Are you tired of being prepared? GO READ THIS>>> http://thoughtsfromfrankandfern.blogspot.com/2015/05/are-you-tired-of-being-prepared.html I had to go read it! Tired, really? It seems my whole life has been in preparedness since I was born. Raised in a religion that was based on being ready for the End of The World at any moment. We neither know the day or the hour when it will come. So for me I am a prepared person down to my bones. Even when I go to work on a project...I think of everything I will need from start to end. Get really mad when I forget something too! It a real world situation that one mistake could cost ya your life!  I am not saying that we need to live in fear of living our lives. We just need to be a bit more prepared even for things like your house caught on fire. Do you have extra pair of britches and a tshirt or shoes somewhere so when you are caught in your underwear in the middle of the night you have something to put on? Or if you are in rural...

 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, -1 Peter 3:15 Love hearing from ya!!!! FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK TOO! https://www.facebook.com/adventuresofmylife Copyright © 2015 M.E. Masterson All Photographs Copyright © 2015 M.E. Masterson

  Storms came in Thursday with fair warning. We headed for the storm shelter which is cozy for two people and three dogs but it does it job! The front door of the container is a bugger to try to shut from the inside especially when you have high winds working against ya. So Friday Mtn Man went to work fixin this issue so we will be safer in our shelter.  First he had to remove the door handles which are long rails you twist to shut. For the last year we have had a rope attached so we can pull it shut and tie it to the inside hooks. After Thursday nights high winds, hail and torrential rain he decided we needed a better system. Mtn Man went to welding on new handles which required cutting a hole in the box to put the handle in. Then put another handle on to make things easier to shut from the outside and two brackets for locking from the outside and one on the inside. The end result is fabulous! May not look pretty but it is functional! ******************...

I love my Shickies! I have a great bunch of hens this time around. They come to my voice and some even let me pick them up to pet them. I love my Chickens! Where their pen is located is no electricity remotely close. We are already maxed out on cords coming out of our house for things like freezers, etc. so no way to have a very long cord out to the chickens. So we have to come up with alternative ways to keep them warm. Usually I would install a heat lamp but as I said before not available to us at this time. The hen house has a lot of wire on it which means the weather tends to get in whenever its little hearts desire. Soaking  their hen beds and the pine pellets very quickly. We came up with a great solution which I hope helps them to stay warm and still have a bit of light as well as ventilation. It isn't pretty but who cares.....at least I can say we tried our very best to get them warmed up. We took an ol' blanket (warn out comforter that went from being a dog blan...

  FIL stayed with us for couple days to help on the shop project, brush hoggin' and wood pile. Thanks Dad! ********************************************************************************** I haven't shared the chickens (Shickies) in awhile...they have grown into beautiful birds. Hope to see eggs soon!   Aren't they great? ******************************************************************************* Update on Walt Lore ( Afflicted Cowboys ) He is at home resting up for his coming time for Chemo/Radiation treatments. ******************************************************************************* Keep sayin' your prayers for us all...... Wash your hands regularly throughout the day. Be wary of shaking hands with others especially with those you know are sick. Just use common sense people ...if you are sick take care of yourself, please don't share with the rest of us! This Ebola scare is coming our way, learn about it, learn ...

Our pork, beef, chicken & tuna arrived today. As soon as we got home we set the table up right there outside and processed it. We had all the meat but 6 butts in the freezer in an hour and half.  What a deal!  The canned stuff went on the shelves and viola' we are ready for winter. I have been hearing, not sure if it's true or not, that storing up food has become or is becoming illegal in some states. As long as there has been Americans in this United States we have been storing food in our pantries/root cellars or what have ya. I personally, have been helping with and storing food since I was in my tweens. Many a time did I have raw hands from hot food for jars and many a time we ate straight out of these same jars time and time again. I tend to believe that those who are either jealous or ignorant or envious or just plain ol meanies have no clue what they are missing. Storing food is also the way God has directed us to do to make sure we eat healthy and do fo...

“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” -Proverbs 27:12 “6:6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 6:7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 6:8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 6:9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 6:10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—6:11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” - Proverbs 6:6 –11 (NLT) Source Copyright © 2014 M.E. Masterson All Photographs Copyright © 2014 M.E. Masterson

Well folks here we go again....Because a lack of preparation on our nations part,  for the worst winter that the Midwest has had in years, we are being rationed on how much propane we can order. 200 gals across the board no matter the size of your tank for everybody nobody is special and the prices are INSANE!!! We have heard of some paying $5.50 a gallon!!! Our propane company is at $4.69 a gallon(Monday) and we thought $2.69 was STUPID! In Laws are fixing to pay 750.00 to get 200 gals for their tank. Looks like we may have to think about alernative heating for our place. These prices are not gonna drop all that much when this is done. It will take awhile for things to resolve themselves but I am thinkin we won't see the prices below $3 when done with this which means for a 250 gal tank (they only fill to 80% or 200 gal.) it will cost you no less than $600 bucks to get your tank filled. WOW! then if you have to do that a couple times a year or for some more you might as well...

Feeling like a chatter box today. That's what blogs are for, right? I decided since it was rainy and cold that I would brew up something in the ol' crockpot. So last night before bed I dusted off the ol' crock and went to work. I have jars of dry beans in my pantry so I picked up the 15 bean jar and poured out, in the bottom of crock, about half a jar which came to about 3 cups. Then added double that in water, I don't think you can have to much water add more if you think it needs it. So in my large crock this came to about 3/4's full. Then I let them soak until this morning about 8 am. I plugged 'er in, turned 'er on high and started addin' seasoning: 2 pinches of marjoram, parsley, basil and 1 pinch of thyme. About 1 tsp of black pepper and 2 tsps of Montreal chicken seasoning. Oh and don't forget like I did, a pinch of salt. Cut up a whole onion and add, then add a package of ground sausage (1lb), mine was frozen so I shed it of it package and...

Coming back on my 4 wheeler from tagging calves I saw this picture and had to snap it! If only I could add the smell button on here, the sage smells so good!!! I like to think Spring may finally be here, saw little grasses coming up....amongst all the brown that little hint of green is exciting! Friday morning the moon and the sun were showing their faces at the same time. It was pretty cool! The moon going down in the west and the sun rising in the east....God is so awesome! The "Little Ones" are settling in..."Nana the goat" has decided that our new home for her and her friend "Priscilla and Lilly the Lamb" isn't so bad. Hopefully I can get Nana a like friend to socialize with. She is a people goat, doesn't so much want anybody to touch her but she wants to follow ya every where you go. She wants to be in the know I guess! Hubby and I kept hearing about these Solar Flairs and that Friday? may have been Thursday was the highest si...

The coming winter season always gets me stirring come the end of Aug. beginning of Sept., which causes me to start getting serious about resupplying my food storage, pulling out the winter wear, putting away the mower, garden tools and gathering wood. So I started buying from online, Amazon is so awesome for this. I am a thrifty shopper buying local, in these parts you can buy from "Western Family". Had to hunt down the closest place to buy the "case good sale", Ekalaka-Main Street Market is the closest here and so happy I found them. It has already been down to 21* here so we are moving pretty quickly to get the rest of our prep done. The Guys are getting the rest of the hay hauled in and stacked. Fences mended which is on going, watching the cows and buttoning up the houses for winter. I am helping with the latter on our place, we live in a double wide that is a few decades old but has been well taken care of. Some things are outdated but still nice none the le...