are bulging at the seams with the stuff. Limiting supplies and non-stop news stories created that panic. They are doing the same thing now. 

I personally have never wanted to live in a country that is controlled by politicians and power hungry thieves. I have lived in socialist countries before and can honestly state, not impressed.  Communist countries have never even remotely been on my list. Yet, I fear that is where we are headed.  Because it appears that we have become complacent and easily manipulated.  We believe what is being force fed to us, instead of what we see with our own eyes. It's so very sad.  We are being destroyed and yet many just go along with the narratives presented.  Blind to what they know is truth. 

Yesterday, I saw a news article with a couple of congress women being "led" away from a protest.  Both of them pretended to have their hands cuffed behind their backs as they were led away.  Strange how those handcuffs work, because I watched both of them raise a fist in solidarity with their fellow protesters and then lower their arms to appear handcuffed again.  I've never been handcuffed, but I am fairly certain that is a physical impossibility.  So why the game?  Why try to appear handcuffed?  What was the value in the lie.  

I don't like lies.  I struggle hard with liars, in fact in my world it is one of the worst things a person can do.  Maybe that is why I am struggling hard with everything that is going on, it sends my b.s. meter off the charts. Don't lie, don't deceive, don't manipulate.  None of these things works for me, and yet watching folks it appears many are easily swayed. 

If you really want to understand what is going on with our weather, look at the past, it always proves the future, it's cyclical. It's happened before, it will happen again.  I'd worry more about the freedoms we are giving up to a false story.  There is bad stuff happening, but I don't believe our precious earth is the cause. Neither is the sun (despite the tales you are being told) we are in a solar minimum and have been for several years already, it won't end until 2030 (isn't that ironic). This means less sunspots and solar flares, although if you listen to the news there is a new solar flare getting ready to hit the earth almost daily.  But hey, people don't take the time to do any sort of research anymore, so I'm not surprised that they are believing the rhetoric. 

I'm going to keep questioning everything, I'm going to keep looking for real answers not manufactured for the moment ones.  I am going to keep taking care of my family and being the best I can be. I don't know what your plans are, I have no idea if you believe the fairy tales being told.  But... 

If I offended you, sorry.  Seems folks spend way too much time in their feelings these days.  I'm not there any longer.  

love and prayers... it's all we have left...

my personal paradise...

It's another delightfully cool morning here in the treetop garden.  I'm sitting out here with my coffee, listening to the bird songs and the world waking up. It's a beautiful 65° and the sun has already cleared the horizon, although here in the garden it is simply peaking through the trees.  Perfect way to start the day, absolutely perfect. Funny, it's how we ended the day yesterday as well.  The warmth of the day had faded into a breezy 75°, it was heavenly.  We watched the birds fly over for the evening dinner, the deer wander just outside the gate and the puppies were engaged in serious horseplay right until they wore themselves out and fell asleep. 

Hubs and I simply sat and enjoyed the peaceful evening.  The sounds of the big bands wafting through the air, chatting about our day, hope, plans, dreams.  We also talked about the fear mongering that is rampant. And how we personally were feeling about it. 

Yesterday, moments after I posted my blog, I had a memory pop up on the book.  It was from 12 years ago I believe.  I could have written it yesterday.  I asked how the promised heat of over 100° could possibly match up with the beautiful cool morning.  It really gave me pause.  We have such short memories for the day to day minutia, as we work and stay busy with our lives we really don't take that much notice of the every day stuff.  So when the media starts beating the drum that it is going to be the hottest summer on record, the panic starts to set it.  The fear becomes reality.  I needed that reminder. 

Yes, I was quite concerned by the warnings.  The drum beating about rolling black and brown outs, the excessive heat, etc.  Now, I already know quite a few folks that have had loss of power, but I think that is more of a game being played with us, similar to the random food shortages, rising prices, etc... but that isn't what I am talking about. 

one of the pot-o-peno's

jalapenos to prepare

tomatoes, pickles and peppers

Tom Thumb Tomato

I stopped writing for a bit to spend some time with Hubs on this delightful morning.  I puttered in the garden pulling in today's harvest, while we chatted about different things.  Marveling at all of the tomatoes that I was able to gather from the Tom Thumb plant. A friend gave us a bag of fresh grown romaine lettuce, she has way too much growing in her garden patch and was gracious enough to share the bounty.  That with those tomatoes and the few peppers that were ready will make a wonderful lunch and probably dinner for the two of us today. There is nothing quite like freshly harvested veggies.  

Giant Marconi - not quite ready

I also harvested another couple of pickling cukes and will start them to fermenting today.  It will be a small jar, but it will also be the first jar that I have ever made from starter plant to finish! There were also quite a few jalapeno's that needed to be harvested.  I've found that if I harvest all of the fully grown peppers regularly I am blessed with so many buds within a day.  Both of my jalapeno plants are strong producers.  I think I am going to try doing some seed saving from these. 

ROOTS!!! 
The Roma is going to make it!

So lets' jump back to the weather situation, because it is really all relevant. I'm not a farmer, although I am sure it is a life I would love to live, but as a gardener (even my little treetop garden) it is important to me to have those warm days.  These cool mornings and evenings coupled with the hot days are what is allowing me to harvest these wonderful veggies each day.  Two days ago, my Tom Thumb was covered in green tomatoes, but nothing was even close to ripe.  Now I've harvested enough for at least two meals for two. They needed that kiss from the sun and the heat that filled the days. 

While the media is busy telling us how tragic the heat is, how it is destroying lives, I really do believe that it is simply the natural cycle of nature.  Are we having droughts, you better believe it, but I don't believe they are an act of nature any more than I believe the fires are.  In that case the more you actually research and learn the more power you have.  

We have actually entered a solar cycle that will be cooling our temperatures, so the occasional hot spell is simply nature balancing itself out. 

That being said.  I'm thankful for a bit of the fear-mongering.  It led me to make a few changes around our home that are proving beneficial.  Because of the heat and the extreme rising costs of everything I put up the extra curtains and closed the blinds.  We are now able to raise the temperature of our air conditioner by a full 4 degrees so far and it is just a cool as it always has been.  Neither Hubs or I enjoy being toasty, we are cool weather folks, and the house is so mild it is not a problem at all. 

I am going to be installing a thermal "door" on the patio, because puppies need lots of outside time. Although they have gotten good at using the little opening I leave, I am going to see if this will help even more. Who knows. 

I truly am thankful for that memory popping up.  It broke a spell that I was allowing to be woven around me.  Convincing me that this was the worst, hottest summer ever.  Nope, this is the Midwest, it is always HOT and HUMID between the months of May - October it is always a possibility.  Just the same as snow is always possible from October - May. None of it is unusual, none of it is apocalyptic.

I'm not prepared to dig into why the powers that be want us to believe it is.  I don't have the time or energy for it.  I am more than a little bit sure that there is a reason, I am also more than a little bit sure that it is about control. But that is a decision that each person needs to come to on there own.  Some folks may think I am bat shit crazy, who knows they might be right.  Each of us is here to live our own lives, to walk our own journey and to figure out the things that we all need to now on our own. 

I was deeply sadden when I heard about a country requiring digital passports to allow their citizens access to reasonably priced bread, don't get the passport (which they can shut off if you aren't obeying their rules and regulations) then you can pay the super over priced amount they are currently charging.  

I have my own issues with things in the bible, I feel man has "interpreted it" just a few too many times to suit their own needs.  But it definitely feels a lot like accepting the mark of the beast to me.  I mean, who knows, maybe it is how they will control their masses, who knows if it will ever come here.  But these are some wild and crazy times we are living through.  And honestly... Hank Jr might have seriously been on to something with his song "A Country Boy Can Survive"... not familiar... worth a listen. 

Well, the sun is starting to climb to the top of the trees and shine down on me, meaning soon I will be warmer than I am happy with.  I harvested a lot of yummy goodness from my garden that needs to be worked with.  A friend donated a LARGE amount of canning jars to me that need to find their way into my dishwasher so that I can fill them. The cantry has been neglected while I have gotten over the crud, and I still want to put a few more stitches into the second dish cloth that I started yesterday. 

Pepper and Onion Pickles 
my only project yesterday - these are
heavenly!

time to wash the jars

today's dish cloth

yesterday's dish cloth

Enjoy the mornings like this, that are a gift to make up for the heat of the day.  Spend the cool hours doing the outside stuff.  Save the heated ones for inside work.  And look out for those around you that might still be under the spell of fear and trying to survive the stupidity being forced on us. Drink a couple extra glasses of water and enjoy the day.

love and peace...