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 had to do my first bit of serious snowplowing for the winter. There was only about 4 inches of heavy snow on the ground, but I thought it was best to keep up with the accumulation.
I also took some of my own advice and prepared to do some tax-free suppressor registrations with the ATF as home-builds. On Wednesday, I got a passport-type photo taken. Next will be fingerprinting, courtesy of a deputy at our county jail. When I called to make an appointment, she said that they have been very busy doing fingerprints for SBR, SBS, and suppressor registrations. That is surprising, in a rural county with less than 20,000 residents. I can only imagine how many new registrations are now in progress, nationwide! I still have five more used 2-D-cell MagLite flashlights on order, through eBay. Once I have those in hand, I can start drafting my Form 1 registrations, in the name of our family trust. My goal is to home-build a substantial pile of suppressors and a few SBRs, while that can be done tax-free. This is primarily to benefit my children and grandchildren.
I also helped Lily muck out one of the sheep sheds this week. I estimate that weighed about 1,800 pounds. She will let you know how that project went.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This past week the high temperatures ranged from a low of twenty-seven degrees Fahrenheit to a high of thirty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. In the beginning of the week, we had nearly two inches of rain and then at mid-week it turned to snow and dropped four and a quarter inches. It is beautiful! The trees had a blanket of beautiful puffy white snow covering them. It is a real winter wonderland here! I love it. It’s about time!!!
This week, I organized my bugout/hiking Mystery Ranch backpack. I also re-organized two giant NRS dry bags, one with emergency clothes and the other filled with overflow camping gear. Those act as “sustainment” bags. If we had to leave for some unforeseen reason, we would be grabbing those three bags, plus other totes from around the house.
Jim and I cleaned out the Meat and Fiber flock’s shed. That was a big job, since I hadn’t cleaned it out since September. This time — instead of using wheelbarrows and running it to the compost pile in small amounts, maybe forty times, which is very time-consuming and exhausting — we used our 10-foot box trailer. We filled it up with soiled hay and manure only once. And it took us about an hour and a half to do so. Then Jim towed it to the far end of our near-house meadow, where we plan to grow squash next summer. There, he shoveled it out into a pile to compost down into a planting mound. That took him about another hour. While he did that, I put fresh hay in the two sheep shed stalls and then went in to prepare lunch for us. It was a good workout, and we felt good afterwards.
Two days later, I cleaned out the two stalls of the cow shed.
Friday evening just before dinner, Jim and I went out and tackled cleaning the Hen house together. Three sled loads of manure, Jim hauled away to the compost pile. I spread new hay, gave them fresh water and we went in for dinner. Took us forty-five minutes to do the job together.
The weather warmed up this week and thawed the manure, so I took advantage of it to get various animal domiciles cleaned out. Since we had snow on the ground, I hauled the manure in one of our work sleds, three more-poopy-than- loads went right onto a garden bed and the rest went onto a compost pile.
Earlier in the week and at the end of last week, I had been trying to avoid hard work, to rest and do other things, but it was making me very lethargic and lazy, not motivated to cook or clean, et cetera. After working hard on the sheep shed, and then eating lunch, I was rejuvenated and was super motivated to get more stuff done in the house. I hand-washed some clothes, then made Shepherd’s pie. That includes chopped liver mixed in ground beef with onions, garlic and salt and mashed potatoes on top. (I don’t eat corn). I also made a Raspberry cobbler and a dozen and a half Einkorn dinner rolls for the next day. We ate leftover chicken soup for dinner that night. Funny how that is, the more you work, the more you’re motivated to get more stuff done. I guess I will find something to work hard on for an hour or so each day to keep my motivation up for other interesting and needful work around the ranch.
One day this week, the three of us went to town to renew my Driver’s license which expires within the next six months, Miss Violet’s ID, and to renew my passport and Jim’s passport, which had expired. We did this now so that we will have updated old-school IDs without the Digital REAL ID status. We are opting out of that system.
I’ve been trying really hard to stay off the Internet. I feel like I have a huge information overload in my brain. And I feel like all the talking heads are driving me crazy and they take up too much of my time by not just cutting to the chase with what they want to say. They have to give a long spiel before they tell you the information that their title advertised. GRRRR! So, except for quick e-mail checks and to check weather, earthquakes, Space weather, time of sunrise, sunset, and degrees of altitude the sun will reach at Meridian each day, phase and percentage of the moon, and the news, and of course writing this weekly post, I no longer want to be distracted by channels that I was subscribed to.
This week, I deleted over two hundred YouTube channels that I have been subscribed to and have watched from to time, and about three hundred comments that I had made in YouTube since 2023. I still have subscriptions to a fair number of channels (~80). But those are the most important folks that I want to hear from, news, language instruction, science, prepping, homesteading, Christian, Messianic Jewish, Instructive on my current interests, etc. I had only been commenting on YouTube. I never comment in blogs. I intend NOT to comment any longer in YouTube. (I wrote this very early in the week and have caught myself commenting twice later this week, but I deleted them. I don’t want to do that anymore.)
A few weeks ago, I also turned off YouTube History so they cannot suggest videos for me to watch, but I do see suggestions in the sidebar. Also, contributing to this desire to reduce my time on the computer is the ubiquitous presence of ads. My newer computer bit the dust a few weeks ago. Jim resurrected an older model Mac that only has an older browser. It cannot block ads, since all ad blockers are configured to work with the latest browser versions. Ads drive me crazy. So that is also adding to my desire and furthering the cause for me to limit what I choose to watch.
Finally, a few comments I made recently concerning a video content, educating the content maker concerning his serious complaining about some critters in his way. This content maker shockingly and selfishly high mindedly, attacked my comment and basically said he didn’t care at all and could live without them and the food that cattle provided to him and others. I have had enough of these types of content makers! I wrote a fair comment. I didn’t attack him. My comment was on the lines of “be thankful for those animals in your way now, because their herd are being seriously reduced and are going to be very scarce and their meat will be extremely expensive really soon. And soon may be hungry.” I have also commented other places, warning about how close the return of Jesus is. People obviously don’t want to hear warnings. So I am done with commenting on YouTube videos. Plenty of other people can warn. I have other things to do and can do my warning here. Plus, I am tired of the foul language and attitudes of some content makers while they are livestreaming, etc.
All of these irritations and actions are helping me to step away from this BEAST and to take control of its influence in my life. And just so you know, I DO NOT INTEND TO GET A NEW COMPUTER. I believe that within a year or so — or perhaps even less — one will not be able to access the Internet without a Digital Real ID. In my opinion, that will almost be the Mark of the Beast. This just further tightens the noose around your neck. I am not going to get a Digital Real ID. So I might as well wean myself from this Beast now. I also receive very few private e-mails from family or friends. I usually phone them. So, lack of e-mail won’t be a stress either to step away from.
I am very thankful to all you who wrote to give me suggestions for how to draw/develop a pattern for the linen slip/nightgown that I want to make. I really appreciated your input and learned a lot. Thanks). Finally, we are trying to remember to turn off the wi-fi at night. to keep the RF from subtly affecting our biological rhythms.
The Rebounder (mini-trampoline) that we ordered last week arrived at the end of the week. I spent an hour assembling it, with a bit of help from Jim. I enjoy following directions to assemble things. I only needed Jim’s help to open up the folded frame/to pop it open. It took two people’s combined strength to do so. It is set up in our Great Room. Now, all three of us are jumping and bouncing on it several times a day. FUN!
We also received the vegetable seeds that I ordered last week. This coming week, I hope to get some of them started under the grow lights: onions, leeks, celery, peppers, etc.
I am spending much more of my free time in the Word of God, and it has been wonderful!
I continued to work on memorizing Psalms 15, 19, 46, I added 51 and Revelation Chapter 15. I put Deuteronomy 28 aside for now. I very carefully read Revelation Chapters 13-19.
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.