"I'm a safety girl!"

(Kudos to anyone who can guess what movie the title of this post is from!! No, it has nothing to do with the kind of safety we're talking about today!)



Hi everyone! Safety has been on my mind lately. Safety and protection. I think this is a good time of year to refresh ourselves on some important safety matters.



We've been experiencing some gorgeous weather in northern IL lately, and if you're like me you've got your windows wide open!! There's nothing quite like that fresh spring breeze blowing in your windows. But, remember that this time of year is a burglar's favorite time of year, too! Open windows are like a welcome mat to 'bad guys'! It's a good idea to close your windows, those on the first floor at least, when you leave your home and at night. We sleep on the first floor, so we close all the windows in the house except for our bedroom windows. (If someone wants to try to sneak in that way, he'll be unpleasantly surprised!)



I also like to leave the security door open and let the air flow in through the screen door. Here, I make sure that I always lock the screen door. Yes, someone could rip the screen and unlock the door, but the point is to make it as difficult as you can to buy yourself some time.



It's the time of year to landscape, but we want to be sure that the items we put in around our homesteads are helping us and not helping someone with ill intentions. Walk around your home and make sure there are no trees whose limbs are close enough to your house windows to allow someone to climb right in. If they are, trim them back! Make sure no bushes are planted in a way that blocks windows and allows someone to sneak in unnoticed from a neighbor or passerby. Make sure that all ladders are hidden away in a locked garage.



If you use a firearm for protection, I suggest that you, and all the members of your family practice shooting it. This is a great opportunity to teach kids the proper use of guns, instead of learning from music, movies, and video games that it's a toy or something 'cool' to use. The shooting arts are a great, enjoyable skill and shooting together is a great family activity. Taking a gun safety class as a family is a great thing to do. There have been many instances where a young child has had to use a firearm to defend himself or his mother and siblings when his father was not home. (Lots of examples in the NRA's 1st Freedom Magazine--The Armed Citizen articles.)



If you don't use firearms, I suggest that you figure out what form of defense you will use in your home. If it's knives, how about giving young children a pocket knife and showing them how to whittle as a way to use the knife properly and know how to handle it. The knife could be kept in their room by their bedside, where they could use it as a means of defense if necessary. You could go through self-defense classes as a family. Great exercise, bonding, and training all at the same time.



While my children were growing I expected them to be respectful and kind to everyone they came in contact with. But, they were instructed that if anyone tried to take them then 'all bets were off'. They were expected to yell, kick, scream, hit, bite--whatever they had to do to insure their own safety and survival. Since we as parents can't be with our children every second of their lives, they need to be taught that their safety is their job!



My point is, our safety is our responsibility. There was a letter to the editor in the NRA magazine in which the writer explained how she realized that having a concealed carry gun license, and not carrying the gun, was like a doctor having life-saving skills and not using them if he was out and there was an emergency. What an insight! We all need to be prepared to defend our lives (and property) and the lives of those around us.



Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader





P.S. And, ladies, when you're shopping your purse should be on your shoulder not in an unattended cart! 3 times in the past few weeks I've seen women setting their purse in their cart and walk away. They're only asking for trouble by doing that!! Make the bad guys work hard for what they want!

1st Ever (I think) IL Preppers Giveaway and A Candidate that needs Help

Hi everyone! So, I am a huge supporter of the Constitution. I'm particularly fond of the 2nd amendment, shown above. I set out looking for a nice shirt that would show my support of the 2nd amendment but didn't find anything exactly to my liking. And since I work for folks who print clothing I thought, 'I can make my own shirt!' And, since I'm printing them I thought I'd do a giveaway!! I'm so excited about this!!!

Actually, there are 2 giveaways!!! One will be for a man and one for a woman, but it will be the same shirt style. We're printing the above pictured imprint on Gildan, mens', sport gray shirts on the front middle chest. The ink is black. I will be waiting to print until after I pick the winners so that you can choose your shirt size.

All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on this post or any future posts through Tuesday, March 30th. Just mention that you'd like to be entered in the drawing. If you're entering for you and your spouse you need to tell me that your entering both the mans' and womans' drawing. On March 30th at approximately 5:00pm, I'll pick the winners and then post them here. I'll need to have your shirt sizes within 2 days after that so that I can get the printing done on time. Then, I'll ship the shirts out via UPS.

I'm afraid to say that I will only be able to ship to folks in the contiguous United States, although I don't know how many readers I have outside that area besides Aloha2u from the Hawaii Preppers.

Good luck everyone!

Next, there is a candidate who needs our help. Randy Stufflebeam is running for the IL Senate as a Constitution Party candidate. He needs 25,000 signatures to get on the ballot. If you believe, like I do, that we need to break free from the 2-party system, then helping a 3rd party candidate get on the ballot is a great place to start! This doesn't mean that you have to vote for him in November (even though I hope you'll might want to), but at least you'll be helping give him a chance, and giving the people of IL a choice. Go to http://www.runrandyrun.com/The-Petition.htm to download a petition. You don't have to go knocking door-to-door if you don't want to. But, getting your family, close friends, and co-workers signatures will certainly help. Thanks much!

Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader

Gun Owners Day and the Census

Hi everyone! Just a few quick notes today. First, if you live near the IL capital and are passionate about our 2nd Amendment, there's a way you can support it. Mechanic in Illinois commented and told me about IGOLD, which is Illinois Gun Owners Legislative Day. It's happening this Wednesday, March 10th starting at 11:45. If you're interested and think you can make it (wish we could--maybe another year) here is a link for the info. Thanks Mechanic!

Secondly, I received this in the mail today. (Okay, look up--the picture decided it wanted to be up there.) It's a letter telling me that in about a week the census will arrive in our mail. A lot has been written about how the government has no right to ask citizens any question except how many people live in their home. In fact, Rep. Bachman, MN, has said that is the only question she will answer. I have to agree with her and others who think like her. For a better explanation of that viewpoint here is a link to Rep. Ron Paul explaining that the only answer for those 'extra' questions is 'None of your business'. He confirms that every house in the US has had its GPS coordinates marked (I love it when 'conspiracy theories' end up being true!) and how the government has used those 'extra' questions against citizens in the past. Please listen to his recorded message before you decide which questions to answer.

Prep On!

Gen-IL Homesteader

Got Guns?

I am a supporter of the US Constitution, each and every provision. I'm especially supportive of the 2nd amendment which protects a person's God-given right to protect themselves.


Two articles regarding guns caught my eye today. First, this article regarding the case being heard right now in the Supreme Court, challenging Chicago's gun ban laws. Hang in there, Chicagoans, you just might win! In a crime-ridden city such as Chicago, citizens need guns to have a chance to protect themselves and their families.


Second, is this article by Chuck Baldwin where he discusses Starbucks' announcement that they have 'no problem with customers packing heat while placing their orders'. Hooray for Starbucks! I'm not a coffee drinker, but I appreciate their stand on this issue. Starbucks knows that armed citizens make for safer citizens. (Of course, this is opposite of what the msm would have you to believe.)


So, today I'm celebrating that there still are some folks in positions of power who support and defend our God-given rights. Thank God for them!


Prep On and Stay Armed!
Gen-IL Homesteader

Part II--How long 'till folks go crazy?

My mind wouldn't stop thinking after I wrote yesterday's post. So, you've prepped. You've got all this food. An emergency happens. You're prepared. But, then there's a knock on your door. Somebody else didn't prepare. They're hungry, they're desperate. And you can help. But, do you? Should you? If so, how much? How often? Where? These are huge questions that require much thought and prayer. And the answers will be different for all of us.

It was Ernie over at IN preppers that first got me thinking about this. She encouraged me to take some money and put it into preps for others. Hmmm. I hadn't thought about that idea before! I tend to live in my bubble thinking that other folks are doing and thinking the same thing I am. They're taking care of their own business just like I am taking care of mine. But folks, THEY'RE NOT!!!! Most of the rest of the country is not taking steps to prepare, either becaue they don't have a clue that they should, they're naive and don't believe they have to, or because financially they can't. I'm sure that every one of us has friends and family members that fall into all of these categories. Honestly, I'll be happy to help folks that fall into the category of not being financially able to help themselves. I usually have no problem helping people who can't do for themselves. I'm not usually so happy to help those than can, but won't do for themselves.

First off, I recommend that you don't let anyone except family and a few extremely close, understanding, trusting friends see your preps. Hubby and I have taken this stance and, except for a night where I was influenced by margaritas, we keep the pantry door shut when folks come to visit. (I love a good margarita every now and then!) Obviously, the food you are storing can only feed you for so long; the more people you have to feed means the less there is to go around. It's best not to let everyone and their brother know what you have, so that in the event of an emergency everyone and their brother won't be knocking down your door! So, keep that pantry door, (and your mouths) closed!

If folks do need food and you can help, the best advice I've heard is to have some ready-to-eat things that you can hand them outside your door, and ask them to take away and eat. Again, no need to advertise that you're stocked up by having a big party with lots of folks milling around with plates full of food!

You also need to think and pray about protecting what you have stored. Do you have a gun? Are you willing to use it to protect your family and your stores? Obviously, this is a final resort. But, it may be necessary if a situtation gets out of hand. Here again, keeping a low profile about what you have is the best first defense against potential future problems. It's best to talk with your spouse about how you will handle this type of situation if it arises, so you'll know what to do when and if it happens.

So, my advice is to prepare to feed yourselves. Plan to feed others, too, but keep quiet about it until the need arises! (You don't want the domino affect like what happened in the old shampoo commercial....they tell 2 friends, and they tell 2 friends, and so on.) Think and pray about how you'll protect yourselves and your stores. Then stick to the plan.

Prep on!
Gen-IL Homesteader

TICKED OFF!!!

Hi folks! I saw this article this morning on the Wisconsin Preppers sight. It made me so MAD!! Obviously, it doesn't apply to IL specifically, but it applies to anyone who lives in this country. No matter how you feel about guns, the right to protect oneself is GOD-given and the right to own a gun is constitutionally-protected. We should all be fighting to protect those rights. Our founders put the right to own firearms in the constitution because they wanted to be sure that the citizens of this country would be able to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. It wasn't just because they needed to hunt, or target practice or go skeet shooting. They wanted to stay free and they knew that governments have a tendency to threaten that. Have you ever taken notice of the fact that the right to an education is NOT constitutionally protected, but the right to bear arms is?

Did you know that the Revolutionary War started because the British were going to take our arms? It didn't start because of 'taxation without representation' like our modern day school books want us to think. The great war started because the government was trying to take our guns! Those brave men of old stood up and said 'NO!' so loudly that it could be heard the world over! When will we stand up and say 'NO'? How far will we let these people we've appointed and elected steal our rights?! This is an election year, folks. Study each candidate long and hard before you elect one. We give them great power and they steal more than they're given. I'm not sure how much longer we can take the robbery. Foxes in henhouses usually get taken care of pretty darn quick!

For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security. Thomas Jefferson (emphasis mine)

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

Prep on and stay alert!
Gen--IL Homesteader