SCAM !!! BEWARE!!!!

 Hi All,

This morning I received a phone call from a woman who informed me that DH had entered a contest in February and he won a million dollars.  They asked if they could deliver the check to our house today and if they could bring news cameras and balloons. They even told me the name of the man who would deliver the check and what color car he would be driving.  He would be carrying credentials they said.  Always the skeptic, I asked for her number so I could call and verify.  She didnt know it, she was new.  Then she gave me the check number and told me to verify it when he came.  I asked to speak to her manager.  He wasnt available.  Finally I asked what time she would be here and then she said," well all you have to do is go to Walmart and send a money gram to this name at this address to pay for the lawyer fees, etc and then when our guy comes to deliver your check show him your receipt and we will give you the million dollars."  RIGHT!  Well I told her I would have to talk to my husband. I would call her back.  She made excuses as to why she couldnt giver me her number.  So I said forget it then.

Well they called back three more times.  I finally asked to talk to her manager again.  He eventually called me and was very insistent.  When I told him I was not going to wire him money.  He got really mean and nasty and threatening.  He said he had a guy in the area that was ready to come to my house and award the million if I could just get the money RIGHT NOW!!!   I told him I had to run but that if he would give me his number I would call him back.  Well he reluctantly gave me his number.  It ended up being a number from Jamaica.  Wikipedia said that the number he gave me was a popular number with scam artist that call and say if you send money to secure legal fees for a large sum of money that you won you will get a million to 10 million dollars. 

Again they called me and got really mean on the phone.  They told me their guy was parked outside my house and that he wanted to come in Right now.  I called the police and they said if they come to the door call 911.  So far no one has shown up.

So the purpose of this e-mail to warn everyone that these guys are in the area today.  They are targeting people in our area for this scam.  Do not give any personal information over the phone.  THey will have your name and address, dont verify it!  If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Stay safe,

Power outage 10.24.10

It's that time of year again.. power outages. We had our second one this fall yesterday.  Our first one was also on a Sunday and it lasted 9 hours. Yesterday's outage lasted 6 hours.

How does your family react to a power outage?

Are you calm or freaking out?

Heat source?

Way of cooking?

WATER?

I was unpleasantly dealing with being dizzy for my second day in a row. We woke up to winds we though would break the windows in! The noise woke everyone except Devon, of course. We thought for sure we would lose several if any trees. Not sure what time it was when the power went out, around 8 or 9 am. We were being lazy and snuggling a few kids when it went out, and it was a slow morning due to me being dizzy.

Got up and found Drew outside, getting wood, clearing drains, and checking for trees.

Devon was in bed. The girls filled water pitchers, then were checking the chickens, walking the dogs, and looking for trees. The littles were crumpling paper for the fire. I didn't have to say anything. Wow, all these years of power outages have taught my kids what needs to be done and when. It was great.

Drew had a fire going in 5 minutes after he was inside with the dry wood. The girls dried the dogs and moved Red's bed closer to the fire (he chills fast). Breakfast was easy, pancakes on the campstove on the front porch.

After breakfast everyone got ready for church.. then of course Russ was called to an Emergency for work due to power being out, everyone thinks they need 20 oxygen tanks! crazy.  Anyway.. it was interesting.

So what came to my attention? The same as this season gets started every year... how and what to cook. We eat what will spoil first, milk products. Usually we bake with them. So we had mac and cheese (a little too salty, but cheezy creamy yumminess). We still had our family potluck, almost by candlelight! The power came on just before my family showed up. So I spent a few minutes putting out candles and a lantern (as it had gotten so dark I couldn't see my recipe). Guess how I cook with out power... go on guess...... camp stove, fire place coals, charcoal and my dutch oven.. love it!

I mentioned to Russ I strongly feel we need to get a Stove Tec Rocket stove for when power is out. It would make an easy way to boil water outside with out using up my gas. I have a post about it on the blog.  

All Purpose Flour

Here is my recipe for All-Purpose Flour:

I use a 4:1 ratio.. mostly.

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup kamut
1 cup triticale
1 cup oat groats (not rolled!)
1 cup barley
1 cup rye (if I have it)
1 cup raw buckwheat
1/2 cup cheap white rice

I mix these grains then put them through my grain mill on the finest setting. I use cup for cup in place of store bought all-purpose flour.   If I don't have any of the 1 cup or less grains then I just go with out them. No big deal. Usually all-purpose flour is made from just barley and soft white wheat. But I like to get more grains in there. Occasionally I will throw in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of lentils too.. Just to add some protein.

OR try this one as I know alot of those grains are not easy to get. Again, I use a 4:1 ratio

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup barley