Blog - Strategic Living

DIY Nail Serum for Damaged Nails

October 13, 2021 Gaye Levy 4 Comments

I have tired hands. Working hands. Old hands. And it shows.

When I was in my thirties, someone told me that you can always tell a woman’s age by her hands. Looking at my mother at the time, I knew that was true and as I have aged, I am starting to see my own hands become thin-skinned, spotted, and knarled a bit.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky since although I have bumpy arthritic fingers (which can happen at any age), they do not hurt. That said, I have always taken pride in my nails.

I do my own manicures, topping my mid-length nails with a coat of clear nail strengthener. Side note: my toenails are pink but that is another story entirely. Sadly, though, something happened over the summer months and by September my nails were in shambles.

There were severe cracks and ridges that ran the length of the nail and as soon as there was even the tiniest bit of length, they crumbled. Knowing that my eating and nutritional intake from real food was sound, I decided to attack the problem externally using essential oils.

Voila!

My nails are now back to normal with very few ridges and cracks. Even though my hands are not as attractive as they used to be, my nails look great. Today I share the nail serum I came up with. It uses just three, inexpensive essential oils and olive oil.

Are you ready to have beautiful nails?

Propane for Preppers 3.0: The Complete Book Part 2

July 8, 2021 Gaye Levy Leave a Comment

Shortly after posting Part 1 to Ron Brown’s book, Propane for Preppers, a major pipeline in the US was hit by a cyberattack. This attack resulted from a hack that for close to a week, shut down a system that delivers about 45% of the gasoline consumed on the East Coast. This led to panic buying and shortages at gas stations from Washington, D.C., to Florida.

What a mess!

Whereas that attack affected gasoline, who is to say that the next attack, if it happens, won’t shut down our electrical power grid?

Of course, there are many risks other than a hack attack. This summer, it has already been reported that some states will face grid disruptions due to brownouts and blackouts. Natural disasters occur and there is always the possibility of a massive EMP, whether natural or manmade.

One way or another, we all need to be prepared with a fuel source that will get us through a short-term disruption to our power grid. One of those fuels is propane.

Propane, at the moment, is relatively easy to acquire and while not cheap, is still affordable. With propane, you can boil questionable water to make it safe to drink and add lighting to pitch-black darkness. With propane, you can cook your food and heat your living space. There is a lot you can do with propane in an emergency situation.

I am posting this multi-part series on propane to educate you about the various aspects of propane, including its storage and safe usage. By the time you finish this series, you will be able to use propane with confidence and without fear that you will hurt yourself in the process.

Keep reading to go to Part 2 of Propane for Preppers.

The Meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance

July 3, 2021 Gaye Levy 10 Comments

For the past year, I have been in a funk. Undoubtedly being my own worst enemy, and with time on my hands, I devour the news with disbelief at how bad the United States has descended into tyranny.

This is something I wrote about often at the now, apparently defunct, Backdoor Survival. At the time, I spoke of the erosion of civil rights and the perfect storm for economic and political collapse. My timing was off but as many in the survivalist prepper community have predicted, things are now happening on the public stage that are far worse than we imagined.

All that being said, for Independence Day, I wish to share the following tome with you. Although I have made slight changes, it was originally was shared over a year ago by a member of my community and is a reminder that as far as I am concerned, we live in the greatest country in the world, warts and all.

It is a quick read, but well worth it.

Propane for Preppers 3.0: The Complete Book Part 1

May 20, 2021 Gaye Levy 1 Comment

For over ten years, propane has played an important role in my preparedness life. Both my former home in Washington State and my mountain home in Arizona have relied on propane for heat, cooking, and hot water as well as the incidentals of BBQs, fire pits, and lanterns.

As a result, over the years I have written two separate series around the topic of “propane for preppers”. Credit where credit is due: the second series (in 2015) was authored as a guest piece from my pal Ron Brown. Those articles subsequently became the basis for the 7th book in the Non-Electric Lighting Series.

That brings us to today.

I have close to zero confidence that our leaders have the wherewithal to prevent a cyberattack on our grid specifically and our utilities generally. That includes the propane that is supplied directly to our homes via local utility companies.

That is not to say that a cyberattack is the only risk to consistent propane delivery. Fossil fuels of all types are under attack by our own government and until/unless the narrative changes, I can imagine a time when non-green fuels will be rationed.

In my effort to bolster my own reserve of portable propane (meaning propane not provided by our local gas company), I recently revisited Ron’s book and reminded myself of the excellent job he has done in educating us in propane independence as well as propane safety.

I reached out to Ron and asked him for permission to reprint his book as a series of articles on Strategic Living and he said yes! How cool is that?

What comes next in this piece is Part 1 of Propane for Preppers, Book 7 in The Non-Electric Lighting Series. Let’s get started.

Using Essential Oils to Manage Blood Pressure

April 28, 2021 Gaye Levy Leave a Comment

As I recall, the first time I dabbled using essential oils to manage my blood pressure was in early 2015. At that time, my once perfect blood pressure had taken a leap from 120/80 to 160/90 and higher. I pretty much freaked out and called my physician. After calming me down, she told me to take a deep breath, monitor my BP daily for a couple of weeks, and if there was no change, secure an appointment so we could do some testing.

Rather than wait, a few days later I decided to experiment with natural remedies before taking more drastic measures such as pharmaceuticals. The rest, for me, is history.

I found a combination of essential oils that not only worked to help manage my own blood pressure but also helped my husband and countless others who followed my original March 2015 post on Backdoor Survival. To this day I still use essential oils in a salve form to maintain healthy blood pressure. You will find the simple, DIY recipe below.

But first, let me speak to a concern that has bubbled to the top for all of us this past year. That concern is how we will deal with health issues in the event modern medicine and western doctors are no longer available to keep us well. Or, as recent history has shown us when in-person doctor visits are curtailed but for all but the direst of circumstances.