Well, it begins

The financial downfall i've been anticipating has arrived. 

i'm thinking of my grandma today.  She married and had two children during the 'Great Depression'.  She and grandpa never had much of anything but were very resourceful. They both taught me a lot about how to get by with little.  They always ate well; Grandma made bread a couple times a week and served potatoes morning and night (Grandpa was Irish and loved his potatoes).

Grandma was recycling before there was a word for it.  Tin foil and plastic bags were always reused.  Used tea bags nourished her plants and she always used her sewing machine to 'improve' the clothes she bought from the store.

i'm going to hold her in my mind these coming days.  As i watch the stock market deflate i'm going to remember her struggle and hope my preparations will hold my family together until easier days.  

I have three chickens in my backyard, Carmen, Budda and Precious (named after Precious Romatswe - #1 Ladies Detective Agency).  i don't think i can describe the happiness i feel around them.  

I am new to chickens but my Grandma wasn't.  She was way more pragmatic about them though.  She decided to leave Fort Lewis, Washington after Grandpa was shipped out to the Pacific during WWII.  She killed her chickens and canned them; packed them into the car along with her daughters and drove back to Montana.  

i love and cherish that story but i'm not sure i could kill my girls.  The coming days (the new depression?) may test my resolve to keep them as layers only. I'm confident these three girls are safe but i don't know what the future holds.

That good old pragmatic Montana upbringing will always win out in the end.  Fair warning!

My cats (Nathaniel and Hawthorne) are wanting a pet so i am calling this good for today.

Oh, and Obama supporters; don't lose faith.  Check out this column from Huffington Post.  I always get a little freaked out around 9/11 (fear of my government, not terrorists).  Add the coming election to that anxiety and you can imagine how high strung i've been this week and last.  I felt uplifted some when i read the post.

Till next time.....