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:
The sheep in our Fiber Flock escaped their large pen last Sunday. The ram was apparently bored and he took out his aggression by butting one of the cattle panels — repeatedly, as rams tend to do — and broke the wires that were holding the panel to a T-post, at one end. Those wires have now been replaced with double-thickness wires, spaced much more closely together.
I’ve recently added one muzzleloader and 10 more pre-1899 cartridge guns to my Elk Creek Company inventory. These include a handly little Investarms Hawken .50 Percussion Blackpowder Carbine, a scarce Martini-Henry carbine chambered in .303 British, an engraved Remington double-barrel 10 gauge shotgun, a .44 Russian double action S&W top break revolver, a scarce U.S. Springfield Armory Ramrod Bayonet M1888 Trapdoor .45-70 rifle, and several M1891 and M1895 Mauser rifles. Take a look!
Now, Lily’s report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
The weather was very similar to last week, though our lows went down to twenty-three early Friday morning and our highs during the week went up to about 42 degrees on Thursday afternoon. Mostly cloudy with some sun peaking through from time to time in the afternoon. By Sunday night it looks like our nighttime temperatures may be in the teens. If so this will be the coldest we’ve been all winter.
Well, we had a fairly quiet week.
This week, I made our own toothpaste powder and oil pulling mixtures. I have been using Harry’s brand toothpaste and mouth rinse, but I don’t like mustard or strong cloves taste/burn. So I made my own with Sea salt, Bob’s Red Mill Baking soda, Duda’s Calcium Carbonate powder, and I put fresh mint leaves from the greenhouse on top to see if the mint oil taste would diffuse into the powder. (It didn’t.) I like how clean my teeth feel with this powder. I don’t care that there isn’t much taste of anything in it, and hopefully, no questionable chemicals, or sweeteners that may contribute to tooth decay. Additionally, I took Coconut oil, melted it and added Calcium Carbonate, and mixed it in for oil pulling. Why should we spend so much money on toothpaste when this is most natural and best for your teeth? By the way, I didn’t follow anyone’s recipe, I just “guestimated” what I thought would be good. So my tooth hygiene is to brush my teeth in the morning after breakfast, after lunch and before bed, and pull oil for twenty-minutes at night.
I bought twenty-something avocados on sale this week. They ripened, I cut them open, scooped them out in sections, and froze them for future smoothies or whatever.
I made chicken and beef stews that we ate for several dinners and lunches this week.
I made Einkorn sourdough bread and unsweetened muffin quick bread to eat with the chicken stew.
I made two quiche pies.
I froze about thirty-six eggs.
I cleaned the hen house.
I’ve been preparing for the hatching of the eggs that I am incubating this coming week. They are expected to hatch beginning on Monday. So I washed the small galvanized water trough that we use as a chick nursery. I put hay in it and brought it into the Great Room to warm up. I brought in a heat lamp and attached it to one of our laundry racks that overhangs the galvanized water trough, and their watering container. I washed both of them. I also retrieved the electrolyte powder from the storage cupboard and put it in easy reach in the Kitchen. I located our hot water bottles just in case of a power failure during their critical growth stage when they need a lot of heat. Now, I just need to grind up some grains and peas and collect the grit container from the henhouse for their chick starter and we will be ready to raise our baby chicks.
I negotiated the purchase of a new dairy cow. She will be coming home soon.
Of course, Jim and I took turns with animal chores each day, throwing hay, filling their water containers, and giving them their minerals. I’ve been offering all of them kelp granules each day. They all have access to Selenium salt blocks.
Jim and I, Miss Violet and our “pup”, went for a hike up into the National forest for about four miles. It felt really good to be outside. The snow depth is no more than six inches so we had no problem walking. We were on a National Forest road so most of it was packed by local snowmobiles. Also, many areas of the road were bare of snow, from wind scour, sun deposition, or canopy capture. It felt really good to walk that distance.
I wrote out Deuteronomy 13 and studied up on/reviewed spiritual gifts, the role of women in the church/ministry, The Law. Thus, I read in Genesis, Acts, 1 Corinthians, Timothy, etc. I also read Joel, Amos, Matthew, 5, 15, and Acts 15, Hebrews 4, Sabbath rest.
Keep preparing a little every day. Bring in more food, study to gain new skills, and practice them. Try to stay off of the Internet. Use cash more than your credit card. Keep a low profile both on the web and in public. Keep praying. Keep reading the Word of God. Preach the Gospel/witness whenever you are able. Jesus is Lord. He is returning very soon. The Mark of the Beast is coming fast, if it isn’t already here in some places. We will have to choose between it and Christ. Disengage from the worldly systems as much as possible.
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.