I have been reading Dave’s Forum topic of ‘Guy Stuff, Women Welcome’ and thought we should start one of our own..
What gave me that idea was all the fascinating info on black powder guns, cross-bows, swords and knives etc.
My departed husband was a very thoughtful fellow and he left me with a .357 Magnum Colt Python with – yes – a 6” barrel!! He also left some swords and knives among them a 1918 US Marine’s knife with a double-edged blade and a built-in brass knuckle duster. I believe those could be mounted on the front of a rifle like a bayonet. So, hey, I’m pretty well set with weaponry, but, as the men are going to be out there protecting us and dealing with the murderous mob when Armageddon arrives, I thought we ladies should get together and revive some of the traditional female survival techniques (no, this is NOT going to be about Sex!)
How many of us know anything about nursing? Somebody is going to have to dig out those bullets and bind the wounds. Do you know how to tear up a cotton petticoat and linen sheets to make bandages? Sorry, forgot, we don’t wear cotton petticoats any more and most of the bed linen is synthetic. Oh, well!
Right, we are going to have to use those knives to skin the animals the men have brought home for us to eat – or is skinning the men’s job? Not quite sure, will have to look it up.
Then we are going to have to learn how to make needles from bone and how to twist the sinews for thread, so we can sew these skins together to make clothes, etc. The knives will come in handy there too for cutting and I do have a whet-stone to keep them sharp.
Next thing of course is to keep sheep, so we can gather the wool, spin thread and learn to weave into cloth.
We need to find out how to make a loom and a spinning wheel, or we just clutch the distaff under our armpits like they did in the days of the Greek goddesses.
Then we are going to have to learn how to store grain and roots for the long cold winter, unless you all come to S.A. where stuff grows all year round.
Have any of you read the ‘Day of the Triffids’ and related books which were so prevalent in the sixties?
After reading that I thought of a game plan.
Immediately on waking up one morning and finding 90% of humanity had been wiped out, I was going to find a couple of Pantechnicons. I was first going to the Library to collect all the self-help book and ancient tomes possible which would teach me how to make stuff. Then I was going to go the the shopping malls and Outdoor Living shops and load up all the tinned food (don’t forget the tin openers!), gas bottles (full of course) camping equipment, spades, tools – manual – and all the stuff I could think of, then I was going to trundle off into the wilds of the country to find myself a farm or ranch as you call them. Because of the high incidence of farm murders in S.A. they are quite securely fenced these days so I would be able to stop the hungry mob when they were coming to storm the place.
I would collect some other survivors along the way and of course as many domestic animals as I could and we could set up shop.
NOW my suggestion is this.
Let us start different forums, otherwise the whole thing gets too bulky and we cant find anything, unless of course Andrey can index it all for us!
These could be:
Clothing and how to make it
Food, how to cook over an open fire
Food, how to preserve it – there’ll be no sugar or salt after it runs out!
Bread – how to grow grain, grind it, make sourdough and bake in a wood oven
How to make and repair furniture – hey, maybe the guys could do that
Etc, etc, etc.
I am sure you get the gist.
So, ladies and men, lets get something constructive going on survival!!!
Love you all
Ursula
Aquene said she had a stunning recipe for cheesecake, maybe, while we wait for all to go boom we can share some of those and have some virtual coffe/tea with all the amazing people on this Team?
Love U
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The only thing that threatens to go boom around here is the waistband on these trousers...been eating too well and not exercising enough, and since it's winter here, I'm using that as my excuse. I need to snap out of it, though, because spring is coming and I need to shed some pounds. Maybe virtual cheesecake will get me through the cravings. :-)
--
"We all agree that your theory is crazy, but is it crazy enough?"
- Niels Bohr
In Germany and South Africa we just have cheesecake with coffee in the mornings or afternoons. It is not used as a dessert after a meal, but that of course, varies in different countries and is up to everybody's own taste. There are also different kinds of cheesecakes. There is the one which is baked and then the one which is made with gelatine and set in the fridge.
So you see, you can do anything with it you like!!!
Love U
I have about six hundred pounds of grain and beans in storage. I add to it weekly. It is dated and rotated. I have a grain mill and know how to (and already do) bake my own bread. I cook from scratch and can help others learn to do that. The wood cook stove is coming up out of my basement this year. The garden and my soil is my first priority. I bought this land because I knew it was in an area that would allow me to grow food meaningfully. I have revised my personal expectations so that I am not trying to support an outdated lifestyle on a planet already burdened by human thoughtlessness. I am building local community so the "roving hordes" that some think will come to shoot me will become my adored neighbors who know where they can get a meal and can lend a hand with the food production work. I don't need minie balls and black powder if community and neighborliness makes aggression obsolete. The world has spent too much of it's energy with people "guarding their stuff." How about we get daring and drop that dead paradigm. If we all agree that Love is the only healer then let's fucking put our money where our mouth is.
While I'm doing all this "keep people alive stuff" I'm also communicating actively with local ET's, plant, animal, mineral and post-human spirits and asking for daily wisdom on how to bring this community through difficult times. I am willing my heart to grow wider and wider in the service of other people and the planet.
That's just off the top of my head. Thanks for starting this thread Ursula. I have lots of practical knowledge to share and resources I can point people to if they are interested. Gotta run for now...back later.
this is cool...i don't know how to do any of the 'womanly stuff' cook good baked chicken.....make good salads....but can't grow a carrot....lol
i've read where some of you are gardeners..... anything you'd like to share with a newbie?
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Hi Misty,
I am not exactly a gardener, but I grow herbs in pots. I am on a large plot, but the soil is very sandy and it is difficult to grow stuff and keep it watered. So now I have a collection of pots where I grow chives, parsley, marjoram, origanum, thyme, sage, mint, lavender, basil and a few baby tomatoes and some chillies. They are all quite easy to grow here. I am sure there are people who have more know-how than I do!
Love U
For starters....
Compost, compost, compost. You need to build good soil...that's more than half the work. The earth WANTS to grow things. We need to help by nourishing rather than depleting the soil.
Try lasagna gardening:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1999-04-01/Lasagna-Gard...
Start small, but start...in pots if you need to. Grow something...anything...the biggest part of the battle is to get started.
Grab a packet of seeds for a veggie that you like. Read the instructions. Pray. Talk to the seeds. Put them in the dirt. Send loving energy daily. Commune with your plants as they grow. Eat with gratefulness. Share your food. Then compost and complete the cycle. Do it over and over. Expand your horizons. Do it with neighbors. Share the harvest. Expand your horizons some more. Fall in love with the earth. Listen to her...ask her opinion. Compost your ecstasy and return it to the Universe for common consumption. Turn meals into communion. Expand your horizons some more.
You get the idea.
How about we get daring and drop that dead paradigm. If we all agree that Love is the only healer then let's fucking put our money where our mouth is.
I'm with you, Sophie! I wish to never use a gun again. Nice curtains. I like what you've done with the place.
8-D
Really great! Nice curtains, too.
I'm a gardener and a state-certified Master Composter. That is my only degree, and I think it's funny and fitting. Master bullshitter, that's me. I'm a decent cook, too...I make a caramel-custard pie that is to die for. Someday we'll all show up like an ole-fashion church social, and it'll be the best spread ever.
8-D
i have a little circle of dirt in the back yard that is 'meant' for a garden. the guys have been building their fires there. i want to move the fire pit out away from the house so that the smoke doesn't pool in the carport area. i would like to convert this back to a gardening spot. i live on the beach so the soil here is sandy too. my mother in law grew some H!O!T! peppers in that spot and some of the tastiest cherry tomatoes.....but now the dirt has been burned......if i start to compost that ground will it be good for growing again?
Hi Misty,
My cousin in Australia is really clued up on growing things. She told me that they drive four posts into the ground and then take some wooden planks and nail them together to form a box. It would only need to be about a foot high. At the bottom of that box they pile newspapers and cardboard and then they fill it up with soil. Now they have a super bed with fresh soil to grow stuff in. As it is raised it is also easier to control the weeds and to harvest things.
Give it a go, I am sure you will be able to grow some tomatoes, courgettes, lettuce and herbs. Then you will be sure it is all organic. Plant in stages - check the packets of seeds for planting times or buy seedlings - then you have an ongoing crop all summer.
Love U
Ursula,
Must we also chew the leather to make moccasins? Mental note to
get my teeth fixed before I really need them. Your post gave me such a grin.
I've saved all my old Mother Earth News, hoping I never have a need for them.
I am a Northern girl, I can drive anything on anything, catch fish through the ice, shoot a .22, 9mm and
bow and arrow, though I choose not to these days. I dont want that sort of karma.
I've spent most of my adult life with a man that hunts and fishes, so I can clean,
dress and cook just about anything you can rustle up for supper.
I prefer to live primarily vegetarian, but if food were scarce
and folks were hungry I'm sure I could come up with a lovely stone soup.
I garden on a small patch, make my own flower essences, work with aromatherapy,
Reiki, lead frame drum circles and a meditation group weekly and will be ordained in June.
I paddle a mean canoe, can stitch a thing or two when I must, and I guess that would include
the wounded if need be (worked in an emergency room for 10 years in my younger days).
I'm against getting into much discussion of sexuality here, because we're all one,
all is acceptable between consenting adults, and what floats one boat might just sink another.
I've worked since 4am on a computer today, and it's now 4pm, so I'll confess this isnt
particularly enlightening or witty, but I AM, and you get me that way. I'd be happy to share
recipes if there is something in particular someone is looking for- give a shout. More to come
when I'm not so brain fried from the 4am gig that pays the bills! Oh and I turned 50 yesterday-
feel like I should be suddenly very wise and instead find I'm still the same ole wise arse....
Light, love, peace, prosperity. May the blessings of the Goddess rain down upon us all,
she has been the quiet voice for a very long time!
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Hey Misty,
Yes it is all about the soil. What you need to do is dig it up, put in anything organic....news paper food scraps, anything that has lived, have a thin cover of soil on top and "leave" it. It will take a few months at least. You can turn it over every now and then......but good soil, "heaps" of water and stuff will grow. I worked at Melbourne Zoo for two weeks in there horticulture dept, spun me out how much water we used.......
Ursula, what a wonderful thread, and no I will never hassel you.....357 Magnum! Lol we aren't used to guns in Oz....Lol Dirty Ursula.......
Jez
That's funny Ursula,
Do you want me to send you a photo Lol........ours has no posts and sits on concrete! but the theory you gave is right...
We need to redo ours, the nutrients are gone...every year rotate your crop, tomatoes one year, ? corn the next or look it up, .......but yes Mist what Ursula just said does work....really well!
With love
Jez
Hey Sandra,
Lol,
good luck! but for the record, I could do all that! and I would be more than happy to let you do the "killing". I would find it uncomfortable.......My question is if I am doing all that do I get to nag you and destroy your perfect beer moments and stuff? I could nag good! Lol
Jez
My guess is we would be making our own soap too. Lye soap, was the old
pioneer standby. Surely we could come up with something better than
that. Any suggestions?
Of course you can't count on being able to buy lye so I guess we'll have to make it the old fashioned way by letting rainwater leach through our pile of collected wood ashes.
Then again maybe it's easier to just stay dirty...or naked!
Then we'd be all ready for aforementioned polyamorous love! (before after or during cheesecake!)
Wow, this is absolutely awesome! Onesong you are so clued up on survival and so are the rest of you.
Love the cheesecake recipe, Aquene, I am sure Nada will find it helpful!
Jez, Sandra and Sophie, thanks too. We really make an awesome team!
No, I don't want to shoot anything either. My husband bought the gun many years ago and actually had to import it from the USA via a friend in Switzerland! Quite a story.
The thing is that they are also getting very strict with the gun laws in S.A. The problem is that responsible people are having to go through a heck of a rigmarole to get their licence renewed while any amount of illegal guns from AK47 to Uzi's and all the rest are available on the black market. For me to hand the Magnum in to the police, would only make it available to criminals (yes, that is the sad state of affairs, that the police are more crooked than the rest - not all of them of course, but our chief of police is up on corruption charges and as a result our parliament is now disbanding the Scorpions, or main, independent crime-fighting unit which has been catching all these guys including our future president Jacob Zuma - I could go on and on) so I have been waiting for more than 2 years to get a licence and keep the gun locked in the safe. Somebody told me that people have been giving their guns to the police (you can't sell them because of the licencin problem) and then buying an illegal gun on the black market. They reckon that if they shoot somebody (if you defend yourself against criminals and hijackers and kill one you are up on a murder charge) and kill them, they will just throw the gun away and so get away with it.
Anyway, this has got much too serious. I still have some old false teeth of my husband's floating around, maybe we can just use those for chewing the leather or is it fat?
I think we need to set up our compound here in S.A. We don't get very cold winters in most parts of the country so we don't need to worry about heating. Stuff grows all year round, so the food situation will be not too bad. There is lots of space and land and you guys will just have to hijack the last plane out of there!
P.S. Don't forget the hops and malt so we can brew beer. Grapes we have a plenty, so there is no problem with wine!
Love U
Seeing we are all such capable women, I would suggest that we set up a roster, where everybody gets a chance to do everything. So we will take turns to sit around and drink beer and wine.
Unfortunately science has not yet succeeded to let men have babies. I am sure, among all of us we can find somebody who is into cloning? Then we can forget about sex, except for pleasure?, clone the children, and nobody needs to get pregnant?
Just a thought I am sure one of you can come up with a solution.
Love you all
Ursula
You guys are cracking me up! I just got an image of a men's quilting bee....buncha guys sitting around a big frame, with staplers.
Ursula, I am so jealous about that Colt Python! I've wanted one for thirty years.
8-D
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this is a recipe for chocolate lovers or maybe lovers who'd like to be covered in the stuff...
and it's easy as 1-2-3. Little Chocolate Pillows aka Chocolate 'Ravioli'
You will need:
Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
Wonton wrappers
vegetable oil, for frying ( i did NOT say anything about healthy here!)
egg, beaten
confectioners sugar
someone to lick your fingers.....
In heavy skillet heat oil. brush edges of wonton wrapper with beaten egg, place a teaspoon of nutella on each, press edges together like a 'ravioli' and press to seal well. make as many as you plan on eating before you begin frying. they cook really quick. fry watching very closely or they'll burn and you'll have a mess of sticky chocolatey burning oil, but otherwise there is nothing to this. cook until golden. drain well, and shake with powdered sugar. lovely served with fresh berries while warm, equally as good when cold.
make sure you have help eating these.
Lol
Ursula, you have done a great service here for our team. I ended up so frustrated the past several days that I ended up knocking a cup of coffee all over my keyboard—my brand new keyboard. That's why I couldn't jump in and contribute to the fun topic. Today, I had to go into town so just bought another. Have to be able to speak my mind
.
I have been thinking of survival skills for many years. My second husband was trying to create a place up in the mountains of Arizona for just such a purpose. With him, it turned out to be more his own "retirement project" than any real group community. (He was a jet fighter pilot during the Viet Nam fiasco.)
My life took other turns, and I have stopped doing most of the things I know how to do. I Used to garden extensively, can and dehidrate the produce, made ALL the bread from grinding the wheat and using a starter. I've been the gopher (helper) while building a couple of houses, painted both inside and out. That was all back when I had kids and close neighbors, etc. Now, living alone, I don't do nearly as much. I have done a little canning the past couple of years just because food is getting so expensive and who knows what it contains. Here in Washington state, we have wonderful berry crops, so I've gotten out to pick and then freeze them—especially the blueberries.
I have sewn all my life, but treat it more as an art now. I have a tabletop ridgid heddle weaving loom that can make 24" cloth. I started teaching myself with this. A couple of years ago, I almost fell heir to a large floor loom. The person said I could have it for free, then backed out. I still hope to find another one I can afford. I would also like to find a treddle sewing machine. Oh, there is so much to do.
However, I think the main thing is to begin, each of us, right where we are, to learn some of these skills, doing whatever we can to become less and less dependent on the corporate system for our needs. Even though I rushed out today and spent scarce money for a new keyboard, the time will come when there may not be any power to run the computer and it will serve as a door stop.
Ursula suggested that I might post something about Findhorn because of some interest in gardening. I will do that, at least what I can remember, but I think I'll start a new post so this one won't get so long.
Wow, it's so good to be talking again.
Luv,
JoyAnna
this made me laugh so hard i thought i would pass it along
This has turned into a really interesting and fun forum. Seriously, I know we all have a great deal of knowledge and to share this and how to get back to basics as far as eating and growing things is concerned is wonderful. Our environment has taken such a beating and I do feel it is part of Transformation to help the earth transform itself to the health-giving and sharing environment it is meant to be.
Thanks for the Nutella/wonton tip. My daughter is a choc-a-holic and she will love it.
By all means, lets be serious, but let us not forget that it is laughter which keeps our minds and bodies young.
Go team.
Love U
i'll refine my earlier comment. i can bake chicken, and make great salads. i cook pretty well......my mom is a chef...so i picked it up. i've just never grown anything.
thanks for starting this thread, ursula. it has a great feel to it, and is pretty informative.
in the spirit of unity.
misty
Just a couple of book suggestions for those interested in Findhorn type info.
Perelandra is stateside and might be a helpful resource.
http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/
I've read a couple books by founder Machaelle Small Wright, "Behaving as if the God in all things mattered" and M.A.P. The Co-Creative White Brotherhood Medical Assistance Program.
We go out for breakfasts on Sundays and this week he brought his knitting project. He's making a scarf for one of the girls he likes in high school. We sat outdoors and six yr old girl was watching him through the window from her indoor table, apparently completely fascinated with the knitting process.
Later, at the store, I bought him three more skeins of yarn. He may have a lot of girlfriends this year!
Of course, he's also into shoot-em-up video games and probably knows what a Colt Python looks like.
Dave, don't you kinda suspect that a men's quilting bee would involve a fair amount of duct tape?
Enjoying this thread.
Smiles to all here.
Baked cheesecake is the only way to make a cheesecakee
And it´s a dessert after a meal, and you must have a coup of coffe to go with it 
Some times here in northern europe, (read Sweden, Finland) we just don´t give a shit about the cheesecake. We just take a nice brake in our sauna and enjoy a cold beer insted.
It looks like this thread has come back to life again! What fun. It was started as a total fun thing and proved to be informative and fun at the same time.
I have since started a vegetable plot. I have a swimmingpool in the back garden with a large paved area which also contained a pit trampoline. The mat became a bit dodgy and visitors children would go an jump on it, so I removed it and left just the hole. I kept hoping to catch some burglars in it, but that is another story!
I really wanted to start my own veggie garden, and eventually the idea struck, "why not fill in the hole with some good soil and do it there?" So I got my trusty gardnener/handiman, he comes once a week to help cut the grass and chop down unwanted vegetation, to collect compost from all over the property and to start filling the hole. Then I asked the people across the road for five bags of horse manure which I put into the hole and then I bought a truckload full of good soil to fill up the rest. I fenced it in to stop the dogs from running through it.
At the moment it has loads and loads of lettuce. I had saved some seeds from lettuce in a pot which had gone to seed and it looks like they all germinated. Pity one can't freeze that! Then I have tomato plants and the little tomatoes are looking good, peppers, spinach which will be turned into spanakoppita this weekend, some of the little yellow patty pan marrows, carrots and more lettuce. It is such super fun.
Then I have started a worm farm. A friend gave me some worms and I made my own house for them and the compost and "worm tea" from that should take care of the organic fertilizing. Will let you know what happens.
Cirq, in Germany, the shepherds used to knit. They lived out in the countryside in their caravans and spent their time knitting. There is also a man, I think in the USA, can't remember his name, who makes the most stunning knitted garments and, needless to say, lots and lots of money! Tell your son he is in very good company.
With love to you all
Ursula
Native American's subsisted on corn (maize) squash and beans as a large part of their diet. One thing I didn't know until recently was the way in which they planted these crops and I found it quite fascinating. As the oldest of 4 sisters, I will garden with the 'three sisters' this year.
You need seed for:
corn, a bush variety of squash, and a climbing bean. You plant one of each together in mounds. This way, your corn is shaded by the squash which also helps keep weeds down and requires less water and your beans climb the corn for support. The woman I saw garden this way had a lovely crop come year end.
I don't know how well this works having not used this method before, but I'll try it this year. It's too early here for much yet, but the manures down, the garden's turned, some seeds are germinating in beds inside and the wheatgrass that's got me thru the winter is still growing in the windowsills.
Thank you Mother for your many blessings. May we all walk softly appreciative of your beauty and bounty. Happy Oastara, Easter, Passover....everyday is a W-Holy day.
That is a super tip. I am always looking for better and healthier ways of growing things. That makes so much sense, and I will definitely try it out (as soon as I have eaten some more lettuce :).
I am not sure if the growing season for beans and corn is not maybe over as we are entering into autumn. I will have to check it out. Many things grow all year round as we don't get to freezing, but I had not seen any seeds for beans at the nursery recently.
When you get a chance, let me know how it works out! Any more suggestions and tips are very welcome!
With love
Ursula
One of the reasons I've been gone so much this last year is that this site has been relatively inactive while other forums are popping! This is a good bunch of folks, I'm glad to see it stirring. One forum I help moderate has whole subforums devoted to gardening, natural health, gulching, barter and community-building. I'm working on a local organization we're calling Dawnbreakers - people who make a point of including and caring for others while preparing as best we can for whatever's coming. Hopefully in a couple weeks we'll have a website up and running. I don't think we'll have the internet available to us for that much longer...we should use it while we can.
I have not heard of this before! and it is almost too late to do it this year in Texas, but I am going to make a note that for next spring this will be incorporated. I have squash and peas, but no beans planted and heard today that is almost too late for beans. Maybe I can get some black eyed peas in the ground real quick.
Thanks Onesong.
I have not heard of this before! and it is almost too late to do it this year in Texas, but I am going to make a note that for next spring this will be incorporated. I have squash and peas, but no beans planted and heard today that is almost too late for beans. Maybe I can get some black eyed peas in the ground real quick.
Thanks Onesong.
Why don´t you go to a store and buy your food? It´s much easier