Snow Day and Night

Snow days can be a struggle then again there are times like these when you can take a deep breath relax with one of the tastiest bowls of potato soup I have made in years. Whew!

                           Day

Home made potatoe soup for supper  made with chicken broth, crisp bacon, shaved Black Forest ham, butter and heavy cream.

Night time snow in the back yard with yard light adding just the right look.

   Somehow it is just the soothing touch I needed tonight.

Love

Ranchmama 

Strange Things .....

Ok we grow and sell birds. Every now an then we get calls from someone wanting to buy 1 bird. This time I got a call from a man I have never met wanting to buy a bird that we don't grow. No big deal. He told me where he got my number an I have no idea how in the world we got on that bird grower list. Not a clue.

     I told him I would look up a old buyer I had and send him info by email. The addy he gave me was something about ghost hunting. Well... That started a hour long conversation between the two of us. Telling me what they do as a group an what he does on his own. During this long talk I started feeling strange things in different areas of my body. I started telling him what and where I was feeling it at and he told me about the cold he had and how one of the aches was where he had a bullet go through him and where it was still in him at. 

     Next thing I know he was saying Holy Cow he was in Illinois an I was in Oklahoma never met him before telling him about his aches an pains! 

     He said he was talking to his team members wanting to make room for me on their team!  I told him I have never done anything like that didn't even know if I could . Then he tells me they are going to investigate a sanitarium in Arkansas in the very same town my daughter lives!

    So hummmm.... Here is a invite that not many people get. To do something really different. The thing is I haven't the foggiest idea who this person is! He offered to meet my husband and I somewhere but we don't do those kinds of things. Still.... It is something to think about and consider . We could drive down and meet the team there and participate .  

    Got some heavy thinking to do about this one . 

Ranchmama 

( Ghostbuster in training ? )

     

Brrrrrr....

We were in prep mode when we heard of the cold weather. It's always better to get as many things as you can done while the weather is pleasant before you get ice and snow.

    Animals always come first on a ranch. So it was time to make sure everybody had enough hay. That was four different stops at four different places . The hay was put behind what wind breaks could be found for about 30 cows or so at most stops. Thank goodness for JD 4 wheel drive cab tractors! 

   Check the alternative electric devises and move into position so we won't have to do it in ice and snow. Got the tires aired up an covered with a tarp everything ready to go. 

   Did what laundry and dish washing needed doing while we have electric. Fridge is stocked. Potato sack ready for some really good potato soup with lots of butter and bacon in it. 

    Cell phones charged and flashlights handy. 

   We were as ready as u could be. Thank goodness the electric stayed on. Other than some really cold wind and wet shoes it's all snug and going smooth ..... At the moment anyway . 

    Poor doggies get kicked out for bathroom breaks and Sassy wobbles out to do her thing. Heidi Ho has no problem and goes out to play. 

    Would love to go to Wally World when roads are better. Even with 4 wheel drive it's still slick. The stores are going to be bombed with all the cabin fever that is being had I am sure. 

Here is the view out my front door. You can't even see the target on the 700 yd range in the top right of the pic on the hill.  Notice the thermometer is around 20* F on the porch. Sure feels a lot colder than that! 

Ranchmama ( keeping warm & snug)

"Eyes Wide Open"

There are many times in the last few years and especially the last 2 yrs I have gotten images / messages that certain areas around here will be in bad shape........ the words I get to describe these images are <desolate > not like a war image..... just <empty> not able to grow grass in some areas like the ground just can't do it ....... like people don't want to live in the area because it just can't support life there. Not like contamination but for some reason it is just dry/ empty/ no reason to be there. Several times it is the word <drought> I keep wondering about things like war and it just isn't that........it is something else.......... tonight for the first time the word is ...<famine> ........

these images and thoughts came way before this travesty listed below so I can't say the news is influencing me it is just little things. Like when my husband drives by somewhere on the way to the city and says things like " I can't imagine how crowded this will be 20 yrs from now." I tell him it won't be. Then there is times we drive by a place of ours and I am told that we won't be able to grow things like grass in a certain area these thoughts just pop up out of the blue.I just don't see a "growth" kind of thing going on. If anything I see the opposite whatever that may be.< Struggle> is also a word that comes to light.


http://www.naturalnews.com/042952_Fukushima_fuel_rods_inadvertent_criticality.html

<Tepco's removal of radioactive fuel could set off uncontrolled chain reaction

<One wrong move and Fukushima could poison the entire northern hemisphere with deadly radioactive plutonium and uranium isotopes with half lives of millions of years. In the worst case, it could turn the soils into poison across nearly half the planet, causing much of the northern hemisphere to be uninhabitable by humans

I have to wonder about all these thoughts and images I am given when I see news articles like the one above.  Some people say prayer is the answer. That may be but if anything you need to pray for wisdom to take the proper actions in your area/ life/ future preparations to be able to deal with adversity. Money is a good thing but in this case money won't do it all. I don't think money will be able to even come close to touching this. It is a action, way of doing things on your own for your family and the people or community around you to be able to cope and adjust to what is possibly coming our way.
       It may sound like no big deal when it appears more weather related but think again, that is a HUGE thing! There are just too many things involved when I say weather. Our weather could be effecting us not only because of just natural drastic weather changes but also we have no clue how things we are doing or possible disasters man made or otherwise can determine this kind of thing. 
    You can't sit around and worry about everything but you sure can go forward with a "eyes wide open" attitude.
Try not to be to distracted by our daily struggles.

Keep looking ahead as to how to keep things in a "prep" mode.

Educate yourself and yours on various subjects. Diversity in knowledge is a good thing. You never know when you may need that little bit of info someone around you may have.

Encourage those around you to learn useful things whether it be medical, farming, cooking, even how to be a supportive counselor to others (believe me it will be needed)

Teach. Anyone and everyone that is receptive to learning. Old or young. If someone takes a interest in something you are doing share this knowledge. It is like in the garden world. We have extra plants so we share it with neighbors not only to be kind and generous but also because if something happens to yours and they die you can get a new start from the neighbor you shared with.

Well that is enough of this stuff. I try not to let these images overtake me. I try to keep going with daily life and thinking about how the things I do today will be a help for the tomorrows to come.

Ranchmama
(Who tries not to dwell but sometimes you just can't help putting the puzzle pieces together some days)

Why NOT to Bug Out of Oklahoma

One good reason not to bug out of Oklahoma is..... IT WOULD BE FLAT OUT BORING!!!

Other states just do not have the adventure we do.

Where else can you live and get shaken and stirred all in one day?

Where else can you live and have snow in May with tornadoes right behind it?

Where else can you live and have a tornado in the morning and another one on the same day in the evening like we did here in Prague,Oklahoma?

If I lived in a area of Oklahoma that is known for having repeated tornado dances I would for sure not be living there.

Where I live now there are 100 yo homesteads still here that have not been touched by the storms

That doesn't mean it can't and won't happen but my odds are better.

IF I would be wiped out with the house gone and all I would for sure think about moving to a place that doesn't have weather "episodes" frequently.

My family is small. We no longer have a lot of family close by. 

The kind of work we do being self employed we can do somewhere else.

Not only that as tied down as we have been it might be the only time I get to travel and see things as we are scouting out someplace pretty to look at as we think of relocating.




Ranchmama

Breaking the Law

It's dark.
It's scary.
Even with warnings it is sudden and violent.
Everything is flying in the air,
Cars, houses, cows,
Large and small pieces landing who knows where.
Taken away from homes and businesses and yards and schools.

Little pieces of people, not only their hearts but actual physical people.
We listen, we practice how to stay safe.
Yet when it is REALLY BIG and REALLY DARK
Sometimes no matter how much you practice to be safe,
No matter where you hide in your home or business or school,
It isn't enough.

As they scramble to what they hope is safety,
Sometimes just in time, sometimes just barely hanging on and praying.
You hear, you see, everything around you disintegrating.
Your wondering as you see and hear, just what will be left, who will live and you cry and pray in fear.
You pray for your children.
You pray for your spouse.
You pray for your parents.
You pray for friends.
You pray for even the critters, Gods simple creatures.

But what I think is best of all.........
Is all those wonderful teachers.,
Holding and sheltering the best they know how,
Our little ones, our future,
Sometimes with their own body.
When asked on the news what one of them did
She said that she did something she probably shouldn't have done.
     "SHE PRAYED!!!"
She broke the law.

So ok all you Idiots making all the laws,
You think you can keep prayer out of schools with making it illegal ?
You think you can threaten the teachers in charge of our children with losing their job?
You might as well fire every Oklahoma Teacher there is today,
Because every one of them was doing the best they could to save a child,
Then when they did what they could they sent up prayers.
Leaving all the rest in the Lords hands.

So as you can see,
Making it illegal will do no good.
When it is time they will all do just exactly WHAT THEY SHOULD !
 PRAY WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT !
That they are all not taken and can live another night.

Ranchmama
5-21-2013