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Well, folks, it’s been a strange week weather-wise in my area… one the first official day of spring we had temperatures below freezing and snow. And it’s still cold! I hate the cold! If Florida wasn’t such a poor choice from a survivability perspective I’d be setting up a survival homestead down there instead of up here in Tennessee aka “The Redoubt Of The East“.
That’s one of the great things about blogging and running an online business is that you can work from anywhere that you have an internet connection. Even out in the boonies. Don’t like where you are then no problem just pack up and move.
Starting a blog is actually pretty easy in fact, I wrote an article about how to do it “How to Start a Successful Blog in 2018, Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide” if you’re interested in doing this then that article is a good place to start.
The hardest part is getting readers and choosing a niche that isn’t overcrowded. The three main niches are dating and relationships, health and wellness, and money and finance. Choose one of those three and you’ll have an easier go of it.
Okay, now what else do I need to tell you before we get started with this weeks “what did you do to prep this week” segment…
Oh yeah, I updated my recommendations page with some new information, links, and a new photo or two.
I always get several emails each week asking what’s my favorite gear, what long-term storage food brand do I most recommend, what’s the best flashlight and so on, so I decided to put it all on one page that I can refer everyone to.
Everything on that page I own, use and recommend 100 percent. I won’t put anything on that page that I haven’t verified and personally used. And I’m always, testing, using and adding stuff to that page so check it often so that you don’t miss anything.
Oh, I almost forgot here is the direct link to the page – My Favorite Prepper Supplies, Gear, and Tools, please take a look and then come back here and tell me what you think.
And one more thing before we get started with this weeks segment – I just noticed that The Ready Store has some excellent deals going on now.
Okay, now what did I do to prep this week…
This week I’ve been taking care of my new chicks (the kind with feathers and beaks and not the kind with makeup and lipstick), unfortunately, out of 15 bought two died and one apparently has a broken hip.
This had to happen when the chick with makeup and lipstick who was working at the Tractor Supply was picking them up and putting them into the box so that I could check out and pay for them. Apparently, she didn’t realize how fragile that new chicks are and squeezed then to tightly when she was putting them into the box.
The rest is doing great and seem to get bigger every time that I go down to the garage to feed them – yes, I have them in the garage…
This week, I’ve also been out scouting some new hunting places near my house… after all turkey season starts on March 31… Oh, how excited I am. Thanksgiving in the spring.
This week, I also ordered one of these as a gift for my girlfriend because I saw it in her Amazon wish list – I just hope that she doesn’t use it to pull a Lorena Bobbitt on me. On second thought… maybe I’ll just keep it for myself and hide it when it gets here…
Okay, that’s it for me this week… what about you… what did you do to prep this week?
Haha
Perhaps, but I posted with content.
Gloria, there is content there, I have 2 H’s and 2A’s in there……..LOL
Does M.D. need to separate you two?!
LTD, maybe I will let her win next week…..LOL
Let ??
Gloria, Let is not as much content as “Haha”…… LOL
Thor1,
Dang… you have a fast trigger finger! I just hit publish on the post and your comment was there.
MD,
Perhaps he’s using some kind of computer, like the stock traders do
theohioprepper,
Might be. It was instant.
I just think some of us have a like and so me sit at the compute.
Did I mention I caught an arrow once…..LOL
I don’t want to brag,but I was once offered a job for that beer co. The most interesting man in the world…..I turned them down because I wasn’t interested…….LOL
Thor1,
LOL.
Too bad u turned them down, Thor. Might have been more interesting.
Thor1,
No; but, that explains a lot. Catching an arrow in the temple could easily explain some of your posts, LOL.
Fixit ,
Huh? I assume your keyboard must have some broken keys.
TOP,
Allow me to translate… “I just think some of us have a like and so me sit at the compute.” means “I just think some of us have a life and some (removing the extra space) sit at the computer.”
Some of us can type well all the time, and some of us can’t….. (myself included in the some of us can’t group) LOL. Some of us proof read before we hit the Post button, some of us don’t.
And Thor1 is only following commands… Good puppy Thor1. Gotta have humor amongst the seriousness. Thanks for the weekly pander.
You cracked me up with the Lorena Bobbit comment. I wonder how many of the pack remember her! Reading this blog is the best part of my weekend. Thanks for all the good information from you and the pack.
Jean, I remember..
Jean ,
I remember her and also remember that never was an act performed by someone whose name almost destined her to commit that crime.
Kind of like the law firm of: Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe.
TOP, I know you remember her, you used to date her in college. That explains how high your voice is on the SW radio…..LOL.
Touché
TOP, what’s this we stuff, you got a mouse in your pocket ??? LOL
Thor1,
When you consider that we’ve never talked on the radio and according to Google, Lorena Bobbitt was born October 31, 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador at which point I was at the beginning of my sophomore year in college.
Once again your content is not up to standard, LOL.
TOP, cradle robber….LOL
I also remember. I think my mom watched everything she could about it too.
I, too, love this week’s humor. Yes, I remember the infamous lady. Guys have to be careful of women with knives. LOL
Docj, funny thing we have Bobbit and Vienna sausage on the same blog….LOL
Thor1,
In a SHTF scenario we could be in a waste not, want not situation, LOL.
Puppy has gotten a little rambunctious with one of the old tarps I was taking off of a woodpile and replacing. He really liked ripping it up……
Great week of prepping here…..
Cleaned and reorganized the out building.
Freeze drying experiments…. Steak,sausages Mexico yogurt bars,more strawberries scrambled eggs.
The yogurt bars are amazing… They blew up and taste like cotton candy. The sausages were cooked and are like hard slim Jim’s.
Got another batch going now…..
Bought a big prep,the Kodiak solar generator.I bought the silver package that had 3 100w panels and for portability got 2 50w that fit in a bag.I got lots of extras with this like military grade EMP bags and 20% off. I will leave a link below if anyone’s interested in saving money. I saved about $600.
Bought more wine for the wine tower again. Almost full.
Helped a neighbor get a truck that was stuck in his front yard out using a tow chain and the bug out vehicle. I told him as soon as you feel the wheels come out of the ditch hit the brakes. Well he didn’t and hit my truck breaking my tail light. He said he would pay for the damage and they are nice people.
This link is from Canadian prepper…..pull the drag link down to see link and instructions.
https://youtu.be/SPYXjsdcBHk
#
Weather has been sunny and crisp so I’ve worked on pruning my fruit trees and berry bushes. They all got good fall mulches of manure and straw but now I’m worried about how little precipitation we’ve had all winter and just how it will affect fruit production this summer.
Picked up my ‘new’ car and we’re pleased at its condition and how well it runs. We consider it a good prep. DH and 2 DS’s are installing 4 new brake pads today on our other car in the comfort of one DS’s heated garage.
Finished the last of my health checkups for the year so all is well on the health front. Also got my tetanus shot which has hurt like crazy for several days. Just have to get DH updated on his tetanus and we’re all set on necessities.
Haven’t bought any food preps this week as we plan a Costco run in a few weeks. Vanilla prices are supposed to jump up again so I might get another bottle for my stash.
This Week:
I feel your pain. We had snow on our first day of Spring.
I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging. I may give it a try.
Chicks are delicate, but so worth the effort. Don’t give up.
The niece knows she’s welcome to live with us. We’re still hoping her mom steps up and becomes the parent she should be. If not, she’ll probably move in with us this summer. Her dad lives in our town too, but he’s more interested in his new wife. It’s sad that both parents have turned their backs on their kids.
-Added to the stockpile: shampoo, laundry detergent, bleach, TP, nonperishable food (all on sale and an additional coupon),
-Added to the classroom stockpile: more water, hard candy,
-Goats: Cleaned out the barn.
-Chickens: Stocked up on chicken feed. Put up an ‘Eggs for Sale’ sign at the road. I was overrun with eggs, but I’ve sold several dozen, and I donated 10 dozen to the local food pantry. DOES ANYONE PICKLE EGGS?
-Bees: Got more hive equipment.
-For the house: I feel like the movie Groundhog Day. I’m still purging, cleaning, and organizing.
-Homestead: Got some bentonite clay to fix the leak in the pond. Had a new pole barn put up.
-Garden: Seedlings are doing great!
-Information: Doing lots of reading on lots of topics. I LOVE LEARNING!
Be prepared. Stay safe. He’s in charge.
PG — SOS — bee pkgs will be here April first week. I’ve read bee stuff ’til I’m blind! And a bit confused. Do I need to add any treatments to hives b4 adding bees? Varroa mite? What product do u prefer, and why?
Cudn’t u just come on down to Alabamy?!
Personally, I wouldn’t treat before adding bees, but others might disagree. Keep reading, if you’re not cross-eyed yet, and decide what’s right for you. I’m so excited for you!
I have a niece moving to Mobile in May or June. She got a job at a hospital there. I hope she likes the area.
She coming from Ohio? She will experience culture shock, but, it will be worth it! Mobile is a seafood haven! Life centers around water, mostly salt water. She will love the food! The Alabama Battle Ship is a must tour. And the WWII German sub nearby. She WILL need to always be prepared for HURRICANES. It’s hot & humid. Hope she has a/c in the car! She can enjoy Mardis Gras Mobile – forget N’awlins, tho it’s not far away. She’s gonna love it! But tell her to “stay safe”!
I agree. If she is not used to ‘humidity’, she will be in for a shock. Mobile is not a bad town. I think Mardis Gras started in Mobile before N’leans.
She’s coming from Southern Illinois, the Shawnee National Forest area, and we have our fair share of humidity. She loves seafood. I’m glad she’s starting a job that she’s excited about.
I’m sure she will do well.
Livinthedream,
Assuming that you are getting clean packages from a reputable source, I would not add any treatment and just install the bees and the queen cage into clean hive bodies. As you have probably read, the installation should come about dusk and you should spray the bees rather heavily with sugar syrup before dumping them into the super. You can then affix the queen cage between two of the frames; but, remember to remove the cork from the cage to allow the bee’s access to the candy plug.
After that you can button up the hive and wait. By doing this just before dark, you can still see to do the work, and by the time the bees have licked all of the sugar syrup off of each other and can fly again, it is dark and they will stay in the hive and begin to setup shop. I’ve never lost a package doing it this way, and other than the sugar syrup, I don’t use smoke or any protective equipment. Once you done it the first time, you’ll install future packages without much thought.
OP – Thank u so much! Yes, I’ve read this in several places and more. Can’t afford to tear my hair out! U may have saved me from baldness!
Sugar water is the way to go.
Livinthedream,
Unfortunately no one saved me. I was going bald as I was graduating high school and immediately started growing a beard that I have to this day. The only difference is that now the beard is cropped short, is more like steel wool, and grey. I’m not getting older, I’m getting greyer.
Prepared Grammy said: “Sugar water is the way to go.” and I have a few suggestions here also.
Purchase a few empty 1 gallon paint cans with lids at your local hardware or big box store. Around here they were about $1.50 each.
Fill one of them half full of hot water, and carefully pour in 5 pounds of granulated cane sugar. Fill with hot water to the top and using a wooden spoon or wooden paint stirrer, continue stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. I use this mixture for two things. Once it’s cooled a bit, put some in a spray bottle and use it to wet down the bees in the package as part of the installation.
Take the other paint can and punch a bunch of tiny holes in the lid, with the tip of a nail. Once you have the bees installed and buttoned up, pour enough sugar syrup into the second can to fill it about half way. Put the lid on tightly and when you’re out in the bee yard, quickly invert the can. Some syrup will run out of the holes for a moment until a vacuum forms. Then place the inverted can inside the top cover keeping the lid above the surface with a few sticks or small boards. This opening allows the bees to crawl in and suck the syrup from the tiny holes. Check the feeder occasionally to determine if they are eating the syrup and top off when required.
There will also be an inverted small can of syrup in the package, so be sure to use that can the same way, or open it and use the syrup in your larger can.
Good luck & have fun.
I presume these are brand new unused paint cans? It wasn’t specified. I didn’t know brand new cans were available. Great tip tho.
Babycatcher,
Your presumption is correct and I guess I should have specified that detail.
I just looked and it appears that Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes and the local Ace hardware have them available; however, mine were purchased long enough ago that they are a bit more expensive than I originally paid, and somewhere in the $4.00-$8.00 range now. They do pretty much last a long time and may be the least expensive piece of beekeeping equipment I have, LOL.
PG – I pickled eggs a couple years ago. Theh were ok, but there aren’t a lot of pickled foods I “love”. As u know, I’m sure, pickling is one of the tried-and-proven old time methods of egg preservation.
I do, however, really enjoy the Amish Wedding brand pickled baby beets found @ Rural King.
I did pickle eggs, it’s not hard but they tasted to much like vinager eggs, I have read at least a dozen “no pun intented ” recipes on pickled eggs, no one but me ate them. One recipe said to add one cup of water to tame the vinager, so I did add it and it was better. I kinda want to make a pickling brine would be tastier then with just plain vinager, that is what I thought pickled eggs were in a pickling brine, not just vinager, and some people said keep them in the fridge, others said keep them on the counter, I put them in the fridge.
mom of three,
I always use a pickling brine that consists of vinegar, salt, sugar, and sometimes garlic, onions, &/or bay leaves or other spices. I’ve used this for eggs, beets, cabbage (usually red) and a few times for okra, green beans, and carrots; but, I prefer the cabbage and beets. You can make the brine taste however you like it, an as long as it hits that magic 4.6 or lower pH, you can water bath can it.
I store them like any canned good; but, keep the jar or its contents refrigerated after opening.
I’ve pickled eggs in balsamic vinegar with mildly hot peppers – very tasty. They should sit about a week before consuming, and they’ll keep about 4 weeks in the refrigerator.
Is it possible to can them for long term storage?
My dad was in world war II. He once told a story or how he and his platoon had been holed up in a fox hole for over a week under heavy fire. They had long since run out of food and were starving. They finally got out and found an old abandoned farmhouse. Down in the root cellar they found a gallon of pickled eggs. He said those eggs were the best food he had ever tasted.
Yes. Tho simply pickling will provide eggs good for a LONG time.
Prepared Grammy,
I suspect it is; but, it’s not something I’ve ever done, since they don’t last long enough without being eaten.
The pickled vegetables can be water bath canned and stored rather indefinitely; but, like any canned food, the longer you store them, the less nutritious they become and the flavor and texture might also suffer.
I think the pickled eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 months; but, be sure to keep them covered with the brine at all times.
To store eggs longer term if you have no supply of your own, I suspect dehydrating or freeze drying would be your best options, or just freezing if you can maintain your freezer.
PG,
I pickle eggs and the little Vienna sausage’s. I love them both, but since they are more of a Southern and North eastern thing, most folks out my way turn their noses up at them without even trying them. Too bad for them, more for me. I’ll reply below with a link to the recipe’s I used.
Links to pickled egg and wiener recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/234065/classic-pickled-eggs/
http://www.food.com/recipe/pickled-eggs-29150#activity-feed
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/ae1gc42j/pickled-wieners-hot-dogs.html
http://www.bonitaskitchen.com/traditional-newfoundland-pickled-eggs-pickled-wieners/
I was thiking, YUCK! Who would ever want to get the commercially canned “Vienna Snausages”(pun intended), then pickle them. Going to try it with wieners though. Looked good. As a pre-teen and young teen, my father tried to get me to “like” commercially packed Vienna thingamajigs. Thought the taste was horrible then, still do. Made me gag badly.
This recipe I could do and try and most likely enjoy! Thanks for sharing!
I like to grill hot dogs & can them in Mason jars. Wide-mouth quarts work best. Wrap ur grilled dogs in parchment paper. Prepare jars by cleaning mouth thoroughly. Add caps & rings. Process 90 min. @ 10 lbs pressure if under 1000 ft altitude. When traveling, secure a jar in ur back window, in the sun (don’t let it roll around – it IS glass!)Lunch is ready when u r!
Down in my neck of the woods, all the quick marts run out of Vienna sausage and saltines during hunting season. Just sayin…
TPSnodgrass,
Same here with the Vienna sausages as well as their horrible cousins, the “potted meat product”
I just checked and they are still making them, so someone must be purchasing them. All I know is that I would have to be really hungry to swallow any of that stuff.
Sirius, thanks I love that stuff…..
Vienna’s are in the realm of guilty pleasures. So tasty but so awful at the same time. We used to eat them on road trips with saltines along with canned oysters and/or sardines. Good memories along with them too. I even try to keep some for emergencies.
Have you ever heard it pronounced Vy-eena Sausages? Our neighbors a long time ago said it like that, and it wasn’t til they showed me the can that I knew what they were talking about!
Vi (long I) anu (short vowels) is how it’s pronounced around here.
I have! And, like u, I had to learn a new language.
Prepared Grammy,
“Vee En ah” was our pronunciation we used.
It’s the capital of Austria.
BTW, YouTube really can tell you everything and the pronunciation they use is the one I have always used.
As someone here once suggested, I put some hard boiled eggs in some leftover Cowboy Candy syrup and allowed them to sit for week in the fridge before eating them. They were quite yummy! I imagine they’d be even better if the syrup had been hot first.
Sirius,
Can we assume that they also won’t eat mush, scrapple, or head cheese, LOL. In western PA I grew up eating all of these things along with hushpuppies and fried green tomatoes.
I think we should let the snobs freeze and starve in the dark.
OP,
Why yes, that would be a very safe assumption. I saw some scrapple for sale at the local grocery store last week. I picked it up, looked at it, smelled it, and put it down. Just because the label said “scrapple” does not mean that what they were selling was in fact, scrapple.
I cannot get good scrapple on the west coast.
Sirius ,
I have not seen it here at all either, and the mush comes in plastic tubes. Our remedy is to make our own, since it’s not at all hard to do and is almost as easy as making oatmeal or cream of wheat.
Prepared Grammy,
I always enjoy reading your post on what you did this week. You accomplish so much….I feel like a slacker. Bless you for caring about that girl.
Thanks for the encouragement. Actually I feel like a slacker most of the time. Keeping track of what I manage to get done each week helps me to see that I have done something, even if it’s something small.
Prepared Grammy,
Do yourself a favor and look around to find a small red brick. Measure it, pick it up, and hand it back and forth from one hand to the other to get a feel for it. Keep that feeling in your mind, and the next time you see a large brick wall, go up to it, touch a few bricks with your hand, an remember the little exercise with the single brick. I guarantee it will give you perspective.
If you’re looking to preserve eggs, I just watched a video “Homestead Farmer” (I think) put out. Instead of vinegar, it uses pickling lime, which is expensive in the store but cheaper if you can find hydrated lime from a hardware store. Same stuff. Use 1oz by weight per quart of water in the container of choice- can be a jar, plastic bucket or crock. Use eggs that have not been washed, but are free of dirt, mud, feces or other icky things. Place eggs, uncooked, shell-on, in the hydrated lime water. You can keep adding eggs as you get them until the container is full. Keep a lid or towel on them. If no lid, a layer of olive oil on top can prevent dust, bugs, etc from getting into the water.
The video was done in the spring, when she suddenly had a lot of eggs. Another video, 8 months later when the hens stopped laying for winter, showed the eggs to be preserved, not have any odd taste or smell, and were fine.
The eggs had been kept in a cooler, dark room all summer. There was no climate control, and even a few hot days. Eggs should be keepable at least to a year, and possibly two. The basic pH of the solution prevents bacteria from growing.
Grammy, Do you want to do the eggs to turn out white or are you talking eggs pickled with red beets? That’s the only way I know to do them. Let me know and I’ll shoot you the recipe.
red beets are a super food! Good on u for doing it this way! But don’t waste that nutritious vinegar liquid, folks!
I was wanting to make them white.
Prepared Grammy,
We’ve never sold eggs; but, do gift them to others who in turn help us with things.
As for pickled eggs, I’ve done them many times; but, I prefer to pickled them with some vegetable like beets or red cabbage. Once they have been canned and allowed to sit on the shelf for a while, they not only taste good; but, take on that flavor and natural red color, often clear into the yolk.
One of the best pickled concoctions I ever made was when I had some red cabbage and beets left over; but, not enough to run of batch of either, so I mixed them up and canned them. They were amazing.
Re: pickled eggs
I’ve made this recipe several times and they are quite good.
Golden Pickled Eggs
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tsp brown sugar or honey
2 tsp pickling salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp whole allspice
1/4 tsp celery seeds
1 cinnamon stick
Fill a quart jar with peeled hard boiled eggs. Bring pickling ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 min. Chill the liquid for about 20 minutes, then pour it over the eggs. Refrigerate to eat for up to a month.
Thanks. I think I’ll try this when I’m on Easter break.
Not a lot this week . Did some fence repair as some of the ducks were getting out . Been cutting firewood . I also now have two geese setting .
Here on the gulf coast, I think the cold is mostly over. I will be setting out seedlings and mulching for a while now.
I canned 22 of the 8 oz jelly jars and 3 of the 12 oz jelly jars of grape jelly from the juice I got from the freezer. Picked up the Zaycon chicken and managed to fit it all in the freezer.
I bought on sale: 3 cans of chicken, 10 cans of diced tomatoes, 10 packs of instant potatoes, 2 cans of refried beans and a 24 pack of bottled water.
I bought a new zero turn lawn mower because my yard was getting in serious trouble due to the fact that I couldn’t use my old mower (wheel hard to turn, tires had to be inflated every time, had to be jumped off) and my son was not doing any mowing either. I hated like heck to spend that money out of my savings but it was past time. I guess this could count as a prep. The dealer I got it from also offers repair and once a year service and will pick it up and bring it back.
Labgirl,
We did the same thing last summer, for pretty much the same reasons. We however financed the thing to conserve cash & cash flow. All in it was a bit over $5000 and when we were hesitating, they offered 42 months (3 ½ years) same as cash, so our payment is a about $130.00 per month and easily fits the budget. It’s hard to turn down free money.
theohioprepper
I could have gone to Home Depot and got zero financing but buying it at a local dealer gave me the option of the service and repair that I could count on. They were really nice and allowed me to test drive a zero turn since I had never used one. I have bought my previous mowers with zero financing at Home Depot but I really needed that service option so I coughed up the money up front. The price was even less than at Home Depot for the same mower.
Labgirl ,
We did a test drive of a ZT that some friends have; plus, I’ve driven a skid loader and they operate the same way, not counting the controls for the PTO, lift, etc.
Ours was from a local servicing dealer that we have dealt with for years. We purchased a 48” commercial grade ExMark, and ExMark did the 42 month financing. We had the upgraded shock resistant padded seat installed for a little extra. The unit comes with a 2 year warranty handled by the local dealer.
Our previous mowers were John Deere; but, their ZT seems to be made of gold, considering what they want for it and they had no 0% financing.
In any case, it runs better than our old lawn tractor & deck, and takes less than half the time to mow the 3+ acres than the old one took.
Boss,
When Lorena Bobbit (an Ecuadorian) did her thing to hubby’s thing, she took it for a drive and threw it out the window, only for it to be recovered and reattached.
My Ex-wife is Cuban. She told me that Lorena Bobbitt was a rank amateur. She should have dropped hubby’s thing into the garbage disposal and turned it on. I thought about spending a couple of nights at a sister’s house.
We need a laugh button:) That was just nasty, I was a teenager, when that whole story went on I could not even think of doing that to my husband, he cheats, he’s gone but not to mutulate him thats just sick thinking.
I told my wife last weekend that I wanted to be creamated. she told me that she got me an appointment next Tuesday.
I nearly blew my hot chocolate on my iPad! You guys are killing me! Good way to go! Lol
HA!!!
AX, good one…..LOL
several years ago I had a vascectomy and my wife told her boss that she set an appointment for him also.
Z36, sounds like you need a kevlar cup…..LOL
LOL
https://youtu.be/kTFQeVotAzc
Thor,
That thing is insane. I could have used that during some of the bar fights I’ve had to respond to many moons ago.
Sirius, it would be a prep….LOL
Talk a about taking one for the Company…. LOL
Thor1,
I for the life of me don’t know how you find these things; but, as for me, I’ll not be volunteering, even if they do use a .22 LR.
In reality you would probably need a lot more protection, since the 9mm is probably as ubiquitous as the .22 LR.
Oh my gosh that was funny! A co-worker told me that the story scared the heck out of plenty of men. Didn’t that happen just about when the movie ‘Fatal Attraction’ came out? I remember the line, ‘I will not be ignored!’
Zulu 3-6,
Modern medicine can work miracles; but, I’m betting that it still never worked quite the same way after that procedure.
OP,
I don’t know about that. John Bobbit did a short stint as a porn actor, thanks to Howard Stern getting him set up in the business so he could use the material on his shock jock show. My ex-wife was from New York and loved this guy. I never really listened to him.
Let’s see…
Got moved up to the Pittsburgh area Sunday, though 99% of my stuff is still in Ohio. It was an interesting time loading my truck and having to debate on what to bring up here initially if things went south. Two buckets of freeze dried food, my 590 Shockwave, Glock 19 & 26, and my AR were the big items beyond my clothe and normal BoB.
Went through 3 days of orientation at the new job, survived “Death by PowerPoint”.
Read the “Do You Need a .22 Caliber Handgun?” article before hopping into this one. Once I get settled in up here a revolver with both .22 LR and Magnum cylinders is on the agenda.
That’s it for me, saving cash and getting my own place is about it for the next few months.
Good luck to you. What’s a 590 ShockwVe by the way?
It’s a Mossberg shotgun
With a 14″ barrel and a modified, factory original pistol grip stock. Since this shotgun has never had a long barrel or a conventional stock, it is legal according to ATF. They run between $400 and $450 new. Remington has a similar one too.
I had one at a show for a day. Decided to keep it on the table on Sunday. It sold, so I kept the $50 profit instead of the shotgun.
The advantage, IMO, of the Mossberg over the Remington is there is an adapter you can put in the loading gate for about $15, that lets you use the short Aquila shotgun shells. Basically making it a 10 shot for home defense.
Weird weather here too this week, but overcast and a little warmer today, so we’ll be working in the yard this afternoon. It’s supposed to turn cold again Monday, so I won’t be putting away my woolies yet.
This has been a big week for ordering things through the Amazon link and other sites: Fire Steel, 9×12 Ziploc bags for important papers, replacement batteries for the cordless drill, electrolyte tablets (easy to carry), essential oil supplies, more elderberries, sea salt, “Man Up – 367 Classic Skills” (stocking stuffers), herbal teas, Streamlight flashlight (I like the one the hubby got), Ramen-type soups, and some Food Saver items. Some things have arrived but several others are still in shipping.
I have also been doing lots of reading about herbal remedies along with making copies of nearly everything I’ve found online. I started some elderberry tincture with lemon balm, cinnamon sticks and ginger. I also put some oregano in the dehydrator since the plant was taking over the pot it came in.
Still cleaning and organizing other things in the house – it’s an ongoing process.
What I’ve done this week seemed so much more but apparently not as much as I thought. That’s about it – prayers for all in need – have much work to do.
GA Red,
I’ve posted this in a comment before, but for a fellow red-head, I’ll mention it again…
You mentioned Ramen type soups. I absolutely love turning those into a meal by tossing in dehydrated veggies like peas, corn, broccoli, whatever. If I have some leftover meat from a meal, that can go in there too. I like my Ramen spicy, so I toss in a pinch of cayenne pepper. When I was in Korea, they taught me to make it by cracking an egg and stirring it in the boiling water. When it was served, it had a slice of American Cheese on the top. You just melted it in for Cheese Ram Yun (as it’s pronounced in Korean).
By themselves Ramen type soups are nothing more than carbs and sodium. Sometimes you need carbs and sodium. Think pulling an all-nighter for a college final. And hey, for 20 cents a serving, you can’t go wrong.
There are so many things you can do with it. And it comes dehydrated. One less step. This is why Ramen Chef’s in Japan are on equal status with any chef.
Made 2 pocket chainsaws thanks to pro tip from Sirius. Duh, I guess I need to pay more attention to detail.
Stocked up on D batteries for our 15 year old Mag lights (still work beyond compare)
Ordered 6 pullets from Murry Mc Murry for 120 including shipping. We got 12 last spring for 20 bucks apiece only problem was 3 were roo’s. They were very nice, refunded 60 bucks and let us keep the boys which we made into BBQ.
Painted some fence posts in the orchard. This week we have some minor fencing/ repair. About a third of our fruit trees are flowering. This is the time of year the deer start to come around. Last year was the first where the deer didn’t even get a taste. Makes a huge difference in the trees well being.
Norman Franklin
Our last 6 hens were purchased for $5.00 each already laying, from the daughter of a friend who raised them for 4H. They were white rocks that did take a few weeks to integrate with our Barred rocks; but, are now just part of the larger flock after establishing their pecking order.
I don’t know if you have 4H projects like this in your area; but, if so, it may be worth checking out.
Norman,
That’s great! How are those saws working for you?
Sirius I cut a few small branches 2-3 inch just to try and it works great. I used old chains that have been well used. I might buy a few brand new chains and make ones for ‘just in case.’ I wouldn’t want to have to use it much but I will be thrilled to have it in a pinch. They will make a nice addition on camping trips I’m sure.
Ohio Prepper we do have four H and the first hens we ever got down here were just starting to lay and we got ten for 5 bucks apiece. I still have one of those girls left. Our only Brahma. She lays one giant egg about every 3 weeks. I have been keeping my eyes open on CL and nothing but old hens for sale and I already have too many of those.
Twenty bucks each is a bit pricy since you don’t get to pick the variety. Oh well at this point I just need some younger layers.We will get them this week. Hoping they are not all Americunas. The ones we got last year were 6 Americunas, 3 leghorns, 3 black giants. The three roos were all Americunas.
We have a 12 by 16 old storage building away from the house we converted into our chicken house. We made a fenced 50 by 50 foot yard they run in all day and the building they go in at night is critter proof. Attached to the side I made a smaller coop inside a 10 by 10 covered and fenced run. the young ones stay separate until they begin to lay. As we give them different food.
One day I hope to convince my wife to get chicks but as for keeping them in the house or garage for the first 30 days her answer is ‘never gonna happen.’
Norman Franklin,
Perhaps instead of CL you need to go to the source as we did. We checked with the local 4H, found some adult leaders, and through them made contact with the kids who are raising the various animals. One you’ve established that contact and relationship, you just need to coordinate with the kids to buy their project birds from them.
We raised our first birds (the Barred Rocks) from chicks; but, purchasing them already grown and laying is almost too easy, LOL.
Sirius – I get a rice noodle packet that’s actually not too high in carbs and the sodium levels are acceptable. I use them for lunch at work by adding zucchini or squash, onions, garlic and chicken or beef. I’ve been making it with plain rice Noodles lately because I have to order the packaged “soups” through Amazon as I can’t find them locally too often. My latest concoction uses Thai basil, cilantro and broth (instead of water). Sometimes it’s nice to have the little flavor packet instead.
GA Red,
Here’s a link to making your own soup powder. This lady who did these recipe’s went with freeze dried ingredients, but I have no doubt that you could replace those with dehydrated instead. And since you have a dehydrator… easy peasy lemon squeezy.
https://www.theyummylife.com/Instant_Dry_Soup_Mixes
I sometimes eat ramen dry as a snack. Makes good crunchies for salads too.
Penny Pincher,
There were some guys in my troop who ate dry ramen as a snack. My ex-gf’s teenage son would eat cooked ramen but only without the flavor packet. I never developed the taste for either. I’ve tried them both more than once, but they just never took to my taste buds.
one of our groups had a discussion on ramen noodles. we catorgorize them not as food, but something you could hand out and send them on down the road. . if you add some tobasco sauce and maybe some parmesan cheese. you can make them edible. even if they still do taste like poverty.
BLACK BQI ,
Put them in a #10 can so they have a pot to boil the water and this could work.
No Tabasco sauce in mine; but, double the cheese and you have some stick to your ribs food. As for tasting like poverty, I think they taste like college; but, then again, that could well be the same thing, LOL.
I actually have a recipe for a broccoli slaw that calls for “oriental” flavored ramens that’s pretty tasty. You make a dressing out of the flavor packet and break up the noodles into the slaw just before serving so they’re still crunchy. As with most foods, it’s better the next day even if the noodles aren’t crunchy anymore.
Mr. Creekmore: A few thoughts specifically for you. I sent an email yesterday but I know you receive hundreds a day so basically my message is this- I put dot com by accident and landed on a similar site with lots of buttons to hit but no real content. I just loaded it again and it has a buy this domain link at the top. Just a FYI. Also I love your page of recommendations on supplies and gear. I have acted on some. Finally, I followed your advice on setting up a blog last year. I don’t know if I will achieve commercial success but that was not my main priority. Niches are tough to find and there are a lot of blogs with book reviews which is what my Friday posts are. The rest are a bit eclectic.
Now for my weeks preps: A good week here until yesterday when we had a major dust storm. The dry land wheat took a beating. My new garden area is coming along with some supports in place and peas planted. Working on a drip line irrigation system. Added canned goods, rotated water. Made a major push to clean out garage. DH bought a new motorcycle for getting around town and as a back-up BOV. After last year’s stop and go eclipse traffic the best way out of town might be on two wheels.
Our new perimeter wall is taking shape. We hope this will further reduce the noise from the generator as well as give added privacy. And stop the deer!
Stay safe everyone!
Moe,
That site is owned by the guy who runs survival cache. He set that up hoping to pull some of the reads from here over to his site.
Yeah, it’s hard to find a good niche and even harder to get enough readers to pay your hosting costs, but it can be done. Just takes time and a lot of hard work.
this place is my niche. No mall ninga no b.s. no pushing / selling fear.
Exactly! And the people here are helpful. There’s none of this “you must live here, have the products I’m peddling, and always agree with me ” attitude.
Moe ,
This is unfortunately an all too often occurrence. Back in the late 1980’s and 1990’s when the internet was very new (remember the first search engine, digital.altavista.com anyone?) and lots of tricks were being played.
One of the big events in 1997 was the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving wheeled probe called Sojourner. As Sojourner roamed the planet it sent back color photos that NASA was posting to its then rather new website. People flocked to nasa.gov to see them; but, if you typed nasa.com, you saw photos; but, not something you would want kids to see.
When I was in the hospital all of February 2015, my domain “ohioprepper.org” expired and when I looked to see the status, it was owned by an entity in Bangalore India in what is known as domain squatting. When you went to the site, it was offered for sale for $850.00 at which point I created “TheOhioPrepper.org” and changed my name here.
I just went to that old site and it looks to be pitching, discussing, and selling MRE’s. Robber baron capitalism at it’s finest LOL.
Free Stuff: Tomato sauce (8 oz) 2, gravy mix, dehydrated hash browns
Ordered a new EDC knife, Ruger branded CKRT LCK. I really like the Kershaw Leek, but at $50+ each, it’s hard to have enough spares. Also got in 3 extra fine silver paint Sharpies, for marking the dark stuff. Found some coffee singles (my preference) on an in-store special for ½ price!
Got in a great little fire starter kit, fuel and starter. Got a friend who is looking at one too. Once he sees it, I may be ordering a few more.
Costco Run: wire shelves, coffee, CoffeeMate, hearing aid batteries, low sodium SPAM.
I’ve been having problems with my computer dumping a file it needs to open MS Office. DW has reloaded this thing 4-5 times. I put the laptop on a “cool-stand”, it dropped the CPU temp by 30 degrees. I hope that fixes that; 5 days later: so far – so good. Then today, the cursor starts jumping to the right side of the screen. Interesting times.
JP in MT:
I am not sure what type of firewalls or safety features you might have on your computer so this may have already been done- run a security scan and always dump your cookies each day. Something doesn’t sound right.
JP,
You mentioned coffee singles. I bought some empty tea bags that you can fill and seal with an impulse sealer. I roast my own coffee on occasion and so many people like it, I make these up, put them in a zip lock bag and everybody has some to take home. It’s way less expensive than buying them pre-filled. I think I got 200 bags for about 4 dollars. If you make these up a week or a month at a time and put them in zip locks, or even in a tin, they’ll keep fresh until you use them.
Sirius:
Sounds like a good idea. I don’t use that many though, maybe go through a box or 2 a year. Now I route my day’s travel where I can get coffee free or real cheap. Just follow the old guys around, they know!
Sirius,
Come on, you know the rules. You cannot mention a neat new piece of kit without telling us where you got it, LOL.
OP,
Ok, Ok. I avoided it because every time I use the “A” word regarding our hosts affiliate link, I go into moderation. I just ordered the bags from them. The impulse sealer I bought from ULine when I got my freeze dryer. The ULine is the same model we used at work. They are built like tanks and the heating elements are easily replaced.
As far as roasting coffee beans, I just use a hot air popper and a metal bowl to cool them down, then into the coffee grinder.
These bags are great if you like your singles and if you also grow your own tea.
Sirius,
Obviously these are plastic bags… Not being a coffee connoisseur, how would these work as singles? Would you dump the coffee out?
AT,
They are a micro-filament plastic, the same that Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf uses. You just fill them up with however much coffee or tea you want for a cup, seal them, then use them like tea bags.
Thanks Sirius… 🙂
Thanks Mr. S,. I’ll check it out on the A link, to get those bags, I love tea and this would be a neat option because I do dry tea herbs.
I’ve used coffee filters and just stapled them shut or even used a twist tie for an expedient coffee teabag. In the field I figured out they work best when boiled with the water.
Penny Pincher,
Improvising in the field is awesome. Heck, I’ve even used TP as a coffee filter when we ran out. It worked just fine. I suppose I could get 500 coffee filters for a dollar at the dollar store and cut them down myself and staple them. I just don’t want to spend the time and deal with the blisters from all of that cutting.
Besides that, to me, coffee filters are more valuable for filtering detritus from questionable water before I run it through the standard filter. It extends the life of the filter.
Sirius,
Prefiltering is IMHO essential, and while coffee filters work, so does cheesecloth, flour sack cloth, or almost any fabric, like a terry cloth towel or even a sock. I BTW mean a clean sock so you don’t add more detritus, LOL.
My first spring hatch of chicks (feathered, of course). 16 new babies, and 7 still waiting. All hatched yesterday – exactly on schedule.
I have a Brinsea Octagon 20 incubator w/humidity pump. Well worth the investment!
My first ‘bator was a Farm Innovators cheap styro unit from Tractor Supply. NOT RECOMMENDED for actually hatching, not even w/auto turner. Not reliable, IMO. Very low hatch rate. But it’s great as a warming bator.
Excited about new babies! Next hatch will be Isbars, as soon as eggs ready for pickup!
I’m currently using the under-the-hen’s-butt incubator, and eggs should hatch this week. An affordable but good incubator is on my wish list. Don’t you love little chicks?
Prepared Grammy ,
I do; but, then they grow up into rather gangly scat producing chickens. I know that’s the natural order; but, there’s that bit of time when they are not yet ready to put outside with the other birds that can be a noisy dirty experience, LOL.
I have a farm innovations first hatch was 77%
Thought it worked well?
Thaf IS a very good hatch rate for that type bator, IMO. Wel done!
Did u candle? How often?
About how many times did u open bator?
How did u control humidity?
I understand not wanting to be cold, but in the upper PNW, it’s cold our weather station said snow mix with rain for a few days, I’m so ready for some warm days. I finally after 6 weeks started my job, not really sure I’ll stay working for more than a year, I really want to work on our property this year get it ready to rent for a spring/ summer rental, it’s close to ” the beach ” aka the mud flats, it’s really popular with tourist, and our Canadian friends, so it’s either that or selling it we need to do something. Not to much stocking up but bought 5 cans low sodium refried beans , 6 boxes ” Annies” white cheddar shells, hubby got two Dozen farm eggs, for helping put in 1 switch. Donaed 6 bags of stuff we don’t need or use and I have two more bags from my garden shed getting ready to go. I also am getting rid of broken pots, and tools, it’s amazing how much stuff piles up in such a short time. Time to make my first cup of tea and just enjoy this weekend:)
Mom
We used to live on coronet bay on Whidby. There was minus tides sometimes and idiots I mean people tried to walk from Whidbey to Fidalgo island. I saw a few rescue folks plucking them out of the mud when I lived there.
No idiots, is a great word for them. We live further up North, I”m sure you have heard of it or been there. I won’t post exactly where but an hour up North from Whidbey.
Mom of 3
Then there was the mostly Navy idiots who would try to get to this cave on the Fidalgo side of coronet bay and try to climb into a cave. I remember people dying trying to do that. Alchahhol was normaly involved in that.
PG – I pickled eggs a couple years ago. Theh were ok, but there aren’t a lot of pickled foods I “love”. As u know, I’m sure, pickling is one of the tried-and-proven old time methods of egg preservation.
I do, however, really enjoy the Amish Wedding brand pickled baby beets found @ Rural King.
I like pickled foods. My best friend loves my beets. That’s what I give her for her birthday, and she says it’s the best gift ever.
PG: What’s your pickled beets recipe? Please….
I will look it up when I get home.
I’m glad you asked for the recipe. I found two in the cabinet, and I’m not sure which one my best friend and I liked best.
PICKLED BEETS
4 CUPS SUGAR
2 CUPS WATER
2 CUPS VINEGAR
BEETS
-BOIL BEETS UNTIL TENDER. COOL. REMOVE SKINS.
-PLACE BEETS IN JARS. (I USED HOT PACK METHOD IN 2017.)
-BOIL BRINE, AND POUR OVER BEETS.
-PROCESS IN WATER BATH
Here’s another one I have.
Pickled Beets
10 cups beets, prepared
3 Tbsp. pickling spice
2 ½ cups white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
-To prepared beets: Leave root and 2 inches of stem intact to prevent bleeding. Scrub. Put in large stainless steel pot. Add water to cover and bring to boil. Cook until tender. Remove and run under cool running water. Drain. Slip off skins and remove root and stem. Cut to desired size.
-Tie spice in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag.
-Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and spice bag in large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and boil gently for 15 minutes, until spices have infused the liquid. Discard spice bag. Add beets and return mixture to a boil.
-Process in water bath. Pints and quarts for 30 minutes.
I’ve made both and for the life of me I can’t remember which one was better. No one else at my house or my friend’s house likes beets, so we can’t ask them. I guess I will make both this year and compare to see which is better and throw away the other recipe.
Did my weekly shopping and added to my grocery stash as usual. Picked up some tea bags and coffee singles to vacuum pack and save as barter items.
Decanted three quarts of elderberry tincture and got four 16-oz amber bottles out of the deal. That will be it for elderberry stuff until later this year, I think.
Got my new AR stock wrench and mounted the sling point on my AR. That’s it for now. Maybe a white light down the road a bit.
Ordered and received an Eldris knife from Morakniv. Nice little knife. I put a lanyard on it for neck wear but I’m not certain I like it that way for daily urban use, so I took the lanyard off. Its easy enough to put back on if I want. It fits nicely in the knife pocket of the 5.11 trousers I usually wear, so there it sits.
So much for spending reduction. I liked the Eldris knife so much that I had to order one each for my daughters, son, and son-in-law. #2 daughter is big into camping and outdoors stuff and she likes knives – and guns. I know #1 likes the knife as she “oohed and ahh’d” over mine. My son will probably like it too even though he isn’t as big a knife nut as #2 daughter.
Re-organized my spare battery, flashlight, and battery-powered lantern storage. I found a box of re-chargeable AA batteries I’d misplaced. All charged up now and properly re-boxed and stored.
This weekend is for re-organizing my gun stuff.
My son really liked the HD Companion I got him for Christmas a couple of years ago and was excited to get the Eldris. #2 daughter was super excited to get hers. I kept it a surprise from her. She texted me a photo of her holding the Eldris with the caption, “Thanks for the shank!” #1 daughter says the knife slices tomatoes great. A big hit in the Zulu family. Thanks for the lead, Jesse.
Pulled out my two weather radios and topped off their battery charge. Made certain they were on the right frequency for my area and put them where they belong, one in my ham radio go-bag and the other by my desk. The one by my desk goes to my bedroom when appropriate. Getting to be that time of year here in Florida. We already had a day this past week with heavy t-storms, hail, and tornado warnings.
Vacuum packed the tea bags and coffee singles I mentioned earlier. Food Saver pint bags are perfect for the job. Then stuffed each kind into a gallon sized zip lock of their own.
Granddaughter is starting to get very adventurous and nosy. She found a wire radio antenna I have for my weather radios and managed to wrap it around her neck and right leg. She did not want to cooperate with the removal and had to be sternly spoken to (ok, ok, I yelled at her, but not like a Marine sergeant). She went along with the program after that. That’s another weekend project. Older baby proofing the place.
Zulu,
I had to laugh at your predicament with your granddaughter. I went to the store and had my hubby watch the granddaughter who is 4. She leaned over in the chair and fell off. DH was concerned that she hurt herself and after finding she was okay, he corrected her sternly. She began crying and crying and he said he was beside himself trying to get her to stop. She wasn’t used to him raising his voice. After a few minutes she calmed down. I had a good laugh when I got home.
My husband didn’t even raise his voice to our two year old granddaughter and she told her parents that he was being mean to her. We all saw the entire incident and couldn’t stop laughing.
Zulu,
Re: The coffee singles. I replied to a post JP made about those. They are easy to do yourself.
As far as raising your voice, that’s called being firm. Sometimes you just have to.
Sirius,
Oh, yeah. I can get firm. All three of my kids have gotten the Marine sergeant on more than one occasion.
I’ll look into that DIY coffee singles.
We childproofed our home but they still get in.
HI Zulu
What experience do you have if any with 80s boxer primed hintinberger 146 grain 7.62 in the hk?
Cndnate,
None at all. Much of my 7.62mmx51 is US military surplus.
Spring pollens trying to do me in, after a low of 22°f in the AL Shoals last week!
DH & I catered meal & participated in “Shield of Faith” training Fri night. Had 50 participants from area churches, men & women interested in faith-based security (churches). Our instructor is LE & Certified Firearms Instructor – same one from whom I get most of my training. This session was great!!! And THAT’S a major prep! What a blessing!
LTD, everyone should go to a shooting range today to protest the anti-2A protest in of all places our capital!
I mean look at what happened in the countries who disarmed their people.
Germany,Russia,China and most recently Venezuela…… People were executed and starved…..
WE THE PEOPLE CAN NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN HERE!!!
NEVER Thor1.
Thor,
The kids did not die because of a gun. Those kids died because the system did not work in recognizing he had problems and doing something about it. Why aren’t they talking about how the FBI, local law enforcement, school counselors and family services didn’t follow up on this troubled person.
Nor do the kids look at all the drugs that kill more people than guns or physician medical mistakes. These kids are being used as pawns to push the leftist agenda. They’re also not talking about the additional gunmen that folks eye witnessed. Heard they had security at all these marches… Security? Really… Armed folks protecting them…. What a novel idea… Now, if only the LE had guns, we know that only criminals will have guns.
And of course alcohol and physicians…..88,000 and 250,000 respectively….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4015536/A-grim-tally-soars-More-50-000-overdose-deaths-US.html
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us
Almost There,
Since more than 40,000 people are killed each year in vehicle accidents with many of them being younger drivers, I have a proposal for all of these protesting high school kids. Let’s call it “All in for 21”
We make the drinking age, 21 (already done)
We make the age to purchase a firearm 21 (that’s what they are calling for)
And finally to stop those vehicle deaths, we make the minimum age to get a drivers license 21.
On the drivers licenses we’ll make it retroactive, so those with a license who are under 21, will have to give them up.
People pay better attention when their OX is the one being gored.
Amen!
I forget the number but many kids die each year texting and driving and no one tries to ban cell phones til you are 21
Not a lot of new stuff going on this week. I did a bulk purchase of hearing aid batteries, which puts me back up to about a year’s worth as is the case with all my batteries. I can hear without the aids but I hear much better with them. Purchased a Morakniv Eldris knife (hat tip to Jesse). It’s a handy size, sharp, lightweight and comes with a sheath. It’s a little too thick for me to carry comfortably in my pants pocket but I really like it and it will join the other blades in my inventory. Looks like my ancient three-blade pocket knife will continue to be my daily companion. I also purchased several more ferro rods for storage.
Hello Everyone,
Another crazy weather week in middle TN. Dusting of snow mid week, and cold rain again this morning. 48 degrees. Birds are chirping…
FB MP – Sold an item and listed some more. Bought 25lbs of beeswax and 8lbs of honey today.
Still organizing and purging. Went through one closet of clothes, and took to thrift store. Will take more on Monday when I go for my dentist appt. Took some things to my booth and will be taking more today, spiffing up the booth for the annual gathering in April. If I could stay home for a month, I would be able to make a bigger dent. My brain is pretty much done in when I get home from work, and I have to veg out for the rest of the day.
Picked up HAM radio study books and met up with leader of prep group so he could take them where people can pick them up. First study class is April 6th.
Picked up Zaycon chicken order, already processed and put in freezer. Cleaned out older chicken from freezer and made chicken jerky. Got more out to make jerky or canning tomorrow.
Prayers for the pack, for unspoken requests, for the President and for America. Glad McMaster is out. Didn’t ever seem like a good fit. Sorry to see the President sign the spending bill. It’s no way to do business getting a 2000+ page document to read in one day. The Senate should be ashamed of themselves. We need more Rand Paul’s.
Take care everyone.
Almost There,
I agree and I think that John Bolton will do a great job. He’s one guy that I always try to catch when I hear he’ll be a guest on some show.
I think he would have been a great pick for Secretary of State.
Actually we need fewer members of the Chuck & Nancy show and to get rid of the horrible cloture rule or at least make the Dems do a “real filibuster” standing an speaking for hours with no food or bathroom breaks.
Almost There and TOP,
I’m glad McMasters is out of the job in the White House. I think he was in over his head. He was a very good tactician as an Army officer and there he should have stayed. He kicked the crap out of an Iraqi Republican Guard armored brigade with only a company of armored cavalry in Desert Storm when he was a captain. A tough job very well done. I think National Security Advisor may have been the Peter Principle in action.
Bolton, on the other hand, could make for a very interesting show.
Hey, did everyone feel like I do? FEDEX refused to go along with the radical lefts anti-NRA agenda so they got bombed……Hmmmm
Thor1,
Its possible. FedEx was founded by a Marine officer.
Thor1,
I think the bombing was a result of the bombers incompetence.
I also enjoy how all of the talking heads talk about how sophisticated this guy was, when in fact his little bombs were easy peasy and one finally took him out.
Zulu 3-6
He served in Vietnam from 1966-1970 and is co-chairman of the U.S. World War II Memorial Project.
In 1965, Fred Smith wrote a term paper at Yale University where he proposed a system designed to accommodate time-sensitive shipments such as medicine, computer parts, and electronics. His professor didn’t see the revolutionary implications of his thesis, and the paper received just an average grade.
Sometimes you need to go with your gut.
Hi Thor1, I hadn’t heard anything about FedEx/NRA so Googled and found their statement. Part:”February 26, 2018 – FedEx Corporation’s positions on the issues of gun policy and safety differ from those of the National Rifle Association (NRA). FedEx opposes assault rifles being in the hands of civilians. While we strongly support the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to own firearms subject to appropriate background checks, FedEx views assault rifles and large capacity magazines as an inherent potential danger to schools, workplaces, and communities when such weapons are misused. We therefore support restricting them to the military. Most important, FedEx believes urgent action is required at the local, state, and Federal level to protect schools and students from incidents such as the horrific tragedy in Florida on February 14th.
FedEx is a common carrier under Federal law and therefore does not and will not deny service or discriminate against any legal entity regardless of their policy positions or political views. ”
Frankly, I’m baffled. Why would a company take a position one way or another on guns?
It seems to me a ban on either ARs or large magazines is explicitly prohibited by the Constitution because the primary purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to protect militia grade weapons. It says so right up front. That makes military grade weapons the MOST protected of all.
One shouldn’t have to think that is good policy to understand that is the case. One doesn’t have to think we should have privately owned ARs to understand that banning them in violation of the Constitution would cause a LOT more violence than the ban would prevent.
I’m sorry to see that FedEx management apparently believes the US Constitution -and many state constitutions as well- should be ignored anytime it prohibits their preferred policies.
The whole thing is here: https://about.van.fedex.com/newsroom/fedex-responds-questions-national-rifle-association-gun-safety-policy/
I did a search to find out how many deaths have been caused by FedEx trucks. In the 24-month period prior to December 3, 2017, FedEx Express drivers were reported to have been involved in 1762 crashes, 575 involving injuries, including 41 deaths. From 2012, the number of crashes has increased by 254.5%; the number of injuries has increased by 192%, and the number of fatalities has increased by 273%.
Obviously, FedEx trucks are too big and too dangerous to be allowed on America’s streets and highways. We must end this scourge upon society by banning all FedEx trucks immediately!
Owl Creek,
Obviously they are a danger to society and need to go.
they have to go for our childrens sake.
Owl Creek,
Your problem is that you are trying to take on this issue using clear thinking logic. In the 50 or so years I’ve been fighting this fight, logic has rarely prevailed.
The only thing that works is voting the bast*rds out.
People don’t really understand where the power of the NRA comes from, assuming it’s the cash they give to politicians.
In fact it’s the 5+ million members who have th attitude on a bumper sticker I once had that stated simply: “I’m the NRA and I vote”. What isn’t said in that phrase is that I also influence many non NRA members around me. Spouse, kids, friends, and work colleagues, many of whom don’t want to be on some list; but, do what needs to be done in the privacy of the voting booth.
We also have funds for court challenges that we quite often win, such as the SCOTUS rulings on Heller v DC and Macdonald v Chicago.
Penrod, sounds like they were being PC so as not to lose any customers….
I am going to order more ammo and mags maybe more spare parts…..
Thor1,
Make sure you request it be delivered by FedEx.
AT, definitely….
Penrod,
Agree with you, why would a company make a statement like that. It’s like the statements made when so many libs were against Trump. No place for a business to take sides.
I’m cutting up all my credit cards to help the national debt.
Thankfully, that big nor’easter spared central Maine. We got snow for a few hours but it didn’t stick to the ground. Not much prepping this week. Added a few items to the first aid kit. Took money out of savings to pay off the note on our Ford Flex so we can trade it in on a truck this spring. Now I’m about to get to work on filing our income taxes – we’ll see how that goes. Keep on keepin’ on, all.
Update: Getting refunds from both federal and state! Woot!
Wooo Hoooo…. Spend wisely MaineBrain…
Will do, Almost There! It’s going toward a trip we’re taking next month.
MaineBrain ,
All that means is that you overpaid them and loaned them money @ 0% interest.
I’ll be starting ours this upcoming week and expect it to be the same as last year, nothing refunded and nothing owed.
Next year with the $24,000 standard deduction, taxes should be really easy.
I don’t like big refunds either for the same “free loan” reason. Getting back $187 this year, which is OK as it’s hard to nail it down to zero with my income streams. Anything over $300 back is too much, in my opinion.
Zulu 3-6:
$300 is our target too. This year we have to adjust again. Refund from Fed’s, pay the state.
TOP, Z36, JP,
I claim 1, but when I donate, and allowed to claim my mortgage interest and property tax, it comes off the bottom line, so I usually get more back than if I hadn’t donated. Until I am done cleaning, organizing and purging I don’t see it changing at least for this year either.
True, OP, it’s an interest-free loan to the gov’t, which I hate making, but we’re only getting back about $500 from fed and $200 from state, and at 1% interest on savings accounts, it’s not much of a loss. (Plus, Hubby has a hissy fit whenever we have to pay, which we’ve had to do a few times in recent years.) I was having extra taken from my paycheck because Hubby gets three pensions and SocSec disability, all of which are taxable and none of which withhold taxes. I’m verrrry nervous about what’s going to happen next year. I think I’m actually going to recalculate my withholding. Again.
Went to a gun show this morning. I bought an SKS mag, some 22, and two pocket knives for my girls. Oldest son bought a Marlin. It was pretty crowded, but no protesters, thankfully.
I repaired two wool blankets by darning the holes, and put blanket stitching on some new ones that I got from Colemans. I finished a knitting a pair of socks for my oldest son ( toe up, ribbed for stretchiness, wool/nylon blend). We also picked up some batteries, and a new flashlight.
M.D.,
Your chick with the broken hip might heal, we have had chickens with some bad injuries (due to neighborhood dogs) that did all right over time. We gave up on chickens when our coop burned down, we always thought it was a neighbor that did it.
Thor 1,
We will be shipping with FedEx more often.
There’s a warrant out for Punxsutawney Phil…. FOR DECEPTION…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/wanted-punxsutawney-phil/vi-BBKCC6f
Almost There:
I saw that. My thought was “Oh Good! We have finally solved all the world’s major problems and we now have this and a ruling that hot dogs are sandwiches!”
Almost There,
I think his defense will be that Buckeye Chuck got it right and they work as a team. Yes, Ohio has their own weather prediction groundhog.
Georgia has General Beauregard Lee. Statistically he is right more often than Punxsutawney Phil. Beau predicted six more weeks of winter and he’s been right again.
Out West, I look at the flowering plum trees, if they bloom in the middle of February, we have a cold, wet spring. If they bloom in March, they did this year Spring, is warmer but can be wet still. But a dry summer, if it’s cold and wet spring, we have a cooler summer, and wetter.
I expanded the container garden and have beans, kale, radishes, dill, carrots, tomatos, onions, basil, potatoes and oregano.
Dehydrated papaya and cabbage.
For helping a friend clean out a house, I was given a Paulin 3500 propane cooker/heater. Appears to be in excellent shape and will try it out tomorrow.
Wasn’t planning to go to the resale shop but glad I did.
40 60cc irrigation syringes , individually sealed
5 large candles
2 sauce pans for outdoor cooking
Book. Recipes for Roughing It Easy
Oh, and I bought 2 spare mags for the P22.
Hummingbird,
I looked up Roughing It Easy. Once I saw the picture of the cover, I realized I already had a copy of it. It was the 1974 edition from Brigham Young Press. It’s a good book to have. It really helped when I was in Scouts and was highly recommended by a lot of people in the council. Boys and adults alike.
This one is 2001. I flipped through it and there’s a lot of useful information here. Some of the recipes remind me of my Girl Scout campouts. There’s a version of a tin can stove I hadn’t seen before. Definitely a keeper.
Watched the anti-2A march speech on FOX by Hogg…. These kids are brainwashed….
Bad people kill people, the good guys/ cowards did not do anything to stop the shooting. Not one word of this, therefore I say this is a red flag event. If my friends were shot in a school, I would be outraged that the police just waited outside. I wonder how many people were brought in on buses…… There was a Democratic law maker who actually said for the left to arm up and take our guns by force.
Thor1,
Arm up and take our guns by force? Kinda counterintuitive, wouldn’t you say? Not to mention stupid, ignorant, and probably doomed to bloody failure.
I don’t know about everyone on this site, but I spent 21-years in the military, and not in desk jobs. I was in two wars. Added to that was police work, including SWAT, and firearms/tactics instructor time. The guns I own, I either trained on them myself, or I carried them as part of my work. I carried a gun as part of my job from age 18 until I retired from police work, and still carry one daily in retirement 20-years later.
Having said that, I know I am pretty inexperienced compared to many others who think like I do on the conservative/libertarian side of politics. I don’t think liberals could arm themselves and tactically persevere. As a group, they just don’t have the skills, knowledge, training, or guts.
That liberal politician is a fool (I’m keeping it clean out of respect for the ladies here).
I agree, but the only thing liberals talk about is gun control, illegal aliens having rights, Russia, who might have had sex with Trump and more taxes…..
Illegal aliens that are in Los Angeles or San Fransisco live somewhere??? Most people that live there with regular jobs can’t afford housing and live in tents. The rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is $3200 & $5400 respectfully a month. Is that our tax dollars? Is this a version of 21 century slavery? Hmmm
Its $4500 not $5400
“…and probably doomed to bloody failure.”
And that is the scary part. Win or lose a lot of good people could get killed along with a lot of bad people.
Imagine the long term societal effects of turning a large part of the currently law abiding American people into criminals who consider the police and government to be the real criminals.
It’s bad enough with many states blatantly violating the constitution on issue after issue after issue without adding the federal government even more than it already is.
Zulu,
As far as others here, I can’t touch your experience. However I won’t sit idlely by. I refuse to be a victim or let my family be victimized. No special training but I can shoot strait. I’ll watch your back.
Zulu – thank you very much for your dedication to freedom!
Zulu 3-6,
probably?
That’s giving them way too much credit. While there may be a few that know something about firearms and are just arrogant evil agenda driven control freaks, most of them really don’t know the difference between a clip and a magazine or which end of the tube is dangerous. Many think that 5.56 is high powered and a 10 round magazine is high capacity.
I like the two maxims my youngest SS told me after attending Marine Scout Sniper school:
“If you run, you only die tired”
And
“At ballistic speed, you’ll never hear the one that hits you”
While I’m not hoping for armed conflict, those who threaten it don’t seem to understand the implications of their rhetoric, since being an arrogant ignoramous almost seems at times, to be a prerequisite for office within the democrat party.
just think shortly before the shooting some of the kids were eating tide pods.
Thor1
Something that is not being mentioned…hogg is and was not a student at Parkland FL, he graduated from CA in 2015. His parents are FBI, really.
OH, I smell the out house cooking, do a back ground check on the little chick with the shaved head, yes she is also in on it. She is a paid for actor, the out house is really starting to smell.
Like all of you,, when these snot noise brats go out earn a living with out mommy & daddy holding their hands and providing them bank accounts, why bother listening to the diatribe……….not going to happen.
AC,
Had no idea these kids leading the charge were not from the school. While I’m not a news junky, I haven’t even heard Fox mention it. Explains why there were buses for protesters already in place to pick them up shortly after the incident. And while I only saw the snip-its of the speeches that were plastered all over the MSM stations yesterday, the scripts the kids read had to have written by someone other than themselves. Including MLK’s GD. Yes, the stink is enough to make one gag.
Almost There,
While I am not gagging, I am paying attention as I have been for about 50 years. This morning on Fox News, they showed a reporter confronting these kids and asking what they wanted. They were of course upset with “Assault Weapons”, “The 2nd amendment”, and even the constitution itself; however, when they were asked to define an “Assault Weapon” or describe the 2nd amendment, they stood there looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights, some of them asking the others for help, with no one having an answer. They are simply ignorant children who have been weaponized, turned loose, and exploited by those on the left like Michael Bloomberg.
I suspect in this social media FOMO world, it also got them their few minutes in the limelight so they could feel important.
TOP,
This won’t be ending any time soon. They have staged a school walk out on April 20th, and wanting the kids to not come back to school. While I haven’t seen them myself, there are posters out there with Che Guevara on them being held during these protests. If you’re not familiar with him, there is plenty out there to read up on. Obammer campaign staffers had posters of him in their offices back in 2008. This decay has been planned and has been going on for a long time. I just listened to the radio podcast that someone on here just posted. While I knew there were Hollywood folks behind all of this current event, I also did a search on posters for these protests and found there are companies that are supplying posters for free. It’s all making sense now who is actually funding all this organized approach and it is deep and wide. I’ll not say more here, you can listen for yourself, and I will make no further comments on it.
If out schools, walk out again it will be a day off for my kid’s and we as a family will go do something fun and educational.
Almost There,
I am all too familiar with Dr. Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Yes, he is a medical doctor; but, is also a mass murderer
He is IIRC from Bolivia; but, led Marxist revolutions all over south America and eventually met Raúl and Fidel Castro in Mexico City where he joined their 26th of July Movement and sailed to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
I have seen too many folks back when I was in college who wore Berets and T Shirts with his image and I was one of many who called them out on how their “cool” hero was a mass murderer. Most were not happy.
From a Google search:
And
The fact that TDL used him as a role model doesn’t surprise anyone with a few working brain cells, since his father was a communist and brought him up in that philosophy.
All- For a humorous laugh at paid protesters I recommend Janet Evanovich’s Hardcore Twenty-Four.
Thor1,
That could be very interesting. As we all know, getting guns and ammunition only takes money and is the easy part. The training and practice to become proficient is where the rubber hits the road.
For people who detest guns to decide to take them up against those of us with decades of practice, might be something akin to shooting fish in a barrel; but, I suspect most of these loudmouth cowards would not show up for the fight.
I see Soros name all over this movement all over this country. Kids these days are not organized enough to pull this off as a grass roots movement.
Axelsteve,
While I agree with you in general about Soros, I’m pretty sure he’s not involved with these protests. He’s generally anti US and these protests are pretty much only anti gun. To me that means it has Michael Bloomberg’s fingerprints all over it.
i agree it’s linked back to soros. a friends tracked it back to the womens movement. [they were the ones th at went to the schools originally, to get the permits] the pink pussie cat hat clubs. .. now the mayor of new york, can’t think of his name. his group. everyone against gun violence. they secured the private plane to pick up the kids from florida , to drop them off, at the rally.
it’s inthis podcast
https://radiofreeredoubt.com/2018/03/26/episode-18-11-anti-gun-communist-revolutinary-children-appeal-to-americans-to-disarm/
BLACK BQI,
I didn’t have time to listen to the podcast; but, if Soros is involved, it’s only peripherally through an organization like his “Tides Foundation”
This march and transportation for the kids can I think be traced back to the organization “Everytown for Gun Safety” both founded and funded by former New York City mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
Here’s an excerpt from the linked article below:
Thousands volunteer, donate to help Mike Bloomberg and Everytown fight gun violence
As a Billionaire, former mayor Bloomberg needs no guns since his 24/7 security detail takes care of the dirty work.
TOP,
Bloomberg doesn’t want to bankrupt America, Soros does. Anything he can do to cause havoc and division, he will do it.
Almost There,
I agree; but, if you look at my post above to BlackBQI you’ll see that Bloomberg’s Everytown group has admitted to paying for this group. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg will spend as much money as required and has no scruples about exploiting grieving people, including immature teens.
Here’s a good description of the group:
You’ll note that they are against gun violence, somehow implying that the rest of us are for it.
And ‘Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ sounds so benign, until they make all guns (except for their security people) illegal. These people are experts at smoke & mirrors, AKA lies.
Too many 12 to 14 hour days this week to get too much prepping done but am busy making firestarters today with the last of the paraffin wax before I head off to work a couple more hours. Next week looks like it may be a repeat of this week but should result in a couple of good paychecks.
Bought two semiautomatic handguns and ammo. Looked into classes to learn how to use them : P
Bought 21 #10 cans of freeze dried foods from Auguson.
Bought a few rolls of silver coins.
Bought more sprouting seeds.
Built a grow room in my house and also redid my prepping closet.
Made two buggie bags for the Souls.
That’s all.
Lizzie,
Be careful tossing the term “grow room” around. I’m saying this in a humorous way, but the message is real. If the Feds or even local LEO’s get bored ignoring important cases they might be able to find a judge to actually sign a warrant for them to come in and “inspect” your “grow room” for illicit narcotics.
That’s funny, but all they’ll find is broccoli and alfalfa and a buncha kitty cats.
Lizzie
Sirius
I have to put my grow lights in my front living room window due to heavy shade on the south side of my house. That combined with a greenhouse that now needs a new cover and my row covers had a lot of low flying planes going over my property for years. I think they finally decided I was not a threat because I don’t notice planes circling anymore.
Wow! You’ve been busy!
Lizzie,
I hope this works out well for you; but, I would have suggested you do the reverse. In our classes we generally have quite a few firearms for the students to try before they purchase.
Did you have a chance to fire these before purchasing?
How did you make your selection?
Moe:
Thanks, I did scrub things a bunch. I really think my main problem was heat.
For the week had a few things go rather well, which means I may be able to replace the brakes in the 4 runner sooner rather than later.
Preps for the day(today), started another 12 gallons of mead and some medicinal mash. Finished another book series (for pleasure) and almost completed one for learning. This makes my current books read list at over 10500 books lifetime. Benefits of being disabled and consistently trying to better myself, reading is an essential part of the process. Honestly, there are times I would love to be able to read faster and retain more and than, I remember, most people have not read even 100 books though they spend (in the western world) an average of 33 hours a week watching pointless “reality” shows that are never entirely true and almost always just suck brain cells.
Jesse, IDK if I can count the number of books I’ve read during my lifetime, but that’s an impressive number! I remember one summer as a teenager I kept count of the books I read, and it was darn near 50…I go through spurts with reading, anymore…I also wish I could retain more…
Jesse,
That’s a lot of books. I haven’t kept track of my reading over the years, but I’d have to estimate I’m close to your number, maybe more since I’m about 20-years older than you. I also started reading rather young. My parents said I was reading little kids books when I was four years old and was picking out words in grown up books at three from Lee’s Lieutenants by Douglas Southall Freeman. I still have the same three volume set I tried to read. I have long since read the series when I was a teenager.
I know I have 1,058 books read on my Kindle alone since 2010, but there are a lot of regular books I’ve read too. The Kindle is primarily for pleasure reading and serious books are in print.
My regular book library is much reduced right now, only about 300 books. It exceeded 1,000 at one time.
I’m fortunate in that I am a fast reader and have a very good comprehension level. I have noticed that my retention has gone down a bit as I’ve gotten older.
My daughter’s are also voracious readers. My son is a competent reader, but he just likes those cursed video games more.
Jesse
I’m glad things are looking up for you. I have always been a reader. When I ran out of books as a kid and it was not are weekly summer trip to the library, I would read the encyclopedias. My son also reads but he retains a whole lot better than me.
Jesse,
I haven’t really kept track of how many books I’ve read; but, it is well into the multiple thousands and with eidetic memory I remember most of what I read. There is a way to read books faster that I’ve discovered; but, that came after my vision loss. Now that reading, even with magnification, is hard and slow, I use either audio books or text to speech software that can read text at a very rapid rate. If you are interested, I can send you a link to a free program that can do some of this or some audio samples generated by the program.
The two things I miss the most from my vision issues are driving and reading books. While audio books can fill the need to a point, there is nothing quite like plopping yourself in a comfortable place and reading the hours away, often mostly oblivious to the rest of the world.
As for reality TV, I simply don’t watch it. I do watch some entertainment TV, plus news and documentaries; but, those are always recorded on the DVR and watched on my schedule.. Appointment TV as my DD calls it, really sux and I quite frankly don’t know how we ever put up with it.
Hello Pack, hope you all had a wonderful and productive week. We had a small setback in that we were turned down for a mortgage. It did not matter that we had many times the required income for the small amount we requested. Here in the Philippines, age discrimination is essentially legal. I will be 64 in June and our loan must be finished before I turn 65. So much for using some of the value in our home to grow Maria’s business. We have never taken money out, rather we reinvested all earnings. Our money doubles every ten months or less so it is a comfort to know we will do fine without the assistance of any bank. On a happy note, we hosted a small celebration after H/S graduation for the student we sponsor. Later that evening the thankyous came in via text to “Tita Maco and Tito Jack.” My beautiful wife was crying as she read them over. It turns out the lad had NEVER before had any sort of party or celebration like this in his honour. His Mom would take him for “MacDo and a Coke Float” because that was all the family could ever afford after each milestone. We are so proud of this kid! We ordered ten more water carboys to complete number we want to have always in stock. Maria has been on a tear with the business but this week she budgeted some time to restock all of our emergency supply inventory. The trial run of beef jerky was such a hit I will be gearing up to make much larger batches. Finally, I scoped out a 500 Square Metre lot Maria’s Mom owns next to her home. It is off the beaten path, has full sun exposure and water access. Good place for a small survival garden. The family also own an adjacent rice field, no longer in production as all the owners are ageing. That could be put back into production with some effort. Have a safe week all.
DH built me a marvelous raised bed for my garden, 24′ x 4′ and plenty tall enough to save on backaches. He even installed irrigation for me! I’ll plant the 50 sweet potato slips there when they arrive in April. I harvested my Red Bliss potatoes and have them drying on my porch. Cut back my Moringa trees, dehydrated the leaves, and powdered them to use as a supplement in my smoothies. Planted peanuts and asparagus beans.
Started taking half the milk from my two new goat mamas, so it’s time to start making cheese again. Tonight I’ll culture 1/2 gallon for some Chèvre. Oh yeah, I bought/stole a beautiful antique hutch from a friend of mine for $125. All of my soap molds are stored in the bottom cabinet, and all of my soaps are displayed on the shelving up top.
That’s it for me this week!
How cool to get a nice hutch for your soaping things. I put shelves in an entertainment center for mine, and salvaged a candy store rack for a drying rack. Do you sell your soaps, or are you just making for yourself?
I had an official soap business for 4 years from around 2009 – 2013. Then I closed down the business and just met the needs of current customers/family/friends. It was a profitable business and easily supported my goat herd, but I got tired of the farmer’s markets and such. Goat’s milk soap is fun to make and is a good product for moisturizing you skin, so I continue making it…..about $2,000 – $3,000 worth each year.
Would you share your recipe? I’m wanting to start making goats milk soap this summer.
I use a very basic recipe that is often called the Walmart Recipe because everything can be purchased there. This recipe makes 44 ounces of soap (I use it to pour up 11 four-ounce shower bars.)
14 ounces of lard
8 ounces of coconut oil
8 ounces of olive oil
2 ounces of castor oil
Melt all of the oils together in a stainless steel pot over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool to around 85 or 90 degrees. I put my pot in an ice water bath in the sink to speed things up a bit.
When oils are cooled…
Take 10 ounces of frozen goat’s milk in a large bowl
Slowly add 4.4 ounces of lye, stirring constantly
The lye will heat up the milk, melting it as the lye dissolves.
This part of the process will take 5-10 minutes.
Now, slowly pour the cooled oils into the bowl of milk/lye mixture, stirring constantly. Scrape all the oil from the pot with a spatula so none is wasted. Then, blend the mixture (I use a stick blender) until it starts to thicken—this is called light trace. At this point you can add any desired colorants or fragrance/essential oils to the mixture. (I use 1/2 ounce of essential oils) Mix for a minute or so, then pour into your soap mold(s). After about 30 minutes, I cover my molds with Glad Wrap to keep air from causing a dusty film on the soap, then cover the molds with towels to keep warm as saponification takes place over the next 24 hours or so.
I use plastic soap molds, so at 24 hours I put the molded soap in a freezer for about 2 hours, then pop out the soap–it helps to release the soap more easily. Let the soap cure/dry for 4 to 6 weeks and it’s ready to use.
Ordered more essential oils on sale. Also Bega canned cheese at $2.99 a can for 36. Good price on other amts. too. Missed out on the Mountain House bacon & eggs as I did not send. Got the pH meter so need to read instructions. Made my first ever batch of dandelion jelly. Looks lovely. It’s supposed to taste like honey. Will try it tomorrow. Hit the BOGOs at the grocery store and got some more Kleenex, one thing I really couldn’t do without. Working hard on physical fitness. Got a couple of skin cancers taken off. DS has a PET scan on Monday. Working hard to stay current. A couple of big storms came through and many neighbors had trees down and damage. We were blessed. Going to get more cash to have on hand Monday. I don’t like the look of the market right now. Glad the mortgage is going down fast under our new plan. Could pay it off if we had to.
I try to keep a good eye on all preps and fill in holes. Got more salt and sugar.
Prayers for The Pack and our nation. What ever happened to good old common sense?!
Common sense and common courtesy are no longer common.
I planted peas and spinach. Trying to start some milkweed for the butterflies. They take 2-4 weeks to germinate. Fixed a rotted 4 foot section of my raised bed with the board I found.
Took two small bags to the thrift store.
Made another batch of hand lotion.
Got $18.86 for 41 pounds of aluminum. That is all.
I have been working diligently on several landscaping and household repairs/improvements getting my house ready for sale. I’ve only lived here for 5 years but in those five years adjacent farmland/hunting land has been sold for new houses and the neighborly encroachment is getting too much for me. Tomorrow I will be taking a road trip to northern Michigan to see several potential resettlement sites. If all goes well in 6 to 8 months I’ll be in a more secluded area.
PF,
If you move up north there in Michigan, make sure you work on saying, “Eh” like Canadians do. 🙂
Hah! Eh?
Eh is for the Yooper. I will proudly remain a troll.
Patriot Farmer,
I’m curious. Do trolls live south of the Mackinac Bridge or under it? LOL.
Yoopers call those from the Lower Peninsula trolls for living under the bridge. They also call us “flatlanders” as the terrain is not nearly as hilly/mountainous as the UP is.
Also, the term “hillbilly” originated in the Upper Peninsula.Eh.
Zulu 3-6,
I have to disagree with this one. Historically the U.P. didn’t even exist until after the conclusion of the Toledo war when the Michigan territory entered as a state into the US January 26, 1837as the 26th state of the union.
From Wikipedia:
Are you considering UP?
Jean, I’m staying away from the UP. Northern lower Michigan is my target area. I checked 5 properties in the Houghton Lake/Roscommon area and found 2 strong possibilities. I’ll be checking several properties in the Alpena area in the next couple of weeks.
Patriot Farmer,
I’m not as familiar with the Roscommon area, but I’ve spent some time around Alpena at the airport there (Phelps-Collins) when in the Air Guard. Nice area. Hillman, about 30-minutes or so west of Alpena used to hold one of the few remaining VJ Day celebrations in the nation. Good party. Probably not held anymore as it isn’t PC.
Phelps-Collins is a dual-use airport and the Michigan Air Guard has a base there. Mostly A-10s fly out of there (reasonably quiet aircraft), but other states and US military units will base out of there to fly over to the bombing ranges at Grayling. Not all are very quiet. FWIW.
Patriot Farmer,
This has happened a bit in our area; but, not yet too close to our location; however, the property prices have gotten a big boost because of it. I assume your place could fetch a lot more cash with all of that nearby development. I always try to look for the silver lining.
TOP I hope you are right about the premium price due to the development.
PF,
Hope you can get good money too. It is possible.
The last house I lived at in Michigan was in a subdivision next door to an 80-acre working farm. The farmer was a really nice guy and grew the best corn on the cob I ever had. By the time we moved, his farm was completely surrounded by new subdivisions. I talked with him about his farm, and he said that developers hounded him continually to sell, offering millions for his land. But he refused to sell, saying he’ll farm until he dies. What his heirs do with the land after that, he won’t care since he’ll be dead.
My #1 daughter used to bicycle over there to buy corn and other veggies, and the farmer would put her up on his tractor and they’d go out to the fields and pick it fresh. His idea of a dozen ears was more like 18. Nice guy.
I just checked Google and it appears the farm is still in operation. Assuming the satellite data is recent. Nice to know.
The wind was right ,with some isolated snow Banks still. So I did a controlled burn up near the barns. I’ve found that if I don’t continually burn out sections of fence and permanent pastures. Our rabbit population crashes to non existant, which is roughly the same as pheasant and quail. It helps to keep the black locust in check, which is also signs of end times. I need toick up a few quarts of cordon, to apply concentrated to blemished bark. Which kills the thorny brush back through the roots. Our local ruraal king carries it.
Pretty quiet prepping week. I dropped off a couple minor things with the guy who is selling stuff for us and collected $45 for the Lampshade Fund.
Bought new batteries for the video security system cameras which my DS-S gave us a few years ago. Amazon won’t ship CR123a here, so have to buy locally.
Wheelbarrowed lots of dead leaves from the backyard to the front to mulch and kill some of the grass we don’t want. I’m not really sure it is worth the effort since we hope to list the house in a little over a year, but I’m tired of mowing and looking at mediocre lawn on ground too uneven to do much with. Now it has been raining heavily all night and still at 10:15 AM, so it should be pretty thoroughly wet down.
DW has scheduled rotator cuff surgery in a couple months, and the more she reads up on the recovery the less she likes it. Can’t blame her, either. Everyone she talks with who had it comments about a year long recovery.
All in all tho we are doing well, and far better than most. Good health for our ages, good friends and family, decent savings, and wise enough to prepare in a variety of ways for unexpected problems.
Penrod, usually pharmacies carry 123a for medical stuff.
Thanks, Thor. Hadn’t thought about that. We went to a bulb and battery shop which was convenient, and they had 12-pack, so the price was okay.
Please tell Mrs. Penrod my recovery from rotator cuff surgery took less than 6 months. Had an outstanding physical therapist. Could hardly use my arm before the surgery. It has been over 10 years since the surgery and every thing is still AOK.
THanks, Moe. Shall do. Glad your went well.
Penrod,
Amazon may not ship; but, you can check to see if this vendor will. They may have to come via slow boat since many air carriers will not transport lithium batteries, even though these are not the 18650 cells that were having the problem. I’ve purchased from these folks in bulk for a rather good discount with http://www.cr123batteries.com. My order back in November 2009 was $96.00 for 110 pieces.
Penrod – in my experience (myself and daughters), it takes about a year for the body to recover from any surgery. With two of my daughters having shoulder surgeries (one had both shoulders done), the key is following doctor’s orders and doing the physical therapy as prescribed. While not rotator cuff issues, the PT is similar. Your wife will be sore from the PT, but will regain use of her arm and shoulder. For my daughters, they went from taking heavy pain meds prior to surgery to none within 3 days after surgery. I suspect your wife’s surgery will leave her with better function and less pain over the long term.
M.D. …. TSC guarantees the chicks. Call and tell them.
A surgeon had set me up for (painful!!!) rotator cuff surgery also, I told my vet, she said take Cosequin (yea the dog stuff) and with in a month my shoulder was 100% fine. Might be worth a try before the surgery. That was 15 years ago and my shoulder never gave me trouble again.
Hey M.D. and Pack, Hope everyone is doing well. Well the weather in Ky is cold and wet. 10” of snow last Monday, 70 on Friday. I’m glad I didn’t take take the chains or loader off of the tractor three weeks ago like I considered. I stayed home and cleaned road which allowed 12 families on the road to get out, including my dear mother. Also cleaned out the driveways of the closer neighbors. Snow earlier this week on the first day of spring and now rain all day today. Wondering how far it sprung forward. Lol Well that’s the typical pattern in the BlueGrass. I’ve been working 6 days a week for the last couple of weeks so not much time or energy spent on preps. I did receive some recent orders for the BOB and ordered some clothing items from Tactical Gear for it as well. As soon as those come in I will be redoing all of the BOB’s based on what I’ve learned over the last couple of years.
Received
2 BaoFeng BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radios
Portable 5 gallon water container
Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System
1 bottle of water purification tablets
The Preppers Cookbook by M.D.
Ordered
2 pair of pants, 2 shirts, belt, socks and T-shirts from Tactical Gear
I’ve been itching to get some range time in but lack of decent weather and time has prevented that. Hopefully this coming week. I’m going to look at an older 4 wheel drive next week to see if it’s worth turning into a BOV. I’m looking for one that is EMP proof. I know that’s a little extreme but considering the times, maybe prudent. Still enjoying Thor1’s reports on the freeze dryer. It seems a lot better than the dehydrator. I don’t care for the lack of taste with my dehydrator. It’s ok for certain items but vegetables loose a lot of taste. Well that’s it for me, Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Surviving in Ky,
Those Baofeng’s are nice little radio’s. I’ve got 2 of the same models you have. Those Sawyer filters are great. Jesse sent me one to try out. I’ve been using it daily on a 1.5 liter bottle going through about 2 liters a day of tap water. My tap water is safe but tastes funny. The Sawyer fixes that. I’m putting the filter through a daily stress test to see how long they realistically last. An odd thing I discovered about the Sawyer… It’s real easy to draw water through it, but if you run out of water and are left with air in the bottle, air will not pass through the filter. I’m guessing air molecules are larger than water molecules.
As far as the freeze dryer being better than the dehydrator, that would be a personal call. The dehydrator is easy to use out of the box, turn it on and walk away. The freeze dryer has a bit of a learning curve to it. It’s not hard to figure out, but you do have to put the time in. Some things are better in a dehydrator like mushrooms, jerky, etc. Some things are better out of a freeze dryer like strawberries or any fruit for that matter. Dehydrated food you can get away with storing in a zip lock or a jar with an O2 absorber and a desiccant pack. The freeze dried food needs to go into mylar bags with an O2 absorber and sealed. The freeze dried food will absorb moisture from the air quickly, even in the dry desert of So. California.
Thanks for feedback on the items I listed. I haven’t had a chance to test them out. Plan on doing some today. I agree with the freeze dryer. It is a commitment. I’ve watched several videos and read several comments on here. I don’t want to make that kind of investment and have it sit and collect dust. Meat storage is the primary reason I’m interested in one. I can throughout the year and it’s worked so far. Again, thanks for the feedback Sirius!
Before I forget, if you search online for “baofeng programming” you will get some websites that have the instructions to manually program the radio in real English, not the words the Chinese put on the owners manuals. You can also find links to the free Chirp software to program the radio via computer.
The instructions are usually for the UV5R, but they are the same for the newer models. I misspoke earlier about having the same model Baofengs. It turns out I have the Bf-F9 V2+. I can verify that the UV5R instructions worked perfectly on mine.
Sirius,
Even with the English version of the instructions, they are still a real pain to program from the keypad. We also suspect it’s been done on purpose, since as FCC Part 90 certified devices they are technically not supposed to be programmable from the keypad, so this may be a compromise.
The free Chirp software can be found “HERE”
I personally find that plugging in the radio, extracting the configuration, modifying it and sending it back to the radio is easier and quicker than playing with the keypad.
There are others like the BF888 that have no keypad and require the programming cable & Chirp.
For all of these, it just takes a little planning and forethought, and for the UV5 & UV82 series there are 128 memory channels, so plenty of space and places to put any frequency and attributes for anything you could conceive of requiring.
Surviving in Ky,
While the FD doesn’t work quite as easily as the videos would seem to imply, we are all working through it a bit at a time and I think all in all it’s the best type of long term storage food. Canning, freezing, and dehydrating all have their places; but, each also has its challenge and problem. Canning and dehydrating can destroy some of the enzymes and vitamins and freezing requires some kind of constant power source, so in the end I think FD is the best. Also, assuming that life in general will just keep rolling along normally for at least some amount of time, freeze drying for hire could be a way for an FD owner to make some income.
Thanks Sirius and theohioprepper! I checked out the chirp site and it looks promising. I have a couple of other sets of hand held radios that might be compatible as well. I’m going to check them out this evening. Thanks again!
Didn’t prep much. Made lots of soap this week for a local bazaar next month. Did find a little more canned food for storage. DH found the last of the water leaks and got it fixed. BIL had to move, so now he lives in his trailer in our yard. That’s it.
Even though I don’t often post on this site ( really good site, that’s not the reason ) I always read all the posts and articles. Been doing a lot of reloading lately, basically to catch up with the multitude of brass I have accumulated over the last several years. 9mm, 10mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .308, .223 the whole gamut. Also acquired a Swiss K31 rifle. Unique straight pull bolt. Really accurate cartridge, 7.5Swiss, but hard to get brass for. Not really a survival rifle for that aspect alone. Just cool and collectible, but also a fun shooter. Vintage rifle matches are fun.
I want to pose a question to the Pack: with all these student marches post FLA school shooting, do any of you sense a concerted media effort to restrict AR type rifles completely? The kids protest thing certainly pulls the heartstrings of many politicos and of course all of those on the left and 95% of Hollywood types. This could balloon into something not good for us prepper types and all who support the 2nd amendment. Many gun owners also support restrictions on AR type rifles. They apparently did not pay heed to the George Washington quote: “ We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately “
Bwhntr63,
Not only do they want to get rid of AR’s, they want to ban all guns. No doubt about that. They have brainwashed these kids into thinking guns kill people. The kids have no idea what they are even talking about. They are emotional. They even had MLK’s 9 year old granddaughter up there saying she wants to see all guns banned worldwide. The people that do this kind of shootings have mental issues that need to be addressed. The writing’s on the wall. Anyone diagnosed with PTSD will not be allowed to own a gun. Your health records will be available for all to see so “they” can decide who can have a gun and who can’t. Older folks will not be allowed to have guns because they will be deemed incompetent. We have gone past the point of no return. We are at Civil War, just not like it was before, but by legislation, do nothing CONgress, rogue judges, disregard for the constitution and cities that ignore our country’s laws. Without stepping up to stop the train, we patriots, older folks and our Veterans, who know what real war is like and know what it is to sacrifice your life for another if the need arises, the younger generation, financed by MSM, Hollywood, Soros and the like, will continue to cause civil unrest and we are doomed to hang separately. Rant off….
Almost There,
What too many people seem to forget, if they ever knew it, is a historical lesson.
“Those who beat their swords into plowshares, will plow for those who didn’t”
Bwhntr63,
Yes; but, not any more than in the 1990’s or the late 1960’s. They have always been anti gun, except of course for their body guards and will never let any crisis go to waste.
Where are you hearing this? To join the NRA only takes an application and a check and I suspect many on the left have sent in that check so they can show their membership card and tell the media that as card carrying NRA members, they are against those horrible black rifles.
I’ve trained thousands of people and hundreds of new instructors over the past nearly 3 decades, and from inside the trenches we don’t see many gun ownders who support further restrictions.
Ohio Prepper
You hear it from guys who should know better, but don’t seem to get it. I am talking about sportsman like duck hunters, formal target shooters of a certain type, people who think their form of shooting is more respectable than those of us who have the dreaded “ black rifles ( or OD, or Grey Cerakote, etc ) “ . Sorry that is some of what I hear. We must make our own realize if you throw even one of us to the wolves that they will never just stop at “ high cap magazines” or “ semi auto military style rifles “. The left wants all nasty guns gone, because then they feel good and no one will shoot them or harm them. You can’t reason with these people. And they will use these school kids to further their disarmament agenda for as long as they can.
B63, I have talked to a few of these people and after explaining what the 2A actually means of defending against a tyrannical government, they say OH!!! or everyone has their preference of what they shoot just like the car/truck they drive they get it. 3 gun competition is big in the USA and the left wants to ban the most popular firearms like AR15’s and Glocks for more than 1 reason. Economic and defense of the United States. We can never give these up……
Weather has been crazy here as well. Cold, rain and high winds. We has the remains of that nor’easter come through and tornado warnings. Last two day s have been decent enough to get some outside work done. Had to cut the grass of all things! Bought some blocks and made a nice firepit in the back yard. Cleaned up lots of limbs and debris. Seedlings are doing good, but still too cool to plant outside. Spent great deal of time preparing for garden. Had to cover the strawberries with netting to keep squirrels and birds away. Anyone want any squirrels? I got a bumper crop!
Hey , here is an interesting idea, how about the 100,000,000 gun owners donate $100 to help build a border wall to stick a thumb in the eye of the Democrats……….they would just hate that….or put military bases on the border?
United We Stand…
http://allnewspipeline.com/Gun_Control_By_Proxy_Citibank.php
Y’all had me rolling on the floor tonight, with the give and take today!
MD, I like the recommendations page, and will be exploring it a little more closely for some purchases.
Worked some overtime this week, the money will come in handy.
Got new tires on the van, as camping season is coming up and need to be able to safely pull the popup. Plus, had one slow leaker, with the cold had to fill it up at least every other day.
Grabbed Maxwell House coffee for 3.99/can (regularly 7.99) and sugar for 99 cents. IF you have a Kroger near you, watch their Saturday only sales. You have to download a digital coupon, but often some pretty sweet deals and you can get up to 5 of the items. (full disclaimer, I work for Kroger, but it is also the local chain grocer in my area, so I would be shopping there anyway)
This whole March for our lives things just makes me sad. I want to applaud the kids for taking a stand. But the way they have been co-opted/corrupted by the liberal agenda is disheartening. A local gun shop with a weekly AM radio show put it best, and I paraphrase, they don’t want to be educated, to learn, they just want to promote the hot button issue. (the show may be archived on the 610 WTVN website or iHeart,–On Target is the name of the show- and while I couldn’t listen to the entire show, the guys from LEPD were spot on, and had some pretty interesting personal experiences to share)
Got my seeds from Baker Creek, now just trying to figure out when to start them, as the weather and longer term forecast seem like spring is going to be late…I don’t want to start them too soon or too late…
Have a great week everyone, prayers for all
Grammyprepper,
If you have any questions about anything feel free to ask me…
late start today, since we spent the day 2 ½ hours north, finally celebrating Christmas with the youngest boy and his wife. On the first day of spring here we had a dusting of snow; but, they got a lot of it down south along the Ohio River and up north near lake Erie where the boy lives, and there were still plowed piles of snow in the parking lot at the restaurant where we went to eat.
When you stated:
I have to agree that it has its advantages. In 42 years of engineering I spent at least 8 years telecommuting, since designing hardware and writing software can easily be done in the comfort of your office. The biggest hurdle I found about telecommuting is having the discipline, the will and organizational skills to get things done, since no one is looking over your shoulder. For me, that meant getting up, showered, dressed and breakfast finished at some reasonable hour to get me into the “I’m at work” mindset.
This past week we did and acquired the following:
1. Continued helping teach the amateur radio Technician class. Final review class and then we test.
2. Judged the local regional Science & Engineering Fair & networked with a few more engineers and a doctor
3. Attended another Hamfest in Mansfield Ohio and purchased some additional clip style test leads and some hemostats for the soldering and medical kits.
4. The DW picked up 20 more rolls of TP and then laughed as she was putting them away, telling me that we now have 85 rolls on hand. It is something you never want to run out of, LOL
5. 4 new fillings @ the dentist with 2 extractions to happen in April.
6. Four 3-foot HDMI cables and an HDMI to Display Port cable.
7. After having no success drilling some holes in brick, Black BQI was over helping me drill the holes in a brick wall to install an outside light fixture, only to find that even he couldn’t scratch the brick. We now have an alternate plan to install the new outside lighting fixture.
8. Ordered: Elite 800 Lumen Tactical Flashlight 2-Pack. These were a great deal on woot.com
9. Ordered two: Plasma Beam Lighter (2 Pack) also from woot.com. These are rechargeable and one more independent way to light a fire, bringing my total to around 10
If you want to drill a hole in brick or concrete you need a hammer drill and special bits. Harbor Freight has inexpensive ones.
Daddio7,
I have a hammer drill and purchase both the Tapcon anchors and a Tapcon carbide tipped ceramic capable bit. When I could barely scratch the surface, my neighbor and MAG member who posts here as Black BQI brought a bigger drill and came over to help. He outweighs me by perhaps 40-50 pounds, stands nearly a foot taller, and as a working farmer has more strength than I ever had.
He also could barely scratch the brick. This red brick is glazed and tough as nails, so we’ll be moving to plan B for the light fixture installation that I hope to complete tomorrow, if the weather gets as is warm and dry as predicted.
TOP,
Sounds like it’s time for some C-4. 🙂
Zulu 3-6,
Yep; but, I wouldn’t need much in a very tiny shaped charge.
What we are going to do is use the original metal that was there for the old fixture and grind it into submission, since it appears to be softer than the brick.
I’ve worked with masonry in the past, from brick, to concrete block and concrete walls and slabs; but, I’ve never seen any civilian ceramic this tough. OTOH, this is old brick and may very well be surplus Chobham armour in which case it’s resistant to even a shaped charge, LOL.
I found this on the Florida protest..with the useful apparatchics. https://radiofreeredoubt.podbean.com/e/rfr-on-ktw-2018-03-24-communists-using-your-children-to-disarm-you/
OP
Looks like autocorrect strikes again. . Life instead of like and computer instead of compute.
Fixit ,
That’s what I figured; but, the grammar Nazi in me had to say something, and how else will we know if it’s wrong to make corrections. I may have an unfaor advantage though, since I proof listen instead of proof read, and that really does make all of the difference.
I am late to the dance again this week. I did two taekwondo classes and a kickboxing class on Friday. So I just lounged around and rested Saturday. My triceps are still sore.
No news get on the position I applied for but my former supervisor who recommended me for the position checked the computer and I am still in the running. I found five other online positions for which I am qualified. I put in applications there.
No new preps this week. I have been too busy looking for another job. Today is dh’s birthday party. His son and daughter are coming over. It should be fun. We are grilling steaks and preparing shrimp cocktail, and serving this with green beans cooked with bacon and onion and garlic mashed potatoes. Yum.
M.D.,
Why do you think Florida is not a good place to be when the balloon goes up? North Florida is rural and nothing like South Florida.
Bam Bam ,
While I am not M.D., I personally think no place is completely either safe or unsafe; but, if you’ve done your threat analysis and tried to mitigate the possibilities to your best extent, then pretty much anywhere could be viable.
Living in an arid desert area like Jesse M, seems an inhospitable place to me, as does living in the higher latitudes like Minnesota, Alaska, and our Canadian neighbors in between; but, people have lived & thrived in those areas for centuries by knowing the risks and resources and really understanding their situation.
Surviving & thriving any place is a personal thing that requires knowledge, skills, and the right attitude.
Ohio Prepper
Your assement of any survival locale is pretty much correct. I live in SE Wisconsin and have a retreat / hunting property in the far north of the state. I hope I never have to make it there thru the winter. It is downright nasty. Jus went up yesterday to check out everything as haven’t been there since last November gun deer season. Still had about 18-24 inches of snow on the ground. Try moving around in that without snow shoes ( which I forgot at home, didn’t think I’d need-that was dumb ). Surviving without power in the Midwest thru winter would be problematic to say the least. Many preppers like to say you can never have to much ammo, and I agree, but you also ( in winter ) can never have enough split wood.
I live in N calif I am a bit over 100 miles north of soddomy by the bay. Obviously I can`t afford a retreat in my area I might have to go another 100 miles or so north,and that I can`t afford any time soon. My best friend has been living the last 25 years or so desert but he is wanting to retire a few hundred miles from me..We will see what happens
Bwhntr63,
Or in my case, too much propane, LOL. Wood is a good backup for heat, and if the propane ever gets too low, we’ll use the wood and save the propane for hot water, cooking, and the generator.
Since 2 is 1 and 1 is none, all of my backups have backups that have their own backups.
Along with never having too much ammo, you can also never have too much home insulation (to a point) or good quality insulated windows.
The more heat (or in summertime cool) you can conserve, the better off you are.
Hi TOP, Thinking of arid desert areas…my guess is that about three weeks after the water shuts down there won’t be a lot of people to help, help you, or hurt you. For that matter, by the end of the first week there won’t be many left if the outage occurs during the hot months.
Of course, without a hand pumped well, or solar electric well, it would just be a matter of time for most preppers. There is some surface water, but pretty limited pickings. If one is prepping for TEOTWAWKI in the desert Southwest, a reliable well would be pretty comforting.
Can your own water, that’s what I do.
I am not M.D, either. i’ve spent a lot of time in FL, from Central to Panhandle. Lots of friends & some family there. It is my personal opinion that Florida will be very easy to get “under control” by the PTB. It is a peninsula – few routes in & out – easy to close off. Fl has a high population of old residents w/an assortment of health issues that require perpetual treatments)medications. It is extremely hot much of the year, and most live by a/c. When that a/c stops working, mold & mildew proliferate. That means an abundance of new health issues. Between shortage of able-bodied manpower & ease of cutting the whole state off, defense will be a tactical nightmare. Those are the biggest reasons I wud not choose FL. And, then, there’s all that sand… yes, it feeds this part of the country in the winter months. But that will be a magnet for quickly taking control, IMO. Just my thots. I cud be wrong!
Not too hot not too cold, just right said Goldie Lock’s…… LOL nor hurricanes, earthquakes,forest fires, volcanoes, mudslides….. ECT……
Livinthedream
Living on the gulf coast in-between the two highest rainfall cities in the US, I concur that no A/C would be the worst problem. I can prepare for everything but that. A whole house generator is just too much money and would only be short-term anyway. That being said, I have no plans to move as I was born and raised here. Too much invested in my little homestead. My parents didn’t have A/C until well after I left home.
Bam Bam, I was wondering the same thing! LOL I guess it’s all in what you are used to. Cold weather and I do NOT get along and if I never see snow again, that will be just fine with me. Having 5 deep water wells, acreage surrounded by water, including stocked fishing ponds, permaculture from figs and grapes to bananas and coconuts, two full growing seasons each year, I’m a gonna stay right here in the Sunshine State! Even my BOL is located just a couple of hours north in the boonies of north Florida….
I really like the two full growing seasons.
Except for the hurricanes and sinkholes…….
Thor1,
Got to have some excitement in your life. Too boring otherwise. 🙂
Z36, I have a lot of excitement, however, having my house disappear in a hole in the ground is not on my excitement list, especially if I’m in it……LOL
Turned over a few raised beds…again. Waiting until the weather warms and chances of frost drop. Planted garlic. Usually plant it in the fall, but since I was hoping to be moving by spring I held off. Now I’ll have to wait until late summer/fall before harvesting. All the seedlings are growing like gangbusters! I hope I can hold off another week before transplanting. This year I purchased all my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from Gurneys. In the future I hope to start my own from my seeds, but this year I’ll have to go with what I ordered. I just hope they don’t show up on the doorstep when I’m gong for a week looking for land.
Packing another two heads of cabbage for sauerkraut. The red cabbage didn’t come out as well as expected, but is passable. Probably wouldn’t serve it to guests.
Back up on HF and plan to check-in to the TAPRN Net tonight.
Plans are in place to head to western NC / eastern TN in another week. Currently have 26 prospective parcels to look at ranging from 10-65 acres. Can’t wait to vacate Virginia Beach!
If you don’t like it, try NE GA!
AF – NE GA is where we would LOVE to be, but closer to Blairsville than Clayton. We were just up that way on St Patrick’s Day. I love to roam the flea market in Clayton.
I rently read where a 1800 square foot house in Calif would get you a 4000 square foot in G
oergia
Axelsteve – that sounds about right. The DH works with and is related to some who have moved to Calif, then back. One of the biggest complaints is that the houses in Calif are tiny compared to what they can afford here.
I think it really depends on where you go in GA. The closer to Atlanta, the worse it gets, as a prime example. Or the closer to the coast you get, the more you will pay. But, that’s true in Alabama, too. The Alabama Shoals is GENERALLY some of the best and cheapest living in the country – unless you’re talking Huntsville-Metro or the Gulf Tourist Trap areas. Even then, you get more for your money than most places.
One thing about Huntsville that concerns me, however (and this will NOT be popular with AL politicians) – Huntsville, the “Rocket City”, is scheduled to be the new Science and Technology center of the country, starting with NASA relocating most of its people here. That makes Huntsville a prime target for bad stuff, as I see it.
Even so, the “Tennessee Valley” (SE TN, North AL, NE MS) simply can’t be beat, IMO!
It’s great to be here! Beautiful Spring in Phoenix area. Unusually cool, which makes it darn near perfect. I’m working hard to recover, get stronger and gain weight. Pulmonologist at the transplant center urging me to eat more, more high calorie and high protein foods. Still locked in around mid 160s. Should be about 190!
Thankfully am able to continue prepping, although a bit slower than I would wish. Split some firewood which has been curing at the end of the house. Thankful to have a log splitter. I don’t think I could do it with the old maul right now! Concentrating on coaching up the grandsons. Oldest (17) GS spent 1,000 on a M1 Garand. I wouldn’t have chosen that, but it has undeniable killing power and range. He’s deadly with it and my match grade bolt gun is also a 30-06, so there is commonality of ammo. Reloaded 60 rounds more ammo for it. Anyway, both grandsons are proficient. I (and their mother) have been teaching them how to cook.
Took some of our Canadian friends to the Horny Toad restaurant in Cave Creek yesterday afternoon. They started pumping me for survival information. Between DW and myself, we gave them a ton of information. They continued to ask questions throughout, so I think we just created another pair of survivalists! It forced me to think of everything we have done, as well as other things we need to do.
Good work! I think it really helps to verbalize things. It makes me think of a lot of new things when I get questions. Hope you feel stronger day by day.
Thanks AF. I am indeed getting stronger. The weight is a tougher problem!
Glad to hear you’re doing well, Billy.
Billy T:
So glad you checked in! If I am remembering right, the Horny Toad isn’t too far fro one of DH’s favorite biker bars- The Hideaway. It’s been a few years since we last visited that part of Arizona but some good hiking areas nearby.
Continued prayers for your recovery.
Billy T.,
First of all, it’s great to see you back here.
I’ve been out that way numerous times over the years. The company I cofounded and sold to my partner is located in Fountain Hills and the partner and his DW live in Scottsdale. My visits were fun; but, I just could not tolerate that bloody heat, so glad to hear it’s a bit more comfortable.
I was in a similar condition after pancreatitis from Gall stones and a Gall bladder attack and was told to just stuff calories. I found that Chips Ahoy cookies with milk and a bit of ice cream did the trick. Not much protein; but, I did put some weight back on, LOL.
I’m still hoping to eventually hear reports of you using that new forge.
Take care brother.
Thanks OP. I agree regarding cookies and milk! Unfortunately, one of the biproducts of the meds I have to take is diabetes. I think you also have that particular illness. So, I’ve been shooting up with insulin daily. Desert heat is not for everyone, which is why we get away from it in the summer.
I’m not sure when I can get back to the forge, but am still eager to do so.
Main thing is the encouragement I get from you and others. Thank you for that!
Billy T,
No diabetes here, just complications from high cholesterol and aFib. The cholesterol was part of what caused a silent heart attack many years ago that I didn’t realize had happened; but, it has weakened the heart muscle enough to give me mild heart failure that so far has been controlled rather well with medication and exercise, although it does limit my exertion a bit. The limit is that I kind of run out of steam and have to pause to catch up and let the muscles reoxygenate. For the aFib I’ve been on anticoagulants for more than 10 years; but, in about 2 weeks I go off of everything but aspirin and I can’t wait.
I’ve always preferred the cold, since you can layer up or throw a log on the fire. For heat you can only take off so much and even that doesn’t help a lot.
That sounds great and I can’t wait to see you posting or writing articles on your work with hot iron.
Always, this is community, and quite frankly I am glad you got the transplant, since both my best friend and MIL succumbed to the same disease process you managed to beat. Any time we can beat bad things and come out the other side with a good attitude, it’s a good day.