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47 Comments

  1. Well, congrats on your new baby calf! I hope she does well, and it sounds like she will if you have relatively dry weather and she is already nursing. I understand how challenging it can be to get a new momma cow to cooperate when you want them to move to a more predator-proof location. We ultimately decided that leaving horns on our cows helps them all protect themselves, but every operation is different of course.

    As for names, may I humbly submit my suggestion for some feminine version of John, since she was born on 12/27, which is the feast of St John the Apostle, the patron saint of writers!). ;). What fun! I hope you end up with a fabulous name for her!

  2. It’s been a quiet week. Have you ever sold a firearm and later regretted it? I did. It took some hunting but this week I found an identical one NIB and bought it. Ah….

    I also watched a great movie that was recommend by Mr. Rawles. It is ‘E.M.P. 333 Days’ available to rent on Amazon for $2.99. An 11 year old girl must fend and fight for herself while trying to find her father. As one reviewer described it, “A wonderful little movie with tons of teaching moments”

  3. Congrats on the calf; some good things happening at last! Even sweet feed wouldn’t entice mamma to follow you? They can be stubborn but if sounds like she’d fight off anything that tried to attack. For a name, how about “Sheleg”(snow)? 😉

    1. שלום אני,

      אולי ״שלג״ 🙂 בואו נראה

      Yes, I tried the sweet feed method. Both trying to get her to follow the bucket and putting little piles a bit apart from each other. Nope, no go. I will write about my night with them if a few minutes. 🙂

      לֹלי

      2. Curiosity got to me – saw the video and I appreciate the Hebrew lyrics. Presently I am taking a few courses with Charis Bible college and find the language fascinating. Consider naming the little one ” emet “. Wonderful to see the Hebrew script use the alpha and omega to represent truth.

  4. I have been off all week and have been doing a lot of little chores. Finished spreading the tri-axle load of bank gravel (did this all by hand and wheel barrel. Will be getting more in the spring but hope to have a tractor by then. Our well is back in action with the new a submersible pump. I am thinking about having it baled out since the well is over 50 years old and I don’t know if it has been done before. We got new neighbors but we haven’t met them yet since they are busy getting moved in. Neighbor butchered two cows so we have another quarter side of beef coming. Inventoried all my gasoline, propane, kerosene and lamp oil and placed it on my white board in barn workshop. I had 14 gallons of ethanol free gas that was purchased in June of 2017. I was a little perplexed by this since I buy may gas in September when the formula changes. Perhaps that is when things were tense with Iran. Anyway the weather here has been warmer than normal so I put some in the truck and generator to use up while it’s warm (I run the barn right now on a generator). My favorite project had to be the repurposing of two Stainless steel IKEA wine bottle holders that I picked up at Salvation Army. I screwed them on the wall in the barn and that is were I store my aerosol cans of Fluid Film, penetrating oil, White lithium grease, etc. still re-organizing stuff in the barn and workshop. Awhile back I pick up 2 wood shipping crates from work that were about 8’ long by 4’ high by 2’ wide. I have been busy filling those up with items that I don’t use or don’t use a lot. I am also trying to organize my peg boards. Noticed that I had extra spark plugs for my chainsaw and some other devices but I don’t think I have any for my generators so I put those on my list to buy. I have to get our main snow blower into town to have it repaired. I can’t figure it out. It is getting way too much fuel, choke isn’t stuck.

    1. Does your snow blower have a diaphragm carb or float carb or…?

      If it has a diaphragm carb, the diaphragms will get stiff and need replacement. Usually that starves it for gas but you never know. Sometimes you find yourself running partial choke to compensate.

      If it has a float carb the float needle will frequently gum up and can stick or may not seal allowing the float level to rise to high and provide too much gas. From a distance I would give this good odds of being your problem as something the size of a snow blower could have a float carb. Might be able to fix it with no parts but just some cleaner and compressed air but a kit is always good to keep you going a few touble free years.

      Small engine carb kits usually run in the neighborhood of $10 in my experience. Cheap whole replacement carbs are all over Amazon and work fine by most reviews. If the carb has not been adjusted a lot to compensate for something wrong, any adjustment screws can be screwed all the way in carefully counting and recording turns and partial turns and then removing them. After blowing everything apart and cleaning it just put the screws in all the way and then back them out the same as before and you should be in pretty good shape.

      If you already know all this please excuse my advice. Some people are intimidated by carbs for some reason but if you are not I hope I have not insulted your intelligence.

      1. I am fine with small engines. Everything seems fine. I hadn’t run it very much since we didn’t live here full time so it only go run a few times a year for the past 3 years. I only use ethanol free gas. Now that I’m writing this I didn’t check to see if there was spark. Hmmmmm.

    1. Hi Larry,

      So I have been thinking about those miniature flashlights. They were made of a silver colored metal body with a red plastic cone. I believe they were “Ever Ready” Flashlights??? They took one AA battery. Does that ring a bell? 😉 I thought they were just sooo cute when I was a kid!

      Blessings,

      Lily

  7. Sorting and organizing has been my ongoing project. I just feel inclined to know what we have where. Prayers for the calf, mama and you out there tonight.

    Final company left this morning and the remainder of the family is working, so I’m here to hold down the fort. I’ve a ton of celery to process in the dehydrator. I also have all of the meat scraps that I’ve put in the crockpot to cook down and add to the dogs’ food.

    Two of the sleds are not working well, so we will be having them looked at. Older machines are frustrating, but a whole lot cheaper than new ones! Besides, we don’t need the racing power of a new snowmobile. Though my son might be saving up for one that will go anywhere anytime.

    We are so thankful for a peaceful and bountiful Christmas this year. It is definitely a temptation not to eat all the goodies we have been blessed with! The practical gifts were welcomed and appreciated. There was no whining; just joy. Looks like we have socks aplenty.

    Blessed

  8. Yes, congrats on the baby calf and holding the fort down while Jim is away. Skype is a great way to communicate. We did it with our family while moving to our retreat. We had Thanksgiving on skype during our first year. Not quite the same but probably the next best alternative.
    We spent most of the week with family and friends. Other than that most of the pantry and medical/first aid/toiletry area has been straightened out and reorganized. Just one more section to do under the stairs. Doing a little PSK31. Looking forward to finishing the basement wall so we can put our radio cabinet up the way it was back home. This will begin right after New Years…the whole family has been put on notice! That’s the NEXT project!
    We are also guilty of spending way too much time on the computer. Mostly YouTube and mostly for learning.
    Thank you for the “heads up on the China/Russia joint exercises.
    Hoping everyone has a safe and blessed New Years day and for the return of our Lord.

  10. Murdoch’s had a sale on .556 at $249.00 per thousand.Who could resist? Made in the USA.
    Somehow a Ruger AR-.556 Pistol fell into the cart. Granny loves it and now she wants a
    SIG Romeo-5. The length and light weight make it a good choice for an older lady.
    The never ending fire wood splitting took up some time this week but that’s good.

    We are working hard to top off our preps as much as possible.The kids and grand kids all live 1100 miles away.They think we are delusional when it comes to prepping but I cling to my fantasy that when things go bad maybe they can make it to our place and we can save them.

    1. NormlChuck,

      I was just at the gun shop a week ago and was looking at an AR pistol with brace. I just about put it on layaway but I don’t need another gun. But then again that has never stopped me before. My friend has one and loves it.

      1. The Ruger was evaluated on this site back in June with high marks except for trigger pull.Thats an easy fix.It appears that production has caught up with demand so prices are down somewhat.
        The security detail at our place will be just the two of us so we needed a shooter that she is comfortable with.

  11. JWR and Lily,

    My work has always taken me away from home for periods of time. I am in the Marine industry. Although it is less frequent than in the past I have to go offshore periodically without adequate communication and I frequently end up in some distant hotel prepping a boat for a remote job. I recently left for a job on my wife’s birthday and was gone for our anniversary.

    Whenever you leave, things always happen. Cars break. Animals die. Plumbing malfunctions. Kids get sick. ….

    The tough part though is being separated from you spouse. It can really suck all of your motivation out of you to be separated from probably your biggest source of motivation. It’s tough when you are “one flesh” and half of you is not there.

    Just wanted you to know someone understands how difficult this period has probably been. And although I am very careful to never claim I speak for God or know for sure what He would say, my guess is He will reward you for your faithfulness to your relative.

    Hang in there. Sounds like it is almost over.

  12. Based on some reading I have done in “A New Little Ice Age Has Started” I am considering putting down rock phosphate and green sand in my garden.

    Does anyone have experience with this stuff? Does it work? Any pitfalls?

    2. I use both on my garden, but use equal parts high calcium lime with the soft rock phosphate. Mix them together well just before application. I recommend the book “Nourishment Home Grown” by Dr. Beddoe.

      1. Thank you for the links.

        I have tested my soil in the past but the testers I have used covered only nitrogen and pH. Both have usually been good because I amend with manure and grass clippings and other things.

        This last year my garden production was poor but so was the production of many gardens and farms in my area. Ice Age Farmer has a link with a measure called GDD (growing degree days) which is basically how much useful heat for growth was present in a year. I was down 15% from the previous year so that may account for it. However I also know my natural soil is garbage where I live. Glacial till. I have been amending it and making it passable for 20 years. When I read “A New Little Ice Age Has Started” the authors experiences sounded familiar and made me start thinking of other amendments for a broader range of substances.

        I also have to provide quite a bit of minerals supplements to my goats because of the poor mineral content of much of my land.

        My next step will be to contact my County Co-op and find out how to get my soil tested professionally to zero in on the solutions.

        The comments in the first article you linked were quite interesting. Appears to be quite a divergence of opinion on this subject.

  13. Hey Everybody,

    I just spent an hour writing my comment about last night and hit something and it all deleted. Grr. It was just getting to the good part. I was telling about the clothes I wore, the animals behavior the beauty of the night, etc. I will have to write it again later. I have a few other things to do just now.

    Okay, I will try again to write about it. It’s a nice story. Maybe, I will have it for comments later today or tomorrow or it can be an article for this week.

    Lily

  15. Congrats on the calf, that must be an amazing thing to experience.

    Spent the week here cussing modern technology while trying to get one of my vehicles running. I wish they would have left the coil where it belongs instead of now there’s six of ’em, one on top of each spark plug. And a “crankshaft position sensor”? No wonder why I couldn’t find the distributor! I thought it was the cataracts. I’m gittin’ too old fer this stuff.

    On the bright side, this will be year three in my beekeeping adventures and a neighbor just taught me how to split hives. So I took inventory this week of my lumber on hand so I can start getting some more hives and frames put together to be ready come April. My DIY swarm traps this year worked so I’m hoping to catch more in 2020 and see if I can sell a few beehives to people who are just starting out.

    A wren, my favorite bird, got into the house on Christmas day and in all the frenzy crashed into a window and knocked herself silly. It took about 30 minutes to come back to her senses so I got to hold her and look at her up close while she recovered. They are fun little birds and it was a rare treat to hold her and feel her heart beating. There’s a small box of plumbing fittings in my garden shed, just below eye level, where they nest each spring and I can get within 18″ before she takes off. They eat insects so we have a good working relationship. 🙂

    2020 is going to be an interesting year in the world, I wish the best to everyone!

    1. Dear St. Funogaas,

      Thank you for writing in and sharing your wren story. It is a wonderful experience to hold God’s beautiful little critters, while helping them to recover from their bumps! 🙂 This gave me another smile. 🙂

      Blessings,

      Lily

  16. SVM… yes, the comments are SO encouraging and informative. They are my favorite part also so asked a few days back if they are included on the USB sticks to be available soon…YES was the answer and i look forward to them being one of the first items my gift $ is spent on. (Now i will need a Tablet that will read it!)

    A.L….looking forward to the story coming! (Having done this often when the computer times you out, grrr is right.) Word smithing doesn’t come easy so when you are tickled with your results, starting over is frustrating!

    Moving your winter crops out of the house is an accomplishment as well as feels very freeing. Just wintering over the few cold sensitive plants i do is frustrating and challenging. Have been trying to eliminate purchasing/starting from seed things that won’t be easily available in the future to see what is possible and the best way to do so WITHOUT growlights. The clear tote idea sounds like a season extender for us since no greenhouse is present.

    3AD Scout… kudos to your impressive effort in relocating such a large amount of gravel! Bit by bit is how it’s done. (It’s a slower pace for me than years gone by but one keeps going.)

    JBH… in my conversations locally, azomite rock dust has come up as a soil amendment that has done much to improve the health of plants. Gardens in the same area with much the same moisture, soil and sun show marked improvement with over those without.
    Will check into the phosphate and green sand also…Thanks for pointing them out!

    The beginning of the new year does have one looking to organize and eliminate that which is unnecessary. THANK YOU for being so humble as to share your abundantly stocked junk drawer with us so we are also motivated to tackle our own unmentionables. It ALWAYS seems a monumental task…bit by bit again, is the mode of operation!

    Far be it for me to suggest a name for your unexpected December blessing. Having waited for the appropriate name to be apparent for our puppy these past seven weeks, and not finding it yet, it might end up being voted on by the grands. Sometimes one makes it harder than it has to be 🙂

    Blessings as the New Year is celebrated together with those you love…

  17. Had a wake-up call last week when I ended up in the hospital with a bad case of pneumonia and realized my Will needs some work. My question is; What do I need to do to transfer my firearms?

    1. It depends on your state laws. Assuming you want to transfer to a son or daughter or other close relative I know of no federal restrictions and even some states that have background check requirements have exceptions for close family.

    2. Transfer of _ownership_ may be different than transfer of _possession_ depending on the state you are in and the age of your children. Firearms are just property and there are no special requirements for transferring ownership of that property. However, if your children are minors, or live in a different state, or are otherwise restricted from firearm ownership, they may not be able to legally take possession of the property.

      An example, if I die in Idaho and my will transfers all property to a child living in New York City, they would not be able to take possession of the firearms in NYC until applying for needed permits and waivers – including transfer tax.

  18. I’m not too concerned with Russia, China, and Iran doing war-games. As long as our Navy keeps it’s distance there should be no problems. If Saudi Arabia or Israel attempt to stick their noses (or warships) where they do not belong, screw them. No need to poke the bear, not yet anyway. The big question is, who are they war-gaming against? There is always a proposed target for war-game exercises no matter who is running the games.

    We war-game all the time with our allies. I keep hoping the next time we war game with S.Korea and Japan, that we would invite the N.Koreans to join in the fun. Instead of war gaming against N.Korea, we could war game against Indonesia or Australia, or maybe even India. It’s just supposed to be training after all. We could also try it with Iran against Saudi Arabia. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Frankly I would trust Iran a heck of a lot more than I trust the Saudi Kingdom. That government is really not our friend, and never has been.

    Our government has picked some really lousy allies over the years. That is part and parcel to a lot of the global tensions at present. That failure on DC’s part is exactly why, almost to a man, our founders said “no entangling alliances”. Or as Thomas Jefferson put it: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” I think that is sage advice that our “ruling class” should be forced to heed.

    1. NorthKorea…The news was full of reports on Dec 23 and 24 that NK has a Christmas surprise!!!

      Um, where’d it go???

      Who is less trustworthy, N Korea or mainstream media?

      Carry on

  19. Am resuming “Swedish death cleaning” after a very busy Christmas week. I was given a book called Swedish Death Cleaning last Christmas, thinking it was a Millennial take on house cleaning. Wrong! It was written by a 70+ Swedish woman who wanted to speak frankly about the need for all of us to pare down our possessions as we age and near death. She is both straightforward and understanding, a nice combination. I have found you don’t need to be elderly to use her methods — we spend WAY too much time tending our stuff. And getting rid of unnecessary things leaves more room and time to manage preps. I also use Marie Kondo’s questions — do I love it? is it necessary? — to help with the paring down. I’ve successfully gone through several areas of the house this past year with much satisfaction!

  20. This may help. Take a clothes hanger and hang a shirt on it that has been worn for at least a day and has a good human scent. A lighter color would help. Then hang it on a limb near your cow/calf pair. Predators will smell human and if the wind blows they will see something moving and likely keep their distance. I do this in the fall of the year when the bucks enjoy rubbing my young pine trees to death. It’s not 100% but I’ve noticed that it keeps the deer away until they finally get wise to the trick.

  21. Several comments today.

    I am pleased to see more women posting to this blogsite. You bring great perspective and wisdom. Perhaps someday my sweet spouse will see fit to add her two cents.

    As I sit here listening to the Nutcracker Suite (so lovely), I imagine myself getting all my vast food stores organized so I can put my hands on what I want when I want it and prevent needless expenditure of time and money.

    Now, I am off to deliver two copies of the book on infant massage by Vimala Schneider to some neighbors who might have use for them soon.

    Carry on

  23. We finally got cleaned up from the Christmas season. We got the brush pile burned down, as that’s where we’re going to put our garden in the spring. It’s going to be double the size it was last year, since we also got a new food dehydrator and we’ll be putting it to good use. My new job as a process server is taking a lot of time away from home, but it’s also bringing in a better income than we’ve had in a while.

    Since it’s the end of the year, we’re going over all of our preps to see what we’re short on, or what needs to be swapped out. It’s a never ending process, that’s for sure!

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