From Lehman's......Non Electric Kitchen Tools

As I have indicated before, as of this date I receive no specific benefits or payment from any of the companies I tell you about. I simply relate the information with no "axe to grind". Eventually, this might change, and then I would have to let you know who has a business interest in this particular blog and its activities.
Until then, we will continue as always. One of the places I really love as a source for really unusual farm and living supplies is:

http://www.lehmans.com/

Lehmans has just about everything you might want as a rural or as a person who values self sufficient living. They have some supplies which are US made, and a good deal of unusual things which may only be found there.

This is a Texas Pea Sheller.  

        http://www.lehmans.com/store/Natural_Goods___Hand_Cranked_Items___Texas_Pea_Sheller___16314?Args=

From Lehman's Ad:
Finally, an efficient way to shell peas and beans - much faster than hand shelling!

• Peas or beans are squeezed from their hulls             US $44.95 plus shipping
• Can be motorized (handle shaft attaches to portable mixers)
• Tough nylon gears
• Aluminized steel body
• No-slip serrated plastic rollers
• 4"H x 4"W
• Clamps to surfaces from 3/4" to 1 3/4" thick
• 2 lb

Note: May bruise or crush some peas, especially if they're not completely fresh and properly ripe.
                                                              ____________________________

  

This is a non-electric food processer.   It sells for US $179.95 plus postage

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Natural_Goods___Hand_Cranked_Items___Non_Electric_Food_Processor___L205?Args=

From Lehman's Ad:

Transform mundane fruits and vegetables into eye-catching specialties

• Five 4"OD cutter cones: Shredder (hard cheese, potatoes, carrots), Stringer (shoestring potatoes), French Fry Cutter (mini-sized fries, apple slices for snacks or salads), Slicer (carrots, pickles, onions), and Crinkle Cutter (ridged potato chips or fancy scalloped carrots)
• Immovable suction cup base
• Chrome plated body, ever-sharp steel knives and safety finger guard
• 9 ¾"H, 4 lbs.

                                                 ______________________________

This is Lehman's best butter churn.  It sells for US $139.95
I like this because despite the fact that my family uses very little butter, we do use it rather than substitutes. We like to make butter in ice cube trays,  and then freeze it.  This way, your family only takes a small amount of butter from the freezer to the frij. once in awhile, lets it defrost and then uses it.  It's widely believed that small amounts of butter may be healthy in terms of allowing us to absorb fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A, D, E and K.

                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Lehman's Ad:

Based on the Dazey churn from the past

Whip up a batch of butter in as little as 30 minutes! Similar to the well-known "Dazey" churn found in antique stores.

• Handle at top of gear assembly helps hold the churn steady
• Metal frame, wooden handle, stainless steel dasher
• Square glass jar holds 4 quarts, churns 2½ quarts
• 15½"H, 4½ lb
• Also includes FREE Making Cheese, Butter and Yogurt booklet (#A283) which contains many tips, recipes and resources for making and using homemade dairy products.

                                          __________________________

  These are simply a few of the things I chose to profile from the Lehman's internet catalog.  Please take a look yourself.  Most of them are pricey enough that most of us could only get one at a time, but they are well made enough to allow us to perform our kitchen work for many years, and many of us are looking for appliances which operate without electricity.

     Thank you to our Mennonite friends who help to direct us from time to time to simpler ways we could do the things we need to do each day.


 

Building an Upscale Barn or Garage, and Living Upstairs....

From an earlier post, this is a true barn hybrid home. The plan could be that after a home is built,  to use the upper spaces as office space, and as napping space, if you are at the barn all night caring for a sick animal.  Photo: Copyright Louisa Barns and Buildings.

This barn has space for a smaller second floor apartment.

  

This picture, though fuzzy, shows second floor living space also.

       A lot of people, when they see our barns ask if it would be practical to build either a garage or a barn on their large acreage, and then finish the upstairs as living space.  Theoretically, they think that they can build a barn, finish a basic home upstairs, live in it, and safe sufficient money to build their home for cash. Later, an older child, or even a tenant could occupy the house or the apartment at the top of the barn.  This idea has some merit, but there are some decided drawbacks.    First, banks may lend you the funds to build a barn on your property, but they may have great reservations in lending you sufficient funds to finish living quarters on the second floor. This would most certainly be what is known in their business as a "non-conforming loan" which many companies or banks simply won't fund or add to their portfolios.   Secondly, although you can insure a barn along with your house, you will have difficulty insuring your home atop your upscale barn, according to every insurer with whom I have spoken, here in the US.   Among other things, they express concern that if a fire occurs in the lower portion of your barn, which of course, is always a possibility, then your entire house goes up too, and this can be a difficulty for your family as well, who could have more difficulty exiting than they might in a conventionally built home.   Thirdly, although places in the US exist that are not specifically zoned and do not have a building inspector, nor are they terribly concerned with codes, most places would be.   In most places in the US, you would need to have an architect draw your plans, and make modifications to the barns second level to meet ingress and egress requirements. A proper staircase or two could be hard to incorporate, and need to be carefully considered.  Most barn windows would be inadequate to meet code as living space, and this, along with other practical matters, would need to be addressed. (Plumbing and adequate electricity)    Be sure you consider the expenses of having an architect review your project and make suggestions.  Also depending on your area, don't expect to get much of a break on your property taxes. You will still be taxed as a residence in most places.   Also, depending upon the type of animal you plan to keep in the barn below, there could be odor issues.  Alpacas are generally not odiferous when cared for properly, but pigs and chickens can be pretty bad, particularly on hot days.  A barn married to a residence would also have clear issues with mice, an issue which would have to be addressed. In addition, although a husband and wife could possibly do this without children, it could be difficult and dangerous to have small children in a second story stricture above a barn unless safety features were considered specifically for children.  It could be easy for them to be injured by unanticipated hazards.   Lastly, the possibility exists that after building a quality barn with a foundation sufficient to permit living space above, that you may have insufficient cash flow to build the dream house you planned.  Many people are stuck now in what might be insufficient living space for them because they tried a cheaper alternative, which turned out to be inadequate.  It was penny wise initially, and pound foolish.
              This said, I will reveal a little about a friend of ours.   I told him about a large and beautiful property that was offered to me, but despite it being an excellent buy, was too expensive for my family and I.  He bought it and constructed a pond and a really lovely garage with a finished upstairs.  He did have plans drawn by an architect and it was to code.  This was a logical choice for them because both their children were grown and they remained young and healthy adults.   This permitted them a place to live and work on their land, while the economy improved. Once the economy improved, they planned to build their true dream house.  This was a good plan for them because, when the economy sank, they still had living space, and they could retain their large lands without losing them, as many would have.    Their one problem occurred when they sustained major damage during an earthquake last year.   Again, because this is a hybrid structure, neither FEMA or their insurance company would help them with costly reconstruction.  Last I heard, it is being reconstructed anyway, by the family itself.
            We each have to do the best we can with the assets we have and what might be the right choice in Oklahoma or Belize, might be an horrendous choice in Northwestern rural New Jersey.   The best each of us can do, is to consider our circumstances carefully, visit other hybrid properties, do research using the internet, books, and if you get this far, finding a sympathetic architect who has experience in this very specialized type of hybrid rural building.  I do suspect though that building a hybrid barn home or a hybrid garage home may be just as costly as building a barn on your property, and then building a small home nearby or even some of the more attractive doublewide trailers,  with a plan to build your dream home on the same large acreage in another location in the future.
          This is excellent information for planning purposes:

 http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/

Our First Snow of the Season

I have lived a lot of places during my childhood and over the course of getting my education, and then once again, in seeking the best jobs during career building. It was a relief to finally choose somewhere based on where we wanted to live and on what might be a good place to raise our children. This is how we arrived in Virginia. Virginia is an interesting state. It has four defined seasons. The Summer is too hot for me, but suits many people just fine. The Springs are glorious but very short. Autumn is probably loveliest here than almost anywhere......OK..... Nova Scotia also has some amazing Autumn days too. Winter is interesting here. Most years it is much milder than the Winters of the Northeast, and yet it comes. Some years there are a few snowstorms. A couple of years we have actually be snowed in for a few days. Most dreaded are ice storms which can not only leave the power out for as long as a week, but can made travel of any kind by car, impossible. In the Northeast, most people eventually gather some proficiency driving in snow, slush and ice. Because we have so little of it in Virginia, fewer people are truly proficient, and this makes driving here in storms even more hazardous than it would ordinarily be. Also, in many counties, very little money is allocated for snow removal, and so snow remains on secondary roads longer than it might in the Northeast. A few years ago we had a storm in which lots of fluffy wet snow fell. I was delighted as I took each of our kids whom I had taught to drive, to a large but empty paved church parking lot. I had them practice turns, braking, careless stops etc. in order to get some idea of the skills and touch on necessary driving in snow. They did really well.  It is an excellent idea for drivers who are unfamiliar with driving in snow to practice a little in it, in a place without deep ditches.  Remember to do everything firmly and slowly to avoid uncontrolled skids.  
As a reminder to most of you, there are some things you should have in your car in Winter. Travel with a bagged blanket for use in the event that you are stranded, possibly overnight. Bring a cellphone despite the fact that in many rural US areas, there are  insufficient celltowers in order for them to work reliably. You just never know when they will or will not. Consider an emergency CB radio if you are extremely rural. You should carry water, emergency and snack food, a car first aid kit, and anything else you would like to have if you were stranded in your car overnight. I have a friend who has a 9 volt small kettle she boils water in for tea and instant coffee from her car cigarette lighter plug.  I keep a small gas can, along with jumper cables and a very compact car repair kit. I keep a small container of kitty litter to place around tires should I get stuck, and an excellent foldable shovel.  I also have an emergency rubberized poncho which is bright yellow. If you put effort into packing your different kits, they can be fairly small, and can hide pretty unobstrusively in a trunk.
Winter has begun here.  I hope that it's a pleasant one where you are.

Ideas for Formulating Farm Disaster Plans

A solid barn for anywhere that endures a real winter is a good idea.  This barn is almost as solid as most housing for human beings.           Picture: Copyright Crow Hill Farm

This is a barn in which human beings live upstairs, and the animals live downstairs.    
    Picture: Copyright Louisa Barns and Buildings.

This is a kennel for dogs for both winter and hot summers. A structure such as this could be used for goats or chickens.  Keep in mind that most of the time, different species of animals should not be housed together, with some notable exceptions.       Picture: Copyright Crow Hill Farm

  


I mentioned in a prior post the need to formulate a more complex disaster plan for a small or a larger farm. Since a few of you have farms, this is something we should cover. Every farm needs a disaster plan. Planning for disasters at a farm follows the same basic steps as preparing for disasters with a family.  Many emergencies dictate that one should shelter in place with animals, and some emergencies dictate that you and your family should evacuate with them.   The plan you formulate should be personalized and  should be typed up using your computer. You should have clearly defined plans, first for how you would shelter in place, (Move dogs to Point A, and ducks to point B etc.) and secondly for how you would evacuate. (Move horses to horse trailer and move to Bob A's, while J. moves cats in the truck)  First, place your attention on customizing a good plan for sheltering in place with your animals, as would be necessary for a severe winter storm, perhaps an ice storm, torrential rain, etc. Every farms animals, geography, and resources will be different, as will the most common hazards encountered there. Each plan will therefore need to be a bit different. This written plan, will need to be updated annually, and placed in a notebook, and then reviewed with you and anyone else who works or lives on your farm. Once you have an animal plan for sheltering in place, you must construct one for farm emergency evacuation. On our farm for example, this is exceedingly difficult. Large animals often require multiple people and multiple transport vehicles in order to be evacuated. They need food, water, hay, and sometimes medicines. Males and females may need to be transported separately, mothers along with babies, and some males must be transported separately from others. For the first couple of years we were on this particular farm we had no real way of evacuating all of them. Now, we have the right vehicles and the right trucks, but we would need absolutely all hands on deck, and some good luck too. Evacuation could be triggered in many places that house animals by anything from a small plane crash, to a wildfire, to flooding. We have evacuated twice as a drill, and it's an exceedingly difficult and expensive undertaking here. Still, it is essential to do this for our animals, and much learning will take place. Annually, update both your farm sheltering in place plans, and your farm evacuation plans.

The following is a very basic farm disaster check-list from Gateway Alpacas in Oregon. They were discussing farm evacuation and farm disaster preparedness before anyone else, except perhaps myself.
______________________

From Gateway Farms

An emergency and disaster planning checklist is a good way to insure that all the bases have been covered in emergency planning. What follows should not be considered to be complete or authoritative, but rather as a starting point for sound farm emergency planning.
The following documents should be prepared as part of disaster planning. Copies should be kept where they are easily accessible in the case of evacuation, or by other people that may respond to the emergency in the owners stead.
Documents

Farm Owner-Emergency Responsibilities - Who will be responsible for what in the case of an emergency?
Farm Asset Information - A complete list of assets, useful for insurance and during disaster recovery , At a minimum it should include:
Basic Farm Information
Site Plan of Farm
Inventory of Assets
Business Records
Personal Papers (Identification, banking, wills, etc.)
Emergency Contact Information

Emergency Communications

Emergency Contact List
Alternate Emergency Communication Devices
Pre-arranged Emergency Family Meeting Place

Health, Safety and Food for the Farm Family

Emergency Home Food Supplies
Emergency Home Water Supplies
First Aid Kit
Camping Supplies and Tools for Emergency Use
Standby Power System - Home
Minimum Power Equipment for the Home
Backup Standby Power Arrangements

Health, Safety, Water and Feed Supplies for Livestock/Poultry

Adequate emergency water supplies for animals/livestock
Adequate emergency feed supplies for animals/livestock
Livestock Inventory
Prioritized list of livestock for evacuation
Emergency Arrangements for Ensuring Water Supplies
Emergency Arrangements for Ensuring Feed Supplies
Essential Barn Equipment - plans to remove and/or protect
Emergency Arrangements for Ensuring Operation of Barn Equipment
Livestock Evacuation Plan

________________________________

This is an additional guide book to farm evacuation planning from the University of Florida.

http://disaster.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFS/CHAP09/D09-09.PDF


More information on animal evacuation:

http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/departments/conservation_and_compliance/animal_services/evacuating_farm_animals.aspx

A vehicle such as this, and the truck which is capable of pulling it, is necessary on many farms.       Picture by Oklahomatrailersales.com

We use this air conditioned Tailgator hauler for evacuations of alpacas, and trucks for our dogs, cats and poultry.

 The rear of this unit drops down allowing animals or small vehicles to walk or drive up into the larger area.

This is the interior of the unit set to receive animals.

This is the interior of the unit when people are going to use it.  It can be readied for animals in about eight minutes.

Emergency Preparations for Pets

       Living on a farm, our animal evacuation plans are complex and expensive.  They are the subject of another post another time.  However, many people in most of the world have pets, and pet preparations are something we should discuss.
        It is never acceptable to abandon your pet in an emergency.  Pets are family members, and not only do we have a moral obligation to them to do our best in their care throughout their lifespan, but we do psychological harm to ourselves and to our children by not meeting their needs as best we can.  A little bit of planning can allow us to do the best job possible for our pets in emergencies. The first thing you must do is get tags made for them, so that if they are ever lost, their collar has their name, yours, and a phone number in which to reach you. Sometimes you can include e-mail, cell or address. I label my animals twice in the event that the tags come off. A few of my animals came to us with microchips inside. I am not recommending microchips at this time, as different vets may use different readers, and this may have limited value depending upon your location.
    In most nations, pets are not allowed to accompany you to a shelter, so it's important to make advance plans with friends or with family in order to bring your pet with you, if you must evacuate.  Make sure you contain your pet the wisest way possible.   For a cat, a cat carrier is essential.  For a dog, a portable kennel is a good idea, but is not always possible.  A leash and a collar are always essential.  The following items are good emergency items for us, or if buying them is impractical where you are, they may trigger your putting these items together yourself from available sources in your area. If you have a housecat, then think about keeping some extra kitty litter. Not only can this be used for your cat, but there are multiple uses for it also. It pays to have extra.

   These particular items are available at:

http://www.thepreproom.net/categories/Pet-Products/

This is the Portable Pet Waterboy. This could be useful to have.

These are emergency dog food (shown on the right) and emergency cat food (shown on the left) with a five year shelf life. These are available for $3.69 US each package.

Here is a kit for dog travel.   The bowl including the food and emergency water.

From ready.gov
This is a link which can go into even more detail

http://thepreproom.net/content/pets_tagged.pdf

It doesn't matter where you choose to buy the items to amass for your pet evacuation or pet "shelter in place" kits. What matters is that you make provisions for them. This is one stressor that in an emergency a little bit of advance planning can transform into an easily handled issue.

On Family Operational Security

Papers with itinerary can easily be placed on a mud room extra refrigerator, or at any location your family prefers.

If you have a smaller family than mine, you could also use a white board.  Family members could make quick notations.

 DEBBIE, School 9-3, band practice, 3-4, home by 5.    KENT,  School 8-2, Interview at SBS at 3. Wal-Mart at 4, Home by 6. Party at 7 at 2362, Old Bur Oak Lane. Home by 10.

From the time our kids were small our family always had certain rules aimed at enhancing their safety. The first one was our use of a code word. If our large family was ever at a gathering, and any one of us witnessed something which we believed was unsafe or would become dangerous, they were to recite that word quietly to each family member. The innocuous code word was our code for returning to the car and leaving the area at once. Anyone, adult or child, could use this word, and then once we had left the area and were safe, the person who had "called the code word" would explain what they had seen, and the decision would be made as to whether we needed to call police. Interestingly, this was never abused, and has been used in our family three times. Once, one of our children saw a man at a gathering with a hidden gun, and he seemed like a scary guy, and so we retreated, until after police came. (He had intent to rob people at the gathering). A second time, I called one, when I noticed at a large urban gathering, a large number of plainclothes police there, which made me believe something was up there. A third time, I was visiting my kids at their university in Richmond, and my eldest son saw someone with a knife and suspected an impending robbery. His use of the code word caused everyone to scatter (including his friends whom he had taught the word to at the beginning of the semester), leaving the robber with the knife completely confounded. Your word should be an easily remembered one, but a fairly uncommon one so that your intent to family members or close friends is clear. It should not be a word which frightens other people who hear it. The intent is to safely extract your own family without panicking people or wasting valuable evacuation time trying to explain, and then evaluate whether a call needs to be made to police.
We also would never have sent anyone to pick up our children anywhere without a different code word. Our children were instructed never to go anywhere with anyone without that word.  No matter where you are, the world can be a dangerous place. Rather than teaching our children to be terrified of all of it, we need to start when they are young to incorporate some family operational security rules. This way, safety is a part of living, and not an encumbrance. First of all, you must explain to your children that safety has nothing to do with your trust for them. I trust all of my children completely, but I may not trust the rest of the world, and I may not always completely trust their friends or their friend's parents and I certainly didn't trust all of their teachers. We therefore have certain procedures aimed at enhancing safety.
First, no one, including the adults in our home, go anywhere without a "flight plan". This is a quickly scrawled note as to where you will be and when. We place ours on our tall freezer with a magnet. Those who have not completed university, also file their college schedule with me each semester, in the event that an emergency triggered our needing to reach them or pick them up. With many people in a family, it's easy to forget who said what, on a given morning, or to confuse a day in which they will be late for some reason. If the "flight plan" changes for some reason, or they are delayed, they must text or call to let someone at the house know. I follow the same rules in this regard as our kids, because I am likely in as much danger in the world, as they are. Additionally, your children will follow notification rules, if you do. If we are away overnight, we have a protocol whereby we test at agreed upon intervals. This way, if something is wrong somewhere, we know pretty quickly, and we know exactly where they were last. This level of communication is essential if you and your family needed to evacuate an area in an emergency. My mother would have considered this to be "running your family a lot like a spy network" but it isn't. It's a logical adaptation to a busy and dangerous world.
While my kids were at university, one female student was murdered by someone she met there.The student's name was Taylor Biel. A friend of my son's, another sculpture student, was robbed and murdered. His name was Tyler Binstead.    Before two of our kids graduated, a foreign exchange student named Jonny Dorey went missing. He has never been located.   Lauren Spierer from another university remains missing. Now, a student named Ian Burnet has disappeared on a trip from VCU to New York City.  Many other disappearances of young adults and children have occurred at universities and other locations within the US. We need to formulate some rules in order to maximize safety.  First, most campuses do not allow students or even parents to carry weapons, even if we already hold concealed weapons permits, so this is often not an alternative. Secondly, realize that people who have had a few drinks are much more easily raped, robbed or abducted than those who have not. If you wish to drink, and you are of legal age, drink at home. Realize that everyone is not your friend. Date rape was a big issue even in my youth, and it may be a larger issue now. Date people you know something about, not just someone attractive you met while getting pizza. Be alert. Lives have been saved by waiters who saw a man put something in his date's drink. I remember one such case where the waiter called police. . Human trafficking is a real phenomenon. Be alert to the possibility when you notice that you are being watched, or someone seems to be following you. Let someone else explain to police why they were following you.
Lastly, FBI agents tell us that if someone tries to abduct you, you should fight with everything you have, then and there. Even if you are injured in your attempt to remain free, your abductor will think again, and he may run. Once you are abducted, the abductor controls the environment and you are unlikely to find an escape point later. This taste of the rules my family follows might be right for you, or you may need more check ins than I have described, or fewer of them. The fact is, that everyone, in the light of terrorism, child sex offenders, rapists, home invaders, drug users looking for quick cash, or human traffickers, need to have family operational security rules. Remember that there is no "safe neighborhood". Anything can happen anywhere and at anytime. Calmly prepare for this, and then you can meet the challenges of your life and actually enjoy your life with provisions for security for those you love and for yourself.

Emergency War Surgery.........The NATO Manual

Emergency War Surgery..... Second United States Revision...The Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook ,  Published by: Desert Publications, El Dorado, Arkansas,  This edition 1992          Publishers phone #: 870-862-3811                Publisher's contact information: info@deltapress.com

                

                 This book arrived today, and happily, I have had some time to read and digest some of it. I note the disclaimer in the front which states that the book has been published for entertainment purposes only and that the publisher is not endorsing that we do any of the procedures described.  The book is really only of any use to those who have significant medical training, those who are near completion of their third year of medical school, those who are military corpsmen and who have done the outlined procedures, civilian Physician Assistants who have worked in critical care or surgical settings, experienced trauma nurses,  Nurse Practitioners whose specialties have allowed them surgical or critical care practice, family practice physicians with interests in disaster and war medicine,  Board certified physicians in the specialties of urology, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, trauma, oral surgeons, plastic surgeons, and a few critical care registered nurses and a few surgeon's assistants.    Almost anyone else is out of their league.  Pharmacists may find this helpful should they ever be conscripted by FEMA or the US federal government to be "Pharmacist Practitioners", following a nuclear or chemical attack.
          
              The benefits are that a person who is medically trained can look up particular injuries or issues and in a difficult situation, can see goal-setting and direction.   The drawbacks are that the book pre-supposes a certain amount of back-up laboratory ability, a certain amount of available antibiotics and pain meds availability, and a certain amount of intravenous administration ability with both plain fluids, and intravenous admixtures.    Attempting many of the procedures in the book without the aforementioned items, may be foolish. I do think that this belongs in the library of anyone who is medically trained, particularly for the information on cold injury, chemical injury, discussions of infection, and burn injury.

     This book is available at:

       http://www.nitro-pak.com/emergency-war-surgery


The book is very interesting, but is no substitute for genuine medical training.   In the past, I have encouraged those of you with this type of an interest and calling to make arrangements with:


      www.medicalcorps.com      

    They run periodic excellent courses in practical medical interventions
    including suturing including the indications for doing so, dental interventions, etc.