To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
We had a busy week. One house guest was staying here, and we are making preparations for two more to arrive.
I kept very busy with my writing, but still carved out some time for some gunsmithing. This was assembling another AR for one of our grandchildren. I also had to transport some hay cutting equipment. And I helped Lily dry pack some bulk foods. Oh, and I shipped out some mail order boxes. All but seven lots of the more than 200 lots in my “HK Extravaganza” over at the FALFiles Marketplace have now sold. I also listed five HK 91 rifles for sale there, in a separate “WTS” post. And two of those rifles have already sold. One nice thing about the FALFiles Marketplace is that so many folks there like to trade. That is my preferred modus operandi, whenever it can be mutually beneficial.
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
Another very busy week here at the Rawles Ranch! In the Annex garden, I have weed whacked then mowed two thirds of it. My wonderful husband rototilled it and the girls and I have been spreading manure, Epsom salts, and gypsum. We still need to spread many more loads of manure in this coming week and rototill it under, and then plant. We have bought 6 by 300 feet of fabric underlayment to spread over the beds for weed control. We plan to plant some faster growing crops. The whole area is something around a 50 by 100 foot plot. It will need several years more of manure spreading to get the soil in good condition. The other third of the area still needs to be weed whacked and mowed. (Mowing to chop up the weed-whacked felled vegetation to provide more nutrients in the soil. ) Then it needs to be roto-tilled. I may just spend the summer building up it’s soil. It’s just a lot of work. Last year I had planted potatoes, beans, corn and beans in this area, and we didn’t have the greatest harvest. Therefore more soil building is in order.
I spent a few mornings weeding and re-mulching with straw in the main garden. I replanted a few areas that had thin seedling growth of French beans, cabbage, and Alaskan Corn. In other words the few bare spots where the seeds didn’t come up, I replanted. I need to weed the potato patch and put in another layer of straw mulch on the beans, etc.
Strawberries are doing great and will begin to ripen by the end of this week, I think. The Mandan corn is three inches high.
The horses were worked and ridden by Eloise and a visiting friend.
A large order of nuts, raisins, and other items were received, packed away, and organized this past week.
A friend of ours who we’ve tried to witness to, died suddenly in a vehicular collision with a deer in the past week. I am very, very upset about it. If you haven’t called in the name of Jesus and repented of all sins you have ever committed, then you have no promise of eternal life with the Father God. We do not know the day or hour that we will die. Death seals our fate with God. We either belong to Him or we don’t. Please don’t procrastinate. Get on your knees and pray in Jesus’ name, confess all the sins you remember and ask Jesus to cover the ones you don’t recall. Ask Him to help you turn away from them. Ask Jesus into your heart and give Him your life. Get a Bible and begin reading it. Ask Jesus to send His Holy Spririt to you to help you understand His word and pray for yourself and your friends and relatives. We are about to enter very perilous times and you want to be on God’s side, not Satan’s.
May you all have a very blessed and safe week.
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
o o o
As always, please share your own successes and hard-earned wisdom in the Comments.
Like so many mainstreet USA towns in our great country, my hometown has a parade to celebrate Flag Day. This year’s parade was again a chance to reconnect with friends, relatives and neighbors that I do not often see, it is also a time to be reminded that the greatness of our country lies with its people. The strength of America can be found in these humble small towns: faith, friends, families, volunteer fire departments, the youth, the aged, local sheriffs, judges, farmers and businesses. They are all there marching down mainstreet surrounded by the waving flags of freedom. May God Bless us and protect us yet one more day.
I learned something this week the hard way – I had a reaction to a simple medical procedure and got rather ill. Last week, at one of my final Dr visits, I had a mole removed. It became infected and my Dr prescribed an antibiotic. This upset my system and, even with taking probiotics as recommended, I found myself with excruciating stomach and abdominal pain. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that I was not dying, but was severely constipated. I had never experienced this and, after many nights of not sleeping and days of not eating, discovered an over the counter solution. My first aid kit will now be packed with laxatives, stool softeners, probiotics, and any other OTC medicines that I can find that might be useful. Our systems can be pushed out of wack for many reasons and stress will just exasperate the problem. I’m glad to have some simple items stored to help.
I slogged along slowly this week finishing some small tasks inside due to daily rain and pain. Today is expected to be sunny and not rain till late tonight so I expect to be able to weedwack down the briars and burdock.
The parcel of land across the road has a forsale sign now. My small rural agrarian part of the world here in the East is developing at a rapid pace. They are building a community on the once active farmlands. Guess I’ll have to stop complaining about the long drive down the canyon back home in the Redoubt. Nowhere for developments to spring up. Heading back at the end of the month.
For what it’s worth, your seed perhaps was planted and acted upon without you having the chance to know of your friends acceptance of Salvation. He could have called upon the LORD in the moments before his dying. Have faith that you did everything you could have done and God is in control of the rest.
Lily and families, we are sorry for your loss. Your advice is Priority #1.
This old coot is just trying maintain our level of preparedness. My current priority is restoring our skills/readiness using ham radio. It’s complicated, especially for those of us who insist on being able to program them manually, sans computer, cables and software. We are making progress. My wife is a ham too and we want to get back in the routine of testing them every time she goes into town.
Also we FINALLY took JWR’s advice (link below) and purchased the Baofengs before Big Brother makes sales of them illegal on September 30, 2019. Five extremely versatile radios for $23 each! It’s a no brainer.
https://survivalblog.com/survivalists-odds-n-sods-249/
Be at peace Lilly. We are given none to call our own. Your heart is what your friend saw and that is being a true friend. Only God’s Holy Spirit removes the blinders and unstops the ears ~ and knows His own. LuvYerBro
CORD7, you speak well. We simple humans give our love to others and then that person’s salvation is between him and the Holy Spirit. We must trust that the Holy Spirit wants us to be free.
Carry on
Lilly you tried to help your friend receive the ultimate gift. Think positively that at some point he accepted the Lord into his life and asked for forgiveness.
WATCHING the Persian Gulf situation very closely. A friend said it was not “logical” for Iran to provoke a fight with us. I responded, what war is logical?
As for us, We spent any extra free time sorting and packing, Friday was our first move day. Will be doing another load this morning which should be our last Big Truck load, the rest we can move with pick up truck and mini-van. Most projects are being placed on hold for one of two reasons the move or the fact that our house hasn’t sold yet. Hoping to have some time in the late summer early fall to get a few projects off our list.
What a cruel God He would be if this is the only period of time allowed for salvation. The Holy Day’s show God’s plan to save all but those who knowingly reject His way of living. Your friend will have a time to live in a world without Satan’s influence and then make a choice.
Michele,
Actually scripture illustrates “apart from the body is with the Lord.” for the Christian. In other words, the Christian has his/her mind heart knit with the Lord prior to leaving earth. There is no chance after death to accept the Lord. Remember Abraham’s bosom, no one can come back from the dead or change their decision after death. It is because of a loving God that he does this… forces us to always be watchful and mindful of His words, His ways, His love… otherwise we could loot it up on earth and then die [see heaven and hell] and choose heaven then. Nope! This world would’ve been destroyed long ago, had that been God’s premise. It’s because of right standing people on God’s word why it’s together.
Lot
Noah
Babel
Revelation
Are all instances of civilization that looted it up, rejecting God, and the world for them was all destroyed along with their souls in hell.
God bless!
To PJGT: Triphala is an herb you can get from Mountain Rose Herbs. It does wonders to keep even folks with the most chronic conditions moving.
Lilly, your friend was given the blessing of you sharing your faith. The rest remains between your friend and God.
We had a grandchild born yesterday and were once again reminded of God’s wonderful ways. While the world often provides a bumpy path, we must remember to give thanks.
I am into week two of battle for the apple. With trees closely spaced together in intensive agriculture, intensive vigilance is part of the action.
Hanging mothballs in trees with leaf roller pests in both pear and apple stopped the leaf rollers. And it seems to have prevented deer damage so far. The hazard with mothballs is that ALL beneficial insects stay away too.
Three more types of pests appeared now.
Aphids making bubbly-shaped leaves which then curl to prevent effective treatment. First I did a cold water wash, two days later a soapy water wash, then a sprinkled wheat flour treatment.
I nearly killed the trees with the soapy water treatment. My big ego said go ahead and use Dawn. Don’t do this. Dawn is a fantastic soap that penetrates grease, etc., and also penetrates the leaf cells which then turn brown-black and die. I have now ordered Dr Broner Genuine Casteel soap, which is oil/fat based. The oily soap stays on the leaf surfaces and makes pests fall off/die.
Tree caterpillars fuzzy nests showed up. Treated with Bacillus thurigensis in water, sprayed. Need to repeat weekly.
A new bug appeared to me: Scale. This is little brown bumps with a hard shell over soft innards. They look like parts of the tree twigs. I may have to spray with Bordeaux Mixture. That treatment should have been done earlier, before flowering. So far I have been minutely working on removal and soapy spray, but the mcroscopic larvae crawl into leaf whorls and kill them, thus are inaccessible.
I just completed the Hands On Training session today for Church Security seminars. We got 8 of our church people through the scenario-based training. The course Psychologist, based out of Rawlins, Wyoming, gave a presentation on treatment of metal illness, PTSD, and brain damage where a 3 to 6 month treatment with glucose has cured 100 percent of his clients.
Sorry, I won’t boil down 4 hours into a nugget here. There was a lot of really meaty info on identification of mentally ill and brain damaged people and how to prevent them from committing mayhem. The course is highly recommended.
Fresh radishes from our Victory Garden tonight.
Oh, and my new .45ACP XD Mod2 is grouping 15 rounds into a 2.5 inch group at 30 feet. It’s going to be a keeper.
God Bless
Could you elaborate on the church security title and where one could find the information specifically the information on glucose and mental illness? I understand you didn’t want to share too much but perhaps point one in a direction. Search engine on shows church training seminars but would need more than Hand On Training to get better results.
Also, thank you for the information about the larvae. I am fighting several things in my garden this year, one which has taken over and killed the plants in a weeks time, or so. We have had much rain so at first I thought they were waterlogged but my daughter told me I had a infestation of some sort, even though I cannot see the bugs like she can. I will try dr. Bronners soap. I tried Dawn with some neem oil and water but it seems it was harsh and the leaves are drying out easily. I’m a new gardener so approach all this with fear and trepidation over possible garden losses.
We no longer use Dawn anywhere on the homestead. Too harsh, even, for humans. Seventh Generation makes excellent soap for dishes and clothes. Our other issue with Dawn is the scent–bringing on headaches.
The Seventh Generation is scent-free.
Carry on
Where are you getting it? I only see Prime Pantry option in Amazon??
Thank you.
LSM:
Sorry I am so tardy responding. I have been really busy the last few days.
Here is the link to the group I have been getting training from.
https://www.cv-ministries.com/
Dr David Stephens has a video link on this page. Just scroll down and it is on the right. He did a total of about 3 hours of lecture and training for us. He has not published his work yet, but explained to us that that he has treated over 300 patients and claims universal success with dosages of glucose over a 3 to 6 month period.
I am not a qualified or licensed health care provider, but I am going to attempt my own dosage of 24 grams of glucose taken orally four times per day and see if any difference occurs in sleep habit, mental efficiency, or if any adverse effects occur, for my own 90 day test period.
Using this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XM2UOEU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I am going to try this soap for garden use.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DCPQJ4W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Gardening requires a stout heart and redundancy. I always plant 3X the seeds I think I need, and always use closer spacings than the packet says. Because over the decades, my experience has been that bugs eat the young plants, careless watering or management on my part reduces the germination and growth.
For too much rain and wet soils I always raise the seed bed or dig a drainage trench next to the row, and I am now using row tunnels.
A framework is easy to build with cheap PVC pipes in 10 foot lengths, simply bent into hoops over your garden, poke the ends down into the soil 6 or so inches.. Drape a sheet of plastic over your hoops, weighing the edges down with rocks or wood or dirt.
Lift the plastic sides to water, weed, fertilize, harvest, or over heating.
You can also shade your hoop tunnel in hot sun.
Best Wishes and God Bless
FWIW, I’ve found that using 18″ lengths of re-bar at each end works more securely than simply poking the PVC into the ground.
Agree 100%. Especially so in area with winds over 20mph. Some folks are on a tight budget I have learned, and try to go cheaper. I’ve also seen a huge need to learn now how to establish both productivity and biosecurity for ‘the masses’ using baby steps and row tunnels are a great lead in to longer seasons and higher production.
I posted links here earlier for the best ones I found, which have 10 foot long fiberglass rods inserted into sleeves on the tunnel fabric. They are all out of them on the Amazon link.
But mine can be slid up and down, and stay in up position unless I intentionally slide them back down, to leave open for pollinators, etc. Then I slide them down at night for heat and prevention of predation.
This is the one, and they are fantastic:
https://www.amazon.com/Agfabric-Greenhouse-Hoophouse-Extension-Germination/dp/B00U4W3RFE/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=row+tunnel&qid=1560872291&s=gateway&sr=8-7
Thanks for being, James. We appreciate all you do to keep us rolling along and communicating here!
And BTW, this a a very busy time period in WA. I-1639 hits fully in 12 days. Orders for numbered items need to be placed now!