I was excited to find that this is the Crest for the area in Southern Italy where my great great grandparents came from. It is fascinating to find even small bits of information about their country that would have been a part of their lives. It’s possible they never knew what their province’s crest looked like but I am going to guess that they did since in those days they were much more aware of their roots and their heritage. I have never tried to look into any crests in my ancestry before but finding this has sparked my interests.
After my last post about cleaning and preparation for difficult times, I thought I would mention a few things that I have found to be helpful. Basically, I’ve always asked myself, “what would I do if certain things happened such as, losing power or not being able to pay for it and being shut off. What would I do if the propane tank can’t be refilled. Over the years I have picked up all kinds of non-electric kitchen tools and things that can help in keeping the household running with as much ease as possible.
Some of the things I would encourage anyone to do would be to learn to make things from scratch, not being dependent on processed foods. At the same time, try making meals more simple rather than having several dishes. It’s less work, it costs less, and it is still satisfying. For example, casseroles make a good meal, often with some type of meat and vegetables, with or without a carb such as potatoes, rice, or pasta. Our grandmothers and great grandmothers were very creative; they had to be. They were not able to run to the store for a needed item for dinner. Dinner was made with what they had on hand. They used first, that which might spoil. They created soups which could be more easily stretched to go further. They didn’t have a different meal choice every night. I remember hearing the story about my grandmother fixing Grandpa oatmeal every single morning for breakfast only to hear him make the comment 30 years into their marriage that he didn’t care for oatmeal!! She thought he liked it but I would imagine if he did, he became very tired of it!
Something that would change drastically in hard times would be how we do laundry. We stand over our automatic wash machines, wondering how Grandma did it. How did she wash all the laundry?!! Well for starters, they didn’t have 10 pair of jeans, 20 shirts, and who knows how many pairs of socks! And guess what? They wore everything several times before washing it! I doubt I need to say more about that.
As I learn more about the hard life that our ancestors came from, I realize most of us have a very long way to fall before we ever reach the depths of despair our ancestors experienced. The sad and scary part for me is, much of the younger generations have no idea where to even begin thinking, let alone planning how they can be even a little prepared should they not be able to go to McDonalds or stop at the store for a box of macaroni and cheese. I had a cousin tell me one time that her two step-daughters came to visit. She decided they would bake a cake so the girls looked for the cake mix. When she told them they were going to make it from scratch, they were shocked. They had never heard of that!
Preparing is fun. It doesn’t need to be done out of fear. It is very satisfying even if one can only do a little. If you need something for kids to do, help them to learn to forage! Teach them a simple skill. Buy a few packages of seeds and learn to grow something edible! With all the things available to us at our fingertips through the internet, make learning fun. The possibilities are endless.
I’ll be back.
Desarae
Four Sisters Farm 