Today, we talk about addressing the things that keep you from doing what you love, from being who you are, and from building the life you choose. We also discuss an important tax code change and will do all our usual Monday segments.

Featured event, LFTN Spring workshop - sessions from folks who will come are awesome. Managing tragedy, rain water collection, starting fires, soap, bread, and so much more - the decision will be tough!

Ticket go on sale here on Jan 20 at 9am: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/spring-workshop-2024/

Sponsor 1: Agorist Tax Advice - play his segment

Sponsor 2: Holler Roast Coffee

Livestream Schedule

Tuesday Live with John Willis and Tag from Life Done Free, 12:30pm

Wednesday Live: TBD at 2pm

Friday Live: Homestead Happenings with The Tactical Redneck, 9:30AM

(Subject to our having power)

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

• Pantry challenge: Milk and cream gift from Dawn Gorham - loving the cream!
  • Cheese: Making cheese for the rest of the month and into January
  • Resupply System - is it cheating if i reorder what i usually do without actually using it - my fear is if I do not adhere to my system, I will screw up February.
  • Deep Dive into the Black Upright Freezer
• Pantry Meals Last Week: Roemertopf
  • Holler Stew
  • Venison Loin, Twice
  • Creamy Rabbit
  • Tough old rooster
  • Taco salad - thank goodness for cabbage
• Homegrown Cooking Livestream - roemertopf and silverskin

Weekly Shopping Report - cant find it and I DO know that it was mayhem this weekend as folks prepared for coldmageddon.

Frugality Tip from Margot

I went to the store and all that they had was this giant bag of carrots. So I made roasted root vegetables, with carrots, butternut squash soup with some carrots, I shredded some for the salad and I cut some up to dip (and if there is some left they will be chopped for soup). And all the tops and bottoms and peels were saved with the onion tops and skins to go into a pot next week with that ham bone to become bone broth and pea soup. So that large bag of carrots, that the girl next to me at the store turned her nose up at, is getting used to the fullest in this house . And I am saving money buy using them in multiple ways. Also I was hoping to have some left to ferment, but I don't. So don't be scared of the big bag of carrots, just get creative. 

Operation Independence

We have eggs again which is Ducky - or chickeny - as the case may be

Main topic of the Show: 

Our focus this month has been all about blossoming into 2024, despite the fact that the start of a new year is just a symbolic experience. Truly, it doesn't matter if you blossom into 2024 or blossom into October, the blossoming is the part that matters.

In the last ten days, we have taken four trips to Goodwill, 1 trip to the auction house, 4 trips to the garbage dump, and 5 trips to the store to return unused items that we purchased - usually for projects or other things. I’ve posted things to Facebook  Market place that I would just give away but you have to charge money or people jerk you around.

My cash jar is full. My home less so. And I feel like I can soar. It feels great.

And it all comes down to garbage. What are you doing with your garbage?

Attia Book:

• Your metabolism uses garbage cells when you fast before tearing into perfectly functioning one and uses those building blocks for energy - intermittent fasting

Hone - What stand in my wa

Story: The wood pile and moving wood

• Junk
• Clerical project of redoing the drive shaft or whatever
• Storage of useful things being out an about

Hone - time to do better

• Make space for what matters

As I journey through the household purge, which is taking weeks so far, I realize that in the same way that exercise helps improve your mental health, this process of removing physical road blocks is helping me get through emotional and mental garbage I have kept around because it is comfortable. It is also not serving me.

One can only conclude that cutting the garbage from your life is as important as building the life you choose. If you leave the garbage around, it gets in the way.

Deep Dive into Garbage:

• Physical Garbage - Clutter - Things that may be useful “one day.”
  • That time you donated the thing, then needed the thing 4 months later
  • Craigslist/flea markets as storage systems
  • Every item you have requires maintenance
  • Mold, degeneration - tools example
• Sentimental Garbage: Story of the family table. 
  • With parents, grandparents and step parents, my sister and I stand to acquire FOUR households of stuff. FOUR. 
  • The year of cleaning out a dead parent’s home
  • Grandma’s “Stuff” 
  • It is worth more than people are offering - the glory of the donation tax write off
• Mental Garbage
  • My3things
  • Doubts, fears, panics, sleep problems, being unkind to people - all symptoms of mental issues
  • Nighttime emotion eating story and what I did - and what I plan to do next
  • Ongoing maintenance and down time (for me)
• Association/People Garbage
  • Annually, make your list of 20 and be ruthless
  • Family example - extended family vampire (addiction etc)
• Project Garbage
  • This one is hardest for doers
  • What stands in your way? (For me clerical things and saying Yes)
  • Start with No every time a new opportunity comes up to fix this
  • What projects are you doing because you are supposed to? Just because you are good at it does not mean the project is serving you

Yep - it is all about the garbage. I just spoke with Aurora about her developing off grid homestead in Texas and she is ALL EXCITED about her bio digester. She is turning her scraps into cooking gas. In other words, her garbage is being eliminated and turned into positive forward momentum in a very tangible way. And the stories about it are building her content business. She told me she cant cook with it every day but that she loves that is replaces some days worth of cooking energy. She is managing her garbage well.

Are you? If not, start with one thing, add it to your 3 things, and let’s do this together. Let’s bust through the garbage to create space for opportunities.

Make it a great week!

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

Community

• Follow me on Nostr: npub1u2vu695j5wfnxsxpwpth2jnzwxx5fat7vc63eth07dez9arnrezsdeafsv
• Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
• Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
• Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b

Resources

• Membership Sign Up

• Holler Roast Coffee

• Harvest Right Affiliate Link