Something Useful

I figure I may as well post something useful. To start, maybe I'll talk about chickens. When I was little (before my mom left my dad, but after we moved out to Spear Ranch), our neightbors had chickens. One day we had no food because my dad did not do things like give my mom money to buy food. So my mother begged a chicken off of them. They were kind enough to oblige and even to butcher it (the killing part).

Then my mom dipped it in boiling water to get rid of the feathers. I remember all this clearly, regardless of the part where I was between the ages of two and six. It's after that where I can't remember what we did next. I know the feathers were removed and put in a plastic grocery bag because either my older sister or my mom (I can't remember which) was going to do something with them. Of course they just went in the bag and put under the counter. There they stayed until they smelled so awful that they had to be thrown out.

The feet went to my best friend's cousins (her Grandpa was the one who gave us the chicken). The bird was gutted and who knows what we did with them because I can't remember. I remember removing the gullet and my mom sliced it open and showed us the beans, rice, dog food, etc that was inside (the birds were free range and so ate all sorts of things). And then we had some food.

When I was little (after my mom left my dad, but before we moved anywhere else), my dad had chickens of his own which someone hatched out for him. I don't remember the man's name, but he had a ginormous incubator (one of those commercial ones that looks like a refrigerator) in the back of his store (not a feed store, it was called "Treasures and Trinkets" and it sold all sorts of little 'treasures' and trinkets--like the name says). The chickens were Araucanas which are my dad's favorite birds, I think. He kept them in a little coop with his pigeons.

When I was about twelve, my dad took me and my little brother and sister to Mesa, AZ for a pageant. And there we stopped at a feed store and bought some chicks (Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks). We kept them in Motel 6's tub. My mother was pissed because we had nowhere for them to live. When they got old enough to be outside, my dad built a little coop which we kept in the only fenced part of the yard, and let them run around. My mom had someone butcher two of them and we processed them. I got mad at her because they were our chickens and she decided to eat two of them without asking our permission. We kept my dog out in their yard on a chain and stake. One night we let my dog run loose to work off extra energy and someone shot him and he died. Soon after, something ate all the chickens.

Then, last year, someone was getting rid of their chickens and even though we'd told them we didn't want them, they brought them over anyway. Long story short, I spent several hundred dollars on their fenced yard as well as feeders and waterers and they were all very sick and slowly dying off one by one (I told my mom I didn't want hand-me-down chickens for that very reason), so I gave them to my dad. All the birds died over there instead. And I didn't get the feeders or waterers back because my dad and his evil fiancee broke up (and her birds were kept at her house). Sad thing was, those were the only chickens we had that I even liked.

In the future, I plan to have chickens, but not until I'm on my own and can make the decisions and buy the birds from a hatchery, etc...

Talk About Snow!

We really have been getting a lot of snow. Way more than we normally do at this time of year. Yesterday we got four inches of snow and then we got three more inches last night. The thing about this area, though, is that after it finishes snowing, most of it melts away within a couple days. Usually by the end of the week, the only signs it even snowed are the mudholes we call our roads and a little bit in the shade and on the north sides of people's houses. Anyways, so it's already melting away. I took more pictures and made another slideshow (I just know you've been looking forward to it, JK. Don't be alarmed, this one is only seventeen pictures, instead of thirty something).

More Snow!

It had snowed a ton more today! I guess the Deity who rules over nature read my last post in which I said we didn't get serious snows because there's fully four inches out there and it's still snowing! One of the loser local schools let school out. Honestly! Four inches and the school closes down? WT*? Whatever. So I took a bunch more pics and made a slideshow at Slide to put on here so you don't have to scroll through a ginormous post (I have thirty-seven thirty six pictures in the slideshow). The song is one I really like called "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan.

Note: I originally had a song as part of the slideshow. Sadly, I find it annoying when a song starts playing without permission when I visit a page, so I have edited the post so that it's the exact same slideshow, but with no music to annoy (even if the song is still really good...).

Green Meme #2

No one tagged me, but I like to do these Memes so, yeah

Guidelines:

1) Link to Green Meme Bloggers. (use image if you like)
2) Link back to whoever tagged you. (no need to wait to be tagged!)
3) Include meme number
4) Include these guidelines in your post
5) Tag 3 other green bloggers.

Green Meme #2

1. Do you use baking soda toothpaste or baking soda shampoo? If not, would you consider it?

My mother uses those. I have tried toothpaste from Arm & Hammer that had baking soda in it, and I really like it, but I am not super-interested in baking soda toothpaste because of flavor (I know, I'm spoiled, LOL). Someday I will try baking soda shampoo. But not until I can get over the part where I like my hair to smell like chemicals shampoo.

2. Do you make any home cleaning products?

My mom mixes ammonia with water for disinfectant purposes. Does that count?

3. What is your top green issue at the moment?

Garbage reduction. We use a lot of single-use items and I really don't like how much we contribute to the local landfill.

4. Given unlimited cash, what is on your fantasy green wishlist?

Solar/wind power!!!

5. Have you implemented any new green act/behaviour/product this month?

I've been keeping the heater off a lot.


Okay, I tag A Homesteading Neophyte, Dancing in a Field of Tansy and Homesteading the Back Forty.

It Snowed, Yay!

It snowed! The first snow of the year was October 11th. Way early. The second snow was December 9th. And it snowed again last night! These are all pictures that I took this morning after everyone else left for church. Our house:


Across the street:

The part of the yard above the septic tank:
The view to the east from the porch:
The view to the west from the porch:
Usually we don't get any serious snows (as in: several inches) before January so it's not much of a surprise that none of this season's snows have been more than maybe an inch. *pouts* I love snow. No one else around here (except my seminary teacher who used to live in Montana and Minnesota) even really likes the snow at all, it seems. I know my mom and a friend's grandfather absolutely hate it. Grrrr....

Tommy (the--neutered--Tomcat):
Lickerish (my sister named her after the candy, but spelled it phonetically because she's weird):
Lady (rescued from some people who were just going to dump her out in the middle of nowhere...grrrr...I hate it when people do that!):

Anggi (as in short for Angela/Angel....another victim of my sister's strange spellings):

All in all today was okay, except my mom has been preaching religion at me again. *covers ears* La la la!!! I can't hear you!

Parade of Lights

Friday night my seminary class was in the parade of lights in a nearby town. We had a red, horse drawn wagon-thing pulled by Shetland mules:


The wagon and mules belong to my seminary teacher and her husband. He was Santa Claus. She was Mrs. Claus. My sister and a friend were Christmas trees, and the rest of us were Santa's elves. For my costume, I wore a long sleeved red shirt with a dark green sweater over it. The sweater's sleeves were shorter than the red shirt's sleeves, so the red shirt showed and it looked awesome. Then I wore a green hat with red fringe, a green collar, black leggings, and brown boots with white fake fur trim.

The Story of Stuff

So I'm reading through all of Cauldron Ridge's blog entries from day one in order to get caught up and all that, and in this post, she links to a video about our doomed consumer society called The Story of Stuff. (Cauldron Ridge got it from Mommy Mommy Land's blog, who got it from someone else's blog, blah blah blah!!!)

The video is insightful and entertaining with plenty of factoids, and isn't boring at all...not once during the twenty minutes, did I consider doing something else with my time. Watch it! It's totally worth it!

I have a little logo you can put on your blog to link to The Story of Stuff. Here it is:



CODE:
<br /><a href="http://www.storyofstuff.com/" title="The Stoy of Stuff"> <img src="http://www.storyofstuff.com/banners/217x188_SoS_Banner007.jpg" alt="The Story of Stuff" /></a><br />

National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

I have read a lot about this from my fellow bloggers and I have decided to post an entry about it. What is NAIS? Well, it was supposed to help big beef producers sell to more exclusive markets. Too bad some idiots (dare I say 'USDA'?), decided that it should apply to ALL livestock owners. so want us to sign our small farm/homesteading animals up and give them numbers and tags, therefore making them part of a national herd. "All livestock animal movements will be tracked, logged and reported to the government."(NoNAIS) This would be fine for the big mass producing factories who treat their animals in a less-than-humane way. But what about us who own horses and rabbits as pets...or those of us who homestead? We can't afford this type off mass-identification and, furthermore, we don't want big government peering over our shoulders and expecting us to explain our every move. We don't want to have to file a ton of paperwork should--God forbid--a neighbor's dog kill one chicken or even a few. And, did you know, the USDA can come in and exterminate all your animals should they have cause to believe that one of your animals is (or was) sick?

From NoNAIS:

"There are no exceptions - even small farms that sell direct to local consumers will be required to pay the fees and file all the paper work on all their animals. Even horse, llama and other pet owners will be required to participate in NAIS. Homesteaders who raise their own meat and grandma with her one egg hen will also have to register their homes as ‘farm premises’ and obtain a Premise ID, tag all their animals and submit all the paperwork and fees. Absurd? Yes - There are no exceptions under the current NAIS plan. The USDA has slipped this plan in the back door without any legislation. This is going to be very expensive and guess who is going to pay for it in higher food prices… You!"

I have two links to NoNAIS you can put on your blog or website to help spread the word about this.


CODE:
<br /><a href="http://NoNAIS.org" title="Protect Traditional Rights to Farm"> <img src="http://nonais.org/imagesmisc/NoNAIScowbrown200.jpg" alt="NoNAIS Logo" /></a><br />


CODE:
<br /><a href="http://NoNAIS.org" title="Protect Traditional Rights to Farm"> <img src="http://nonais.org/imagesmisc/AddressLabelNoNAISewe1up.jpg" alt="NoNAIS Logo" /></a><br />

Green Meme #1

Guidelines:

1) Link to Green Meme Bloggers. (use image if you like)
2) Link back to whoever tagged you. (no need to wait to be tagged!)
3) Include meme number
4) Include these guidelines in your post
5) Answer questions
6) Tag 3 other green bloggers.

Green Meme #1
1) Name two motivations for being green?
a) Because I care about the earth and hate to see her treated so poorly.
b) I can't think of another.

2) Name 2 eco-UNfriendly items you refuse to give up?
a) At the moment I am unable to give up tampons and related. Eventually, I will use one of those little Diva Cups, but until then. And I have yet to find a good replacement for toilet paper.
b) Until I can find something that will remove hair permanently, I will continue to use razors.

3) Are you at peace with or do you feel guilty about number 2?
I'm okay with a, but b gets me. Still, I would love to find viable replacements.

4) What are you willing to change but feel unable to/stuck with/unsure how to go about it?
I really don't know how to go about getting my family on the boat. I am still a teen, so I don't have any authority in my house, and my mom thinks going "green" is some new age/secret combination/bureaucratic brainwashing.

5) Do you know your carbon footprint for your home? If so, is it larger/smaller than your national average? (http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx)
It's smaller: "0.12 tonnes" according to the site

6) What's eco-frustrating and/or eco-fantastic about where you live?
Frustrating: the dead car lots that are so popular around here as landscaping features. People like to dump their garbage out in the middle of nature. And there's a landfill less than three miles from here.
Fantastic: People grow gardens and orchards.

7) Do you eat local/organic/vegetarian/forage/grow your own?
We buy eggs that are brown, vegetarian fed, with no hormones or antibiotics. And when we buy chicken, we buy the free-range kind. Also, my mom grows herbs and some veggies.

8) What do you personally find the most challenging in being green?
The price and my family! I am very limited financially and my family doesn't get it.

9) Do you have a green confession?
You mean like how although I consider myself "green," I have different ideas about what "green" means?

10) Do you have the support of family and/or friends?
Not really they think that it's all government brainwashing.

Okay, I tag: Tiny Farm Blog, Diamond Cut Life, and Earthwoman

Vaccinations/Immunizations

If/when I have children, I am never going to vaccinate them. Why not? Well, because I wouldn't dare. When I was a baby, my mother took me in to get "immunized" and I had a very violent reaction. It is unknown as to what caused the reaction. Was it hereditary? my mother and grandmother were vaccinated only a few times because they were very sick as children. Was it just an allergy to one of the set? Was it an allergy to one of the sickening ingredients? As I said, no one is really sure. Luckily, except for the episode I escaped unscathed. I don't have autism. I have had to deal with depression and OCD, but those are probably more related to other things in my life.

I will not vaccinate my children because I do not know if whatever it was that caused the severe reaction will be passed on to them, and I'm not willing to take the risk.

Another reason, which is less personally related is a few things I found out. a) the outbreak of swine flu in the seventies was directly linked to the vaccination for swine flu. b) the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1812 may have also been linked to the c) AIDS may have been brought to our country from the vaccines (monkey parts are/have been used in some vaccines and are carriers of the disease).

See "How One Wicked Nation Can Kill Billions Around the World--With One Lie!" by Dr. Lorraine Day, M.D. The part about swine flu is pretty far down there since the main article is about Bird Flu. The quickest way to skip to the swine flu part is to press Ctrl+F which will open up a little box to help you search. Type in "swine flu" in the box.

Horse Grooming

So Friday, I went over to my frienemy's house. She has two horses (mustangs) and a mule named Orville (as in Orville Redenbacher--did I spell that right?--Popcorn). The mule wouldn't let Jessica catch him so we just groomed the horses. First we groomed the buckskin. I can't remember his name but it's a type of beer (her parents are like that). He's a little skittish and so I walked him around in a circle while Blondie (that's her nickname and it annoys her lol) moved a pile of wire left over from when they were putting up the fences. They had these two horse-brushes (can't remember what they're called), but one got lost and somebody left the other one out so Blondie got out this...thing...that she hoped was a horse-brush. And then there was a thing for the mane (how come I can't remember any names today?!). We took turns brushing the body and the mane. We didn't the best we could with the horse being a little nervous about being touched. Then we returned whatzisname (starts with a 'P') to his corral.

Blondie tried to catch Orville (the mule) so we could groom him. No success. So then we went on to the other horse. He had just been given to them a few days earlier. A family friend didn't have any money to feed him, so he gave him to them. Blondie named him Sasparilla. It doesn't fit at all. But then neither does "Cocoa" which is what her little sisters named him. He's a handsome guy although he's not very tall (maybe 11 hands) and his ribs are showing. He's got a shaggy black mane (or he did before Blondie took it upon herself to cut his hair). He's very well-behaved and enjoyed the attention he was getting.

Now I have to rant: Why does Blondie pretend she knows more about horses than she actually does? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the only correct terms I've heard for how a horse moves are: walk, trot, canter/lope, and gallop (and a couple of times I have heard "jog"). Well Blondie is trying to sound smart to some people, and she starts talking about "running her horse." Of course, I jump in and tell her you can't run a horse (and I mean it in two different ways). So she says yes you can and eventually reveals that this is the term for how a horse moves when you go faster then a gallop. WTF??? Yeah. And my other complaint: when we groomed her horses, she didn't bother to comb out the horses' tails or to clean their hooves.

Thanksgiving Stove

Well my mom removed some of the rust on the stove and then gave up and applied the blacking. Most of the stove is fine except that around the chimney there is still a lot of rust and it looks very yuck. It doesn't help, I guess that my mom is the antonym of "perfectionist" and I could almost be the synonym for "perfectionist."

Thanksgiving is coming up. Every year each of us children take turns cooking Thanksgiving Dinner (when we were younger, we had a little help from mom). This year it's my sister's turn. And so of course she gets to cook. Every year it was her turn she would start to cook but then would run off and abandon the meal before the turkey was even warm. My mother would then be left to cook by herself and so she would enlist me and together we would finish the meal. This year (after slaughtering tradition; she got a ham instead of a turkey!), she announced that all she was supposed to do was plan the menu and that we were the ones that would cook. Excuse me?! So now that she has abandoned even a pretense of responsibility, my mother will now be cooking. And that most likely means pie with no sugar.... :*(

Homestead.org and Sherri Dixon

So today I've been looking around on Homestead.org for updates since I've last been on the site. There are only a few new articles but that's okay because this site has literally dozens of other articles on everything from goats to gardens to "we did it" stories. My favorite author on there is probably Sherri Dixon. She has a sense of humor that I love. Look at these articles by her: The Unsung Benefits of Homesteading, The Unexpected Menace, Barn Cats, Keeping the Homestead Dream Alive, Paying Attention, Drawing a Circle in the Sand: Teaching Awareness to a Consumer Society, Hair-Raising Homestead Haircuts, (Living in the Sticks) and the Single Girl, Acronyms to Live By, and Livestock Guard Dogs.

Other Articles by Sherri Dixon: Don't Quit Your Day Job, Black Thumb: Helpful Hints for the Cultivationally Challenged, Raising Chickens from Scratch, Homeschooling for Homesteaders, Natural Building Colloquium, Gotta Get Ger, Farm Dogs: See Spot Work, Successful Transplants: Uprooting Your Urban Offspring, The Importance of Being Surveyed, In Defense of the Weedlot, Mice: Scourge of the Homestead, Using a Midwife, Dairy Goats, For Sale By Owner; Needs a Little Work, Earth Stewardship 101: Part 1-Part 2, and Cutting the Utilical Cord: Part 1-Part 2-Part 3.

Other Helpful Articles: "The Ideal Country Home" by Gene Gerue.

Hi! My name is Gemini.

I call myself Gemini cuz most of the time I feel like two or more different people and/or personalities contained in one being. I am sixteen. I am homeschooled right now but have been to various other schools: public, Montessori, Charter, etc...and I am a grade ahead so I graduate this year. I L-O-V-E books and may have read more books in the twelve or so years since I learned to read (I taught myself to read around age four or five) than your average adult will in a lifetime. I am fascinated by the occult and dark stuff. I love all kinds of music and can usually find something I like in every genre (even rap and metal and hard rock...shhhh, don't tell. The people who know me would never believe you). I love the Barnes & Noble in the mall (I even have a membership card; ten percent off!). It's like a huge library where you get to keep the books (and it has a café).

I want to do the homesteading thing someday. I am sixteen and trying to decided what to do with my next 60+ years. And I love animals and growing things and the Earth so it all works out. I want to live in Colorado. I chose this state out of the fifty because: a) it's in the Rocky Mountains (well, the western side, anyway) and I want to stay in my home terrain, b) it has four seasons (I don't know what I'd do without my snow) c) it has decent homeschooling laws (I want children someday and I want homeschooling to be a viable option), and d) no red dirt (well, tere is red dirt but not everywhere...I despise red dirt), e) the only other state that fit the above requirements was Idaho, but I chose Colorado as my first choice because I like the sound of the name and there's a lovely song (actually more than one) by John Denver about it (shallow, I know. Idaho still gets "runner-up," though).

I have yet to visit Colorado to confirm it as where I want to live, but I am going to try and do a road trip this summer through Western Colorado (where the Rockies are). I keep dreaming that I visit but it never quite turns out. Last night I dreamed I was going to visit and somehow ended up in the top of Idaho visiting my friend's girlfriend. So weird.

I am still torn between careers: author, veterinarian, and actress.

My homesteading resumé includes: the majority of my first six years of life on a ranch, watching my dad slice up a butchered goat (he also dehorned kids as well as adults), flocks of chickens three and a half separate times, helping dress butchered chickens, bottle-feeding kids (baby goats, not people!), several gardens as a child which I planted, watered and promptly neglected, horseback riding on several occasions, watching my mom de-skin tomatoes, feeding goats and horses and dogs, watching my mom can string beans and pureéd apricot (which we never ate), cooking, cleaning, etc since I was a toddler (my mother never could function very well, so I got to be mom...big burden for a baby), etc...

As a child I loved Louisa May Alcott's books (especially "Little Men" and "Eight Cousins" and "Under the Lilacs"), The Little House on the Prairie series (favorites: "Farmer Boy" and "Little House in the Big Woods"), Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys...all those good ones. My favorite playacting was what I called "Farm." I would go with my imaginary brothers to go bring imaginary cows in from the imaginary pasture. I loved fire-building and I liked to wash my doll clothes in the sink and iron them with a flatiron. I longed to live at Plumfield. I also liked playing "George of the Jungle" with my friend. I would be Ursula and my best friend that was a boy was George. And sometimes we roped our younger siblings into sidekick roles.

I once mad a "nest" in the reeds of a tiny dried up pond and a "nest" in some big bushes. Both nests I pretended to be an eagle. I liked to catch frogs and froglets and keep them. I have had numerous cats and loved them all.

My Grandma was my champion and protector until she died. Then I had to fend for myself. My life has been full of both dark times and times of joy, but I am grateful for what both have taught me.

Pumpkin Pudding

Update on the Pumpkin Pudding. It works better if you wait until the pumpkin mixture is warm and then stir in the cornstarch a little at a time. And I doubled the recipe when I made it this last time and used 1/3 cup of cornstarch and I am pretty sure that's not the equivalent of twelve Tbsp of cornstarch. I have a suspicion I might be using too much cornstarch, but I don't know how much cornstarch, so if anyone wants to experiment with the recipe, feel free to improve it however you want. Just two requests: post a link back to my blog as where the original recipe was found and also please post your improved recipe in the comment section so I can try it. Thank you.

P.S. I just had a thought. The egg whites would probably mix better if I mixed some of the pumpkin mixture in with it and then added that back to the main pan...

Pudding and Braces

As of this moment, my mother is outside removing rust from our woodstove so she can put "stove blacking" (that's what she calls it...I think the can has a different name) on it. Then she wants to hire my friend's dad (who is a builder) to install a stovepipe. Then we'll have a woodstove again! I miss keeping warm with fire. This electric heater business is so wrong.

Doesn't the picture make you feel warm just looking at it?

So far, I have been making good on posting regularly. I am quite proud of myself for getting to three posts. I daren't make any promises to continue, though, because I have this thing where when I feel obligated (to myself) to do something, then I put it off indefinitely. So sad.

And yesterday I got the braces on my bottom teeth put on. And they hurt! Why? When I got my top braces put on, it didn't hurt at all! And when I got my expander put on it was only painful for a few hours...oh well. At least after this I'll have straight teeth. I have been subsisting on pudding lately. I keep trying solids but with little success.

Vanilla Pudding. 

This is a pudding recipe from a cookbook my lil sis has. 

• 1/3 cup sugar (I use unrefined dried can sugar in place of regular white sugar)
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups milk (I used Silk soymilk...and a lil' extra cornstarch to aid the thickening)
• 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for the Pumpkin pudding recipe that follows)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla

1. In saucepan mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over med heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for a minute.
2. Gradually stir in half the hot mixture into the egg yolks, then stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir for another moment. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.
3. Chill pudding for an hour or until chilled. Store covered in refrigerator. 4 servings.

Pumpkin Pudding. This is my very own recipe for Pumpkin Pudding. It could use some refinement in texture, but it tastes really good.

• 4 eggs separated, plus the egg whites left over from the above recipe
• 1 (29oz) can pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, and 1/2 tsp cloves)
• 12 oz soymilk
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Place egg yolks in a large pan. Stir in pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices and milk separately. Using a wire whip, mix in cornstarch. Stir over medium heat until it boils. Continue stirring until it thickens to a pudding consistency. Remove from heat.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Mix with wire whip. Stir in butter and vanilla. Heat over low heat until mixture is throughly blended.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled or overnight.

Mexican Goulash (another recipe of my own devising)

• 1 box prepared vegan taco filling
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
• taco sauce (to taste)

Mix ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. Serve warm.

President-elect Barack Obama

I posted a comment on this blog: Patterico's Pontifications. The comment says:

I was glad to find someone trying to find some good in Obama. There wasn't a lot there, and it needed to be backed up with actions, but it was still nice.

Also, I find the whole discussion in the comment section absolutely fascinating. There are so many diverse opinions. It's enlightening.

For myself, I will give Obama a chance to set this country on its feet again. From what he says he wants to do, it isn't likely...but if he were to ever try it, his corrupt politician skills would guarantee it would happen. :) He could promise everyone whatever they wanted. He could make them believe they will actually get it while he did some good. Sadly, he doesn't seem to be using his "talents" for good.

And I still haven't decided whether Obama is actually a decent, misguided fellow or a evil man...or something else entirely. Still we shall see....

Links

Two posts! It's a miracle! (And a record...) Here I'm posting some interesting links:

BookCrossing, The USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS), more NAIS news, even more NAIS, Family Farm Defenders, National Novel Writing Month, Finding a "Pick-Your-Own" Farm, Human Implant Tracking Device, Local Harvest, Site for Food and Wine Lovers, Message in a Bottle, Groovy Green, Natural Soap, Providing Books for Children, Bargain Books, Blogathon, Preparing Natural Food, Homestead Helpers, IDK What to Name This One, Solar Power, The Modern Homestead, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, and Get Rich Slowly.

First Post

I only seem to be able to post one post per blog before I forget I even have one. Oh well, maybe this blog where I detail my ideas for sustainable living will be different.