Ma Ingalls

I've been doing a lot of crafting with my Friend.  I made a hat for my husband (well, I crocheted until I ran out of yarn!).  We made a trip to Jo Ann's.  I learned to crochet flowers for little girl hair bows (Picture to follow!  So very cute!). Last night I was teaching Friend how to cut out a pattern and make a shirt.  In the midst of said project she was texting a mutual friend of ours who affectionately said that I was turning into Ma Ingalls.  Really?  Ma Ingalls?  Makes me feel like I should grow my hair out and put it up into a bun.

In reality, there ARE a lot of changes going on in our house.  Most of them started last year.  I've never lived through "hard economic times." If this was (is?) the "Great Recession" what was the Great Depression like?  Curious, my mountain man and I started reading about the Great Depression.  (Yes, we are nerdy that way.)  At the height of the Depression, unemployment was 25%.  (Currently, true unemployment is about 16% in the US.)  People survived mostly because they owned their house, grew their own food, and knew basic "life skills."

What we learned about the Depression stirred up our thoughts. We are making payments, but we don't own our own home.  We grew enough food last year to feed ourselves for about one month.  We didn't know how to grow very many vegetables, to preserve food, or to make clothes.  We had no way to heat our home if something happened to supply lines to Montana.  All of a sudden, this very independent-minded lady (as well as her very responsible mountain man) felt lacking in our abilities to take care of our family.

We decided to make some life changes.  We expanded our gardening efforts.  We bought a woodstove.  We learned how to can salsa, applesauce, and pickles.  I started learning how to sew.  I started learning how to crochet.  By no means do I consider myself proficient at any of these things, but I know more now than I did last year!  Even if our economy somehow rebounds and life returns to "normal" in this country, I now know how to do things that most of the world for all of history knows how to do.  Things can be taken away but knowledge cannot.

Part of this blog is to share how I am growing in these skills.  Maybe you'll want to learn along with me?

My mountain man making applesauce to can in January.

My and my sweet girl making hats and sewing.