Had a Blast at the mothers for liberty meeting.

the sewing meeting for the west michigan mothers for liberty was an awesome good time. Robin, Kate and i made our little sewing projects (the one i made is above) and then sat and chatted over coffee and tea. many ideas were shared for the group and our next meeting is in the works. i am so excited and hopeful for the development of the group. good thing are going to come of it. hopefully we will start getting more members and more activities can be done on promoting liberty and freedom and community.

mothers for liberty november 8 meeting

do you want to learn to sew? this is the meeting for you! we will be sewing a couple of simple projects that everyone from beginning seamstress to the expert will find fun. bring your machine and supplies (i will list later) and come and join the fun. i do have one extra sewing machine, so even if you can't bring yours you can borrow mine. the coffee will be hot and the conversation good, please come on out.

uphill

our battle will be uphill. we will need to work harder to keep our freedoms and liberties.

Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically, by popular vote. William L. Shirer

i am a patriot, i will defend the constitution, the bill of rights!

How's the soap packaging?

well here is an example of how i am going to package my homemade soap. i will be adding labels to them with the kind of soap and contact information. we are out of ink in our printer now =) so what do you think? how much would you pay? any thoughts would be appreciated. these will also go up for sale on my etsy site if you are interested in purchasing some. i will have lavender, this bar is chamomile, and i will do some other fun ones.

my new etsy shop

well i have opened a new etsy shop. stop by and check it out! i will be adding new things as soon as i can! i have a mini etsy on the side of my blog too. very cool!

quote, what do you think?

Alexander Tytler writing in the founding era said: "...the world's greatest civilizations.. have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage." Where do you think we are in this sequence? Can we stop it or at least slow it down?It also seems to me that we are moving through these phases at an accelerated pace compared to earlier civilizations. Is this because of the technology of the modern age? If so then we have lost more control than we can fathom.

10 public school "signposts of failure"

10 public school "Signposts of Failure"

by The Libertarian Party(11/5/99)

WASHINGTON, DC -- George W. Bush is wrong: The biggest problem in public schools is not "moral chaos" but educational chaos -- thanks to government schools that endlessly demand more money to hire more teachers, while lowering standards and churning out more functional illiterates, the Libertarian Party charged today. "Government schools can't teach reading, writing, and arithmetic -- why should we trust them to teach morality, respect, and character?" asked Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "If public education does for ethics what it's done for learning, we'll end up with a generation of immoral, disrespectful, and characterless students."

On Tuesday, Texas Governor George W. Bush, in a major speech on education in New Hampshire, proposed that public schools must begin to teach "right and wrong" to end the nation's "moral chaos." Bush, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, also promised to increase the amount of federal money spent on "promoting character education," from $8 million to $25 million. But any effort to "save" the foundering government school system -- whether with more federal money, smaller class sizes, or morality-based teaching -- is doomed to fail, countered Dasbach.

As evidence, he pointed to 10 "Signposts of Failure" in government schools:

* Between 1960 and 1995, average per-pupil spending in U.S. public schools rose 212% in inflation-adjusted dollars.

* Between 1960 and 1995, the student/teacher ratio has dropped by 35% -- from approximately 26 students for every one U.S. public school teacher to only 17.

* Between 1960 and 1995, the average salary of U.S. public school teachers jumped 45% in inflation-adjusted dollars.

* In 1994, fewer than 50% of the personnel employed by U.S. public schools were teachers.

* American 12th graders rank 19th out of 21 industrialized countries in mathematics achievement and 16th out of 21 nations in science.

* In fourth grade, 77% of children in urban high-poverty schools are reading "below basic" levels on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests.

* Since 1983, over 10 million public school students have reached the 12th grade level without learning to read at the basic level.

* Since 1983, more than 20 million students have reached the 12th grade unable to do basic math.

* Since 1983, more than 25 million students have reached the 12th grade not knowing the essentials of U.S. history.

* In 1995, nearly 30% of first-time college freshmen enrolled in at least one remedial course to compensate for a sub-standard high school education.

"Look at the track record," said Dasbach. "More funding has been tried. It failed. Smaller classes have been tried. They failed. Higher-priced teachers have been tried. They failed. More educational bureaucrats have been tried. They failed. "In fact, the only thing we haven't tried yet is freedom: The freedom of parents to use their own money to send their children to the non-profit, religious, or private school of their choice -- non-government schools that effectively teach the values parents want," he said. "It's something that George W. Bush and other Republicans don't seem to understand: Freedom and responsibility are a prerequisite for morality, respect, and character. So why don't we try it in education?" Source: http://www.libertarianrock.com/topics/school/ten_posts_of_failure.html

Andrew Jackson comments on the economic crisis and ending the Fed

Andrew Jackson comments on the economic crisis and ending the Fed Posted by Matt Hawes on 10/17/08Well, not quite, but the warnings against the paper money system made in his 1837 farewell address can be directly transferred to our day."The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the bank are some of the fruits of that system of policy which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of the Federal Government beyond the limits fixed by the Constitution. The powers enumerated in that instrument do not confer on Congress the right to establish such a corporation as the Bank of the United States, and the evil consequences which followed may warn us of the danger of departing from the true rule of construction and of permitting temporary circumstances or the hope of better promoting the public welfare to influence in any degree our decisions upon the extent of the authority of the General Government. Let us abide by the Constitution as it is written, or amend it in the constitutional mode if it is found to be defective....""The paper-money system and its natural associations--monopoly and exclusive privileges--have already struck their roots too deep in the soil, and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth and to eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire to perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in the General Government as well as in the States, and will seek by every artifice to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuating your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the sovereignty of the country, and to you everyone placed in authority is ultimately responsible."An ominous task nowadays to be sure, but one which Jackson was confident the people could win if they stuck at it."But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of the paper system and to check the spirit of monopoly and other abuses which have sprung up with it, and of which it is the main support. So many interests are united to resist all reform on this subject that you must not hope the conflict will be a short one nor success easy. My humble efforts have not been spared during my administration of the Government to restore the constitutional currency of gold and silver, and something, I trust, has been done toward the accomplishment of this most desirable object; but enough yet remains to require all your energy and perseverance. The power, however, is in your hands, and the remedy must and will be applied if you determine upon it."There are two main courses of action to take. First, we must educate ourselves so that we can not only articulate sound economics, but also adequately combat the pro-fiat arguments. Second, we must spread the word. One great step toward that second goal would be to forward around Dr. Paul's CNN interview from earlier this morning to your friends and family.(Source for Jackson's Address: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnByZXNpZGVuY3kudWNzYi5lZHUvd3MvaW5kZXgucGhwP3BpZD02NzA4Nw==)

our bad day

yesterday was a bad day! the company hubby was working for went under, no job for hubby. on the way to get a replacement driver's licenses for me (my purse was stolen) our only running vehicle broken down (over a $200.00 part to fix it) and we had to have it towed home (more money spent we don't really have). so it was a bad day........ but it got worse. i thought our eldest son was out helping his dad in the garage, but he wasn't. he was "helping" me paint the mud room. here's how he did..... well here is the update picture. ike has to help clean up the mess he made.... so here he is scrapping paint.

Real ID

terry lynn land has made an agreement with the homeland security department on the new michigan enhanced driver's license, which will be available in the spring. for the moment this will be optional, but if you want to travel out of the country to canada or mexico you will need this or a passport.

very scary thought that my state is going along with this, since there is an opt out option. there are state leaders who oppose this due to privacy issues. i am going to look into this more and see if there is anything i can do. i will not be getting this license, eventually, if all goes as planned, the borders will be opened up by the NAU anyhow......very sad and scary.

mother's for liberty meet and greet

the first meeting of the west michigan mother's for liberty went very well. three members sat and had a great conversations over coffee. we discussed the mother's institute, the mother's for liberty and the direction of the group. i am in the process of planning the next meeting, i think i may be beginning sewing. how cool.

Our first eggs!!!

well here they are.....our first eggs!! we are very excited 1) because we have our own eggs 2) we found them in the nest boxes! the blue one is from josh's chick, she's an easter egger (our only one), the other, i think, is from one of the rhode island reds. they are little now, but that's the way the girls start out!

home from the conference!

well the first annual mother's for liberty midwest conference was a success!! i had tons of fun with all the like minded mamas.

left to right robin, ruth, leslie, karin, jan, leanna, patty, jennifer, aimee and andrea.

there were disscussions about what brought us to the conference, the thomas jefferson education (which i am very excited about), running for office, the mother's institute and soapmaking. i was a very good time and it was nice to finally meet these ladies in person.

this is the soap i made at the conference! it is very nice, very bubbly!

mothers for liberty mid west conference

the mothers for liberty midwest conference is this weekend! i am going and demonstrating soapmaking with my mom. i've been busy all week trying to get ready, but i'm sure i'll forget something.

if you happen to be in the area, stop by and check it out, here is the info

What: Midwest Mothers for Liberty Conference

When: Saturday, September 27, 2008

Where: Senior Citizen Center 616 W. Jackson, Vandalia, IL

Theme: "Radical Responsible Mothering ... From Soap Making to Soap Boxes"

when i return home, i will post how the conference went!

our veggie garden, beginning to end

well this was the first year for a garden. it did pretty good this year, but we will be working on the soil and hopefully it will do better next year. we got zucchini, acorn squash (they were just little), butternut squash and pumpkins. the corn didn't do any thing, neither did the eggplant. we got lots of banana pepper and hot peppers. i could've swore that i planted green peppers but none showed up. the cucumbers went crazy in the garden, i've canned just about every kind of pickle, i swear.

we did get a few green beans, enough for dilly green beans and a few quarts canned. the black beans and lima beans are more work than they are worth and would take a huge amount of the garden to get enough to last more than one dinner. we did get a crop of mutant carrots. darn hard soil. lol we started our garden in the house when it was still pretty chilly out. luckily we have nice wide window sills =)

when it warmed up a little we put up this homemade greenhouse. it is made from the frame of a portable car cover and some clear plastic. it worked well, except for the fact the wind like to "play" with it. next year we will be putting it up against the house. hopefully this will help with the wind problem and maybe help heat it too. (our house is dark brown right now, on the south side the walls get fairly warm)

we did cover our garden area with tarp to try and help kill off the grass. it didn't work very well. when we expand we will just till up what is there.

this is the garden growing mid summer. we have a deer fence around it and haven't had any problem with wild visitors (except for the free range chickens). the garden will be bigger next year. this is a picture of the herb (medicinal and culinary) garden on the berm. i planted it and harvested a little, but i want to let the plants get established before i do lots of harvesting and drying.

chicken coop upgrade

the nesting boxes have been added to the coop. we don't have any nesting material yet, but at least they're in. soon the girls should be laying and fresh eggs will be ours. the rooster has been harassing them alot lately, so maybe we'll have chicks =) this is the inside of the coop, the roost where the chickens sleep.

i raked the chicken yard. got all the yuckus into a pile to go to the bonfire pit. the chickens went right in and spread that stuff all over the minute i walked away......

naughty naughty chickens.

so tomorrow i will be out there again to rake up. i plan on moving a little faster this time.

here is the chicken coop before it was painted. we got it free off of craig's list, of courrse it was in holland, which is quite a drive from here. but it was cheaper than buying a new one. lol

compost bin

well we "up graded" out compost. it use to be just a hole in the ground out in the wood line by the barn, but not any more! Hubby found some branches out in the woods and made a small frame. we have two sides to it now, accepting compost, making compost. it looks a lot better than it did, i really like it. it's rustic but it will work.

yard clean up

so yesterday hubby and i decided to do some clean up in the yard. we had a tree that had bunches of branches that fell, yet still hung in the tree. very dangerous, i know.

so my hubby shimmied up the tree and cut the brunches down! while he was doing that i found a bee home in the ground! we had to move to a different area for a while.

we do have a pile of wood also that needs to be cut up and stacked.

we did get some done, but unfortunately the chain on the chainsaw was dull! after a while it just gave up. oh well, we'll be out there working again soon =)

pickled tomatoes

we had tons of small green tomatoes this year! so i thought i would try and can them...

so in another 4-6 weeks i'll let everyone know how they turned out!

my shield

My shield in the war to protect my family Recently my hubby was asked if he thought I would be interested in having some of my photography in a guerilla art show. His response was “I doubt it; she hasn’t done photography in a few years. Maybe if you let her put aprons in she would.” (Aprons are my “thing” right now) the girl then replied, “You’re a chauvinist”. He said “No she just likes aprons”. After he told me about this conversation, we had a little chat. We discussed that although I do have a few things in common with this girl, whole food cooking, crocheting, soap making, non vaccinating. We do them for different reasons. I do all these things for the family. We are trying to get back to the older family values, trying to be self sufficient, to be healthier. I see no problems with my role as caretaker of the home and the family. I don’t see my hubby as a chauvinist by being the bread winner. I don’t view my apron as scarlet letter. I view my apron as a shield in defending the values we hold. When I wear my aprons it lets people know who I am (a mom) and where I stand (at the homestead). It lets people know that we are a “traditional” family where one parent is home at all times taking care of the things there. There is always someone on call, so to speak. I find it very discouraging to think that another mom (she has children, they just don’t live with her) would think that because I stay at home and wear an apron I am some how suppressed/oppressed by this. It is totally the opposite. I feel freeier knowing that I am doing what my hubby and I feel is best for our family. We are not rich people, we sacrifice to live this way, but it’s our way and we wouldn’t change a thing. My apron is a shield not a scarlet letter!