Party!

Today was such a fun day, I was at the country store (as is usual for a Saturday), we closed early today because of the P A R T Y! The store owner planned a big party for the community, it was held behind the store at the RV park. We had 10 smoked briskets, hot dogs, snow cones, drinks, beer and wine. The entire community was invited, (there are less than 200 full time residents), I estimate about 100 people showed up.

...I feel such a part of this community...

  I felt so comfortable, I actually mingled...

Now please understand, back in my "old life", I didn't go to parties as a general rule, and when I did, I was the one hiding in the background, talking to only a few people and generally feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Out here, that was a different story, I feel such a part of this community, and being at the store (the heart of this community), I felt so comfortable, I actually mingled, I went from group to group talking, visiting, hanging around and having such a good time! We had live music, all very good, the food was good and the company was great! Nearly everyone I know out here attended.



I don't drink, I have nothing against it, I just don't like the taste of wine, beer or spirits, and I'm not really interested in drinking something I don't like just to get drunk, I wish I could just bypass the drinking part and go straight to drunk, well, not really, but anyhoo, drinking and getting drunk is not my personal thing. That being said, I took advantage of the wine collection that was being served and the wine expert manning the table to try a glass of wine, I went up to her and told her I know nothing about wine, don't drink it, but wanted to try it and asked her what she recommended,

...I had a brisket sandwich

  with BBQ sauce,, onions and tomato......

she asked me what I was eating, I had a brisket sandwich with BBQ sauce, onions and tomato, she pulled out a white zinfandel wine and gave me a taste, it was ok, most likely the only one of the bunch I would have been willing to drink, (I have tried that before) and it did go pretty well with the sandwich. It may have been a very good wine, however I didn't go back for more, I drank that one and went back to water and soft drinks.



Bob showed up about half an hour into the festivities, we were dressed alike, it was so cute, we both wore digital camo pants, though the rest was different, he wore a black t-shirt and combat boots, I had a girly shirt and sneakers, but it was clear that we were together because of our matching pants. It was great to see Bob smoozing with everyone too, he has gotten to know nearly as many people as I do out here, but since he is not as the country store as often as I am, he doesn't get to chat with as many people as I do, it was a good time for him to connect with the neighborhood some more.



Shortly after it got dark, the party had come to an end, there were a few diehards left behind, we stayed and offered to help cleanup, but was told we could go if we wanted to, so we said goodbye to everyone else and took off. We drove back to the house and had to walk in the dark to the house, neither one of us remembered to bring a flashlight (do'h!), the moon wasn't up yet, so it was pretty dark, but we carefully picked our way across the creek and up the hill with no problems.



The party went very well, no one got rowdy or loud, I didn't notice any drunken activity, it was just a nice, happy, well fed group of people having a good time. One good thing, the rain held off, we were worried about Dolly getting us, and it IS the rainy season out here, yesterday it rained pretty heavy, but it cleared off today, the sun came out and dried everything out (ie no mud hole), it rained just a little bit ago, sounded like a good rain too, perfect ending to a perfect day.

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Wretha



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Canned Meats-Stocking Up-Better Prices

Now that I have had a chance to try some more of the canned meats, I am soooo happy with it, it's top quality, tasty, spiced just right, not too much, not too little, all I can say is WOW! As you should know, I ordered my cans from the Internet-Grocer, and I am very happy with them, I would highly recommend them, I had planned on ordering case quantities of the canned meats, I checked out the label and found out who cans the meats, found their website (they could use an update-hey I can do it, my services are good and I don't charge an arm and a leg, maybe a few cases each of your canned meats... hint hint hint!) Anyhoo, I contacted the company to ask about case pricing, and it's not bad at all. Here is what they sent to me, basically their price for ANY of their varieties are the same:

	12 cans per case
	27 oz	14 oz
Beef Chunks	$63.00	$38.00
Pork Chunks	$63.00	$38.00
Boneless Turkey	$63.00	$38.00
Boneless Chicken	$63.00	$38.00
Ground Beef	N/A	$38.00

That doesn't include shipping, but if you give them your zip code, they will be more than happy to give you a quote, they got back to me within 24 hours.

These prices are current as of this date, there are no guarantees that the prices (for the product and/or the shipping) will remain the same.

Here is the contact info:

http://www.grabillmeats.com

Grabill Country Meats
13211 West Street
P.O. Box 190
Grabill, In 46741
260-627-3691
info@grabillmeats.com

They accept credit card. debit card, check or money orders. For shipping to my zip code it is $15.70 for the large cans and $11.13 for the small cans, that is per case, they ship UPS. If you are going to be buying case quantities anyhow, it's cheaper to go directly through them, but the only thing they do is the meats, if you want any of the other things Internet-Grocer carries, you would need to go through http://www.internet-grocer.net.

Wretha

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More About The Gov Stockpiling Foods

OK, here we go again, it seems that the story about the government buying up large stocks of foods is growing, here is a story from WorldNetDaily:

Are feds stockpiling survival food?

'These circumstances certainly raise red flags'

12:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

A Wall Street Journal columnist has advised people to "start stockpiling food" and an ABC News Report says "there are worrying signs appearing in the United States where some … locals are beginning to hoard supplies." Now there's concern that the U.S. government may be competing with consumers for stocks of storable food.

"We're told that the feds bought the entire container of canned butter when it hit the California docks. (Something's up!)," said officials at Best Prices Storable Foods in an advisory to customers.

Spokesman Bruce Hopkins told WND he also has had trouble obtaining No. 10 cans of various products from one of the world's larger suppliers of food stores, Oregon Freeze Dry.

He said a company official told him on the telephone when he discussed the status of his order that it was because the government had purchased massive quantities of products, leaving none for other customers.

That, however, was denied by Oregon Freeze Dry. In a website statement, the company confirmed it cannot assure supplying some items to customers.

"We regret to inform you Oregon Freeze Dry cannot satisfy all Mountain House #10 can orders and we have removed #10 cans from our website temporarily," the company tells frustrated customers. "The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well."

The company statement continues, "We want to clarify inaccurate information we’ve seen on the Internet. This situation is not due to sales to the government domestically or in Iraq. We do sell products to this market, but we also sell other market segments … The reason for this decision is solely due to an unprecedented sales spike in #10 cans sales.

"We expect this situation to be necessary for several months although this isn’t a guarantee. We will update this information as soon as we know more. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We sincerely hope you will continue to be Mountain House customers in the future," the company statement said.

But Hopkins wasn't backing away from his concerns.

"The government just came in and said they're buying it. They did pay for it," he told WND about the summertime shipment of long-term storage butter. "They took it and no one else could have it.

"We don't know why. The feds then went to freeze dried companies, and bought most of their canned stock," he said.

A spokeswoman for Oregon Freeze Dry, sales manager Melanie Cornutt, told WND that the increasing demand for food that can be stored has been on the rise since Hurricane Katrina devastated large sections of the Gulf Coast, cutting off ordinary supply routes.

"We are currently out of stock on our cans. We are not selling any of our cans," she confirmed.

She then raised the issue of government purchases herself.

"We do sell to the government [but] it is not the reason [for company sales limits]," she said.

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency told WND whatever government agency is buying in a surge it isn't them. They reported a stockpile of about six million meals which has not changed significantly in an extended period.

But Hopkins said it was his opinion the government is purchasing huge quantities of food for stockpiles, and Americans will have to surmise why.

"We don't have shelters that [are being] stocked with food. We're not doing this for the public. My only conclusion is that they're stocking up for themselves," he said of government officials.

Blogger Holly Deyo issued an alert this week announcing, "Unprecedented demand cleans out major storable food supplier through 2009."

"It came to our attention today, that the world's largest producer of storable foods, Mountain House, is currently out of stock of ALL #10 cans of freeze dried foods, not just the Turkey Tetrazzini. They will NOT have product now through 2009," she said.

"This information was learned by a Mountain House dealer who shared it with me this morning. In personally talking with the company immediately after, Mountain House verified the information is true. Customer service stated, 'I'm surprised they don't have this posted on the website yet.' She said they have such a backlog of orders, Mountain House will not be taking any #10 can food requests through the remainder of this year and all of the next.

"Mountain House claims this situation is due to a backlog of orders, which may very well be true, but who is purchasing all of their food? This is a massive global corporation.

"One idea: the military. Tensions are ramping up with Iran and news segments debate whether or not we will implement a preemptive strike in conjunction with Israel," she wrote.

Hopkins raised some of the same concerns, suggesting a military conflict could cause oil supplies to plummet, triggering a huge increase in the cost of food – when it would be available – because of the transportation issues.

The ABC report from just a few weeks ago quoted Jim Rawles, a former U.S. intelligence officer who runs a survival blog, saying food shortages soon could become a matter of survival in the U.S.

"I think that families should be prepared for times of crisis, whether it's a man-made disaster or a natural disaster, and I think it's wise and prudent to stock up on food," he told ABC.

"If you get into a situation where fuel supplies are disrupted or even if the power grid were to go down for short periods of time, people can work around that," he said. "But you can't work around a lack of food – people starve, people panic and you end up with chaos in the streets."

At his California ranch, the location of which is kept secret, he said, "We have more than a three-year supply of food here."

In the Wall Street Journal, columnist Brett Arends warned, "Maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

"No, this is not a drill," he wrote.

His concern was about various food shortages around the globe, and the fact that in a global market, prices in the U.S. reflect difficulties in other parts of the world quickly.

Professor Lawrence F. Roberge, a biologist who has worked with a number of universities and has taught online courses, told WND he's been following the growing concern over food supplies.

He also confirmed to WND reports of the government purchasing vast quantities of long-term storable foods.

He said that naturally would be kept secret to avoid panicking the public, such as when word leaks out to customers that a bank may be insolvent, and depositors frantically try to retrieve their cash.

"[These] circumstances certainly raise red flags," he said.

Hmmm, insteressing...(interesting+stressing)

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, I love comments (but not spam), you may leave anonymous comments (you do not need to sign up or sign in). I do moderate/approve each comment, if your comment doesn't show up within a day or so, try to leave it again, if you still have trouble, email me.
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7 Comments

Mayberry said...

Good God. I really feel like my pants are down around my ankles... We are in trouble deep......

July 24, 2008 8:37 PM

Wretha said...

Well, one can only hope that they have good intentions...

Wretha

July 24, 2008 9:06 PM

The Scavenger said...

Wretha, this is just another reason we better have our preps in place and adding to them daily. The Gov. scares the hell out of me anyhow and now they are buying up all our food! Better get those fall crops planted and can all that you can from your gardens now. I have been buying extra at the farmers market too. Big brother know's something bad is gonna happen and soon, they are right. Thanks for the info.

Chris

July 24, 2008 11:00 PM

riverwalker said...

I think the government is doing lots of things they don't want the citizens of the US to know about.

RW

July 24, 2008 11:59 PM

Wretha said...

Scavenger, Riverwalker,

All I have to say is "yup".

Wretha

July 25, 2008 12:21 AM

Rook said...

Wretha,
What a great post. We can't trust the goverment. Look at what it got our indian brothers. I will be using my canner for all I can. Keep Bob working on the cabin and securing it.

Rook

July 25, 2008 7:00 AM

lornkanaga said...

Okay. You've got me worried now. I just ordered from my two fav food suppliers and may order elsewhere as well.

I *told* my sweetie we needed more ammo. ;-)

(Loads of long-term-storage food suppliers are going to make big bucks thanks to this and similar articles!)

July 28, 2008 9:47 AM