About

There is a saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, and when life gives you hardships make the best of them.  This site is dedicated to that, a reminder of how blessed I am with two wonderful children and the skills and abilities bestowed upon me to keep my children clothed, fed and provided for while teaching them the basic essentials of survival.  A personal diary to show I may have bent, I may have bowed, but I never broke regardless the weight.  It is also a site dedicated to others, men and women, to state a claim that even in this “modern” world, often good old fashion knowledge, know-how, and elbow grease is the best options. A place to learn or relearn skills being forgotten as time passes and people become complacent with others providing for them.

When I moved to Texas from Michigan I started life here in the middle of a concrete jungle with city all around me.  I hated it.  A country girl born and bred I could not stand living in the city and vowed I would soon as possible move to my own little plot of land and set up garden, practice edible landscaping and raise my own chickens, ducks, turkeys and goats.  The once swamp land we moved into was a green oasis, and a plague to work with.  Things grew but so did the weeds and underbrush and especially the thorn vines.  It took many summers and much trial and error, and I still am trial and erroring, before we were able to produce enough to store fruits, vegetables and herbs for preservation. Not to mention the wild hogs that love to come dig up and raid our garden and orchards.  The poultry was easy, the goat is still on my want list.  For beef and pork needs we are lucky enough to have a livestock auction once a year near our home where we are able to purchase a full steer and hogs to put up in freezer.  The cost in doing so has been a blessed savings and the stored foods have kept us through some very rough times.

My son was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, OCD and more when he was 4 years old.  It’s been an emotional roller coaster to understand, work through and aid him to be able to one day be a self-supportive adult.  It was through finding certain food additives in store bought items affected his condition that I turned to home prepared, from scratch, cooking and preserving.  When purchased clothing and plastic diapers bothered him I turned to my sewing machine, and more so to my skill in hand sewing to create things for him to wear.  When he struggled with socialization, speech and other skills required for him to enroll in school. I focused on homeschooling of him until he was capable of attending a public school and would not be placed in special education classes. He now is an honor roll student.

When my daughter was born six years later I found myself not only immersed in the land of frills and pink, her favorite color, but needing to find ways to juggle my time and still manage the house and the children’s needs. A strong willed, opinionated child she’s tested me to limits and back, and yet I look at her with so much pride as she pulls herself  beside me to learn to cook, preserve, garden, and craft.  I cherish every moment of it and often reflect back to when my Grandfather and Grandmother taught me the very things I am teaching her and her brother now.

Several rough patches income suddenly severely reduced or obsolete taught me how to put away for rainy days, do without, make do with what you have, and make something new from something old.  A dear friend gave me strength to refocus my life and retake control of it, return to college and push for a degree I long desired to complete, to take those needed steps to branch out, move forward, try new things and to never be afraid to put my skills to work for me in other avenues.

I don’t know what you will garner and take away from what you read here, maybe nothing, maybe something of value.  But whatever it is, I hope it aids you in your life in time you need it most.