Monday Message

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to 'prepare every needful thing' (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others." (All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet)

No matter where we live, no matter who we are this applies to us all.  

If anyone is reading the news, they see the problems we are having affects the whole globe. We are all in it together and it will probably take all of us to get out of it.

I can't stress enough - we need to show kindness even more than ever before.

We all need to build skills. All of us need to do what we can to learn. We can use the internet to teach ourselves skills.

I always think making bread is one of the best skills you can learn, so here is my link where there are lots of useful bread making information.

Note! If you make bread, make sure you store what you need to make it!! 

Flours and grains

Salt

Sugar or honey

Yeast (Always store yeast in the freezer. I also keep a quart jar in the refrigerator as my using jar.)

I store vital wheat gluten as well.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/07/monday-message.html - has very useful bread information.

I think knowing how to sew and mend is a really huge skill to have.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2019/12/monday-message_9.html

I watch several videos from women from other countries. They shop at thrift stores and look for things that they can take apart for the fabric. They make potholders and dresses and items for their homes - lovely items! I see them draft their own patterns from items they have already that need replacing. So sewing is very huge, even if you only use it to mend.

Preserving food for leaner times is a very important skill. I see these same ladies I mentioned can food, by the way they are young women, not just old ladies like me.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2017/08/monday-message_28.html - In this, I show canning and vacuum sealing food and dehydrating. Haunt your thrift stores for canners, dehydrators, and vacuum sealers. I see them all the time for great prices. Also be hunting for jars and rings and purchase lids.  Start saving jars you get food in now from the store to put your dried food in. If you have a canister to use with your vacuum sealer, you can even seal your food in that jar. For example, popcorn - put it in your spaghetti sauce jar. You can vacuum seal it and it will stay fresh longer.

Cooking from scratch is very valuable.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2018/11/monday-message.html

Also, making jams is very easy to learn to make. We have raspberries that some bird planted - yep, it is quite a berry patch! I pick, wash, and freeze these till the weather cools down and then I can them into jams. So you see, I am not canning these in the brutal hot. I can pick what cool day works best for me. So learn that skill.

You really can learn so many skills and while they look hard they are not, just read and practice.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2016/05/monday-message_16.html

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2021/08/monday-message_16.html

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2018/03/monday-message.html

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/10/monday-message_12.html

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2016/06/monday-message.html

I threw in some blog posts that will help you with information you can work at.

Where I live, produce is now coming out of the gardens, so it is a good time to can and dehydrate.

REMEMBER - If you are canning tomatoes, save those skins and dehydrate them and make them into a powder. It is so nice to have on hand.

I know one of you asked to have me tell about my life...

We bought this house in a rural town in central Iowa in the US. My husband drew this picture of it one year for a Christmas card. This house was built in a town a mile away in 1879 because they thought the railroad would go through that town but it did not. It went through the town I now live in, and most of that town moved here. Our house is the oldest house. It was moved in 1910 to this spot. They raised the houses onto logs and with horses that pulled the house. A log would roll out the back and they would run it around to the front. Pretty labor intensive. We have added on to the house. I know way too much about construction now than I ever wanted to know. It was a lot of work.

We are from Iowa, originally the northern part.

My husband and I have known each other since seventh grade. We were high school sweethearts.

We have been married now 51 years. We have two amazing and wonderful daughters and two grandsons and one granddaughter and we love them dearly.

Our town is small, we knew we wanted to raise our kids here and we did.

I went to yard sales a lot when they were small. I made them clothes from free boxes and remade them for the girls. 

We lived frugally our whole lives and I feel like it all is an education that I could not have gotten any other way and this education is what helps us now in our senior years.

Missy says nose to the grindstone on your skill building.

Tippy Longstockings says we are all proud of all of you, keep up the good work!