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:
This past week I did a lot of outdoor work. I burned one last slash pile. I kept adding some old deadfall from the adjoining woods, including a couple of stumps that must have weighed 120 pounds each. In anticipation of the rains that arrived at mid-week, policed up a lot of gardening tools that had been left out. I also winterized our guest cabin, and I did some organizing in our shop. Most of that involved sorting and relocating drill bits, wire wheels, and other accessories for my new-to-me 1962 vintage drill press. I also co-located my antique braces and bits, and both my corded and 18 VDC DeWalt battery drill motors. It is great to finally get all of the drilling/abrasives stuff together in one place!
On Friday, I attended a gun show in Lewistown, Montana. That is a very long drive for me. But it is a good opportunity to meet with gun show vendors who I don’t see very often. My hunt for pre-1899 cartridge guns continues. I picked up a nice Pietta .44 percussion revolver and a Winchester Model 1886 chambered in .45-90 — both for my Elk Creek Company inventory.
Now, Lily’s report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This week the weather was rainy and overcast until the end of the week when the sun came out. We also had a very light frost that took out some of the squashes. It appears that the raspberries survived. It looks as though another frost won’t come for at least another week.
I prepared the beds and planted garlic.
I cleaned the animal stalls and sheds numerous times. It is easier to keep them clean and to clean them if I do it at least twice a week. I’ve been spreading the manures around fruit trees and around raspberries and asparagus.
I also scrubbed the three water tanks of the large animals. I do this about three times a month, I just usually forget to mention it.
I continue to dry, save. and package up seeds for future years.
I finished reading The Way to the Western Sea by David Lavender which is a book about the Lewis and Clark expedition. I very much enjoyed it.
In my Apocrypha studies, I temporarily switched from reading the book of Jubilees to read the book of Jasher. I may comment on it next week.
This has been a very upsetting week for many of us with the “surprise” attack from Hamas into Israel and the heavy response Israel has thus far meted out. I am super sad for all of the innocent victims of these evil acts.
I publicly say that I support the people of Israel — the Am HaAretz, but I do not support their evil government. Likewise, I support the Palestinians who had no part in this assault and who just want to live their lives in peace. I am against their evil leadership, as well. For that matter, I believe that the U.S. Federal government is also evil. These evil governments are using their people as human shields or cannon fodder to further their evil agendas. Please listen to the interview where Canadian Prepper interviews Israeli Rafi Farber. He is just one of many Israelis speaking out against the lack of timely response to the breach in the Gaza fence.
I believe we have just entered the Days of Sorrow spoken of in the Gospels, particularly in Matthew 24.
Please finalize your preps, stay out of crowds, and be ready to defend yourselves and the ones around you.
Pray Psalm 91.
Pray for the safety of you and yours.
Pray for Salvation through faith in Jesus (Yeshua) for both Jews and Muslims participating in and or experiencing repercussions from the current conflict.
Many innocent people from both groups will be losing their lives and entering into eternity in the days to come and need to have the chance to know Jesus’ salvation before that day comes.
Pray for the injured that they would be healed Spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally and will not further contribute to this madness.
Pray that level heads will prevail.
Pray for peace!
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.