Skills

Allyson had picked up a wooden box a few years ago to take to events. It was a plain wooden box with just a bit of decoration and a porcelain knob attached to the sliding top.

The knob and screw holding it are not period. The rest was pretty period. Or more precisely, it was period-20.

It looked period at 20 feet.

Over the years, it has taken a beating. This knocked the back off, pulling out the brads.

She asked me if it could be repaired. TiteBond III to the rescue. I pried the back out enough to get glue where it was needed. Clamped the entire thing closed and called it a day.

Until I decided that it could be better.

Today, we use petrochemicals to create high-quality, strong, enduring coatings for our cabinetry and furniture.

Modern finishes are long chain polymers that have all the right characteristics for a long-lasting, shiny surface.

I’ve used polyurethane finishes. They can be polished to a near mirror like finish.

But that is the modern world? What were they doing 100 years ago? 200? 300? They were using some of the same finishing methods we use today.

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Are you ready for what happens after the apocalypse? I’m not talking about the zombie apocalypse here, nor am I referring to the next pandemic. The apocalypse I mean is the one that’s currently predicted: Harris winning the election. I know some of you are laughing, but please don’t. I am quite serious about this. What are your plans for if she wins?

There are so many moving parts to planning for a Harris win. We have to consider the possibility (likelihood?) of social unrest. There may be a repeat of January 6th, this time with weapons, even if Harris is a clear winner (which I think is unlikely). More importantly, we need to plan for the economic downfall of the country.

It’s time to stock up on some basic things. From now until the election, prices have eased slightly. Harris is trying to buy votes. I know money is tight, but it’s really time to go and buy up all the canned goods you use in a year. Pick up extras of all your dry goods. If you can, order a half cow and stash it in your freezer. I have a funny feeling that if she wins, the country is going to get very expensive, very fast.

I always say, prep what you eat, and eat what you prep. This isn’t for a long-term emergency, though. This is food that you expect to eat over the next year. So look at what you use on a regular basis. For me, in the canned goods department I use a ton of canned tomatoes (both regular and the type with the chilies in it). I use canned beans (black, red, chili, garbanzo, etc.) as well as dry ones. I use rice, specifically Jasmine or Basmati. My family likes sausage, and I can usually find them on sale, so I will buy extras and toss them into the freezer. Last week, I found turkey breasts on sale for 99 cents a pound, and I bought the limit.

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For me, the flavors in a good soup are the taste of autumn. I adore soup weather, and with the nights getting colder, I’m looking up my soup recipes. Last week, I made a small pot of beef barley soup, and I impressed even myself. It’s easy to do, and you can even pop it in the crock pot if you want.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef shin bone (with bone and marrow)
• 1/4 cup red wine (for deglazing the pan)
• olive oil (for cooking)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1-1/2 cups pearl barley, rinsed
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
• bay leaf
• spices to taste (salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, sage)

In a soup pot, add a bit of the olive oil and bring to a medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add in the beef shin bones. If you have more than one, you may need to do them one at a time. Don’t crowd the bottom of the pot. You want to sear the meat for about 2 minutes per side, then set the meat aside.

Add a bit more olive oil if necessary, then toss in the onion, celery, and carrot (this is called a mirepoix, and it’s the base of many soups and stews), and saute until the vegetables are softened but not yet brown. Use the red wine, a little at a time, to deglaze the pan. Add in a drizzle of wine, and then use a wooden spoon or spatula (it should be wooden, NOT plastic or rubber) to scrape up all the stuff off the bottom of the pot. That “stuff” is called fond, and it’s delicious.

Once the pan is deglazed, put the meat back in (still on the bone), along with the broth, bay leaf, and tomato paste. Stir to combine the ingredients. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer for about an hour. Taste the broth, and then adjust for flavor by adding the spices of your choice.

Rinse your barley well, and pick out any stones you may find. Add the barley to your soup, and raise the temperature enough to keep the liquid at a steady strong simmer. Check on your soup every 15 minutes or so, to ensure nothing is burning. Add more beef broth if necessary. Continue to simmer until the barley is completely cooked and is chewy.

Lower the heat to its lowest setting, and remove the meat from the soup. Carefully trim the meat from the bone and put it back into the soup. Get rid of any gristle or fat, but make sure that the marrow from the shin bone goes back into the soup. The marrow makes your broth rich and tasty. Taste and adjust the spices as necessary, and then serve.

I like to serve this soup with fresh baked bread, still warm from the oven. If you’re not a baker, pick up a nice ciabatta at the grocery store, drizzle olive oil over it and toss on some salt and pepper, then heat in the oven at 350F for five to ten minutes.

This soup freezes very well. If you have a pressure canner, you may can it, as well. I find I never have enough left over to can up, though! A note on the tomato paste: I find it adds a nice zing to the broth, but it isn’t necessary. Some people like to put crushed tomato or stewed tomato into their beef barley soup, but I’m a purist.

BOOM! It happens. The meteor hits, or the fungus zombies arise, or civil unrest causes a loss of infrastructure. Whatever the emergency, the S sure has HTF. It’s time to break out the bug out bag or the get home bag, or check on your emergency stash of stuff. Yep, all there.

My question is, do you know what to do with that stash?

I am constantly amazed at the number of people who “prep for the end of the world” but have absolutely no knowledge on how to use the items they put away. A prime example of this was from a few years ago, when we were making regular trips down to the LDS Cannery (back when it *was* a cannery… stupid FDA) to pick things up. The LDS, while not my idea of a religion, has some great ideas about preparing for the worst. They make it easy for their members to put up food for the end of the world. They have convenient kits, each designed for a specific number of people (usually two parents and two kids) for a specific length of time (a month, generally speaking). Each kit includes things like powdered milk and eggs, wheat berries, oats, canned proteins, beans, etc. Each LDS family dutifully purchases two years worth of these supplies over time. And then those supplies just sit there.

The last trip there, we watched a new couple picking up their first box of goods. We struck up conversation, because we were all standing around waiting for things and that’s what you do. Nice couple, working on having kids. Devout. Polite. Not uneducated. But in the process of chatting, I discovered that they didn’t have a wheat mill. They didn’t know how to cook dry beans. They had no idea what to do with dried eggs. They had no real understanding of what to do with the items in their emergency box.

My family stores ground wheat in “small amounts” (for me a “small amount” is a 25lb bag, separated into smaller bags that are sealed, frozen for 72 hours, then put away in a cool, dry, dark place) and wheat berries in larger amounts (though also separated into bags or cans and frozen for 72 hours… it kills off any bugs). I go through a 25lb bag of wheat in a short enough time that it doesn’t go off, because I bake weekly, and sometimes more often than that. The wheat berries are a long-term storage solution, because they don’t go off. They’re shelf stable for 20+ years. We have a hand powered mill (that can be hooked up to a bicycle or generator if we really want to make it easier, though we never do), and we use it to grind wheat berries, barley, and other grains to make wheat for baking. Mostly I do that for historic demos, but sometimes just for fun. We only grind what we plan to use, because “ground at home” wheat will not last as long as the store-bought stuff, as it still has all its oils and the germ in place.

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Some of you may have guessed that I like to collect cookbooks, in addition to writing them. I have, for a very long time, been interested in historical cookbooks. In particular, I like original recipes, even if the physical book I have is a reprint. One of the cookbooks I treasure most in my collection is The Original White House Cookbook. The first edition came out in 1887, but there have been several editions since then. You can buy many of the new volumes, but it’s hard to find originals (ie printed in 1887) of that first one. I have a reprint of the original edition, printed in the early 1900s, and I love it.

I’m preparing myself for going to the Fort again this weekend. I’m hosting a “show and tell” event over the Labor Day weekend, and I want to have some yummy recipes. As I was cooking breakfast this morning, I was thinking about what I’d like to make. My eyes strayed over to the cookbook shelf (actually a whole bookcase, but whatever), and I noticed that the White House one was on its side and out of its usual place. Likely one of the kids had it out and didn’t put it back right. When I had a moment, I went to straighten it, and then stopped, because an incredibly profound thought hit me.

That cookbook, that original one from 1887, was written for the American people. We were, at that time, barely a hundred years old as a country. We were essentially a toddler, in the grand scheme of things. And here we were, offering our entire people the opportunity to cook like the leaders of that country.

Our people were (and are) eating the same food, prepared in much the same way, as our leaders.

Do you get how very insane that sounds? To have a populace who eats what the elite are eating? In 1887, Queen Victoria was munching on oranges, locally sourced salmon, and an early version of the turducken (12 Tomatoes). Kaiser Wilhelm II was eating ice cream and “Fresh goose-liver medallions that have been seared and cooled before being coated with chaud-froid sauce, garnishes, and then sealed in a layer of Port jelly. (Royal Menus)” Napoleon wasn’t eating a lot of rich foods, but only because he suffered from gastritis and insisted on plain and even bland foods. The rich of Europe were eating well, and the poor and middle class citizenry were eating simple foods, and sometimes not much of them.

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It was a beautiful day for a visit to the Fort.

You all would have had a chuckle if you had seen me.

Remember the movie True Grit with John Wayne and Glen Campbell? Mattie Ross wore a black hat. That is the hat I felt I was wearing yesterday. Except mine didn’t have a tie strap. I kept waiting for it to fly away in the wind.

This was topped with a white linen vest, about four inches too small across the belly and 2 across the chest. But it looked period.

That was over a linen shirt. The shoulders of which were a little tight.

Black pants finished the look.

I had planned to do some spinning. I didn’t. I spent most of the day talking to people and learning and finding things that need to be fixed.

My primary learning goal was to observe and ask questions about how linen is made. They didn’t have anybody in the weaving room.

I did find a very knowledgeable lady, but she had knowledge but not skill.

A bit later, I managed to get one of the interpreters to actual show me how it was done. It is an interesting process. There are some specialized tools that are needed for the processing. I don’t have them, I think I can make them.

We bought a bound of flax seed from some monks a few years go. I think we might plant it this coming spring. Maybe at the fort.

Subsequently, I ended up talking to guests. I do not have the skill to disengage when I am done. So many interactions lasted to long.

Tomorrow’s post will be about some feedback I got from an Australian farmer who was there when they took the guns.

My daughter spent several years working for a corporation where she didn’t feel her skills were appreciated. One of her coworkers did not interact well with her.

When she changed positions and is in a new team, with a new chain of command, she was exposed to some people that she described as having “quiet competence”.

Ally came to me with a sickle. Told me it needed to be sharpened. I found some sharpening stones and did so.

I’m sitting out in the courtyard for the light on a capped well. The director took pictures.

Seems that there is a skill to sharpening, which I have been working on, but which I didn’t have on my list.

So I got another, “He just sharpened it, amazing.”

All in all, I had a good time. My bad knee hurts, but that’s a good hurt. I was outside most of the day. I meet people.

The only thing that would have enhanced it would have been if there was live fire involved.

I’m up at the Fort with Ally and my wife. They are having a show and tell.

She picked out the garb to wear, and I have my black felt hat.

Originally, I intended to do some wood working, but that is currently on hold until I get some raw lumber.

The lathe needs bracing before it can be put into use. We could just use 2x4s, but that wouldn’t look very nice.

My goal is to bring up a 4 or 5 foot length of Oak from the woods. It will be heavy.

That will be fed through my bandsaw to make some rough blanks. The blanks will be taken up to the fort to be hand planed and turned into braces.

So… What will I be doing up there today?

I will be combing wool and spinning it. I have my wheel up there to use, but it is likely I’ll be using something a little older. Some 100+ years older than mine.

I am also hoping to learn how to process flax into fibers for spinning. It is an example of something I have knowledge of but no skill.

The next project is to make an inkle loom. My fine felt hat is too boring, even for me. I want a hat band. That requires me to make a hat band.

To make the hat band, I will need some sort of loom. I’ve decided to use an inkle loom. I could spend dollars to buy one, instead I plan to make it.

There will be some shortcuts used. The intent is to use the modern jointer, plainer, and lathe to make the components, but we will be starting from a log in the woods.

The threads for the hat band? Those are what I will be spinning. My wife will be dying some of the thread, I will have to decide on colors.

I hope that some of you make it out to the Fort this weekend.

I’ve talked about bugging in versus bugging out. I haven’t talked much about long-term bugging out, mostly because I’m not suited to it. Frankly, I don’t think most people are, despite their desires. In any case, it’s not something I could do for a long time, so there is no point in planning for it.

Short term bugging out or having an emergency come up while I’m out of the house and have to make my way home are absolutely possible scenarios. That means I have spent considerable time contemplating how to deal with it. For me, there are many issues that come up when considering being bugged out, and it’s a very individual thing.  You’re going to have to figure out your list of pros and cons on your own.

My first question is whether I’m temporarily bugging out, or am I on a trek to get home after being caught out? I can forsee several situations where I might temporarily bug out of the house. We back onto acres and acres of woodland, with even more nearby. It’s not going to be searched, even if FEMA comes by and investigates. I don’t have the kind of subbasement that Bill had in The Last Of Us (this scene is freakin’ marvelous, I might add – go have a watch!), so there are places we can go to hide until the feds come and go again. The bottom line is, they won’t stick around, and I will.

And here’s the thing. I have a well stocked pantry out in plain view. I expect that to be ransacked. I have a hidden pantry that I also expect will get found and ransacked. That’s why I have caches elsewhere. There’s always more food, more seeds, more of what I need. I also try to keep up on the letter/number combos that FEMA puts onto houses when it goes through a neighborhood. I keep a variety of spray paint on hand, and once I know what color they’re using, I should be able to sneak in and mark up the house. Emergencies are wonderful things, sometimes, and allow you to make everyone think “someone else took care of it.”

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There is this interesting point where you realize that you own a data center.

My data center doesn’t look like that beautiful server farm in the picture, but I do have one.

I have multiple servers, each with reasonable amounts of memory. I have independent nodes, capable of performing as ceph nodes and as docker nodes.

Which took me to a step up from K8S.
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Image from Sheep To Shawl Competition

First published in 1912, the conceit of John Clayton still flows through the veins of modern men (and women).

He was sure that his “superior knowledge” would prevail over his lack of actual skills.

Does he know how to make cordage? He makes their first shelter with rope left by the mutineers. He did not know how to make cordage.

He protects himself and Lady Alice with the rifles and pistol. He has no way of making more cartridges. When his supply is gone, there is no more. He just has a fancy stick.

I have extensive knowledge about many things. That doesn’t mean I have skills in all of those things.

I know the basics of long-distance shooting. I don’t have the skills. That means my shots will be well within 200 yards. Yes, I consider 200 yards to be close in.

Did John know how to make clothing? How long is the clothing he has going to last?

Can he make thread? Can he make a drop spindle? A spinning wheel? Can he collect fibers and turn that into yarn and then turn that yarn into clothing?

One of the skill contests that happens in many places, a few times a year, is sheep to shirt.

A team will be set up and at “go” they will shear the right number of sheep. While that is happening, they second team will be cleaning the fleece.

After the fleece has been cleaned, it will be spun into thread. There are always multiple spinners. As six to twelve doing the first spinning. Those are either spun to make stronger two or three-ply material.

While the spinners are spinning like made, the weavers are creating the warp. This is the process of taking the thread and wrapping it around pegs to organize the threads and to make loops that are the same length.

The longest warp I’ve done was about 18 yards.

Once the warp is prepared, the loom needs to be warped. This is the process of passing each thread through the reed and then through the heddles. The warp is then tied to the back roller and the warp is then pulled to the back of the loom.

More thread is put onto bobbins and then one person starts weaving. All of that to make a few yards of cloth.

Having made the cloth, a new team takes up sewing everything together.

A good team can do the entire process in 12 hours or so.

Did John have any of those skills? I have all the skills except for shearing and the cutting/sewing of the final product.

I have knowledge of how to shear. I don’t have the skill to do it. Nor do I have the tools to do it.

Part of preparing is learning how to do things.

So here’s another example. Making soap. My wife makes soap. I have the knowledge of how to make lye from hardwood ash. The question is: Do I have the skill to make lye?

Currently, the answer is “no”. I’ve tried, and failed. I’m not sure why.

So my answer was to buy large bottles of Sodium Hydroxide. 5Kg is #34.50 and 50lbs is $78.00. I can make pounds and pounds of soap from that much Sodium Hydroxide.

Yet, there is still a problem, Mixing Sodium Hydroxide with water is an exothermic reaction. This means the stuff gets HOT.

To make soap, you need the temperature to be reasonable.

We had the knowledge, but the last time my wife taught a class, she wasn’t prepared for that exothermic reaction. We had to use an ice bath to cool it down.

There are many skills you require. You should be looking at skills to live comfortably.

The question of the day for you, you have a spinning wheel, you have the wool, you have the loom. What is the fastest path to a shirt, gloves, socks, hat?