I have been getting your magazine out from the library in town for over 2 years now and finally convinced my husband to let me get the Whole Sheebang. WOW, what a lot of stuff comes in that box!! My husband and I are going to be busy reading!

Thank you so much for your great magazine and keep up the good work. I believe and hope people are starting to wake up to what is going on in this country.

Thank you again,

Theresa Ferre

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One point not made was that the government has mortgaged away our country to other countries like China. When the whole ball of wax starts to melt, those mortgages are going to be called in and we, who were born and raised here in the USA, will find ourselves tenants on land that is no longer American owned. Actually, we are tenants already; most people just don’t know that… yet.

Also, remember the Federal Reserve isn’t federal at all. A wise banker once said, “Allow me to control the money and I don’t care who runs the country.”

Obviously, there is no simple fix. No, we cannot predict the future, but by looking to the history of once great nations, we can see the natural results of hyperinflation. Thank you for sharing in such a wise and concise manner.

Lizzie Hough

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I just read the article about free pallets for making bird houses. What a GREAT idea! Lots of good information.

I just started making bird houses and I can tell you, it’s addicting! I love it. I’m looking for a source to buy mini weather
vanes for the top of my bird houses. Any ideas? I can’t seem to find any information about tops for my houses.

Thanks,

Mary Pericolosi

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I just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for a great magazine and E-newsletter. I look forward to getting the newsletter every month and the magazine every couple. I have several friends (hopefully future subscribers) who I have turned onto your magazine and and I know have been visiting the website.

I live in the depressed economy of Michigan and like many others is trying to keep my head above water. I hate going to my job due to the negativity and dismal spirit found there. I work in the auto industry and can tell you things are better than they were even just 6 months ago but I can still feel that my job is in jeopardy on almost a daily basis. It’s time for a change I just haven’t figured out what that is totally going to be.

You are always a bright light of hope as I can see where I need to go. I’m working on it and probably will be relocating my family in the near future to a property where we can practice the homesteading spirit. I don’t know what I will be doing yet but you have given me some direction on where to look.

Thanks again,

Jim Loomis

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1. Safety, wear rubber gloves and boots. Concrete is a thousand times acidic than water, it can cause severe chemical burns to unprotected skin. If you do get a burn, flush with vinegar, it neutralizes the acid. I’ve found applying olive oil helps the healing.

2. Bull floating should be done perpendicular to your screed rod. This flattens the ridges that your rod may leave. Bull floating helps flatten and seals the top of the concrete, this should be done right behind the rod to keep concrete from drying out too quickly.

3. If you haven’t run a power trowel, hire a finisher. A power trowel used incorrectly will screw your floor up in seconds. The average home owner doesn’t have the skills to fix it. The power trowel pictured doesn’t have the correct blades for wet concrete, those are finish blades for use when the floor is about done. For most work you want Combo-blades, that is what will come on most rental machines.

4. Curing and saw cutting. The fact is concrete cracks, it needs to have relief cuts put in it so you don’t end up with a cracked up mess. Sidewalks should be done cut every 6 to 10 feet depending on how wide it is, a 2 foot wide walk will need less joints than a 4 foot walk. Slabs should be done every 10 feet maximum 12, this both directions length and width. Joints can be either tooled in when you are placing the concrete or saw cut the same day it is poured with a SoftCut saw or after the concrete is cured with a wet saw. Your concrete needs to be cured, by either chemical or water. Depending on the weather and your pocket book either works, if in doubt ask your ready mix salesman.

Bruce Wright,finisher
Zortman,MT

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I just had to drop you a line and let you know how much my hubby and I love your magazine. We have been subscibers for only a couple of years now, but have learned so much! In our plight for self sufficiency, your magazine has been so valuable to us-when we receive it…we actually flip a coin to see who gets to read it first! Cover to cover I might add! We always find a project that sounds good, so we put it on the to-do list. And we love the letters from the other folks who also are faithful readers.

Since subscribing, we have managed to put in an even larger garden than we had, and grow and can almost all of our veggies. Anything we need to supplement, it’s farmers’ markets and local farmers only.

We are surrounded by ocean so we do a lot of fishing, as we love fish…I doesnt cost us a dime and its healthy for us..and we love to go fishing!

We also built our own greenhouse from mostly recycled materials! We have a flock chickens for eggs and looking into getting a couple of cows for milk and meat and a few goats for milk for us and also to use in my soaps! Yes soaps!!!

My Hubby is looking into material to make some solar panels to use while we save up to get enough panels to go completely off grid.

We quit our jobs and are now self-employed. Not letting others profit off our labor is liberating!

We live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I was wondering if there are any other readers around my parts. I saw BWH for the first time a few moths ago and with the self-sufficiency movement catching on…it would be a benefit and education for all who read!

We are so grateful to you for all the great info. You have been so helpful!!!!!

We look forward to many more years with you!!!

Julie & Don Goulart
Mashpee, MA

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First, best wishes to you and yours, hope they are all healthy again soon.

Regarding the “My View” in the issue 122, will you be posting this on the web site? We need to send this as far and wide as we can.

Hope it’s not too late. Here’s to Obama-man of color, the color being in red!!! If you want to use that in any way, feel free!!!

Thanks for a great mag. Dropped my sub to Countryside quite a while ago. Kinda seem to have lost their way.

Tim Vander Waal

Tim:

Dave

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It has been a while since we chatted and I was just wondering how you were doing and so I thought I’d drop you a line. Personally I’m just fine. I’ll be moving to Maine sometime this spring or summer to build my own little gulch. I can’t wait even tho’ it will be hard.

We at TMM have acted rather childish with the whole S6 thing and at least for my part in it I am deeply sorry. If driving you away was the result, then we who said those things are idiots.

One other little thing, My Birthday is on the 8th. I’ll be 21. I can finally buy my own booze!

So, how is the desert treating you? Since I used to spend a lot of time in the Mojave hunting snakes and looking for fossils on family outings, I had to learn desert survival stuff.

Water being the most important I’ll just give this one tip to start with.

Yucca flower stalks are full of water. You cut the stalk off the plant at its base then cut the flower end off. Next you put one end in your mouth and squeeze the part in your mouth to release the water. It’s easy even if it tastes a little funny.

In the Southwestern US this can keep you hydrated if you get lost. Killing snakes with a big rock and frying them on a black one makes for good eats too. Or you could just build a fire.

Sincerely,

Ryan AKA GaurdDuck

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Although largely unresearched, I generally agree with the thought process in Mr John Silviera’s The Path To Another Depression.  My feeling is that in the constant clash between politicians and the economy, most generally the economy suffers in order to benefit the politician’s quest for monetary/political gain.

However, in the third to the last paragraph, one of Mr. Silviera’s conclusions is; “Hence, GM’s Saturn, Chrysler’s PT Cruiser, and other small car disasters that have befallen Detroit.”  I have read and heard several times over the past few years that the PT Cruiser was the most successful new car rollout since Ford’s Mustang in the early sixties.  Obviously, my current understanding of the success of this rollout seems to be in direct contrast to Mr. Silviera’s conclusion.

If Mr. Silviera’s statement is correct, why was the PT Crusier a disaster?

If I am correct – the PT Crusier was the most successful new car rollout since Ford’s Mustang – what other statements in the article are incorrect?  or is the article just the personal unresearched feelings on the issue by the author?

Thank you,

Stan Thibault

The PT Cruiser may have started out with a bang, but by 2007 Chrysler was losing money on it and was trying to get rid of it.  (Here’s one site talks specifically about the PT Cruiser: .  You can find others on your own.)

JES

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Just a note to tell you how much I like your writings. They are GREAT!

I’ve been baking bread for a while now so you really struck a chord with your article about this, but I really like your perspective and look foward to all of your aticles and now that I found your blog I’ll checking it out regularly.

Hope all is well in the high desert today . We normally have mild winters here in central Texas but it is overcast and wintery today.

Best wishes,

Charles Allen

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