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 week, we did some organizing here at the ranch.
I slaughtered and butchered seven older laying hens. It was only 25 degrees F. out in the barnyard, so I had to make quick work of it.
I did a big Apple Sort in one of our cool storage rooms this week. We still have about 150 pounds of apples remaining from the fall harvest. I culled out any that were going bad. We do this sorting a couple of times every winter. The really icky-looking ones went in a couple of buckets to be dumped in a compost pile. The “so-so” looking ones with brown spots went to the horse and cows.
On New Year’s Day, I went on a hunt for old C-Cell and D-Cell Maglite flashlights in our shop, house, and vehicles. I also ordered a few more, via eBay. I plan to register them as suppressors, with the ATF. (We already have a family firearms trust, so they will be registered in the name of the trust.) As of January 1st, 2026, the Federal “silencer” tax dropped from $200 to $0, for each “can.” After I have their Form 1s approved, I may then legally rebuild the flashlights into functional suppressors. There will be a mix of .22, .300, 9mm, and .45 models. That should be a fun and thankfully now quite inexpensive project. And, unless some draconian legislation comes along, it will also leave a lasting legacy for our children and grandchildren, who are named in the trust.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
Winter is settling in here at the Rawles Ranch. The weather was mostly clear until the end of the week when the snow and rain returned. We had a two-inch snowfall overnight, Thursday to Friday, then the rain came in. Our lowest night-time temperature was twenty degrees Fahrenheit and it was mostly about twenty-five degrees for highs during the day until Friday when the Temperatures went back up above freezing to 35 Degrees Fahrenheit. So for the year 2025, according to our rain gauge, we received 48.1 inches of precipitation.
Life has slowed down this week. We continue to maintain that which we have. We are just doing the usual animal chores twice a day. I’m no longer milking the cow. Last week, she only gave me half a quart three days in a row. The stress and preparation for milking her for that amount is not worth it to me. I’m glad to be finished with the milking for the rest of the season. In March, I will begin milking again after my meat and dairy flock birth their lambs. We have a lot of frozen sheep and cow milk to hold us for a while.
I baked two of the butchered hens inside our wood cook stove in a Dutch oven. The rest were boiled, de-boned, and frozen. Jim did most of the de-boning. We will continue butchering hens in small batches until we reach a smaller sustainable number for the rest of the winter.
I did the usual house cleaning, dishes, and laundry this week. No notable deep cleaning took place that I can recall.
We went to visit Number One son and his family early in the week and spent another day with them, playing card games, jumping on their outside trampoline and their indoor rebounder. We went for a ride and then a walk to check out the waterfall level in Post Falls. (It was a tremendous torrent of water!) then we ate another dinner with them and had a brief Chorale sing. We may not see them again, unless it’s a very quick visit, until their March spring vacation since their schooling and schedules are so busy. So we were glad to see them twice in quick succession this past week.
We ordered a 50″ diameter Rebounder of our own this week, so we can bounce and exercise in the house. I’m looking forward to its arrival in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, it was just $89, shipped.
A question for sewers: I bought some white linen fabric a few months ago with the intention of sewing myself a simple slip/night gown. I do not have a pattern for it. This week I spent considerable time washing the linen, ironing it, and tracing out with a pencil a linen tank top t-shirt that I own that I will just lengthen for a short slip/night gown. But because I don’t have a pattern, and because I am a real beginner with sewing, I could not equally trace with a pencil the size on both sides of the garment: the left side and the right side. Nor could I draw an equal neckline/collar, or the lines around the armpit on both sides. I tried to trace the armpits of the Linen t-shirt on paper several times to then cut out and lay on the material. I am on my third try and this time I used an oval food serving plate to draw a neck line for nine inches, and I measured with a yard stick each side and the tank top shoulder strips, but the armpit curve is still messed up. I think I’m going to wash the linen material again, to get rid of the pencil marks and try again. Anyhow, if anyone has any idea how I can do this equally without a set pattern, then I’m all ears. By the way, the curve in the armpits seems to have been caused by the way the edge was sewn. Is it really just an angled straight line that curves due to being sewn? I’m a real novice. 😉 I wish I knew someone around here that sews. I would love to watch them sew a few garments.
We went for another four-mile hike up into the National Forest this week. It was in the late afternoon, so on the way home we were treated to seeing some beautiful Alpenglow. It was the color of orange sherbet. I like those long walks. They feel so good. I also spend time hiking around the ranch very often with the two dogs.
I’m still memorizing Psalms. I finally have down cold, Psalm 1, 2, and 8. I am working on Psalm 15, 19, and 46. I’m also working on memorizing Deuteronomy 28:1-14. I am really enjoying this practice. It is certainly better to use my mind and time this way than being mindlessly mesmerized by YouTube videos.
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.