how in the heck are we supposed to live these days

[kisat]

Quote:
I agree with you. It's one thing that we are all learning to be self-sufficient, but if everything does level out, or go way down in prices, then what? We have to change. As a whole. And for life. Not just a few months.

 

[patandchickens]

If there you are in a horse and buggy sharing the road with cars, fairly horrible accidents can result, as anyone living near an Amish community will tell you.

Even aside from that, when horses become the mode of transportation you depend on, their quality of life tends to decline considerably, especially soundness-wise. They get used when they oughtn't, because it is expedient or necessary. Again, anyone living near an Amish community will attest to this.

So you have to be willing to move horses out of the 'beloved companion' slot and into a mental category more like the one occupied by cattle, where they are a disposable means to an end.

Just pointing it out...


Pat, who used to event through Training level and ride crazy OTT TBs and stuff, but who finds driving (especially on roads) seriously scary in its accident potential -- having known a buncha people and horses involved in really nasty cart or carriage accidents and that was *without* cars or blacktop...

 

[EggCentric]

Quote:
Libby sent me this link ya'll and it really is a people helping people idea..very good concept..I have nothing to swap right now or I would be in it...I like the barter for essentials idea...this is like 'trading' or 'swapping' stuff you need...for those of you with big farms, could work out to your benefit..

Darlene, you don't have to have stuff to join. People swap services too, and we already know you can crochet. Maybe someone would want you to make an afghan for their grandma or something in exchange for some fresh produce or even (gasp) some hatching eggs!

But anyways, thanks for mentioning this again. FarmSwap exists in 8 states now.

Virginia
New Hampshire
Georgia
North Carolina
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Tennessee
Washington

Links to all these groups can be found here: www.dealwithitdaily.blogspot.com

If your state is not listed and you would like one in your state, feel free to contact me and I'll get right on it

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

Oblio13 I am with you. And I dont event!
Although I have told my husband that I am considering getting a "retired" Standardbred as a second horse. My TB will in no way be cool with a crupper!

Anyway. Rte 2 is dangerous enough with a horse trailer. A horse and buggy? No way. I am lucky that I board close to home and my barn owner feeds in the morning for me. So I only have to head out in the afternoon to muck and feed. Helps cut the fuel consumption down. As long as rough board doesnt go up I am fine.
What I feed is still reasonable. Hay I am getting for $5.25 a bale still, via my barn owner.

Family trips are where we are getting hit. We had planned several long distance drives. Mystic, etc. But with fuel being so expensive we have had to cancel them. Last car trip for the year will be Battleship Cove. Other than that we are planning on taking the commuter rail and MBTA to visit family. Making the back yard pretty and enjoyable. Since that is where we will be this year.
Heck I might not be able to afford to go back to work outside of the home this fall. If all I can find is a min wage job at $8.50/hour and after school childcare and gas keep going up. Wont be worth it. And I have been looking forward to returning to the workforce since I left 6 years ago to raise the kid.

 

[EweSheep]

Seen the CNN news that three High School students rode their horses to school! They said it was too expensive to drive their truck to school

Now where did they tie up their horses? By the flagpole or under the monkey bars?

 

[mistylady]

The post office in the nearby town put up a hitching post the other day.

The local Amish tie their horses up to the light posts at Walmart.

Gas prices have changed our lives pretty drastically. We live out in the country and no longer go to town to get a few things. I make a list and make a shopping trip once every two weeks. I used to go once a week. We just bouht a freezer that will be here later this week and then I'm going up to the butcher and buying a big amount of meat to freeze. They will freeze it for you before you get there. We put in some fruit trees, berry plants and I planted some tomatoes, spinach and squash in containers. We have so much work that needs to be done on the farm still - we haven't owned it that long. The garden should give us enough veggies for me to can and the one apple tree has apples. The kids love apples! So between the freezer, the garden and when the chickens start laying ... I should be able to cut down even more on trips to town.

 

[rebbetzin]

Well,

A wise man once said to his disciple...

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content."

He didn't even included a roof over one's head!

My husband and I along with a few hundred other people from Tucson have gone to Mexican towns near here to help build homes and give basic medical care for poor people. (This is done at least twice a year.)

These people live in "houses" made of discarded wooden pallets, cardboard and other things they can "scrounge" to make a shelter. No electricity, no running water, no toilets, not even a "hole" in the ground to use for a potty.

It opens your eyes to see how much of the rest of the world is living. And makes you very thankful for what you have as an American citizen.

And you know what? Those people are for the most part content, and generous with what little they have.

Things are going to get tough, all over the world, and we need to become more able to help ourselves and others less fortunate/prepared than we are.

" Oil, Shmoil!" We humans have used petroleum products on earth since the beginning of time...

Noah used it to water proof the ark.

How long has gasoline and the gas powered engine been a part of our history? A bit over 100 years, granted the invention of the gas powered engine has made life easier and more enjoyable for most of us.

How long did mankind get around and do all he had to do before the automobile, and the airplane? When we consider all the other things that are part of the petroleum industry, things we use everyday of our lives....Things we have come to take forgranted, we can see that everything that has to do with petroleum is going to cost more not less as time goes by.

My dad owned a small oil company in CA. Believe me, there is, and always has been price fixing. False shortagages and other scare tactics are used all the time to raise prices.

Yet, we manage to survive, and we will continue to do so, as long as we are given breath. The will to LIVE is part of our "hard wiring." Even under the most horrible of conditions, we attempt to continue with life as close to "normal" as we can.

In the death camps in Europe, the people would carve menorahs from potatoes, hoarding a bit of oil or butter, using threads from their clothing to make wicks in order to celebrate Chanukkah.

We need to be using this time of relative abundance to prepare ourselves for hard times. If we are wise, we already have food storage, pantries, where if the supply trucks are unable to deliver food, we and our families will not be found standing at the side of the road with a tin cup.

 

[ruth]

Thank you Rebbetzin for saying it all so well.

 

[nccountrygirl]

Beautifully well written and I could not agree more. If we stand back and look at our abundance and then see how third world countries are living. We are wealthy beyond measure.

 

[me&thegals]

I keep thinking of the phrase "...an embarrassment of riches," which is what we enjoy in this country.