To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, 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 your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
This past week I was very busy with fence building. I still have an additional 300-foot long cross fence to complete. But that will have to wait until the river level drops, and that pasture dries out. (It floods seasonally.) I also added a hot wire to the top of another 3,500 feet of fencing. That now makes our perimeter fully electrified. Hopefully, that will dissuade our Bovine Delinquents from any more fence-hopping.
While in the midst of the electrification project, I discovered that one of our corner posts had rotted out. This surprised me, because it was 14-inch diameter cedar log. It had been emplaced by the previous owner of the ranch. (Hence, sometime before 2006.) Because of some complicating factors, replacing that turned into a six-hour project. It just goes to show that nothing lasts forever — not even a big cedar fence post.
I also burned two slash piles this past week. The rest of the piles–with boughs that are more green–will be burned this coming fall.
I’ve put Elk Creek Company on hiatus while I travel during the month of June. Part of that trip will be dedicated to searching for more inventory. I should mention that it is becoming very difficult to find any affordable pre-1899 cartridge guns. They are “getting bid up to the sky.” My plan is to re-open on July 1st, with pricing denominated in pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage, with a multiplier for payments in Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) — by check or postal money orders. Thanks for your patience.
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This week at the ranch was very rainy! Thank You, Lord!
I saw the mother Wood Duck that was nesting in the aspen tree at the edge of our near house meadow early one morning, foraging around our meadow with her two ducklings.
Our open meadow has flooded enough for me to go for a canoe paddle. While paddling, I saw a small flock of something flying over our ranch with curved long bills about the size of a small Ibis?
We began the week by attending the wedding of our daughter-in-law’s sister, a very sweet young couple, a beautiful wedding, indeed! While at the reception, Miss Eloise and I, (Miss Violet and Jim preferred to observe the reception festivities) looked after/stood guard over our grandsons and a good portion of their small cousins out in the playground and in a playroom, so their parents could enjoy themselves and do the work necessary for hosting the reception. Literally, there are more than a dozen cousins with the majority of them under the age of eight years old and with more on the way. Jim likes to Joke with our grandsons and their parents telling them that they have, “Cousins by the Dozens.”
We’ve come to know most of them and love them all. I know most of their names. It’s such a blessing for them all to live close to each other and to be able to grow up together. All of their parents for the most part share in the same values and all get along super well together. This is a wonderful family that I feel very blessed to be a part of. I always come away from these get-togethers with a joyful heart and smile on my face. Every time I think of them, joy, bubbles up within my heart. Such fun and pleasant times with them.
Of course, after hanging out with small people, Miss Eloise and Miss Violet came down with spring colds three days later. I caught it at the end of the week. Along with the colds, rain and running to town twice for errands, not as much outdoor work was done this week.
This week I went through my closet and Miss Violet’s, and culled out the clothes we no longer wear for various reasons and brought them to the thrift store and received an order for some pants and shorts for her that she needed.
I spent time, organizing a food storage dishes cupboard and the refrigerator.
I started to mow the orchard paths and the mower quit on me and wouldn’t start, so that was brought to the fix-it shop. I really wanted a traditional push mower, so Jim picked one up for me this week. Except for tall dandelions, it cuts grass quite well. It’s a nice and quiet, and exhaust-free workout. I like it. Now once I cut the orchard grass with the weed whacker, it’s about two feet tall, I will be able to use the little hand-mower after that.
Let’s think… In the Main garden, in large pots mostly filled with soil, I turned over with a shovel and added fresh compost and Azomite all-around vegetable fertilizer to prepare it for planting. I planted thirteen black zuchinni seedlings in a bed. I am very frustrated to be sick at this time of the year and as of Friday night have a low-grade fever and feel pretty lousy. I spent the past two days laying on the living room floor on my sleeping pad and my very old high school sleeping bag (My adult “blanky” ;-), surfing the Internet, sipping glasses of water mixed with grape juice and taking vitamins and minerals and eating superfoods. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better in a few days. The girls are now in the coughing stage. Jim may have escaped it??? Time will tell. Every now and then, M. our boy kitty, comes over for a snuggle. He shoves his mug up under my chin really hard and sleeps like that. He loves to be snuggled. He is such a kitty!
I have the first half of the Greek Alphabet memorized and am working on the second half. I have also returned to DuoLingo to study Greek with them. One can study almost any language with DuoLingo. Check it out. I spent the week listening and reading to the Christian bloggers and Vloggers that I like and did a bit of Hebrew review on DuoLingo, but didn’t study any New Testament or Psalms. Well, I attempted to study a little bit of Psalm 37. It’s too intense of a study when one’s under the weather. My brain can’t handle it.
Denmark is rolling out the digital passport…..Keep watch and keep praying that you would escape all things…
May you all have a very blessed and safe week.
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
o o o
As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week. We want to hear from you.