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1. Madam,
   As I understand the word ‘decimate’, it refers to a reduction by ten-percent.

   Would a thirty-percent reduction be ‘a triple-decimation’? Irregardless, we anticipate less available at higher prices. Our goal:
   * Garden, stock, can.
   * Fill the propane tanks.
   * Reload.
   * Accomplish the veterinary visits.
   Then, take the rest of the day off… a nap is always on the schedule.

   * * * * *

   We prefer electric chain-saws because they are quiet; everybody in six counties knows anytime somebody uses petroleum-based chain-saws. A tiny genset or a battery in a nearby vehicle provides the juice through the over-size extension cords we fabricated. And yes, chaps and helmets and goggles and accomplices are mandatory with a capital ‘M’. Use a chain-saw in teams of at least two… always. LifeFlight on speed-dial?

   1. Irregardless is not a word.

      Regardless is, or you could have used irrespective.

      Have a nice day.

      1. But is so much fun to use, wordsmith!

   2. Yes, the original word decimate involved 10%. A Roman legion that mutinied, but was then subjugated, was punished by having one out of ever ten men executed. The legionnaires drew lots to determine who was executed.

      More commonly today when the word is used, it connotes a much higher rate of damage. From Oxford Dictionaries, https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/09/10/does-decimate-mean-destroy-one-tenth/:

      “So given that these two meanings of decimate appeared almost simultaneously, why are we so obsessed with assigning the punitive meaning to the word? A likely answer is that people are falling prey to what is known as the Etymological Fallacy, a tendency to believe that a word’s current meaning should be dictated by its roots.”

   3. A thirty percent reduction of 100 items would yield a result of 70.

      A ‘a triple-decimation’ would be the result of decimation three successive times. The first decimation of 100 items would yield 90. The second decimation would reduce the 90 by 9 yielding 81. The third decimation would reduce the 81 by 8.1 yielding 72.9 (or 73 in cases of discrete elements such as with people where you can’t reduce by a tenth of a person).

2. Finally got all the fruit trees trimmed up. Looks like our only loss was 1/2 a peach tree. I expected more loss as we had temps as low as -33. Ice out on the farm ponds was about a week and a half ago, got out last Sunday for a couple hours and caught some bass and crappies. Great fun! Found a local saw mill that’s willing to sell me planks of hard maple, cherry and walnut thick enough for gunstocks, haven’t negotiated a price yet but it’s less than 10 miles away. Other than that just standing in front of the bench stocking guns…….
   Been experimenting with dried ancho (poblano) chili peppers. Made some great Adobo sauce. Great for marinade. Marinated some salmon and planked it on cedar and cooked it on the charcoal grill. best salmon I ever had.

3. Our garden area(s) this year are three times the area they were previous years. I planted 2/3 of the first area yesterday. It is time, since the pecan trees are budding out. Here, the pecan trees never get bit, so if they are budding out, it is safe to plant the garden. I am thankful to have finally figured out how to help my body handle the heat to be able to work these gardens. I am growing many more types of squash, partly because I had lots of squash seeds stashed. Some of my seeds are too old, so when I sowed them, I planted a LOT more per area than was supposed to be there, hoping some of them will come up.

   We have also been taking down trees. Since my husband is off work right now, basically for the foreseeable future, we are frantically trying to get fences in good repair and/or built. One area, we had been working on for about 8 years, off and on as we had time. We have time now! So it is rapidly nearing completion. It was a really big project. He took down high hills and covered culverts and built retaining walls with the logs.

   The larger pasture will enable my milk cows to have ample space to graze in the event that they have to survive on just grass. It is really better to have them on too much pasture, especially when you don’t have money to buy minerals. If they are overgrazing the land, the minerals will get depleted too fast. We still have to spend money on fertilizers to build up the soil. And minerals for them to consume. Minerals are top priority with animals. Without minerals, the vet bill will be way higher. We also beef cows across the road that are raised only on grass.

4. I too have been watching the demise of so much of our food supply as a result of nationwide flooding. There is good reason to believe that food scarcity could result and working toward individual food security seems prudent. That said, I’ve ordered some more open pollinated seeds to just store. Might be the best 20.00 I’ve spent in a long time. Pray for the best; prepare for the worst.

   I am also working diligently this week to fully secure the food stores we already have here at the cabin. The second order of mylar bags and oxygen absorbers arrived yesterday. I seriously underestimated the number of bags and absorbers I would be needing. This time, I’m packaging them in smaller quantities so that they could be shared easier or are a more manageable amount.

   I continue to gather kindling, cardboard and newspaper for firestarting storage. I did make a batch of wax and dryer lint Firestarters using items on hand and 35 cents worth of thrift shop candles. I tried one with some nice damp wood. They made a big difference. Thanks everyone for the ideas! Keeping it going without breaking the bank!

   There is still some snow, but it is disappearing quickly with the rain. We have mud, more mud, and lots of mud. Always a predicament without enough water pressure (yet) to run the washer. I’ve covered everything in old towels. I’m grateful to have saved and stored the old towels.

   Continuing to prepare my dear city-living daughter for, well, just about anything, I bought her a single sterno can holder (sized for a small pot) for less than a dollar at the thrift store. With some sterno cans, it will at least give her a warm food options should that be necessary. I also shared a news article on what the Venezuelan people are experiencing right now. A thought on that…at least our cabin here in the East is in a part of the country that has absolutely nothing of value – oil, minerals or the such. Except for being in a populated state with a right to farm law, it is a rough, rural, and depressed area. There is something to be said for flying under the radar.

   I’m wondering about getting some gunsmithing instruction (beyond reading) when I return to the Redoubt this summer (for good!!!). Should I ask at a store? Are there classes? I grew up in a hunting family and my father reloaded (I helped but that was so many, many years ago). Any thoughts on how or where to ask?

5. One of my father’s bits of wisdom was “never do a plumbing project when the stores are closed.”

6. Sling swivels, and slings?

   Just wondering which products you decided on?

7. Also never do a plumbing project on Friday afternoon. Bitter experience has taught me. I have been checking my trees that the base for peach tree borer. Had the severe infestation last year. This year I’m pruning very light. Also going to plant another strawberry patch and golden raspberry patch. I have enough rice sugar and wheat stored away to feed an army. Now I will be working on freeze dried entrees and meat. There is just the wife and I so I don’t stock a lot of canned goods. She does like to go out to eat. It is a bad habit to get into, especially when you are a empty nester. Oh well.

8. Took on a bearcat stew of a project. Rented an excavator and trenched four 100 foot rows two feet wide and 18-24 inches deep. Then dug 20 tree holes and two garden beds fifty feet long each by 18-24 inches deep. Then scratched out a 100 foot long bed adjacent to our county road and planted 60 of the conservation district plants to start growing a 6-8 foot high screen.

   Yesterday we took delivery of a truckload of 50 yards of alder sawdust.

   I am laying in layers of cardboard packing boxes in the trenches, shoveling in the now mixed topsoil and subsoil with layers of sawdust, and will be topping the beds with several inches of super duper vegetable gardening soil purchased on sale last fall and stored in our little barn.

   One huge shortage component is nitrogen and that will be a challenge since I don’t have ready access to animal waste….yet. All the carbon material added needs serious nitrogen addition to balance it out. In the PNW, the other deficiency is magnesium/calcium.

   The long trenches will be rows of trellised tall spindle apples, pears, nectarines, apricots, peaches, and trellises of grapes and kiwis, and a big row of marionberries and raspberries.

   I’ve been propagating trees and plants for 5 years in pots, shopping fall sales and overwintering plants, trading with friends in the fruit clubs, and now the massive food is finally coming to ‘fruition’. …….Well, it’s started anyway. I

   The root-bound plants are aching for room to grow!

   In reality, there are months of work ahead to get all this done, to include the 10 foot high fence and bird-proof netting on all sides and top. The three feet of snow in February was a great learning event to make sure the netting is supported by a strong cabling and support beam system. Ditto for our future greenhouse design.

   While working I’m alternate Christian songs in my head with moans of ‘my aching back ‘.

   God bless you all.

9. Picked up three used 235 Watt solar panels, BP cuff and a combination thermometer, barometer and humidity gauge.

   Put together our new table saw. Took another load of “stuff” out to the BOL. Working on emptying the garage I anticipation of our move late spring or early summer. Opened one of wood shed I got from Northern Tool and started to layout the parts getting ready to put it together.

   No snow left on the ground (right now anyway) but everything is very muddy. Snow in the forecast for tomorrow.

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