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 [1], 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:
We had a fairly quiet week. With about 26 inches of snow now on the ground, and more coming [2], I’ve had to plow snow several times. If the weather pattern this autumn is any indication, it looks like we will be in for a long, snowy winter.
I’m continuing to make progress on my workshop remodeling projects. On Thursday, I installed a staircase. Next, I plan on decking the second-story floor with 3/4-inch tongue and groove plywood. Then it will be time for the second-story wall construction, with paneling and then shelving.
I set up one of the grow lights in our guest bedroom, to keep some winter greens growing.
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This week, we had a huge snowstorm that dumped just about two feet of snow! Beautiful! Generally, we don’t receive this much snow until the end of December. Not at the end of November and first day of December. It has been a lot of work with shoveling paths, stairs, and entrances to animal sheds, and plowing.
A funny horse story: While I was using the straw broom to brush snow off our SUV, the horses were milling around me, watching me and “asking” me to give them their afternoon meal. As I finished brushing off the sides of the car and the roof sections I could reach, I paused and held the broom across my arms with the brush towards S. our dominant horse, not on purpose. I was trying to decide if I really wanted to be done. There was still snow on the center of the roof and I am not tall enough to reach it and I was looking at it wondering if I should climb up there? While I looked at the snow and debated in my mind. S. grabbed the broom in her mouth and tried to eat it! As I tried to pull it away from her we had a momentary tug o war. I was slightly startled that she thought that it was a food source. I never thought that a broom — that I think as a tool — would look like food to the horse after she had just watched me use it as a tool to clean off the SUV. Interesting thought process…
M. our male cat and H. our young dog have been playing together in a very cute way. M will get up on the back of a recliner and face the dog who is trying to gently mouth/bite him. He will then with a look of boredom will gently bat with his paw at the dog’s nose. They will do this over and over again to stave off winter confinement boredom. So cute.
I walked and worked-out vigorously with bands and weights three times this week. I needed days off between these workouts to let my muscles heal.
I continue to study Isaiah in Hebrew and now am in chapter 9.
Isaiah 9:6-7:
Take the time to listen to Glenn Beck’s Dream. [3]
May you all have a very blessed and safe week.
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
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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.