climate change – Page 4 – Kensho Homestead

Technology & Sustainability

I’m critical of high-tech solutions and when I hear them in tandem with big claims of sustainability, especially at a global level, I automatically bristle.

Still, the first time someone called me a Luddite, I balked.

I know there are plenty of us—vocal advocates and quiet dissenters alike—bemoaning so much of the tech being shoved down our throats, most certainly when it comes to food. I’ve been vocally ‘anti-GMO’ and ‘anti-geoengineering’ and ‘anti-vaxx’ and ‘anti-surveillance’ which in their linguistic game really just amounts to PRO-nature.

Yet it is becoming more common, even among the homesteading ‘community’ and ‘off-griders’ to consider these two powerful forces as intrinsically intertwined. As if sustainability cannot be achieved without modern tech, forgetting we somehow made it all the way up to the industrial era with relatively little of it.

We often hear of technology being a Trojan Horse. But, that’s an understated analogy, considering in that story it was a “gift”—insinuating it was one that could’ve been rejected. There is no rejecting a good portion of this tech flooding into our lives today. You will not escape the digital prison, at least not completely. Those 5G towers are screaming their frequencies over your head day and night whether you like it or not. The weather modification is a thing, whether I like it or not. (NOT!)

We also hear of technology being as any other tool—to be used for good or ill. Yet, is that a fair assessment when these tools are largely invisible? And when they are overwhelmingly in the hands of very few, and when fewer still would be able to replicate them in any capacity?

What am I missing? Where is the healthy balance?
To explore these questions over the next few posts, I’m bringing in considerable help.

A young ‘homestead influencer’ I’ve heard about for years is about to release a new book and her attitude about the tech sounds pretty healthy. In the book she explores the question, “What are we leaving behind in our race toward progress?”

Old-Fashioned On Purpose by Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead

The book is coming out soon, but she discusses it at length here:
https://thejoegardenershow.libsyn.com/326-an-introduction-to-modern-homesteading-with-jill-winger

Like most of us, she has zero intention of recreating a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ lifestyle. She has managed to incorporate the tech into her life on her terms. So far, it seems.

Many of us certainly feel as the diaspora—dispersed between cultures—natural and digital.

I can’t help but wonder, is losing our soil connected to losing our soul?

I have a cousin in Colorado with a farm I’d call pretty high-tech. He’s a permaculture/biodynamics guy and has been very successful and has the perfect background to enlighten me, I’m sure.

He worked all over the world before his current venture, which has recently gone on the market after 20 years of development and WOW, talk about a success story! To increase the value of a property by such an extraordinary measure is truly remarkable. And that’s only part of his success story.

He too seems to have managed the tech, rather than the tech managing him.

I was quite moved by his 2015 speech:

“I remember!
These qualities of life giving wholeness that our ancestors knew deep in their bones have been drawn off, separated, reduced, modified, pasteurized, homogenized, radiated – their vitality degraded, their life giving forces mutilated beyond what our cells might recognize. We now consume what are at best facsimiles of food, laboratory concoctions, genetically mastered ingredients – simulacra that do not build our cellular health but create work for our bodies, that weaken our fortitude and break our spirits. These laboratory wonders parade in full color down our grocery store isles. -all screaming for our purchasing dollars. More money is spent on the campaigns intended to seduce us than on the so-called food inside. These products are combinations of ingredients that we can not pronounce, masquerading as food and covered up with contemporary Eco-socially correct overly-designed, brightly bannered sales pitches in suspect containers claiming to bring us momentary bliss – all hawking only slight variations of amber waves of commodities meant for one thing and one thing only – to efficiently generate profit for a few, and from the most devastating chain of ecological rape and pillage the world has ever experienced – all leaving an accumulated insurmountable debt to future generations.”
Excerpt from a speech given by Brook LeVan at the 12th Annual Sustainable Settings Harvest Festival on September 20th, 2015:

The Movement — Videos

As little media as I consume, I read or hear such attitudes on a daily basis.

Just today in fact from The Naked Emperor:

“In the modern world, progress and innovation are often celebrated as unambiguously positive. New technologies, ideas, and ways of living are readily embraced with the assumption that they must be better than what came before. While it is true that certain advancements have brought undeniable benefits, such as improved hygiene, faster means of travel, effective medical treatments, and enhanced communication, it is crucial to critically examine the broader implications of modern progress. Often, the rapid pace of change leaves little room for reflection on whether newer solutions are truly superior to time-tested practices.
As society becomes more complex and interconnected, the allure of novel and convenient solutions can overshadow the wisdom of the ancestors. Practices that have served humanity for generations may be disregarded in favour of modern alternatives that promise quick results and ease. For example, the trend toward processed foods and sedentary lifestyles has led to health problems that were less prevalent in societies that followed more traditional dietary and physical activity patterns. Likewise, the reliance on fiat money and speculative investment has created economic instability compared to more sound financial practices.”

Sound financial practices? What will the future kids know of that when even homesteaders are encouraging others to go deep into debt to finance their ‘off-grid’ dream property as if that’s magically sustainable? We used to call that debt-slavery.

Curtis Stone is a popular YT homesteader, and I’m not really meaning to diss him here, because it’s quite possible if I were a young man in my prime I wouldn’t be having such reservations as I do.

Risky behavior is common in youth, yet do we not expect a mature individual, as a mature culture, to become less risk-tolerant with time?

Debt has alway been encouraged for farmers when all the fancy new equipment becomes de rigueur—and a great many lost their farms that way during the Great Depression.

I’m not the gambling type myself, yet I see the technological sphere permeated with these types. From my vantage point, they appear to be addicts.

As if The Tech is not sketchy enough to me, there’s also the obvious fact of The Money, because you can’t have one without the other. That’s where the rabbit hole starts to go very deep.

(17:53) Gambling on people’s lives. That’s where the tech is headed. Not a ‘Black Mirror’ episode. Reality. Our debt-creation machine riding squarely on the backs of every cyber-unit, that is, every man, woman, and child, every living thing, all resources all around the world. Internet of Things, Internet of Bodies.

Alison McDowell of WrenchintheGears has been doing deep dives on this topic for many years, her work is hefty and dense, expertly sourced, and crucial in this discussion.

All this data. All the electricity required to run all this tech. All the power to be had, when all that power is in the hands of so very few.

So, I suppose I am a bit of a Luddite.
I’ll be exploring this reality in the next few posts, I hope you’ll join me by adding your thoughts about the topic in the comments.

We SO Rock!

Times are tough, the mood around here is tight and demoralized. I won’t sugar coat it. Two months of 100+ degrees and no rain is bound to have emotional as well as physical consequences. We are victims and I refuse to pretend otherwise.

It’s one thing after another and because it’s so hot everything takes far greater effort. I’d go down the big list of all the things breaking down and all the things we can’t keep up with, but it’s way too long.

And no one likes a complainer, right? Don’t wallow in misery, right? Don’t bring others down?

If I had a dollar for every time I read or hear somewhere some version of—“Don’t play the victim”or “You’ve got to get out of the victim mentality” —I’d spit on it, wad it up in a tight ball, and shoot it out the barrel of a gun right between the eyes of every idiot who repeats such self-serving nonsense.

We ARE victims and there are a great many of us. Victims of medical experimentation, victims of weather warfare and disaster capitalism, victims of theft, victims of bullying and coercion, and that’s just those who are lucky enough not to be victims of far worse.

What is the ‘victim mentality’ exactly and who does it serve if we all bypass it? Who does it serve if we swallow our anger and resentment and bitterness?

Folks like to say it serves oneself, as in, then the dark emotions don’t haunt you and bring you down. They say we shouldn’t be vindictive, or hang on to past abuses and that hate will eat away at our souls and even cause cancer and other serious diseases.

In fact, it’s blind optimism and relentless positivity that keep folks stuck in denial and complacency, which can easily prove fatal, for the individual and the culture.

It is considered extremely ‘uncool’ to ‘play the victim’ even when you are a victim. Why is that? The media would have us believe everyone is playing the victim and that’s what’s wrong with our culture—so litigious, everyone looking for a handout, too many snowflakes.

While that may be partially true, and most certainly exploited, they leave out one very big piece of the social puzzle. Like, should we not be concerned that we have created a culture with so many victims, whether perceived or real?

I’ll leave y’all to ponder that question for a bit while I digress.

Because, we SO ROCK!

Sure, it really sucks at the moment. But at such times I take more notice of all the things we’ve done right. It’s not bypassing all that’s gone wrong, it’s holding both reality extremes in my mind at the same time.

We recently celebrated our 20th anniversary, and 15 of those years we’ve had this property, which we purchased, BASED ON BEING VICTIMS. After Hurricane Katrina, we saw first hand what the government response is to a crisis and we also saw how helpless most folks were. It was very eye-opening. We took action, to make sure we were not victims again.

We were victims again. And again. These are not ‘natural’ disasters, not one of them.

But for argument sake, even if the hurricanes and tornado were not manipulated by man (they were!) the consequences of those disasters were most definitely exacerbated by man.

These are disasters with perpetrators. Each time the (supposed) natural disasters were made far worse by people. We were robbed after the first one, as well as permanently losing my teaching contract at that time. The second time we were left paying 3 rents—one on the apartment we couldn’t live in, the mortgage on this property that had no finished home to live in yet, and the house to which we evacuated. The third time saw more grifters try to take advantage of our compromised and very stressful situation under the guise of helping.

Each time we’ve taken action based on that victim status to try to ameliorate it for the next time.

That’s why we rock. In the last 15 years we have carved out an awesome wee homestead. We cleared loads of land, just the two of us and a little old tractor. Built a cabin, 3 chicken coops, a corral, a large garden, a large orchard, remodeled our home, acquired many different kinds of livestock, have been learning beekeeping, foraging, cheesemaking, herbalism and LOADS of other life skills that were completely new to us, and have helped a few others on their journey to do the same.

As victims it is our duty to arm others (or at least try, especially for the next generations) with the tools they will need to bring down the perpetrators who currently evade us. It only serves the perpetrators to pretend there are no victims, or to micro-manage others’ victim status and behavior.

A victim mentality can be healthy, or it can be destructive. What most folks do is try to exploit it or minimize it.

They try to exploit it by using it as an excuse to do nothing—this is not a victim mentality—this is a grifter mentality. They try to minimize it because the folks around them are too lazy, indifferent, busy, selfish, adolescent, or cruel to listen to them and allow them to express their true feelings rather than those that are socially acceptable and make everyone else feel comfortable.

The guilt and shame should go squarely and solely on the shoulders of the abusers and those making excuses for the abuse. If victims of repeated abuses turn into individuals with a grifter mentality it could be because they’ve witnessed so often first-hand that this is the winning strategy in our culture. I seriously doubt telling such individuals to stop ‘playing the victim’ will do a damn bit of good. And, why should it?

So, all hail the victims! And more power to us. Not the corrupting brand of power that turns us into tyrants and perpetrators ourselves, but the inner-power it takes to hold that victimhood out for all to see, in order to enlighten, to righteously blame and accuse, and to give the next generation a better chance at identifying their abusers, holding them accountable, as well as in fortifying their own lives and livelihoods against further victimization.

Homestead Happenings

Ug, am I in a mood! Read on for a big fat bitch fest.

First I’m going to bitch about the weather. Then I’m going to bitch about the garden. Finally I’m going to bitch about all the dumb bitches.

I will end with one positive paragraph, however, so y’all can leave satisfied that there’s no need to fret on my behalf. 😆

Let me first set the proper tone.

Time stamp 35:53. It’s an old clip, but as valid as ever. Oh my, do I have rant-envy! How I wish I were this good!

You’re worried about what you’re putting in your fucking body?! What about what you’re fucking breathing?!!

I listen to Carol nearly every day; she’s one of the precious few who gets what’s happening and has a proper level of peeve about it all. Go ahead and give the first 30 minutes a listen, if you care to hear about all the (manufactured!) weather destruction around our realm.

If you want to be that person, who writes in the comments that all this is normal and they can’t control the weather, feel free, because I could use a good target for all this vitriol!

And just for the record, I know they use the word ‘control’ to confuse folks, because then they have plausible deniability. Because they don’t exactly “control it” like we control the thermostat in our homes. They manipulate it, where and when they can, in order to cause destruction, in order to profit from disaster capitalism and play the Stocks with weather futures and food prices and every other piece of the economy which is weather-dependent, which is a whole helluvalot.

If you are safe and secure in your tiny little area, good for you, your region is not on the targeted list, YET.

This is not about Bill Gates and his ‘proposed’ solar radiation management. This is SO much bigger and he is one drop in the bucket of the wild, Wild West that is happening in our skies and with our atmosphere. It’s been going on for decades! I’m SO SO damn tired of the denial and the Pollyanna pretending and the stoic excuses!

The general consensus that we can just keep throwing money at the problems and they will magically get fixed by technology is not just absurd and dangerous, it is fatal.

How’s this for the next big fix by Big Biz?

“Now, the likes of Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta are working with Microsoft, Google and the big-tech giants to facilitate farmerless farms driven by cloud and AI technology. A cartel of data owners and proprietary input suppliers are reinforcing their grip on the global food system while expanding their industrial model of crop cultivation.”
From Net Zero to Glyphosate: Agritech’s Greenwashed Corporate Power Grab
“Whereas traditional breeding and on-farm practices have little or no need for GE technologies, under the guise of ‘climate emergency’, the data and agritech giants are commodifying knowledge and making farmers dependent on their platforms and inputs. The commodification of knowledge and compelling farmers to rely on proprietary inputs overseen by algorithms will define what farming is and how it is to be carried out.”

How do you make the world believe there’s a climate emergency? It takes a lot more than hyped-up media coverage and fraudulent stats—there has to be something to cover after all. Enter mass-scale weather modification in key areas—droughts, floods, earthquakes—YES THEY CAN!

Not to mention they’ve cornered the markets of: Disaster Preparedness, 1st Response, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction, of the entire globe.

Someone has to keep shaking that can to keep everyone fighting you know!

“There’s a meme that circulated on social media a while back that perfectly sums up the polarized, manipulated mayhem, madness and tyranny that is life in the American police state today:

“If you catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants, and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen. However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other. The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. This is exactly what’s happening in society today. Liberal vs. Conservative. Black vs. White. Pro Mask vs. Anti Mask. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is who’s shaking the jar … and why?”

The Rutherford Institute, John and Nisha Whitehead
“Whether You Live in a Small Town or a Big City, the Government Is Still Out to Get You”

Weather warfare is real and it is happening. And it is going to get worse.

Around here, with nearly two months now without rain, high temperatures, drying winds, it’s very easy to grasp what sitting ducks we all really are. We spend the entire mornings just trying to keep what’s not already dead from dying. The time and energy and repetition is exhausting and demoralizing. The afternoons are spent indoors, grateful for the air conditioning and that we’ve had no animal fatalities from the heat, so far.

Most of the garden is dead and depressing. The tomatoes fried, the cucumbers almost gone and getting bitter, the squashes mostly dead, even the heat-loving luffa, which has never succumbed to the heat in past summers. One of four chayote squashes is still barely hanging on, and that’s supposedly another heat-lover.

Not even regular watering helps.

Thinking this ‘heat dome’ could be parked over us for another three months, or wildfires could be next on their battle plan is more than I can bear. I set a single perfect pinecone on the windowsill to remind me fall will surely come, eventually.

Then come the normalizers, Lord Have Mercy! The Fucking Chemtrail Deniers, How I LOATHE them! Let me count some ways:

The evolution of the geoengineering psy-op as I’ve experienced it over the last decade or so has been a recurring nightmare.

I’m thinking it might be helpful to those new to the topic and also to those compiling the multi-colored yarns of our clown world for knitting a scarf for their future grandchildren.

No kids, the skies did not always look like this. Don’t believe the Con-trail Believers!

Some early ‘rationales’ for the lines, dubbed chemtrails, back in the ancient past (circa 2010) — these would be the various layers of gaslighting I heard during my first inquiries on the topic.

*First tier. This is when I would randomly ask Google questions like, WTF is wrong with the sky? What’s the difference between weather and climate? What’s a ‘space fence’? What the hell is wrong with the weather?
Answers:
Planet Nabiru causing atmospheric disturbance
The wind patterns changing due to ‘El Nino’
Contrails, a con that keeps on giving
WiFi, atmospheric phenomenon due to widespread wifi
Radar, result of new tech

*Second tier. This is when I started seriously questioning and challenging on social media. What’s geoengineering? What the fuck is wrong with the weather? What are ‘sun dogs’? What is ‘solar radiation management’? What are chemtrails?
Answers:
Not there, my imagination (yes, I got that regularly)
Military operations, not my business (ditto)
New brand of ‘green’ Jet fuel
Military chaff
End of days
Coal Fly Ash
Military fuel dumps
Contrails, the con persists!

*Third tier:
Self-replicating Nano-bots (now we’re getting somewhere!)
Space fence, for real!
Germ warfare
Weather warfare (DUH!)
My imagination—yes, still!

I do try to focus on the positive, and there is a bit of it. Hubby’s first sunflower-melon patch was a big hit. It’s gone now, but we’ve got some really amazing watermelons to celebrate his success!

The pumpkins have also been pretty impressive, and amazingly they are still alive, though it does feel odd to have ripe pumpkins laying around everywhere in July.

Guess who else loves pumpkins? The plants got so big they’ve grown past the garden fence into the goat’s forage area, so, fair play.

But selfish old queen that she is, she wouldn’t share a single bite with her mates!

For a couple hours in the morning it’s not so terrible standing still in the shade with mist from the sprinklers blowing on me.

Moringa, a lovely plant that just might make it long enough to produce before frost.

While we definitely have fewer pollinators visiting the garden this summer, at least we do still have a few nibbling at the drying flowers. May they survive and multiply!

And of course, tomorrow’s Funny Friday, so that might help my torrid mood. 😆

Geoengineering Update

Just some random news here, make of it what you will, because I’m done trying to convince the willfully blind they can see. Connect the dots, or don’t.

“Indeed, experts agree that no lifestyle adjustment can replace sustainable development.

Researchers have linked these and other extreme heat events around the world to man-made global warming, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. Shortening school days and staying indoors during peak hours are surface-level solutions which often come with their own hidden costs.
Lourdes Tibig, climate science adviser for the Philippines-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, says that recent extreme heat underscores “the importance of incorporating climate change and resiliency into long-term development planning.”

‘Uncharted territory’: How Asia is coping with extreme heat – CSMonitor.com

……….

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On Geoengineering, most infamous Geoengineer, Dr. D. Keith:

“It’s not really a moral hazard, it’s more like free riding on our grandkids.”

New from Dr. David Keith:

“David Keith has worked near the interface between climate science, energy technology, and public policy for twenty-five years. He took first prize in Canada’s national physics prize exam, won MIT’s prize for excellence in experimental physics, and was one of TIME magazine’s Heroes of the Environment. Keith is Professor of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of Carbon Engineering, a company developing technology to capture CO2 from ambient air to make carbon-neutral hydrocarbon fuels. Best known for his work on the science, technology, and public policy of solar geoengineering, Keith led the development
of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program, a Harvard-wide interfaculty research initiative.”

Abstract
Temperature-attributable mortality is a major risk of climate change. We analyze the capacity of solar geoengineering (SG) to reduce this risk and compare it to the impact of equivalent cooling from CO2 emissions reductions. We use the Forecast-Oriented Low Ocean Resolution model to simulate climate response to SG. Using empirical estimates of the historical relationship between temperature and mortality from Carleton et al. (2022), we project global and regional temperature-attributable mortality, find that SG reduces it globally, and provide evidence that this impact is larger than for equivalent cooling from emissions reductions. At a regional scale, SG moderates the risk in a majority of regions but not everywhere. Finally, we find that the benefits of reduced temperature-attributable mortality considerably outweigh the direct human mortality risk of sulfate aerosol injection. These findings are robust to a variety of alternative assumptions about socioeconomics, adaptation, and SG implementation.

https://media.rff.org/documents/WP_23-23.pdf

……..

“The nebulous nebula that is Congress cannot escape from a vast black hole of wasteful spending. The debt ceiling debacle demonstrated that lawmakers are light-years away from sustainable spending reforms. One problem is that agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), have had a veritable blank check to waste taxpayer dollars as they see fit. For example, NASA’s mission back to the moon has already been plagued by scheduling delays and cost overruns, and taxpayers will likely have to shell out $100 billion before another “small step” can happen. Policymakers must reassess mission priorities and blaze a better path forward before more taxpayer dollars are shuttled to NASA.
According to a new audit by NASA’s Inspector General (IG), the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket slated to ferry astronauts to the moon is an astounding $6 billion over budget. NASA had originally thought that using some of its older technologies (e.g., Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs) would save the mission money and incorporated these savings into initial cost estimates. But, “the complexity of developing, updating, and integrating new systems along with heritage components proved to be much greater than anticipated” and costs have skyrocketed out of control.”

It’s Time to Bring NASA’s Moon Mission Budget Back to Earth | RealClearScience

…….

St. Louis, one of many favored hotspots of experimentation and where I grew up. Like many ‘sacrifice zones’ I grew up hearing the propaganda: “If you don’t like the weather in Missouri, just wait 5 minutes.” This was common throughout many states of the Midwest, not just Missouri. The truth is, few alive today know truly natural weather. It’s been manipulated since before air travel even existed! If they can do it on a small scale in the 60s, they can do it regionally and beyond today.

……..

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………

Sweet dreams!

Spring Sensations

I’m not sure what to make of it, but I’m sharing this quickie just the same.

A gorgeous day of new life, new moves, and what feels like genuinely natural weather for a change.

First rose, first poppy, first lamb and the kittens come out to play. 🤗

Just a few minutes old and already knows the routine

And, I expect Geoengineering/weather modification has hit the popular charts, at last, yay!

I will admit I thought this very popular channel must be shills of some sort, because they seemed to be completely avoiding the obvious weather warfare for years now.

Be that as it may, they’ve been clueing in more and more lately, and now, I consider their cherry popped. It’s about time! I don’t know what to make of it exactly, but I do believe in the gaming world it means we’ve just leveled up.

Homestead Happenings

Another big week on the wee homestead! A real treat this time because we have rare video clips of a swarm moving into one of our bait hives. So cool! We really had lucky timing with that one, after another near miss.

Plus, one little piggy already off to market, more to follow soon. And a much better incubator hatching success.

Mama’s pushing them off, which means their days here are numbered

24 chicks from the incubator this time, much better than the 9 from last time

In other news, not so lucky, with the timing all wrong, another tree falls. And still other news, we continue to wait for rain, annoyed and impatient.

Best to start with the bad news first. The New Normal manufactured weather continues to rob us of rain while pouring chaos on regions nearby.

It’s not only only ugly, toxic and altering the entire hydrological cycle of the region and beyond, it’s weather warfare! I could spend a lot more posts bitching about it, but I ain’t got time for that.

A friendly young couple and their son came by for one of our piglets and we spent a nice time chatting and it was surprising—as in both unusual and pleasant —to have so much in common with folks who superficially were very different from us — much younger, still working, four children, active church members —yet we could hardly stop yammering on about homesteading life after an hour. And then a good bit more after that!

Each attempt at continuing on with our many chores of the day interrupted by some new spontaneous and urgent topic—and all my favorite ones—bees, goats, gardens, kombucha, even cheese.

And, the young woman looked at me knowingly when I pointed to the disgusting sky and repeated for the thousandth time: ‘Weather warfare!’

She knew! Or at least, she knew I wasn’t crazy for suggesting that. That gives me a lot of hope, because it means we’ve come a long way in the many years I’ve been ranting on about it. She also dared say the not-so-secret buzzword of the decade: “Conspiracy theory.”

So refreshing to listen to these courageous young folks who, when they see the degenerate state of the world around them they don’t send their kids into the state schooling system and cross their fingers hoping for the best, they homeschool knowing, they can do better.

They don’t just whine about inflation, they grow a garden and raise some livestock. They don’t just wait for Jesus to come save them, they become the kind of folks who can save others. Very refreshing indeed—as in—in actual deed.

In the story of poor timing, one of the trees killed during the tornado nearly three years ago and still hung up on a neighboring tree, which the goat kids loved to include in their playtime, finally came down in one of the New Normal ‘storms’ where we get everything in the weather chaos of wind, lightening, extreme temperature shifts, but little to no rain.

Of course, it came down right on Hubby’s fence, freeing the brand new ram to have premature access to the young sheep. We fear unwanted teen pregnancies in our future. ☹️

Before and after:

And our brand new ram, expressly kept separate from our too young for breeding girls has sudden free access. Not good.

Back off, Gaston! Our newest addition, a Dorper, to add to our St. Croix flock. A little too soon for comfort. Sheep, unlike most goats, will breed year-round. Keeping critters separated to avoid breeding is our biggest challenge, like most homesteaders.

During our visit with the young couple we pointed out the open-air bee colony, which I still thought was an open-air colony at the time. It was there for well over a week—we checked on it every day.

I had no idea a swarm would stay that long in search of a new home. But then, within just a couple of hours, big things started to happen.

That huge swarm, which I wrote about last week, disappeared, along with the smaller one on the same tree. I actually thought I heard it while watering in the garden, but I never saw anything.

And then, the swarm we’d just caught earlier (pictured above) that morning and tenderly transferred into a Langstroth hive and put in a location far from the swarm and originating hive, then started to swarm again. *(Why would you prefer your bees to swarm?! See below!)*

I was just frustrated, I saw it happening! Hubby had put on his veil to come help re-situate the frames on the Langstroth but they were already in air. It was an amazing sight to behold, but I didn’t think for a second they’d stop again so nearby.

I yelled to Hubby not to bother to put on his suit, but to bring the tablet instead. The swarm stalled above the garden and Hubby said, between my sighs of disappointment, “Try to follow them!”

I thought it sounded crazy at first, but then thought, why not. And to my absolute astonishment, they stopped at the bait hive that Hubby built for populating our top-bar hives!

That is the second time a swarm has refused my attempts at populating this store-bought conventional beekeeping hive, the Langstroth. But why?

We captured a couple of short clips of the capture—it all happened in about 10 minutes, tops.

It’s so amazing to watch them pile into the entrance, until finally, all are ensconced and occupied with repopulation.

It is so fascinating to me to imagine all the social dynamics that went into the decision of that swarm in that short time to move from my preferred space, to their preferred space 150 feet away, communicating in ways far beyond the powers of man.

Luckily, our efforts are all not for nothing! The bees traveled right over the garden where I hope they’ll be spending a lot of time very soon. The garlic is flowering too soon, no surprise in the Yo-Yo weather. The onions are starting to bulb already, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still get a good crop.

Our new dog, Shadow, continues to bring smiles and joy as he gets ever more comfortable in his surroundings.

Thanks for stopping by, Bye!

*Bee swarms, more info for the interested*
For those embarking on treatment-free beekeeping, we are the ‘anti-vaxxers’ of the beekeeping community. Swarming is a natural and healthy process of established bee colonies. Interrupting this process by taking ‘splits’ on hives in spring is the preferred industrial/commercial method. However, for the hobbyist, conservationist and connoisseur it is known that it is better to trust the bees and to limit synthetic intrusion on their natural processes. The bees have chosen their swarm companions, not me, as in a typical split. They have chosen their queen, not me, as is the case in typical industrial methods. The swarming process is not only genetic, but also hygienic. When honey production is not the primary aim, it is amazing what we can learn about natural bee behavior. 😊

Feel free to ask questions or share comments on the bees, or any of the other things!

Homestead Happenings

Another big week on the wee homestead! We’ve got a giant surprise addition, a few little mysteries—one since solved—and a missed opportunity leading to a great expectation.

Not exactly a country pace around here lately. Everything bloomed early, we got a killing frost, who knows which fruits might still make a come back. No, not Mother Nature, please stop thinking that!

Just another day of chemical haze.

But, life goes on, at least for the moment, so on to brighter topics!

We got a big surprise this week! I’m pleased to introduce you to Shadow, our new 3 year-old Great Dane.

It was a sad circumstance that brought him to us, the death of his owner, but he’s settling in splendidly and we are so happy to have him.

In a way he’s like a combination of our 2 passed beloved dogs, Tori and Papi, both in one.

In garden news I decided I couldn’t wait any more to get all the seedlings planted, so if it frosts now, we’re fucked. Please pardon my French!

Seriously though, I remember one year when we first came here and were still camping and building the cabin. After everything bloomed, all the Indian Paintbrush and Dogwood and Texas squaw weed and bramble, it snowed, on Easter weekend.

I wasn’t a gardener yet, so the frustration was lost on me. That was about 15 years ago and I remember I took a lot of photos, because it was quite beautiful to see the white blanket atop all the colors. No idea where those photos are now.

Now I’m sure it would be the beauty that’s lost on me if it were to occur again!

Tomatoes, from my own saved seed, going from under the lights indoors into the garden and now subjected to man’s crazy YoYo weather.

The bees are all over the bramble, which is readily recovered from the frost. As I followed the buzzing trail, I happened upon a tree I’d only noticed last spring for the first time. It was full of bees and not so common for this area, which made me very curious. I’ve been searching and inquiring for the last couple of weeks and finally got my answer.

The bees are all over the little fringey bits

It’s a unique member of the maple family called ‘Boxelder’ that’s not considered a particularly prized tree around here. Though in my book, if the bees like it, I like it!

And speaking of bees, we’ve had our first swarm! I figured it was about that time and have been keeping an eye and ear out for one. Unfortunately, it was too high up and my first two attempts to shake them down into a hive failed. By the time I’d gone back with another plan in place for their capture, they were gone.

But! On the same tree, further up at about 30 feet, I spot another one! On the left is the small one, in the middle is the big one, on the right is the pine tree with both of them, with a hive under each one hoping to capture them.

But the scouts had other plans, and off they went to somewhere else, not to my waiting and welcoming hives, move-in ready, with already drawn comb waiting for new arrivals.

That is, the small swarm.

I know it’s so hard to see in the photos, but the one at 30 feet is HUGE. And, it hasn’t moved now for 3 days, which would be unusual for a swarm. So, my great expectation is that we’re actually looking at an open-air colony! If so, I’m so excited, and will be reporting back on it’s progress.

I found this short clip of a lady who had an open-air colony in her garden, so amazing to see! Such a mystery are the bees to us still—the wildest wisdom of nature has yet to be even touched by science.

Like, how, why, and when do the bees know when to stay put and when and where to move on?

And here’s another burning question: Why are the Japanese bees so sweet and gentile, and why the so-called Africanized bees so very aggressive and nasty?! Now that’s gotta make you wonder, no?

And why can’t I say that without sounding ‘racist’?! 😂

Below is from a friend’s ‘Africanized’ colonies, but we also had such colonies a few years back, and I’m telling you, they are MEAN! They’ll sting en masse right through your suit and chase you down for half a football field just for the offense of standing nearby!

Part 1: Disaster strikes new beekeepers in East Texas: Africanized killer bees

Thanks for stopping by! Please do share any thoughts or questions below.

Geoengineering Update

Well, we are having some of the best weather we’ve had in ages. As much as I’m enjoying it, I know the Geoengineering/Weather Modification/Weather Warfare wages on worldwide.

So, the updates.

The United Nations wants to regulate Geoengineering, suddenly, as they continue to pretend it hasn’t been going on for decades.

According to one new report:

“Up to 40% of Americans believe this theory to be ‘‘some- what true’’, which has influenced social attitudes about climate policy, and geoengineering.(25)
On climate change, there is growing evidence of a ‘‘spillover’’ effect that leverages local conflict/contro- versies to cascade controversies in order to shift a policy agenda deliberately(28–30), similar to conventional agenda-setting. In this paper, we expand on the conceptual application of the ‘‘spillover effect’’ to evaluate conspiracy theories across geopolitical boundaries and their agenda-setting impact on public emotions and online toxicity perceptions of SG research.
This paper is distinct from previous studies critiquing SG governance challenges and their associated controversies related to climate action, on which there is already a rich literature,(3,4,6,7,16,25,31–33) including social media mining-based SG conspiracy analysis.25 One apparent gap in Tingley and Wagner’s (25) study is that the authors had a narrow focus on the ‘‘chemtrails’’ conspiracy theory in their searches for data collection. Therefore, they could not measure any spillover effect from other conspiracy theories in geoengineering debates.
This study uses digital data from social media to capture cross-sectional variation in public emotions.”

What is the concern of this study? Hate speech on Twitter concerning Chemtrails conspiracy theory. Lots of “fucks” are being given, quite literally.

I’m so glad to hear that, I didn’t realize how many actually know and care! In combination with the spectacular weather here, I’m feeling downright hopeful.

INTRODUCTION
“As the calls for climate action intensify, (1,2) climate engineering technologies, in particular solar radiation management (SRM), have received increasing attention, and public controversy has ensued. SRM includes technologies such as space-based shields, stratospheric aerosols, cirrus cloud thinning, marine cloud brightening, and increasing surface albedo.3–5 While the broader conception of geoengineering may also include greenhouse gas removal options (such as large-scale afforestation or direct air capture and storage), most geoengineering debates focus on ‘‘solar geoengineering (SG)’’, often referred to as solar radiation management or solar radiation modification (SRM).”

https://www.cell.com/iscience/pdf/S2589-0042(23)00243-2.pdf

I was also happy to see Corbet Report continuing some coverage on the topic in their latest New World Next Week program, instead of following suit of the vast majority of ‘alt’ media in talking about one chemical spill rather than the incessant chemical dispersions in our skies on a regular basis.

From their Show Notes:

Story #1: Solar Geoengineering Should Be Regulated, U.N. Report Says
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-geoengineering-should-be-regulated-u-n-report-says/
An Open Letter Regarding Research On Reflecting Sunlight to Reduce the Risks of Climate Change
https://climate-intervention-research-letter.org/
PDF: “One Atmosphere: An Independent Expert Review on Solar Radiation Modification Research and Deployment”
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41903/one_atmosphere.pdf
The Magic Words – #SolutionsWatch
https://www.corbettreport.com/solutionswatch-magicwords/
Mexico Becomes First Nation to Admit Harms of Geoengineering, Halts Future Experiments
https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/mexico-bans-geoengineering/
Geoengineering Startup’s Claim It Got ‘OKs to Launch’ From FAA Doesn’t Stand Up to Scrutiny
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/24/23613293/solar-geoengineering-mexico-us-reno-nevada-faa-make-sunsets
UN Says Censoring “Disinformation” and “Hate Speech” Will Protect “Free Speech”
https://reclaimthenet.org/un-says-that-censoring-disinformation-will-protect-free-speech

Well worth a listen, the Geoengineering segment is first:

Institutional Capture & Socio-Cultural Re-Programming

Just another few pieces of evidence to add to the already vast mountain range of nonsense we are expected to swallow on a daily basis.

3 short-bits follow, plus a bonus. Each is ignoring, or side-stepping the most contentious and necessary topics while exploiting the low-hanging fruit, that of course being the most fruitful recipe of our times.

The Geoengineering question, bypassed in the typical trifecta fashion: Avoid, Smear, Redirect. If that doesn’t work, pretend it’s new and revolutionary. Or, pretend it’s old and therefor safe and reasonable. If all else fails, feign ignorance. Not necessarily in that order.

Here our host lets him get away with it, so typical! (For shame, he instantly dropped in my initial estimation by multiple degrees.) So, in their non-summation Geoengineering is all about Bill Gates covering up the sun, and certainly not about a century of global military industrial complex scheming.

Furthermore, it’s right up there in the Crazy Zone with the Virus-Deniers and Flat Earth theory!

This ‘rabbit hole’ is so old to me now, all that’s left of deep inquiry here is the pondering: Do they really buy their own bullshit? (34:33 minute mark for the Geoengineering ‘question’). This is what’s posing as ‘alternative journalism’ these days. Effective ‘ambush journalism’ has been inverted into staged theater, then morphed into public relations. Not a single toe-to-toe to be expected. It’s like listening to a well-choreographed two-step. I’d prefer watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, at least they occasionally ventured into new territory, still choreographed of course, but for the sake of their well-seasoned audience, a welcome escape from the repetition. Professor Steven Starr on Geopolitics and Empire: We Are Already in WWIII

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597?i=1000598968822

2. Next we have a Geoengineering documentary, supposedly out in 2008 (that I somehow never heard of? Seems unlikely.) Full of goose-stepping oddness and fear-mongering, narrated by a digital voice, then the famous Alan Watt, and various other voice-overs.

Here is the oddest sentence of the entire 4-hour All-Over-The-Place Everything-Soup Concoction: 03:40:53 “HG Wells talked about the new freemasonry of the air. Policing the skies.” Wait, Whaa?!

And seriously, a 4-hour documentary, who watches those?
Exactly.

Don’t Talk About the Weather (2008)

3. And, never fear, the institutions will continue doing their institutionalizing!

Science™ brought to you by . . .

The modern day worshipping of the imperialist, industrialist and technocrat alike. It’s the current New World Religion.

And, yippie, Arizona State University, my Alma Mater, continues to lead the way, now color me proud! (Don’t miss the sarcasm dripping in computer-augmented Magenta at this point!)

According to their provost and Executive Vice President, Nancy Gonzales of Miami, Arizona, rural folk should not be scorned or pitied, because they can still blossom from their abject poverty working in the mines in order to serve the Corporate State at ever higher levels. So won’t their kinfolk be proud!

“Although many people focus on the disadvantages of a rural upbringing, we didn’t see it that way. Miami was a place where parents sacrificed and families supported one another to lift up the next generation.”

According to their propaganda that well-educated, well-meaning next generation is going to solve all the global desert metropolises’ water worries with more awesome tech solutions.

Confoolery at its finest! Keep climbing that ladder kids!

For our bonus, here’s a rare journalist to whom I still give the benefit of the doubt. Beginning the interview they discuss the new rain water technology that’s just hit the NY stock exchange. I think she honestly doesn’t know (yet) just how deep and long this rabbit hole goes. I look forward to more from her on the topic as she tries to dig though it. And more power to her!

Better get your umbrellas, drought prep and insurance updates, folks!

Corey’s Digs

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221222005128/en/Rainwater-Tech-

And last, but not forgotten, Happy Valentine’s Day!

And one for the fellas, too!

Geoengineering Update

Our skies in the days leading up to the latest ‘rain event’. We get the perception of rain, mostly, but rarely a real rain, unless it’s a flooding deluge.

It REALLY fools most folks! Because it’s overcast and drizzling for days, so the yards and gardens get squishy. But it’s not a lot of rain, 3 inches of rain over 3 days ‘feels’ like a lot of rain. A rain gauge will prove it, but most folks don’t have those. Not to mention that from one county to the next it is often drastically different in amounts. So, they complain about all the rain, while our ponds and creeks are still very low to empty.

They can’t even give it a break at night!

Technology continues to leap forward in the expansion of ‘climate remediation’ systems. I suspect one of these days they won’t even need to blanket the skies in chemicals anymore and folks will be tickled pink that the Uber-wealthy and corporations can change the weather on a dime and blame the birds, or the cows, or the SUVs.

“The “Clear Sky Manager New Generation” climate safety system uses the synergy of a growing pool of the most efficient and proven weather management technologies, and also develops new promising technologies that will allow more effectively to carry out the weather management.
Currently, “Clear Sky Manager New Generation” uses the synergy of 2 of the most efficient, safest, recognized by the WMO, technologies: The technology of unipolar electrical ionization of the lower atmosphere using stationary, mobile
and air-mobile ion generators (ILAP type ionizers).
Cloud seeding technology using environmentally friendly reagents, as well as an innovative cloud seeding method based on the unique biological ability of new prospective reagents to
“cause” rain.”

Climate safety system “Clear Sky Manager New Generation”

The last ‘rain event’ last week, same story.

While they work on perfecting that, we have the fallout of the last decades of weather experimentation to deal with, but hey, what’s a little Alzheimer’s for the greater good?

Aluminum Snow: Lab Test Confirmed

“Aluminum nanoparticle fallout from climate engineering operations are building up in our snow, soils and runoff waters, the levels are far beyond alarming. Lab test results of snow from the side of Northern California’s Mt. Shasta are a truly shocking example. Testing samples from this formerly pristine water source have revealed levels of aluminum that are so astronomically high that the meltwater can only be considered completely contaminated.”

“China’s Mindblowing Weather Modification, Geoengineering and ELF Transmitter Projects”
An oldie but goodie from ClimateViewer for those fixated on the ‘China balloon’ in the news:

https://youtu.be/Fjq2ssb4KKA

I’d say Bill Gates chemical cloud is an old-school Red Herring. There’s loads of far fancier tech out there!

https://www.youtube.com/live/eTUE5YBLQ-8?feature=share

How are your skies looking these days? I hope your having fine weather! 😁

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