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:
I’ve been gradually recovering from my recent cold. I now have just a lingering cough on occasion, but my stamina is still not back to normal. But at least I’m able to make progress on hauling composted soil, wood cutting, and wood splitting. I also did some rototilling this week. I’m confident that I’ll be back to normal, next week.
We had great fun hosting three of our grandsons for three nights, this week. We did some hiking, fishing, outdoor survival skills training, canoeing, and an overnight campout in the adjoining National Forest. Among our other activities, I gave the boys a lesson on garden tool sharpening and oiling. I used a round-point shovel, a full-size scythe, and a hand scythe, as examples.
Now, Lily’s report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
We are having beautiful June weather with temperatures in the mid-seventies and bluebird skies. Such lovely summer weather. It is gorgeously green here, too.
As Jim mentioned above, we had three of our grandsons come for a two-night stay, here at the ranch. Besides, what Jim told you, the boys helped me plant another two rows of potatoes in the second large section of garden. I also planted cabbage, cauliflower, beets, French Beans, and more carrots in the second large bed. Early next week, I’ll finish the rest of this bed and get on the third and fourth beds in the Main garden next week. Then, I may plant down in the Annex gardens.
I also took the boys canoeing in the Unnamed River along with Miss Violet. She paddled her own Kayak. The two older boys took my single-person canoe. The older boy, now nine was in the aft, while his next younger, brother, age 7 was in the bow. With some instruction from Granny in the beginning, situated in the large canoe with their five year old brother, shouting instructions, on who was to forward stroke and who was to backstroke or both forward stroke, they learned to work together and to communicate, to keep the canoe moving in a forward direction. Then the grandson in the back learning how to direct how his brother was to paddle, either front stroke or back stroke in order to keep the canoe heading in the right direction. They did great considering it was a terribly windy day. Often the wind pushed us all upstream against the current.
We have tried fishing in multiple locations this visit and we are having no luck catching anything. Part of the problem is that we are fishing at midday. There is just too much going on here at the ranch first thing in the morning and in the evening. In the evening there are just too many mosquitoes, anyway. We would have to order up an extra pint of blood if we want to be out after sunset around here, this time of the year. 😉
My mom bought me a hand plow for my birthday, that arrived this week. With the Grandsons, we tried it out in the garden to dig up those awful Canary Grass roots. It worked like a charm. Now we really no longer need that power rototiller that doesn’t not plow deep enough to get at those roots. Hah!!! Back to old-school technology.
So as you can imagine the week was spent cooking good yummy foods and doing dishes and leading the three boys out on adventures, some of which Jim joined us in. It’s been a very busy, but much, much fun week for all of us.
We had three of four different types of hikes and each hike included lots of plant and flower identification and discussions on whether they were edible or poisonous and other uses of the plant. Also if granny knew the Latin scientific name of a plant or tree, they learned that, too.
We have two campfires and lots of smores, forming great memories with the boys.
They are a pure joy to have around here. We love them very much!
So obviously I have not been much on the computer this week, and I love that such a freeing feeling.
Keep praying, reading the Word of God, and prepping. The days before all hell breaks loose are short. Love your family and friends, pray for them, and create wonderful times with them.
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.
