To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both 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 the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
We enjoyed a couple of nice three-mile hikes out in the adjoining National Forest this week. On one of these jaunts that was off-road, our daughter and I wore snowshoes, while Lily was on her cross-country skis.
I spent some time re-packing my two main medic bags, replacing some out-of-date medications and some older adhesive bandages. One of those bags is always kept in our SUV, and the other is positioned for quick access in our ranch house.
Thursday was a snowy day. As I was re-filling the wood box (one of my nearly daily chores), I saw that Lily was cleaning out the henhouse. So I helped her by dragging a couple of cargo sleds full of chicken manure out to the main garden. I am constantly amazed at Lily’s diligent industriousness. She is like the Energizer Bunny. And a cute snow bunny, too. One of my nicknames for her is: “Princess Cashmera.” She makes sweaters look gooood.
I shipped out a couple of Elk Creek Company antique gun orders in the last few days. My inventory has been getting thin. I’m looking forward to seeing some better road conditions and traveling weather this spring, so that I can get back to visiting gun shows in Idaho and Montana, to replenish my inventory.
Several hours this past week were dedicated to evaluating resumes and phone interviews with candidates that are hoping to fill a retreat/ranch caretaker position, on behalf of one of my consulting clients. We are still seeking candidates, so if that job interests you, then please get your resume in. Preference will be given to military veterans with overseas deployment experience in any of the combat arms branches.
Lily encouraged me to get back into doing calisthenics. We’ve been doing them five days a week. It is great to get back to having the same muscle tone in winter that I’ve traditionally had in just summer and fall.
Now, on to Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
Ha ha! As I sat down to type my portion of this post, I read Jim’s section to check in with his thoughts of our week. He was quite talkative to you this week about me and all we are doing here. He barely left me anything to say…. 😉 Jim is quite the guy himself, you know. I am extremely blessed to have him as my husband, work partner, and best friend. I love him dearly!
When I read Jim’s entry, I learned about one of his activities that I didn’t even notice him doing, his re-packing of his two First Aid packs. As it turns out, I also repacked my little first aid kit that I had had in my Bug Out Bag. Let me back up. A few weeks ago, Jim bought me a larger bag for my First Aid kit, to put some more items in that we decided we needed and didn’t have in there after the Wilderness First Aid course we took a month ago. So I transferred all of the First Aid kit out of my small red bag in to the new larger bag that goes with my Bug Out bag and then, this week I repacked the small red First Aid kit to use for my day hikes, ski outings, and whatever around here so I don’t have to disturb my bug out bag kit. I still have some more items to add to it.
I planted in seedling pots, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. This was a total of seven trays worth, and put them in the guest bedroom grow room under the grow lights. I also planted in trays lettuce and scallions.
Jim butchered three more roosters this week on a snowy day. It was very cold out, so Jim did only three. We still have about five more roosters to do on a warmer day in the near future.
I cleaned out the hen house as you saw Jim mention. I washed its floors with very light dilution of bleach water. I washed its walls and nesting boxes also. We will also be taking out some of my older hens in the future, too.
I loved our hikes this week and my cross-country ski session while Jim and Miss Violet snow-shoed. We went on a local hiking trail and I was really getting into it and so wanted to go much further, but we had to turn around because we need to get Miss Violet in better shape. We are working on it. I really want to get out skiiing in the backcountry but I have had no one to go with. Jim is a California boy and hardly did any skiing growing up. Miss Violet has skied with me, but she isn’t as in shape and skilled as I. Well, I finally had a serious talk with Jim and Miss Violet about it. As a result, Jim ordered ski boots for himself to go with the skis we already have. Somehow over the years, the boots that we had for him had disappeared. Miss Violet already has her skis and boots and she agreed to get out and practice with Dad.
Years ago, I used to instruct Cross Country skiing at a ski resort, so I will go out and help them learn and give tips. All they need is a week or two of serious practice and then I think we can ski some of the forest service roads into the backcountry. Jim’s replacement boots arrived on Thursday. The hiking and calisthenics are to get us in shape to do so while we have some winter left. It does appear that we are getting a “second” winter with an eight-inch snowfall this week, so we are going to do it!
We are doing the Calisthenics sometimes together, and sometimes on our own schedules. Jim joined Miss Violet and me a couple of times. He was so funny goofing around while doing the workout. He had me and Miss Violet laughing a lot. 😉 Fun times!
Of course, you gotta know how much our “Pup”, H., loves our hiking around! She runs off into the woods and when she is gone just a little longer than we’d like, we call her and she comes immediately back to us. I’m super glad that she seems to have the pack mentality with us and obeys for the most part. She willingly accepts when we call her to put the leash on her, because she knows it’s only for a short time until we have negotiated a county road and then we release her again as soon as all is safe. She is a smart girl.
A Cat Story
We had another amazing major miracle this week. I praise The Lord God, The Great I AM, who loves us and our pets and sent his angels to save one this week. Our male cat, M. who is dearly, dearly loved, came out into the garage with us, a totally normal and regular occurrence, as we were getting ready for our snowshoe and cross-country ski adventure in the morning. We were right at the open garage door helping Miss Violet with her snowshoes, while H. was running around and trying to get at M. in the garage. We didn’t think anything of it. They always play together. We didn’t know where he was in the garage and didn’t even think about him. And we have so many times closed the garage door knowing that the cats were in it. They usually run and hide somewhere in the garage when the door is in motion. They are usually very smart about moving machines. We didn’t know he was up on the top of the open door.
As soon as Miss Violet had her snowshoes on we called H. and stepped away from the door, I punched the button to close it. We walked a few feet away from the garage. We stopped to fiddle with our equipment, again. I heard the garage door stop closing. Jim was saying something to me when I heard an animal cry. I shushed him, and then we heard another cry, Jim heard that second cry and looked towards the garage. I was looking towards the garage but a tree was blocking my view. Jim saw M’s back legs hanging out the top of the garage door and yelled: “A cat is stuck in the door!” I stepped towards Jim and looked towards the garage and I cried out, when I saw him, immediately, I was in motion racing to the garage door, praying urgently, begging God to protect him, and begging God that the door would open immediately. I punched in the code numbers praying, the door opened right away, the cat jumped on top of the door and disappeared somewhere into the garage. I looked for him, calling him. I assumed it was the male kitty.
Jim and Miss Violet came to the garage right after me. I said that we had to postpone this outing. We had to see if there were any major injuries. Jim and Miss Violet walked around the house to the porch door to drop my skis on the porch and to get Miss Violet’s snowshoes off, while I went into the garage, closed the garage door again, so that cat didn’t run outside and disappear injured. I turned on the garage lights. I looked for M around the boxes under our shelving units but didn’t see him. I needed more light. So I quickly ran into the house to grab a flashlight and let Jim and Miss Violet in that other door. It was locked.
On the way back to the garage, I passed by our other kitty, snoozing in a hat and mitten box, and thus determined for certain that it was the Male kitty that had gotten caught. The two cats are exactly the same color and only some small other color markings on female’s chest and at the bottom of her belly helps us identify who is who. Actually, there are other ways too, of identifying them. The male is slightly thinner, and his face is thinner, too, but when you see them quick you might not know who is who without closer investigation, or seeing them together at the same time. But one must look at their faces to tell them apart when they’re together. If one looks down at their backs you cannot tell who is who. But if you can see their side profile and they’re together we can tell them apart. One can also tell them apart by their fur quality. The male’s fur is far more silkier than the female’s which is slightly coarser. Generally, also, one can tell by their behavior when one picks them up. The male always acts stiff and heads for one’s shoulders when he is picked up, while the female likes to be held crosswise across the one’s belly with her front paws over the left arm. 😉 So if one scoops up cat for a snuggle without knowing who it is, their behavior immediately tells you who it is. The female cat is now down to 12 pounds since the diet change which brings her closer to her brother’s weight.
I then ran back out to the garage with the flashlight, still praying the whole time that there would be no internal injuries and if there were, that God would immediately heal them. I saw M. at the bottom of a shelving unit tucked up against a box and some life jackets. I reached in and grabbed him by his scruff and pulled him out. He was traumatized!
I scooped him into my arms and brought him into the house and into our bedroom and put him on the bed. I gave him a quick look over and looked at his bottom to make sure everything was normal down there, no blood or intestines hanging out. I looked into his eyes and they were looking normal, but he still looked scared. I palpitated his spine. It was normal. He was walking around normaly, so no spinal injury. I let him go and he dashed under our bed. I had to get out of my outdoor clothes layer. I took them off and then reached under the bed and grabbed him by the scruff and again, pulled him out and laid down on our bed on my back and put him on my chest with my arms gently wrapped around him. His head was right by my chin. I was wearing one of my cashmere sweaters. Jim isn’t the only boy in our family that loves my sweaters… 😉
I snuggled up M. into my arms and held him tight, praying some more. M. realizing that he was safe and that I was wearing that wonderfully soft sweater, and I that was going to cuddle him, snuggled right into me, pushing his head right under my chin and began to purr as I loved him up with lots of kisses on his head, top of nose and ears and kept praying that he had no internal injuries. I held him and prayed for him for an hour and a half. If he was injured and dying, I wanted him to know he was loved. We were both traumatized, all four of us were, really!
I kept feeling his belly and spine looking for any pain reaction. There was none. After that hour and half, Jim prepared some canned tuna for M. and brought him out to the great room to eat it. He devoured it! It is now four days later and he appears to be just fine. It is a miracle! I am thanking and praising the Lord God, The Great I AM for His loving kindness and mercy to M. and us.
In thinking about this miracle, M. was stuck in the garage door less than 45 seconds and we were right there to rescue him. That was very little time for blood flow to be cut off to all parts of his lower body. His body bent the rubber seal at the top of the door. It is so odd, that he would have gotten stuck there, but as we went back over the possible scenario, he had been staying away from our dog. He went up onto the open door. Our shelving units are less than a foot and half away from the door when it is at the top. He was trapped on the far right side of the door. He must have panicked when it started up, but ran in the wrong direction. On the right side of the garage looking in from outside of the garage, up on the open door, there is nothing stable to jump down onto, just our trash can is there. And the floor is a long way down. Also, perhaps he went through the crack towards the outside and didn’t want to jump to the ground and leaped through the door towards the inside and got caught as it finished closing. He ran out of time. It was a good thing that it trapped him at his belly and not at his chest, hips, or head. He has a soft squishy belly that bounced back into it’s place the second he was released. Further, it was a good thing that we were going out locally and not getting in the car or we would have never seen or heard his predicament.
It truly was a miracle and he is doing fine and God healed him–if there was healing needed–because he is acting completely normal. Like little children, often are able to do, they seem to “bounce” and be okay. If he had acted hurt or in pain we would have taken him to the vet. But he did not. So we assume all is okay with him. I am still keeping a close eye on him and if anything changes we will take him to the vet if the need arises. Four nights later, after the incident, I got out his tiny toy gray mouse and threw it for him over the couch and he ran to the couch leaped off it grabbed the mouse, and brought it back to me. What a cool cat He is. I am still thanking our Lord God and praising His name over and over and over. He is so merciful to us! All praise and glory and honor and blessing are to Him alone. The Great I AM our Creator.
I also did some hiking on my own this week. In all, I’ve been out five times this week. I’m now up to twenty really good form, and fairly-paced with no rests girly push-ups. Jim teases me about not doing the full-on men’s push-ups. I can do about three of those in a row. I’m working on it. All in good time.
Our Shabbat Bible study group studied First and Second Thessalonians and Second Peter in the past two weeks. Miss Violet and I have listened to all the books between First Peter to Revelation this week and we listened to Genesis chapters 26- 40.
Please continue reading or listening to The Great I Am’s Word, praying and prepping and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will listen.
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.