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 had a fairly quiet week, here at the Rawles Ranch. I caught up on cataloging some antique cartridge guns and some modern blackpowder percussion guns in the Elk Creek Company online catalog. Even more will be added within the next two or three weeks.
I did some End-of-Year reorganizing and cleaning in my office — which is just one end of our bedroom. I cleared my desk, cleared my work table, and reorganized the nearby disorganized closet. The closet wasn’t quite as bad as “Fibber McGee’s Hall Closet“, but it was close to it. A few tools and a Tipton rifle vise on the work table were also moved out to our workshop. I did all this while alternately vacuuming and dusting, as I went. It all now looks neat and tidy.
During a break in the rain, I did some wood splitting and stacking. I’m hoping for dry weather, so that I can get another cord split.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This week the weather was downright rainy with temperatures hovering between 34 and 39 Fahrenheit night and day.
This week I froze about three dozen surplus eggs in ice cube trays and then put them into a gallon-sized freezer Ziplock bag, now that our hens are laying once again.
I bought sixteen avocados. When some of them were ripe, I cut them up and froze them and then put the frozen pieces in quart baggies and put them back in the freezer to use in future smoothies.
I made Butternut squash cream soup. I froze two quarts of it.
I cleaned out the hen house a couple of times and the cow stalls.
I did vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, laundry.
I planted another bussing tray with collards and put it under the grow lights in the guest bedroom.
I worked some more on the cleaning up the loafing area where the horses and the bull get their daily rations. Now the center of the loafing area is cleaned up nicely. I just have a couple of edges to finish cleaning. One of the edge areas is where I actually feed them their hay. It is at this point an area of about three feet by twelve or so feet. It is soaking dripping wet heavy, hay, mud, and some manure that I am scooping up. It is about four inches deep, therefore it is a lot of weight in the wheelbarrow to transport to the compost pile.
The whole loafing area is probably about fifty feet by sixty feet. The depth of the hay in the whole area was not four inches, but with one to two inches of hay, manure and mud, still being so heavy, was the reason it is taking so long to get it cleaned up. Plus, I keep picking up the fresh manure that is dropped in the already cleaned up areas. Keeping livestock fed and their areas clean takes a lot of work. In a couple of weeks it looks like we may be getting sub-freezing temperatures. The manure freezes to the ground. When this happens, I won’t be picking up frozen manure until the next thaw. So, I like to lessen the load as often as I can, so it won’t be a huge job, come the spring thaw.
Last year when we had our more than a dozen cows and the two horses, I fed them out in the meadow so that their manure would fertilize it. But with only three large animals loose this year, it’s easier to just feed them near all the other animals and to tote the manure to the manure pile.
We had four bussing trays full of apples from our apple trees that were starting to go bad. I sorted through them. I found a bussing tray worth of good apples that I washed and put in the kitchen refrigerator. I love eating fresh apples. Then I took the really rotten ones and threw them into the compost pile. There were about 15 of those apples. A bunch of apples that were still pretty bad for us but okay for the animals were given to the turkeys and the horses. Then the rest that had brown spots or limited area rottenness, I cut out the bad spots, sniffed the apple to make sure it was okay, then, peeled and sliced them. With those, I made two apple pies. I froze two quarts of fresh apples for future apple pies. I made one dehydrator load of my dehydrated apple cashew pancakes. The rest of the apples, I turned into apple vinegar — two gallons worth. That was a busy day. There were peelings and such that were not good enough for the vinegar that I gave to the sheep.
This is an incredible video. Must listen to it. “How ‘They’ Use Your Energy Against You…”
I continued writing out Deuteronomy Chapters 7-9.
I wrote the following before finding the above mentioned video on Friday. The above video just confirms what the Father led me to write below:
Jesus is returning so soon, Ya’all. Time to repent and get in close to him and be prepared to refuse the Mark of the Beast. It comes so soon. Much much sooner than we all think. Beware that the one who you think is saving our country could very well be the Antichrist. The greatest deception Christianity has ever seen. Don’t be deceived. Keep your eyes wide open. Don’t let ANY man deceive you. NONE! Follow no man save Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes in the Word of God. Keep fasting and praying and reading the Word. Repent of everything in your life that God would consider to be a sin and if you cannot think of something that needs repentance ask the Father if there be something. Be ready and willing to give up your life for Jesus for His Word and the Testimony of Him. We are entering even more perilous days.
The Seven Seals of Revelation are just about here, especially, war, famine, and persecution. Get ready! Circumcise your heart. It is time! Preach the Word and Salvation of Jesus to all you meet. The door is rapidly closing. Jesus is LORD! He loves all of you! He doesn’t wish for any of us to lose eternal life!!! Call on His name and confess your sins and repent of them leave them behind you and Jesus will be faithful to forgive you. Bow not down to this worldy system. Come out of it:
- Come out of its religious system, Most churches and denominations are compromised.
- Come out of its medical system, its vaccines and drugs are weakening you and killing you and your loved ones — left, right, and center.
- Come out of its political system, both parties are on the same team controlled by the elites, playing different roles to deceive the people. The contrived political system is system is playing with you. And they, the elite, are laughing at your gullibility and are exalting that they have caused such great division among our families and friends in our once great country.
- Come out of its economic system, learn to grow your own food, to hunt, to forage and to pray for your provision. Jesus will keep you fed and clothed in the wilderness and will supply you with His Manna in that day. Trust in him.
- Come out of its educational system. They are teaching you mostly how to be a slave to them from the cradle to your death. Put aside the media except to know the basics of what is happening in the world. the media and the internet are the bread and circuses of our minds that are dulled by hours of sitting in front of the screen.
Jesus loves you. He is calling for you! Time is extra short now.
May You All Remain Safe, Blessed, and Hidden in Christ Jesus,
– 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.