Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 It was fairly chilly when I awoke at 5:30 am. I got up early as I had an early morning appointment at the dentist. I got a bit carried away trying to get a few things done before I would be attending that. I had to do a very quick brushing of teeth, and dressing but made it in time. 

I was in and out in well less than an hour. It seems like every time I go I spend less and less time in the chair. I am holding my own, getting the plaque to be less and less. I am also having fewer problems with inflammation in my gums so much less bleeding is happening. All are very good things.

Once home I continued with my household tasks. I am afraid I am a very boring person all told. Being home and in my own space is what makes me feel so very comfortable. 

I brought in three pumpkins to process tomorrow and Harvey actually brought in the rest for me. I checked out our potato harvest and we may have enough to last through until the end of December. Other years we had enough for me to make hash browns and fries with to freeze, not this year. Not really looking forward to having to purchase them at all. This past year there have been many not good ones in the bags and I end up wasting a great deal of them. 

Now about the apples in the neighbours yard.... I have gone over a few times, once with cookies, once with a banana loaf and once with some muffins. Only to find she is not at home. Our neighbour is probably in her late 20's and has two rather large dogs. One time I saw her outside working in the front yard and decided to try once again to introduce myself.... She saw me coming over and quickly went into her house. Believe me at 5'4" I am not a scary person so I do not know what the problem is. I will try once again in the spring of next year and I have always gotten along very well with my neighbours.

I usually finish my daily to do lists, but lately it has been a stretch. I seem to keep adding items to each day making the day's work take a bit longer.

I warped my loom today for my next project and kept making errors in doing that. So my next project will need to be done in two parts, or at least I hope it will be done in two parts as I am not too sure about the tension of my warp. I want to make a poncho/wrap for myself so if it isn't perfect that is okay. Yet, one would think the more one weaves the easier and closer to being the right tension would happen.

The trade war, if I may be so bold as to call it that, between my country and our southern neighbour is getting worse. I am still working on preparing for whatever happens the rest of this year. It is just so tiring and the news does not always sound conducive to a quick end. Contrary to what Mr. Trump expects I highly doubt that we will come on bended knee and say "We are sorry." Life just doesn't move in that direction up here. We are hurt, and wonder why it is forgotten that we were the first country to join the United States after 9/11, we opened up our homes to planes that were stranded across Canada, and have always been there when needed. 

I will keep on using things up, making do, fixing what I can and making the best of what is a horrible situation for both countries. I am supporting my country in the only way I am able to now with the money I spend and I am sorry for those states that this is really hurting. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

What's With Frugal YouTubers Suddenly Prepping?

 As part of my resting today, I watched some of my favourite YouTube channels and saw something very interesting happening. So many of them have decided to figure out how to prepare for the worst possible scenario's. 

Now as a frugal person I have always tried to prepare for storms, rising prices and any other small challenge that could come my way. The way I see it, if the worst possible happens we probably won't be here to see the results. 

Since these people profess to be frugal, shouldn't they have prepared for those small things already? I do know some have a pantry, but many of them seem to purchase items that need to be frozen (power outages or hacking of the power grid would take those full freezers out right away). 

The cash on hand I think is a great idea, and one that I do just in case. However saying to go to your corner store to purchase groceries if big stores suffer a computer shutdown, won't work in many cases. We have one corner store here in my city, and they no longer sticker price their groceries or cleaning supplies. Most places have gone to the run the barcode and get the selling price. Even our 7-11 stores have moved to this method. No electricity would also mean the stores coolers would no longer work and food would spoil quickly. 

None of them mention getting a generator to run their electric appliances. Some even talk about using their phones to watch movies they have downloaded if the internet goes down. Hmmm, how would they recharge their phones, laptops or tablets with now electric. Yes, if they fill the vehicle with gas they could in fact use the running vehicle to recharge things. Still gas would run out fairly quickly with the constant recharging of phones and such. 

Lately I have been purchasing more canned goods, and making sure I have propane for cooking on my camp stove or on the BBQ. Not many of the YouTubers I watch even mentioned that. They do mention candles and solar powered lanterns and such. They even speak about stocking up on batteries. Yet not many mention purchasing canned goods. Lots of canned meat and veggies to be had for the pantry, and my next $10.00 pantry spend will probably be canned potatoes and canned fruit, if I can get a good deal. 

So do you think one should prepare for the worst possible scenario? Or just prepare for the smaller happenings that we are used to?

Off to get some more sleep as I have been coughing, sneezing, and dang cold. Will try and visit you all, but the way I am feeling that might have to wait until tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Living Simply

 I am slowly but surely moving towards a life that is simpler. Not simple in that there is no effort to live, but one that takes our world into consideration and one that makes the most of what we already have. 

With rising costs I believe that the more we can do for ourselves, the better off we will be. Add in the wars that are raging around the world and preparation is definitely necessary. Today, Canada and the U.S. under the umbrella of NORAD, had to scramble planes as Russian fighters were getting very close to Alaska and Canadian airspace. We do live in turbulent times, and I don't think things will improve for awhile. This is not the first or only time that Russia has tried to enter the airspace of other countries with their fighters.

While I do have many things that make life easier overall, I am decluttering those items that I no longer use. Thus making space, not for other things but space to breathe and to just be. 

I have been reading so much about waste lately that it has made me realize that at times I have lead a very wasteful life. Small changes have been made and more are coming. The more that are coming is shopping more at a secondhand store. We only have two here which is kind of limiting, but I am sure I can find things to recycle into my life. I have already found reading material and craft supplies in one over the years, but now I will be looking for clothing to refashion and things to use with what I have. Perhaps I can find a decent set of pots and pans. 

Living simply means using what we have to the best advantage. This also goes very well with using up, wearing out, making do or doing without. 

Are you moving towards a more simple life? If so how?

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.