Where She's On Vacation

"I’d like to return 2020 for a full refund. It’s obviously defective." --- Philip Nation


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Hey Folks! I just wanted to drop in and say I'm on a vacation from both blogging and Facebook. 

I just need some days away for books, my gardens and thinking time upon our front porch.

In the meantime, if you want to know how I feel about our Country's current insanity? Go here. Heidi says it better than I ever will.

Feel free to peruse my 3000+ posts on all sorts of subjects. I'll be back soon--I promise!

Hang in there and do all that God asks you to during this historic time. Trust me, God gives us boldness in times like these and oh the regret if we say, "Nah, rather not go there, thanks anyway!".

Do it. Just do whatever God asks. You'll never regret saying yes, only no.

“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.” — Earl Wilson.




"From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips."   ... Proverbs 18:20



Remember: you were born for such a time as this!


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For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Virus-Related This And That

"Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." --- Proverbs 31:9


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Better buckle up.....


1.) Pier One is closing all its stores. Darn. Even tho' I'd not visited one in a decade, still, just the thought of their cool, exotic, many-textured stuff can make me rearrange my rooms.

When something, someone, disappears, it's important not to lose the good influence they had upon us.

2.) Yesterday in a draft folder I wrote: 

"Those who fought and died for our freedoms would be horrified to see how many we've lost since March--and--the many people cheering for their loss in the name of an ignorant version of safety."

Then this morning? I spied this at Facebook and felt so bad for this man.

3.) During these virus days I'm searching for new recipes and yesterday I found a marvelous one for chicken. Here's the original, but I tweaked it like this (Tom and I enjoyed this much!)---

Sprinkle 4 chicken thighs with your favorite seasonings, then brown in oil, 3 minutes each side.
Place 1/4 c. canned diced tomatoes in crockpot. Sprinkle a little dried rosemary over it.
Add chicken, sprinkle with more seasoning, then top with one 7 oz. can of mild green chilies. Spread 1/2 burrito seasoning packet over chilies, then add more dried rosemary. 
Cook on high setting one hour, low for 3 1/2 hours , then 1/2 hour at high. Enjoy.

4.) Neighbor Sally had her virus days birthday and I watched Sue take this picture, below. Is Sally adorable or what? We didn't even stand 6 feet apart when I handed her a card. Sally and I like to live on the edge. シ

5.) Wow. The most incredible thing happened last Saturday. Here's how I explained it at Facebook--

Oh. My. Goodness! We stood outside hoping for a tiny glimpse of these planes and they flew right over our house, side by side, low and slow. Right over our house!!!! Tom and I waved and cheered and all felt right with the world for a moment. Tom, especially, was heart-blessed. Thank-you, Lord, for another present from You. 

6.) My Western New York area is in Phase 1! Woo hoo! Must confess I doubted it could happen this soon. 

These, below, can open now only if they have a specific approved plan in place. (Hey, I'll take it.)


"They include construction, manufacturing, wholesale trades, select retail stores for curbside pick-up only and parts of the agricultural industry."

7.)  The Cheapest Covid-19 Therapy In The World--And It's Free."


8.) Yesterday's weather here was gorgeous perfection! Lately I've spent much time outside basking in the sun and breezy air so to stay healthy and not in my house (what a rebel. Sue me.). 

I sit upon our little private sidewalk below our front porch and read and stare at my Prayer Garden and think about how good Life with God truly is.

9.)Loved this idea--

"I saw a great suggestion - pay your barber/stylist for the services you would have had during the closure if you’re financially able. We can help these people get back up!" -- Julie Barrett

And this for any business!

10.) Saw an awesome gardening idea at Youtube! In early Spring you spray paint small rocks, red, then place them amongst your strawberry plants outside. That way birds will check them out and assume they're strawberries, peck, peck, peck, then fly away and tell their friends, "The strawberries over in that yard are downright disgusting! Yick. Don't bother."  シ


11.) Which brings me to this very controversial thing (but it's how I feel).

First this:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” --- Martin Luther King Jr.

No longer do I believe I've found many kindred spirits online. At least half of my friends have written not one word about this oppressive time in History we're facing. Not one word! They've just chosen to spread some prayer dust and magically hope that Life will right itself.

Faith without works is dead, you know, and the power of Life and Death are in the tongue and this:

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man." from Proverbs 24

Sorry, Folks. If that's you, you've moved into my acquaintance category.

My true kindred spirits boldly make their beliefs known. We know where they stand; they've drawn a line in the sand. They're at least trying. Like this--

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Each of us is living through historic times and when we look back upon them and the changes, bad or good, they brought? We'll either be relieved, satisfied, that we did our part or we'll be horrified by our silence and missed opportunities for godly obedience.

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!" ... Revelation 3:15

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"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Ol' Debra The Conspiracy Theorist

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth... and he will tell you what is yet to come. He who has an ear, let him hear what The Spirit is saying to the assemblies.”   ---John 16:13, Revelation 2:29


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This is just a sampling of the warnings I spoke in this blog for years. My simple purpose for this post? That we'll all--at least sometimes--recall these words which I felt God gave me last month--

"One man's prophetic revelation is another man's silly conspiracy theory."

Please read these quotes, below, from my blog. Note the dates, then remember God places 'watchmen upon the walls' of our individual lives to warn us of trouble approaching, usually from a far-off plain.

Or in other words? Some folks who appear to be conspiracy theorists are just getting their information early from sources within them they don't even clearly understand, themselves. 

Ignoring us is fine, but please, try to avoid name-calling and belittling. 

Do we always get everything right? No. But try having a crazy, unexplained burden 5 years in advance, yourself, and see how perfectly accurate your warnings always are. 

Like you, we're just trying to obey God the best we can--so please--be kind. Thanks.


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 "I've felt the need to ready Tom and myself (even if friends/relatives think we're nuts) for anything.

A-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. (Personally, I believe America is heading for a shaking which will involve varied forms.)"    --- As I See It Now, August 31, 2015




"Only a handful of my friends feel that something huge is around the corner for our Country--the rest say they'll continue to 'live by faith.' 

But uh-oh! 

'Faith without works is dead.'  (James 2:17) And 'The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.'  (Proverbs 27:12)

And 'A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn’t.' (Proverbs 13:16)

Also, I'm trying not to all the time write here about prepping (honest), but it's so on my heart and what's coming is, many of us feel, different than anything we've ever seen before. Plus, I'd hate for you to blame me later for not sounding any sort of a warning. "  --- As I See It Now, September 30, 2015

'At my house, I try always to keep 2 months' worth of groceries. Am I an example of those wacky prepper ladies you see on tv with their home-style haircuts, squeezing between their basement aisles of groceries?

Nah. But I aim for that.  ツ

... Grocery prices will be going up. Possibly a lot. So you may want to save money now by buying--what you can--ahead.

... Oodles of times God whispers ahead to folks,"Something is coming, so prepare early." He gives us much time, usually, for 'He knows we are but (stubborn) dust."

Oh, the responsibility once we've fallen into the hands of the living God! How costly to one's very soul, over time, to ignore His nudges. How weighty all the things we could have done, but did not."   --- As I See It Now, August 5, 2015

"I've discovered God's far more specific than we believe Him to be. And that His warnings often come years before the difficult times arrived so---

We can spend money wisely and have food/cash/gas/energy supplies before a shortage.

We can become emotionally/mentally strong before facing an extremely emotional time.

We can move to just the right house/town and meet just the right neighbors.

...and so much more.

When we listen to-- rather than ignore--God? We spend our years feeling calmer. Leaning against His shoulder we hear His whispers and allow Him to hold us and cheer us up through it all.

Really, through everything."   --- As I See It Now, March 22nd, 2019


I said better save-up money in an easily-assessible bank account. Buy some silver and gold. Create a Plan B. Learn to garden, for food may not always be available.

And oh, the many posts I spoke about taking Vitamin D3 and how the dreaded A.M.A. and Big Pharma won't push it and will only treat symptoms, not causes, dispensing pills galore. And guess which vitamin is finally seeping through, making the news during this virus crisis?

Er hem. You get it. You get it.

Let this encourage you in your own life--

"Yes, the days ahead will be exceedingly challenging, but heroes are born when things are at their darkest." ... Michael Snyder


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Oh! And something so marvelous happened at my house on Saturday, but I'll wait to tell you next time since this post is already long.

But here's a hint:

Now, this is a cute idea! Since we can't go and sit at a coffee shop, here's one on a rainy night that you can 'sit at' for hours while listening to the rain, music and people's voices in the background. Love it!



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Here's an excellent video for prepper beginners: Canned Foods With The Longest Shelf Life.

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Food These Days (Or, You Can Do This!)

"When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things."   ... Mark 6:34

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Oh dear. On Wednesday I discovered this young mom at Youtube. 

Man, I keep telling you I'm not a bigtime crier, but these are mentally harsh days and her words and teary eyes, well, they got to me. 

She barely had any meat for her family of 4 so she told herself--

"'I'll go to Aldi. They're always stocked up on meat ... I'll just get a couple other little things while I'm there'. That was my intention. So I went to Aldi and they had absolutely no fresh meat. Nothing. I did find a couple frozen chubs of ground beef, but when I saw they were completely sold-out of meat, my heart dropped. And I panicked and I can't breathe in those masks anyway. I felt all alone in that moment, very scared, I couldn't breathe and I was trying not to cry. It just unleashed something in me. I got crazy pants and I stocked up like I've never stocked up before... Hopefully you won't judge me harshly--I felt like in the moment I did what I needed to do."


Wow. Suddenly I saw not just her, but thousands of other young moms experiencing the exact same shock and reaction--just being good mama's and gathering food for their babies! Oh my, this still shakes me because God never meant for us to live this hunkered down, frightened way. 

(I left her an encouraging comment.)

I can barely imagine how it feels to be a young mother these days, especially if you don't know Jesus. I mean, God spent years preparing me in all ways for this time of shaking--but still!-- for the sake of others, I have moments when this feels like a nightmare I can't waken from.

Anyway, you'll never hear me say, "Don't stock your shelves with extra food. The Government will fix everything." Ha! I'd choke on that. I won't even say, "God will do it all," either. He will, instead, do His part before/after we do our part.

So today here are some practical hints for stretching food. I'm mostly talking survival here so if you only do healthy? Well Honey, better move on to the next blog.

First, I love to watch cooking videos at Youtube, especially crockpot ones, but uh-oh! You should see me (or not) when a young mom places a whole pound of ground beef and/or an entire packet of taco mix into the pot, pours in a can of tomatoes then doesn't swish a bit of water in the can and add that.

"No way! She didn't just do that did she? A half pound of meat would've been fine, I could've made that taco mix last for a month and what about the last little bit of tomato juice?"

No really. I squeal those words to my computer screen. シ

The last time I used an entire pound of ground been in one recipe? I can't even recall. Instead, I stretch it with extra bits of cooked rice or--


Sauteed vegetables
Pasta
Bread crumbs
Beans
Green chilies
Couscous
Quinoa, etc.

And the taco mix? I do use those, but just to sprinkle a bit into my meat. Then I seal it up, put it away, and add some cheaper spices like:

onion powder
garlic powder
chili powder
Italian seasoning
lemon pepper...

--and add a little hot sauce/or salsa.

Prices for spices (see what I did there? heh.) are still good at dollar stores, Aldi, etc. and places, also, where you can find them in bulk amounts. But even there? Do the math, yourself. Bulk is not always cheaper. (Aren't you thankful for online calculators?)

And always I add a bit of water to the remains of canned things like--

tomatoes
beans
chilies
salsa
soup (though we never buy canned soup anymore. My homemade tastes tons better. As I've written before, learn to make wonderful soup! It'll improve your life.)


Oh, and drink lots of water. Your kids don't like water? Dress it up and give it a cute name: Add a tablespoon (or 2) of juice to a glass of water, let them stir it up and then call it something like Stirberry Juice. Or Dizzy Apple Juice. (Start while they're young and you'll more likely get away with stuff like this. heh.)  シ

One of the very best things you can do? Learn about substitutions in cooking. Memorize those and you'll never fear when your shelves look a bit bare. You'll just think of something different to use in your recipes, something you do have.

Almost never must you follow a non-baking recipe precisely! Make it your own, use what you have.

Find recipes and Youtube cooking videos from women who specialize in making 'something from nothing'. The less money they have, the more creative and resourceful they'll be--and more helpful to you.

Tessie is one of those ladies.
So is Lori.
Clara is also.

Now, I've not done coupons since after Tom began working again, but they helped tremendously during the jobless months and while Naomi was young. I mixed them with sales at supermarkets and received many items for nearly free. They're still out there--check them out!

And yes, cooking from scratch is nearly always cheaper than other alternatives. (Darn, right? heh.) But you know? At the beginning of all this stay-home-forever stuff I asked God to give me extra grace for all the cooking I'd need to do--and He did! Whew. I barely mind it now.

Could I go on forever? Sure. But I'm hoping this inspired you (at least a little) to become a pro at making your food supply last longer. 

Does it take much time and experience? Yes. Nothing valuable happens overnight. But you can do this. Watch for the daily improvements and they'll inspire you to keep gathering more!

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Last July our Aldi began delivering groceries via Instacart and yay! 

They had a great offer: Pay $99 now and for a year you'd be charged no service/delivery charges.  Just pay a tip (which is like gas money you no longer need so you give it to a person, which is better). 

So I paid the upfront charge, then kept track of the money I've saved after that $99 and wow! In ten months so far it's up to $170. Love it! And I hope they'll let us do this again when my year is up.


Oh, and if you'd like to receive an alphabetized list of the items I'm stocking-up on more than ever, please email me at GladOne4@yahoo.com




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And in case you're still wondering if, as Christians, we should speak up during this time of state governmental tyranny, here you go. From Isaiah 58:


“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I."


And as it says near the top of my blog--


"Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." --- Proverbs 31:9

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Here's a cool idea--

(Thanks again, Marie!)


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"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

What Time Is It?

"There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens..."   ... Ecclesiastes 3:1


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For Tom and me? This 'house arrest' isn't a problem. He still has his job and? He falls less at home (remember his polio'ed leg?), so being here is safer. Even so, he's fallen twice since March, but that's less than usual.

Remember, no one has a perfect life. Many of us just choose not to discuss some details.

Yet anyway, relatively, we've got it made, so you'd think I feel only extreme gratitude, right? A sense of all's peachy with my world, so hey!

But no. It's those miles' long lines at public food pantries that burden me. It's the panicky horror those parents must feel because they cannot provide their children's food--and isn't that what parenting is hugely about?

This is what haunts me, everyday, in the midst of my gratitude. 

Probably here you've noticed that Pollyanna has left the building. The humorous stuff is lacking, wittiness faded away. Why? It's those hungry families. And the tyrannical state officials on power trips. The loss of freedoms we knew since childhood, the fearful, sleepy Christians and this---


"There's a time to mourn and a time to dance...
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    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace."   ... from Ecclesiastes 3



Those help explain it. The lack of blog humor, the huge shift in my Facebook posts' tone. And over at Twitter? Oh my. People don't pay attention to me there so I go for it. Retweet other's posts which nearly burn holes in my computer screen. But hey, it helps relieve my angst so color it essential.

To everything there is a season, you know. 

And for me? This is not the season to be all Pollyanna, making the best of a horrible time in history nor spreading humor while the ship which is America burns and sinks below because not enough people fought to keep her afloat.

So there you go. In case you wondered.

" ... and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." ... from Isaiah 58

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You probably don't remember, but I told you that each weekday morning I read Michael Snyder's Economic Collapse Blog. Had done so for years. He was, actually, one of the people responsible for me being pretty much prepared for all this __________ we're facing.

Well, last December I stopped reading Michael's blog because his constant we're-heading-for-doom-financially-as-a-Country got to me. I just couldn't face the negativity anymore.

Ha! The laugh was on me. I'm back to reading his posts.

And hey, I had to smile in agreement when in April he ended a post with this--

"Everything that I have been warning about in my books is beginning to transpire..." And today he wrote: "For a long time, I warned that an economic collapse was coming, but I don’t have to do that anymore because the economic collapse is here."

You did warn us, Michael. You truly, faithfully did for years--and I thank you.

Fortunately he added in another post--

"You were born for such a time as this, and I encourage all of you to embrace the great challenges that have now been put in front of us." 

He's right about that, too. He is.

Want to find me at Twitter? Email me at GladOne4@yahoo.com for my Twitter address... if you dare. ッ

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My next post? I'll get practical and share specific ways to create more meals using less money.









"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15