Facebook warning and why I do what I do

So I shared a post on Facebook that listed food distribution centers and processing centers that have had some type of shut down happen to them. Whelp that got me a warning from the “fact checkers” that I’ll be put in Facebook jail if I keep it up. What?!? 

If you feel I’m too political feel free to leave, no hard feelings. My intention was not political it was just to make you aware that you may experience shortages due to these events.

So the reason I do what I do is this, I’ve lived with having next to nothing,  Grandmas cupboard was close to bare. It is stressful trying to figure out how you’re going to feed your family, keep them healthy and clothed. 

My biggest passion is for helping women learn canning, food preservation and how to make herbal remedies. 

A few years ago, my husband was injured on the job and was off work for 9 months. A scaffolding gave out and he fell about 30 feet landing on a ladder. He broke both the bones in his leg completely in half, at the shin. The bone was sticking out of the skin. He had to have emergency surgery to insert a rod and screws to put his leg back together. The surgeon would not let him bear weight on his leg for 6 months, which then caused him to even get blood clots in his lungs & leg from being essentially bedridden. I was his caregiver and couldn't leave him alone. We had to figure out how to live on $1000.00 a month-no joke! Our rent alone was $600.00 every month for our little basement apartment we were renting at the time. How were we going to make it?

I knew I had to get back to the basics-for real! I am very lucky that I come from a ranching family. My Mom and my Grandmas taught me early in life, how to be thrifty and self-sufficient. 

I canned and preserved anything and everything, cooked and baked from scratch using my families recipes. I could make a whole chicken last for 4 meals and then use the bones to make chicken stock for soup later. We were given food by relatives cleaning out their pantries and freezers, and friends giving us extra garden produce -you know who you are and we thank you, that really helped stretch what we had available. 

I started making my own soaps and lotions. I made my own house cleaning and laundry products. I sewed and mended our clothes. After the first few months, I was ecstatic to see that we were making it-barely but we had food, water, shelter and each other. My hubby was and still is my biggest and best supporter. Anything he could do from bed to help me, he did! He learned to be a real pro at peeling, chopping and dicing fruits and vegetables for canning. 

He can untangle and rewind a skein of yarn better than I can, too bad he's not interested in learning to knit ha ha. I was also speed knitting and crafting trying to get ready for my busiest sales season-Christmas! I had been adding botanicals to my body care products with wonderful results. 

I started making herbal infused vinegars, oils and finishing salts for culinary use and they are very popular. 

One evening, I started researching the natural herbal remedies my Grandma would have used for her healing kit. I made my own blends of herbal teas using botanicals that are known their healing properties. I now even make my own tinctures, balms and salves too. You really should try my onion, garlic & honey cough syrup or my elderberry ginger wellness syrup. And my dandelion-comfrey muscle salve is amazing if I do say so myself.