November 4, 2017

November 4, 2017

Greetings My Friend,

God has laid it on my heart to put food away for the next year. This is not something I have ever done but I have completed my 2nd year of getting a year's food supply on hand. My method of preserving food is dehydrating and I have done up corn, carrots and celery which I use mainly in soup making. I now buy peanut butter in bulk with things like syrup and bread crumbs. I admit that it is much nicer to have things on hand throughout the year. We have bought a freezer and are buying meat from the meat packing plant as well. This year I froze green beans along with raspberries and blue berries. I have started buying tuna fish, canned chicken and I am starting to build up a supply of salmon. The nice thing with having a good supply of food on hand is if the weather is not good I don't have to worry about getting food since I have much of our needs on hand. Since we drink almond milk, I am able to keep extra on hand because it lasts longer than dairy milk. Along with food we have been setting ourselves up for if the power goes out we can still function. We have propane heat, so in the winter we always will have heat along with a wood burning stove. The idea with the wood stove was we could get all the wood we needed on our property, although that is difficult for Junior since his shoulder has been bothering him. We can get a truck load of wood though for between $50 and $60 which should last us throughout the winter. When we had the propane heaters set up it was determined that the heater in the sitting room should be enough for both the sitting room and the TV room, It was not so last year since we had an electric heater so this year we have bought another propane stove for the TV room. It is rather nice not having to turn the electric heater on and off, we also moved it to in front of the TV instead of the fireplace. Since the fireplace is next to Junior the gas stove would have been too warm. I will figure out how to decorate the fire place which is a challenge I love, the fireplace is a non working fireplace because the chimney has been filled with cement. Learning to listen to God and to trust Him has meant I needed to learn some new things like how to dehydrate, how to cook from scratch more. Eating less processed food means we are eating healthier, which also helps me with my Parkinson's. I have been learning how to be active again because Chronic Fatigue had taken me down so much that all I could do is sit, even moving from one chair to the next was too much energy. God took me from that state to the point I am at today where I am able to keep our home up, cook meals and even dehydrate a years worth of vegetables. Today I need a two hour nap in the afternoon and then I am able to do quite a bit of work. We also have two generator's for when the power is out so all in all we have all of our needs met including a cistern that collects water we are able to be very self sufficient. For me this process of getting self sufficient has meant been an exercise in building up my energy and reentering life again. For Junior he has been learning much as he has learned how to renovate our home. God has been teaching him many lessons along the way and more recently Junior is learning to not work from dawn to dusk each day, it was tiring him out and taxing his body. With his hernia surgery and now his shoulder Junior has learned to slow down to work steady but to rest as well. At the end of the day we are learning to trust God, go to God more often and we have grown closer to Him. It is what we desire the most and God is fulfilling our heart's desire. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet