Preparing to Store Leaves for Goldenrod Tea

I know it's been a while since I posted. I will be posting more on a regular basis. This post is a little more different. Survival encompasses many different aspects. One thing for sure in order to survive you have to have food and other things to help you in time of need. There are many things we omit from our awareness when we are caught up with the day to day life we lead. Especially if we are busy people trying to survive in this technology rich environment. Some people give up on that type of life and go live off grid. I have especially been looking at this. I have made steps in that direction.

If we want to survive major issues and exist with our families in safety we must provide our own food. Gardens and learn how to garden is a must. Canning will be next in order to save what we grow throughout the year ahead. 

I have found this great book. I am always reading it or referring to it.

I have learned a lot from this book. It made me aware of those plants around me and to think of foraging for different plants not directly around me. One plant I found in my own backyard was Goldenrod. You can make a tea out of it that is good for colds, allergies and brachial congestion. So if you living on your own off grid then this would be a good tea to have. The plant is not hard to find. But there are look a likes so you need to be sure you have found the right plant. This book goes into all the look a likes, etc. I found I had this plant in my own backyard and was able to get as much as I wanted or needed to make the tea. 

I ended up buying a dehydrator, a cheap one from Amazon with free delivery of course with Prime.  I dehydrated quite a few plants.

So today I spent taking the dried plants and getting the leaves and flowers off the stems and into a Folgers container. So it's not a coffee container anymore. lol This is how I spent today. 

   These are some of the stems with the dried leaves on them. Fun, fun, fun

I have a bag ready for the stems I am throwing away. It's cheap and easy.

This is the finished product. A container full of tea leaves to use.

   I did this job with my helper cat on my lap. He was interested in what I was doing. lol

Everyone needs a helper cat or dog. So maybe you need to find a good one at a local pet shelter that needs a good home. That is where I got this cat (Sandman) and he has worked out greatly. He follows me room to room and likes to be with me on my lap. As you can see.  A very good helper.

When Things Get Tougher

 As time goes on and things get tougher here in the USA what do you think will happen all around us. Those criminals will prey on those that have been prepared like you and me for what we have that is valuable to us. That could be the food that you have and other forms of value. So you will need to protect your family. I know when the gas prices went up over $4.00 a gallon and covid hit there were people stealing gas out of tanks to get gas while we slept safe in our beds. People lost jobs when covid hit making them very aware of their own needs and the quickest way to fulfil those needs was to steal from others in the cover of darkness. 

If you buy and store your food a word of advice is you do not spread it around to everyone that you have a years worth of food stocked. Only tell those who need to know. 

Also, you will want to protect what you have for your families. Buy a gun or guns, crossbow if you don't like guns or other form of protection. Make sure it's registered as well am not suggesting you not go by the laws within your individual states. 

It's been suggested by many and for many years to buy gold and silver. Now is the time to buy this as the dollar gets devalued? You will always have something of value to use as money when money is no longer there and the banks having trouble. I have heard when some banks close you can't even get your money out or back from them. Lately I have heard that many actors and actresses have lost millions when certain banks have close the last few months. They still have enough to live on, but lost millions. So what did the little people lose? Something to think about. It's only the actors and actresses we hear about.

These are just some things to think about. Like I said in an earlier post I do not preach doom and gloom. Just trying to make people aware of what could be happening already and help people move forward rolling with the punches so to speak. Be prepared that is the motto. Please leave comments if you feel a need to. Or would like to see certain things here on this blog. I take suggestions. Or post me an email note using the form in the right margin. Cheers!

Survival Food Stores

In regards to my previous post. The link I gave you was for survival books. However, the survival food link you should be going to is the following link:

https://www.4patriots.com

Here is other survival food links. I have not bought from these sites yet. But between all the links I give you here you may find some great buys to help cut costs. Then you can stock up on survival foods. There may be other companies am not aware of yet.

https://www.valleyfoodstorage.com

https://www.readywise.com

https://www.nutrientsurvival.com

https://www.nutristorefoods.com

https://www.beprepared.com

https://www.augasanfarms.com

https://www.peakrefuel.com

https://www.mypatriotsupply.com

https://www.peakrefuel.com

https://www.4patriots.com      I have bought from this company and they have great buys.

Good luck with your survival efforts and keeping your family safe.

4Patriots Wholesale Club

Well here is a place to buy many different things for survival. One thing that I have been buying is there 72 hour survival package. They just had a sale on 72 hour packages...buy one get two free. I bought a few of these during the sale. They are good to have in you survival storage as they are freeze dried and last for 25 years. So you can use them when you need them. Here is the link so you can see what is offered. They will notify you for sales throughout the year if you give them your email.

https://patriotwholesaleclub.com/

They sell a lot of other things as well as food for storage. Like solar generators and survival tools etc.

Am Back After a Very Long Break!

Well it's been a real long time since I posted on this blog. Well am picking things up now. I moved back east to Maine and then to Connecticut. I have been in CT for 14 years and finally realized why I went through so much training my last 6 years in the Navy. Well I went through land survival, SERE, desert survival and ultimately jungle survival in the Philippines. Thought I would never use those skills. However, the last few years things have gotten pretty bad in the world and the USA. I have looked for survival ways of coping with all this.  So bought land a while back in Maine. This land will be used for living off grid if things get so bad that I need to move on the land. My family also can use the land for survival reasons as well. The talk of nuclear attacks by Russia, North Korea and China really has done it for me. There is so much unrest in the world right now. Even protests in Israel right now. South China sea issues with Taiwan, the US and China. Ever more reasons for 3rd World War out there. So survival is going to be the thing and maybe real soon. Have been building up on my home property ways in which to garden as much as possible so that if successful will help us to live on the property in Maine. So am going to use this blog SpookAW Chronicles for survival tips and references for others as well as reminders for myself. Check back on here if your interested and need information on survival. These may be the skills needed in the future. The Mormon church teaches their members about obtaining a year supply of foodstuffs and things to survive emergencies as well. So you may want to check with friends that are Mormons and find out how to learn more about it. Many members have companies they deal with that offer help in obtaining and stockpiling things for their year supply. Buying in bulk of course as well as quality. Many blessing to all in these times of needs.

It's been a real long time!

I have not posted in a real long time. Was going through a lot of changes and was not ready to share here. Sorry it's been a long time. I will see if I can catch some of the time up or just draw a line in the sand and start fresh. Many blessings to all!

Update from Maine

     Hello All...Well from California I headed back to Texas. I found that California and I did not mix well if I was going to survive on what little made and going to school. So was back in Texas and ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. While there I had the realization that I was out in the middle of the USA with no family or friends. So the next leg of the path or journey was to move back to the east coast.
     I stopped in CT thinking I would stay there. All it ended up being was a recursive event. I had come back to the area to settle and there was no work to be had. No family there either. My daughter had moved back to North Carolina. So I still was with no family.
     I was able to reconnect with my mother and my brother from CT. Which was nice. I later reconnected with my daughter Lindsay and my son Ben in New Hampshire. I visited up there and found an RV site for the summer. So moved up there. I figured being close to family we would be able to see each other from time to time. Which has been nice.
     Since being in ME. I was able to take part in the birth of a granddaughter from Ben and Misty. Lindsay is due in January 2008. Also, Melanie in Oklahoma is due in February 2008. It has to be something in the water. Lindsay and Melanie both are having boys. That brings the grandchildren total up to 10.
     I had been all over the USA this past year or more and had looked at land in all areas. I even bought land in Oklahoma, but never considered buying in ME in the past. So now I own 21 acres in ME. I have some good plans for the land. I am so looking forward to moving things forward with the land. As for the mean time I have moved into a year round RV site and am digging in for the winter.
     Many things needing to be done for winterizing. Skirting completely around the bottom so that no cold air blows underneath. Also, insulating all the lines. The trailer stays pretty warm and then the next little issue. Steam on the windows. So a dehumidifyer needs to be added to the list.
     It has been a while since I have updated this blog. Sorry for the gaps. I will do better in the future. I have internet access now. It's not as good as I have had in the past, but better than nothing.
     So that is all for now. Many blessings to all that read it.

California is the place for me!

     Well I moved again. I left Texas and am in California. I ended up in Coronado, Ca for a few weeks and have settled down for a while in El Cajon. I have a lot of work to do. I jumped right into the graduate program on Monday. I arrived in California on Saturday. There has been plenty of homework to do. I have ended up in the library almost every day.
     One good thing about the California libraries...they have internet access. So I can hook up the laptop and get on their network. Just have to find a quiet spot somewhere. Seem's everyone uses the libraries here. I found the best time to go is in the mornings. The kids are out of school around 2:30pm. So I can get a lot done until then. It feels good working on the masters program. The work is hard and it has been challenging. This is what I have needed. The bachelors degree was long, but not challenging...it was just a milestone. I have completed my first course and that was a milestone as well. It seems just like anything a system is all one needs. This first class I hope I worked out a lot of the kinks and now it won't be as stressfull.
     The trip out here went smoother than I thought. When I went through Tucson, AZ it was a bit rough traffic wise. They were having a huge gem show and traffic was bumper to bumper. Another problem I thought I was going to have was with snow in New Mexico. I had just gone over the border into New Mexico at night and had snow. It was cold as well. I pulled into a rest area and stayed till the next morning and it had cleared. I had visions and flashbacks of the last time I went accross New Mexico. I had three accidents then and a head on with a semi during a major snow storm that lasted a few days. I had hoped I would make it across New Mexico this time without snow. Well I did.
     The next milestone was the mountains of California. I made it, but went up the steep mountains at 20 to 25 miles an hour. I was so worried about the mountains. I was relieved when I had made it.
     California is nice and I missed it, but it has it's drawbacks. The main one is the traffic. It's terrible. There are cars zipping everywhere. Your lucky if anyone let's you switch lanes. You really have to be a defensive driver here. It also seems you can't go anywhere and find a place to be alone. Go to the park and there are plenty of people. I have not been used to this the last few years. Living in the midwest with Oklahoma and Texas has been different.
Well that's all for now.

It's been a while ... thought I would update!

        Well a lot has happened. I have been working on the paper route and things are going pretty good. You never know what your going to learn about even with a paper route. At night time it's kinda nice driving through the darkness to deliver the papers. It's been a lot colder here in West Texas. A nice change since the summers are so hot. Desert country don't you know. We did get snow for one of those cold nights. It snowed all night while I was delivering papers and then it was gone the next day.
        It's funny, but ever since I have been here in West Texas people have been saying that the weather has changed. We had a lot of rain after I got here and then it has not snowed in years. I hear this kinda stuff all the time.
        Cat's are doing great. I am off during the daytime so they like having me around. At night they are alone. It takes about 5 hours to get the 4 paper routes done that I do on a daily basis. This is a 7 day a week job. Something like the Navy... ha ha...just kidding. But a bit of truth there.
        February I will be calling it quits to Texas and the midwest for a while. I will be heading west to head back to California. I am really looking forward to the trip. I have missed the ocean and the beaches. However, I will be attending graduate school full time. I have been accepted to National Universities Graduate Program. The master of science will be in Database Administration.
        Am currently looking into Doctorate Programs and see if it's worth my time. So far the only Doctorate program I see that is worth anything is at Harvard University. Well we will see. That's an expensive school.
        Now back to the paper route...I have seen things here I have never seen before. I see birds at night time. Some sit in the road and as soon as you drive up they fly away. I have seen whole trees full of birds at night time. I would be delivering a paper and then you will hear many birds chirping or making noise in the trees. It was funny I would drive by one particular tree and I would hear these nice calls and I thought it was someone from a house and then I realized after a few day's that it was indeed birds.
        I have seen two types of owls at night time. I have seen a horned owl and then another variety. These were all seen by driving on the route.
        Now the animal I have seen the most of at night besides rabbits are foxes. I have seen so many foxes here to last a lifetime. On a few occasions I have seen two foxes together.
        Well I take that back... I have seen a lot of cats at night as well. Many, many, many cat's. I am surprised. People just let their cat's out at night here. I do not like seeing a dead one on the side of the road. I do not know what people expect if they do not take care of their animals.
        Recently Actor/Comedian Polly Shore showed up in Odessa, TX. He did the comedy club scene here. Some big Texan got up on stage with his cowboy hat on and punched Polly out. The man was escorted of stage. Polly stomped off calling everyone white trash. Later it was found out that it was all staged. It made the local papers in Odessa of course.
        Last Sunday I was doing my paper route and there was a street blocked off by the police. Lights lit the sky. It was a four alarm fire. An apartment building was burning. This put people out of their homes for Christmas. Two day's later a mobile home park burned down. More people out of their homes. The first one was arson. A 25 year old woman was arrested. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend who lived in the apartment building. I guess previously she had set fire to his car. So she was the likely candidate by local police. I am just glad no lives were lost. The fires were in Midland.
        Oh yeah! I bought a motorcycle. I ended up taking a motorcycle safety training class and found it was pretty good. You used their motorcycles for practice on different courses. I enjoyed that. So I will have this to get around on in San Diego. Especially heading to the beaches.
        Well that's the news for now.

The Paper Route

        Well I never expected to be what they call an independent contractor for a newspaper. What this means is I am doing a paper route. I have a route for the Odessa American of approximately 200 papers. It's funny, but I needed a job that would pay a few hundred extra a month and not be to time consuming. The time could be spent in more productive pursuits. Like writing or working on programs. Plus it is so hot here that if I worked I would need to keep the air-conditioning on the whole time I was gone so the cat's would be comfortable.
        So with the paper route that materialized before me it seemed to be the logical choice for work right now. This will suite it's purpose all around and I will be home before the air-conditioning needs to be on. I get up at 2:00 am and am home by 5:30 am or 6:00 am. Sometimes on Sunday's since the papers are so large it takes longer so am home just after 7:00 am. So far everything is working out.
        The plan is to look for good full-time employment. So I can do this. I have been doing it now about 3 weeks. So far so good. I did get a flat tire the other day. I changed it and took the flat in to repair. After about 5 minutes the guy fixing it calls me over and his boss was looking at the tire as well. I thought oh no it's not fixable. His boss said that I had to see this before they worked on it. They were both smirking. Well they had the tire open and you could see the inside. It seems that I ran over a fork and the whole for from the eating end was inside the tire. The handle had broken off. Now that was nuts. My tire got forked. Ha ha!.
        I went to the town of Big Springs yesterday. I had to go to the Veterans Hospital there. It was about an hour drive one way. Maybe a little longer then that. Big Springs is a lot smaller then Odessa and Midland. But it houses the VA hospital. I thought perhaps the whole town worked at the VA hospital. Their kids worked at Wendy's or McDonalds or some other fast food place. I guess they just went through a scare with the government wanting to move the VA hospital to Odessa. That would have been good for me, but horrible for the town of Big Spring. I am happy for them that they made the decision to stay there. There is a VA clinic here in Odessa. That is fine for me.
        Different animals seen here in the area. I saw a porcupine yesterday and have seen a fox while delivering papers. Kinda neat. I have seen fox's before but never a porcupine. In Florida it was Armadillos. In Oklahoma I had seen bobcats.
        I belong to the church called Eckankar. http://www.eckankar.org is their url. Well recently I finally had my path cross with another Eckist here in the area. He lives in the same town. There are only four of us. One in Big Spring, one in Ackley and two of us here in Odessa. I was pleased to hook up with another Eckist. We have talked a few times on the phone and we hope to have lunch together soon.
        Life is a journey....you never know which way it will turn! All you can do is handle it and adjust.
        

New Email Service added to blog!

        I have completed the process today to add an email service to this blog. So if you would like a daily digest of posts to this blog sent to your email address then you will be able to receive one. Just scroll down so that you see the email signup and enter your email address then click the button. It is located in the right column. You will go through a confirmation process that will send you an email for security and then you click on a link in your email that says to confirm your registration. It's that simple. Enjoy!

Butterflies

        Today I went to the main office at the RV park I am staying at. Outside they have a row of flowers that edge the front and the walkway that leads to the front door.
        I noticed a butterfly as I got out of my car. Then another one and another and another and another. I had to stop and look at these beautiful fairies flying around the flowers. They were like little pieces of paper caught in the wind. One would land and you would see it open and close it's wings and see the beautiful pattern. A kaleidoscope of colors.
        Then I noticed they were all different. Oh one or two seemed to make a pair. There were so many that my mind got caught up in seeing if I could pair any. They were big and had so many different colors. It was wonderful. Never had I seen so many different ones. Usually if you had a ca-coon open around the same time you would see the same type of butterflies.
        This experience I had never seen or experienced before. There was one that was completely black with some bluish shiny spots that made it glitter. There were different kinds of monarch type with the black edges and different colors. There were yellow ones and gold ones. White ones were there too. They all seemed to be represented. Then I noticed a few small ones about the size just shy of an inch long. There were a lot of these small ones.
        What an experience! Never had I seen such a range of butterflies in all my life. I was in the right place to see such a thing. The right place at the right time.
        I was told that the flowers that edged the RV office were called Lantana's. So I will remember that. When I have my own place I will want to see if I can experience this myself at home.
        I feel honored to have seen such a sight and all I was doing was just going to mail some letters. Wow! Now I know what it’s like for a lady to receive a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers.

Finally Getting Organized

      It seems like things have been moving real fast the last two years. I graduated from college in Arizona, moved to Oklahoma, moved into a trailer, and moved to Texas. Many things have been worked out through this process called change. I have learned a lot. I am more flexible. Since I have been here in Texas I have been able to get rid of all my paper that I have been carrying around for years. When I lived in Arizona I had six file drawers of files for the past 30 years. I have pretty much digitized everything I needed to keep. I had to take a close look at what I did not need anymore and throw it away. I will be backing up everything to CD. But now am down to just one small file cabinet drawer worth of immediate files. Everything else is in digital format.

      Now that the paper is gone it has given me more time to work on other projects. I have many ideas that I have been working on with programming. I am getting all of this organized as well. I have had to come up with ways to save code and be able to find it when I need it. I have had to organize a library for documentation and reference. I have also had to keep a writing library and organize my writing efforts. A good programmer must be able to backup his program with documentation. So my trip to Odessa, Texas has become a place in which I can and have gotten more organized.

      So what is next on the agenda? Well am developing my own software and hopefully will do my own consulting. I want to be able to develop my own applications and work on applications that business and government will need to have developed. I have been working on developing my own website for this endeavor. But one step at a time.

      One thing I would like to do and am working towards this is working on collaborative efforts. I have all the communications I need here in the trailer. I have my laptops, two web-cams, Messenger, I am setup to do collaborative efforts right from here. I have been asked to test some software down the line and can do that right from here. I have tested software and this is right up my alley. I am looking forward to the day that I am totally busy from my trailer. Since I am mobile with the trailer then I can go anywhere if necessary.

      The best thing about doing all this work from the trailer and moving to different locations is that I still get to be outdoors. In Oklahoma I worked at the University of Central Oklahoma and lived in a state park for a bit. It was the off season, Sept. Oct, Nov. and Dec. However, there was the lake and people coming there to relax not dodge the cars or have to get somewhere. So going on location to do work for a company I just need to find a good location to park the trailer.

      There is an upside and a downside to everything. My mother was wanting me to come home to Massachusetts sometime for a visit. I looked into different RV parks in Conn. and Mass. The pricing is real high and almost not worth it. One place in Mass. was over $800.00 per month for full hookup. In Oklahoma and Texas I have been able to keep prices down to under $300.00 per month for full hookup. So depending on location the pricing can be fairly high. This will be something to keep in mind in taking a particular job on contract.

Language Translations Services

I have had visitors from 18 different countries so far since this blog has been online. I am pleased to have so many visitors. I have added a language translation service to this blog. This will make things easier for those from other countries to read the blog entries.

I am hoping to add other features to this blog and more blog entries. I have been busy lately doing programming on some of my own programs. So the time has been a bit of a problem. With better balance I hope to be able to get back to putting more into my blogs.

I hope this entry finds you all well and happy! We just celebrated our Fourth of July Independence celebration. Also, have celebrated my birthday. So am a year older.

The children in Oklahoma got me a propane grill. I am hoping to be able to use it soon. I like cooking out and will do my best to have the kids over more.

May the blessings be!

New Sea Stories Blog

Well I had written that I would have a new blog out and posted. Well it's online now. It's at the following URL:

SeaStories-SpookAW

For now if anyone wants to submit a sea story to me they can send it to the following email address:

email me

If I can figure out how to get submisions done automatically on a blog then I will add the features to this blog.

For now you can still do comments.....

Blog statistics

        I just wanted you all to know that the statistics are way off right now. I am trying to get the company that does the statistics to get me back the original statistics from the trial period. In the trial period I had about 64 visitors and they were from 14 different countries. When the trial period ended it shut the statistics off and then it was started back up and I lost the stats. I have enjoyed knowing how many visitors have come to this site. Especially all the visitors from the different countries. Some of these countries I have been to and either lived in or traveled in.
        Hopefully I will get them reinstated, but it's not looking good at this time.

Happiness is...

        Happiness is sitting in front of the computer intently typing. A full cup of coffee sitting there beside your computer and typing the morning emails. Then watching your big cat jump over your shoulder and successfully land on the small table thus clearing the full cup of coffee. Rather gracefully I might add. He then is able to watch the birds out the window and I am still sitting here in peace loving my computer, the world and my emails.
        Happiness is getting up to an uncluttered trailer in the morning. It would have been nice if I set the timer on the coffee pot, but wanted to see if I could sleep in some.
        Happiness is getting everything done outside the trailer, the store, other errands so that you don't have to go out in the heat and can relax the day away....writing or doing other things in the trailer.
        Happiness is being loved by someone even if they live in a foreign country. So very far away.
        Happiness is being happy to be alive just one more day after open heart surgery 3 years ago next month. Also, never taking for granted the beauty of this earth that we have, no matter were we are. Being ever grateful for what we have and being satisfied with what we are given in life. I hope on a daily basis to not take these for granted myself.

COMING SOON! New Blog - Military Sea Stories!

     This new blog will contain Navy Sea Stories primarily, however all the different services will be able to post their different stories on this site. There will be rules ladies and gents on your posts. Mainly remember to keep content clean (No x rated stuff will be posted) and be respectful to the readers.

     Most of the readers are from the USA, however there are many from other countries. Perhaps some of the readers are from where some of your stories come from. Again respect will be the request of the day.  Many of us have been to other countries and had many an experience that would be wonderful to pass on. What will be prefered will be stories that inspire, can be funny and positive in nature. Naturally I will lead off with a few of my own. Look for this new blog within the next few weeks.

The drawback of living in a travel trailer

    Well there are many pluses to living in a travel trailer, but here is one minus. It never fails when you buy something no matter what it is there is always something out there that is better.  There are travel trailers that are better, bigger and have more storage space or pull outs that widen it inside. But what you buy no matter what sets up the standard of learning for you to learn. So it's a good thing. It's healthy to see something else out there as you can dream about the more space or whatever.
    Well this morning I made probably the best tasting cup of coffee I have ever had. It was cool last night outside and it was cool in as I kept the windows open. So between the coolness and the good cup of coffee it was a good morning. I hooked up the laptop and sat down to check the emails. I was highly into reading and answering the emails.  Then out of the blue the two cat's decided to play hide and seek and then chase each other (a game of tag) all over the trailer. I did not think anything of it as the cat's do this all the time. They do this at least every other day. I figure it's good exercise.
    Well I am intently working on the emails and I have two cats’ jump from over my left shoulder and land on the table. Well they upset everything. These are two big adult cats.  The coffee, which was a big cup of coffee and it, was full splashed everywhere. All over everything I had laid out. The wiring, laptop, table, cushion I was sitting on, the floor and I do not think they missed one spot. Well I needed to dust anyway. The laptop is cleaner. I had to clean everything. Not much you can do with the cushion. It was soaked.
     All you can do in this living space is bite the bullet and make sure you put more things away when you’re done with them. Like the TV remotes back on the shelf. Everything had coffee on it.  Get rid of clutter it's easier to live in a trailer without it. I am still finding places where coffee is hidden. It's on the window blinds. I tried to turn up the volume on my radio and the volume button was stuck. I had to force it to turn it up. Will need to get the q tips out and clean that too! Sheesh!

He is a Successful Man...

        This poem was given to me by Cindy a very dear friend. I have not seen or heard from her for a few years and I miss her.
I do not know where she is but she made her impact on my life
and made my life a bit better. I do not know where she got this
poem, but she told me it was one of her favorites and it's one of mine.

He is a Successful Man...

Who lives well, laughs often,
        and loves much;
Who has the respect of intelligent men,
        and the love of little children;
Who fills his niche and accomplishes
        his task;
Who leaves the world better than he has
        found it, whether by an improved poppy
        a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who never lacks appreciation of
        earth's beauty, or fails to express it;
Who always looks for the best in
        others and gives the best he has;
Whose life is an inspiration, and whose
        memory is a blessing to those
                he leaves behind...