It's spring time again. We are coming out of long cold and very quite winter. Other than lots of heavy snow storms we have had no problems. The guys spend their days shoveling snow or hunting. At night they sit around making more arrows for the bows John and Dave made them. They are getting pretty good at hunting with the bows.
We women spend our days, cooking, cleaning, making quilts and repairing clothes. Lately we have had to make new clothes for Amy and Kyle. All the kids have grown so much. Maci still has a lot of clothes she can wear from the big tub of clothes that our neighbors gave them. Our biggest problem was that the kids have all out grown their shoes. There is no place in town to get them any. Mike has tanned all the deer hides from the deer they have gotten for meat so he and Jen tried their hand at making the kids knee high deer skin boots. I must say they did a decent job on them. They lined the boots with rabbit fur left over from the rabbits we butchered. They decorated the boots with deer hide fringe and seed beads. The kids loved their boots and said their feet stay nice and warm. They also made them each of pair of moccisins for warmer weather.
The kids winter coats have been another problem. Amy is big enough now that she could wear an old coat that my neighbor had but Kyle was another story. I finally had no choice but to try and cut down an old coat of Steve's to try and make one for Kyle. It took me almost a week but I got it done. It was not easy and it meant measuring, measuring again, cutting, measuring again, pinning together, sewing it together just enough to hold it together while I tried in on him and then I had to readjust it a little before sewing the final coat. It's not prefect but it fits him with a little extra room for growth and it looks decent. Not perfect but decent. It kept him warm and he and Amy were able to play out in the snow on some of the nicer winter days. The guys had helped them build snow men and snow forts. They even had a few snow ball fights. The guys had made a sled out of some old plywood and even took the kids down to the school for sled rides.
The hoildays had been really nice. We had enough food to make big meals, The guys got a turkey for Thanksgiving and another one for Christmas. They had also cut a fresh pine tree for our Christmas tree. Everyone got into the Christmas spirit and made decorations for the tree. John and Dave carved small wooden crosses to put on it. They have gotten really good at carving with knives. They made Kyle and Amy small flutes for Christmas and carved Maci a set of wooden blocks to play with.
Now that its spring we are planting the garden. The guys had managed to get a small 4 year old apple tree from one of the farmers last fall. They dug it up roots and all and brought it back here and planted it. Its budding out now so it looks like it will make it. In the front yard they added a weed bed. We dug up cleavers, purslane, wild onions and some other edible weeds and now they are growing in the weed bed. It will make it easier to harvest them.
We still have not gotten power in our area but things are good. We have all learned to live and work together. There has been a few arguements and even a couple of fights but nothing that was not ironed out and resolved. It's been a real learning experience for all of us. Now all the women know how to can foods on a turkey fryer and a fire pit. We can all cook on any of the cooking surfaces we have from the rocket stove to the fire pit. Baking in the cob oven has gotten easier. Rarely is anything overly browned or burned in it any more.
We have all learned that we do not need tv to keep us entertained. We entertain ourselves now playing board games, cards, reading books, telling stories of when we were younger and the most important lesson of all is we have learned to listen to each other, really listen as we talk about our day, how it went, what we were feeling and discuss things that we think will make life easier for us. All of us were so busy with our own lives before the lights went out that we really never took the time to listen to each other. Now that we are there are less misunderstandings and less arguements. I wonder if we will all still take time to really listen to each other when the lights come back on.
Another plus for us from the past year is that we are all trimmer and in better health. Since John and Dave have not been able to smoke in over a year they can breathe better and have more energy so they have been up and doing things here and there. Now they come out in the yard and work a little in the garden, play horseshoes and washers with the guys. They have both lost quite a bit of weight which has helped with their breathing to. For them its a new lease on life.
Tammy has lost the most weight I think. She can no longer wear any of her clothes so she is wearing mine. She has not been able to wear any of my clothes in about 15 years. I also noticed she has more confidence in herself. She use to put on all this false bravado. Hell bent to prove to the world that she could do anything and often failing and disappointing herself.
Now she has a quite confidence about her and even her face is more peaceful. She smiles more and laughs a lot more. She is calmer to now. No longer does she bite her fingernails down to nothing. She no longer quick to fly off the handle if she thinks someone thinks she is wrong about something. For the first time in a long time I think she is truly happy and I hope she can stay that way when the lights come back on. I hope she never has to live her old life again.
I have changed to. I lost the 30 extra pounds I had been carring around for a long time. I been able to get my diabeties under control and no longer need insulin. I have more energy and can do more than I have been able to do it a long. But I think the best thing that has happened to me is that I have learned that I don't have to be in charge of everything any more. I don't have to be the only one that makes sure everyone gets their fair share of food and the food is rationed to last as long as possible. I don't have to make sure that everyone does their fair share of work in the realm of their physical abilities. I no longer feel that I am responsible for meeting everyone's needs and making sure they are safe. I no longer have to be the general of a small rag tag army who needs to be whipped in to shape. All of us has grown and learned. Now I can step back, relax and let the younger generation take over. I have taught them all the skills I have to teach. I have made sure they have all the information they need to survive just about anything. It's time now for them to take charge and teach the new generation we have growing up around us. I will still be here if they need me but I am going to spend more time on doing things for myself. Learning to enjoy life, nature and the love of my family.
We women spend our days, cooking, cleaning, making quilts and repairing clothes. Lately we have had to make new clothes for Amy and Kyle. All the kids have grown so much. Maci still has a lot of clothes she can wear from the big tub of clothes that our neighbors gave them. Our biggest problem was that the kids have all out grown their shoes. There is no place in town to get them any. Mike has tanned all the deer hides from the deer they have gotten for meat so he and Jen tried their hand at making the kids knee high deer skin boots. I must say they did a decent job on them. They lined the boots with rabbit fur left over from the rabbits we butchered. They decorated the boots with deer hide fringe and seed beads. The kids loved their boots and said their feet stay nice and warm. They also made them each of pair of moccisins for warmer weather.
The kids winter coats have been another problem. Amy is big enough now that she could wear an old coat that my neighbor had but Kyle was another story. I finally had no choice but to try and cut down an old coat of Steve's to try and make one for Kyle. It took me almost a week but I got it done. It was not easy and it meant measuring, measuring again, cutting, measuring again, pinning together, sewing it together just enough to hold it together while I tried in on him and then I had to readjust it a little before sewing the final coat. It's not prefect but it fits him with a little extra room for growth and it looks decent. Not perfect but decent. It kept him warm and he and Amy were able to play out in the snow on some of the nicer winter days. The guys had helped them build snow men and snow forts. They even had a few snow ball fights. The guys had made a sled out of some old plywood and even took the kids down to the school for sled rides.
The hoildays had been really nice. We had enough food to make big meals, The guys got a turkey for Thanksgiving and another one for Christmas. They had also cut a fresh pine tree for our Christmas tree. Everyone got into the Christmas spirit and made decorations for the tree. John and Dave carved small wooden crosses to put on it. They have gotten really good at carving with knives. They made Kyle and Amy small flutes for Christmas and carved Maci a set of wooden blocks to play with.
Now that its spring we are planting the garden. The guys had managed to get a small 4 year old apple tree from one of the farmers last fall. They dug it up roots and all and brought it back here and planted it. Its budding out now so it looks like it will make it. In the front yard they added a weed bed. We dug up cleavers, purslane, wild onions and some other edible weeds and now they are growing in the weed bed. It will make it easier to harvest them.
We still have not gotten power in our area but things are good. We have all learned to live and work together. There has been a few arguements and even a couple of fights but nothing that was not ironed out and resolved. It's been a real learning experience for all of us. Now all the women know how to can foods on a turkey fryer and a fire pit. We can all cook on any of the cooking surfaces we have from the rocket stove to the fire pit. Baking in the cob oven has gotten easier. Rarely is anything overly browned or burned in it any more.
We have all learned that we do not need tv to keep us entertained. We entertain ourselves now playing board games, cards, reading books, telling stories of when we were younger and the most important lesson of all is we have learned to listen to each other, really listen as we talk about our day, how it went, what we were feeling and discuss things that we think will make life easier for us. All of us were so busy with our own lives before the lights went out that we really never took the time to listen to each other. Now that we are there are less misunderstandings and less arguements. I wonder if we will all still take time to really listen to each other when the lights come back on.
Another plus for us from the past year is that we are all trimmer and in better health. Since John and Dave have not been able to smoke in over a year they can breathe better and have more energy so they have been up and doing things here and there. Now they come out in the yard and work a little in the garden, play horseshoes and washers with the guys. They have both lost quite a bit of weight which has helped with their breathing to. For them its a new lease on life.
Tammy has lost the most weight I think. She can no longer wear any of her clothes so she is wearing mine. She has not been able to wear any of my clothes in about 15 years. I also noticed she has more confidence in herself. She use to put on all this false bravado. Hell bent to prove to the world that she could do anything and often failing and disappointing herself.
Now she has a quite confidence about her and even her face is more peaceful. She smiles more and laughs a lot more. She is calmer to now. No longer does she bite her fingernails down to nothing. She no longer quick to fly off the handle if she thinks someone thinks she is wrong about something. For the first time in a long time I think she is truly happy and I hope she can stay that way when the lights come back on. I hope she never has to live her old life again.
I have changed to. I lost the 30 extra pounds I had been carring around for a long time. I been able to get my diabeties under control and no longer need insulin. I have more energy and can do more than I have been able to do it a long. But I think the best thing that has happened to me is that I have learned that I don't have to be in charge of everything any more. I don't have to be the only one that makes sure everyone gets their fair share of food and the food is rationed to last as long as possible. I don't have to make sure that everyone does their fair share of work in the realm of their physical abilities. I no longer feel that I am responsible for meeting everyone's needs and making sure they are safe. I no longer have to be the general of a small rag tag army who needs to be whipped in to shape. All of us has grown and learned. Now I can step back, relax and let the younger generation take over. I have taught them all the skills I have to teach. I have made sure they have all the information they need to survive just about anything. It's time now for them to take charge and teach the new generation we have growing up around us. I will still be here if they need me but I am going to spend more time on doing things for myself. Learning to enjoy life, nature and the love of my family.