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 shifted cattle and horse pastures this week. The goal is to get a few yearling heifers, a steer calf, and one older cow ready for sale. But separating calves from their moms, even when they are 11+ months old — and ostensibly weaned — always leads to some drama and plenty of late-night mooing and bellowing. As usual, I phoned our one closeby neighbor (about a quarter mile away), to let them know that we had just made the pasture shift. I do this so that our neighbor won’t be alarmed by the vociferous cow-bellowing. I wouldn’t want them to think that one of our critters got its head stuck in a fence.
I was busy with packing and mailing out Elk Creek Company antique gun orders this week. I also had to make two other trips to town, on errands. Since our ranch is fairly remote, any trip into town is at least a half-day proposition.
One of the rear tires on our electric ATV developed a slow leak. A long squirt of about 6 ounces of Slime tire sealant remedied that. When the nearest tire shop is more than a one-hour drive away, having tire sealant available can be a practical lifesaver. I recommend keeping plenty on hand!
Now, Lily’s report…