Preparations Update

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I did something long over due today. I got down in the bottoms with a bushhog. Only about 3+ acres in this patch. Surprisingly it wasn't in bad shape. I have lots of medicinals growing down here, a few that would be considered rare. Best part, they grow here naturally, native species.

Past the trees ahead is a cow watering pond and another small pasture. There is a creek over to the left under the trees and another coming down a hollow from my right. The tree limbs need to be trimmed back, get more sunlight down here.

Wish I had a little excavator down here for a day. One creek is full of sand from all the torrential rains this year. I could see where it's flooded across the pasture several times to the other creek. (They meet behind me)

Anyway, I got it bush hogged today. I did take time to stop and check most of the medicinals.

A few cows and calves came down to see what I was doing! A little black calf over to the right.

work4 b hog 13a .JPG
 
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It's been awhile since I've posted, picked up some ammo at our big outdoor show today, and found a source for future ammo purchases. Spent the summer with our Grandkids travelling all across the Lower 48 in our RV. They got a broad view of the US from coast to coast meeting great grandparents and other kinfolk. I worked with my grandson on summer school makeup work. Alaska Studies, perfect. 7 weeks,14 states and over 6,000 miles and 4 Canadian Provinces. Probably once in a lifetime trip. The wife and I developed antibodies during our 2nd bout with covid last month. Our first bout was back in 2019. I consider this a prep since we are unvaccinated. Last trip to Costco was very successful, stuffing the larder.
 
hiwall said:
At a yard sale I bought ($5) one of these grinders today. I plan on converting it to a treadle grinder (just to see if I can :)).
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I love that good old stuff, things like that are once in a lifetime, getting harder and harder to find, the average person now days doesn't have a clue to the value that's in something like that, good for you.
 
Yesterday we cleaned a lot, I installed the new Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for the wife's CPAP and Pace Maker Transponder. The larger home made UPS is working fine, I am not using it for it's intended purpose (the oxygen (O2) concentrator), but using it to power grow lights at about 2400 Watt hours per day. This is just a little less than the solar is providing but it cycles everything and the batteries are fully charged at the end of every day. I did use it to power the O2 machine for 1 day just to be sure that the inverter would fully cover it and to see how long the batteries would last. We also cleaned the wood stove's chimney, we don't use it a lot but I think it is important to have it ready to go if the need arises. I only have about half a cord of dry wood sitting on a pallet in the car tent, I had a much larger wood pile but it needs to be cleaned out (we stopped using the wood stove for a few years).

Everyplace I look I see little things that I could do to make things go better if things go south, all it takes is time, money, and body.... I keep wishing I had some acreage some place further west, but that's not going to happen as we are pretty much tied to the wife's medical team....
 
Tacitus said:
Fascinating idea. Looking forward to the report!
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Welp... Don't wanna turn this thread into the 'Radio-discussion channel', but.. Real quick follow-up: 'Range-wise', while Motorola / Nextel claimed these would 'do up-to 7 miles', Mmmm, I'm gonna go with 'Maybe in a Vacuum-tunnel' ;) or other-such 'flawless conditions', but..

..So far, in Our 'real world testing', we've Easily gotten a nice, clear ~1.5-2 mi - thru Hardcore Suburbia-conditions (like, Gas Stations / Block-Buildings / RF Towers / Many Businesses with Wifi, etc etc in between the two Test-radios..) so.. The 'Woods' are TBTested, yet, but..

..I'm Quite confident in extrapolating that, 2-3 miles, in 'clearer conditions', will be No Problem for these, and even a 'Large BOL Property' (say something like 150 acres, etc) should be no issue for these, Wooded or not.. Again, TBD,
maybe I'll start a thread, whence we've had a chance to 'stretch them out' a bit more.. But, so-far, so 👍

.03
jd
 
SoJer said:
...These are old 'Nextel' i576's, which used to work as cel phones on the old Sprint / Nextel 'iDEN' networks (long-since shut down, ~2016, iirc..) - But... I'm just talking as an 'Off-networks Local Talk option', that Appears to be more 'secure' than yer typical walkies, even the handheld-HAMs, etc..)...
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Interesting!

Are new replacement batteries still available?
 
Today, we are putting away our Free Grains that we received from friends who were moving away (they are on their way to a larger more secure location). Sorry, we had a period of 4 bump power outages and I had to switch the O2 machine over to the solar battery system
 
I went to the local grocery store today b/c hubs wanted a couple of special items and I was going by there anyways. I didn't get much for long term food, but I picked up a couple of bottles of booze and a couple of bags of dried cherries that I like to have on hand for things like chicken salad and oatmeal. I didn't get a whole lot today.

However, there was an older dude in line in front of me that had about 6-8 cases of canned goods and a big case of mac and cheese. He didn't have much else. It kinda makes one wonder what he saw or heard that got him to thinkin' canned goods and cheap pasta would be a good purchase right about now? The store was running a canned goods sale, although the prices really aren't all that great. Still, I was encouraged seeing others perhaps getting ahead of the curve. Then again, it makes me wonder if this is the possible start of some panic setting in?
 
We went to the Kroger store today to pick up a couple of things that husband wanted. I noticed a cart, too, with dry and canned food. I feel like we should have a secret handshake or something.
I checked their canned meat section again, since last time I went all but the chicken was missing. Still is, except there was a few cans of canned turkey, the small cans, but I grabbed them anyway. Husband figured out the Walmart new order/shipping nonsense, so we got in a case of Keystone Pork and some Perrier. The huge Perrier. That's what they had.
 
Got a bunch of very large tarps to winterize our large turkey run at Harbor Freight. Was in Walmart (again) but it was quiet because the weather dropped 20 degrees and it's raining. Had to get a cousin a retirement gift, and she says she'll be fishing alot, so we got her some fun stuff. Looking at the canned meat aisle again, still cleaned out except for chicken, and I don't need that. I did find a few more cans (small ones) of roast beef. The mexican section had a few cans of pork chile verde in 1# 9oz size, got those, and they had some pouched meat: Chata Chilorio, shredded seasoned pork meat...looks like ust seasoning, not the sauce, in 8.8 oz size, so got a number of those. And a summer sausage with a good expiration date. Found some grapefruit fruit cups in grapefruit juice.
 
BillboardVinyls
Each of our vinyls was once posted high in the sky alongside a freeway. Once their lives as advertising billboards are over, billboard tarpaulin can be re-purposed for a wide range of applications. They are extremely durable and flexible, making them a great affordable resource for home improvement, DIY projects, lining ponds, etc. Common uses include:
https://www.billboardvinyls.com/collections/reused-tarpsThis a longer lasting than most BLUE Tarps.
 
Yes they will. Too bad I don't have any. I do buy the grey heavier tarps when tarping an animal run. The thin blue ones don't do much. I also get the "pet quilts" at the thrift store for the dogs and cats. They sell the big bed quilts that maybe have a small hole or a stain for a buck. Have a stack of those. Got to negative 13 here last winter. We are winterizing one room of the milk house for the dog kennels and the rabbits, and got alot of it done yesterday. It does have electricity, so we can also run a small heater in there if need be, but right now its not necessary. The low tonight is 35, and it's not bad in there at all.
 
Got in some mail preps today, more already shipped. I figured I should get some late items while the mail still works. I got a box of life boat emergency rations (mainstay).

Got a pound of yellow mustard seed and a pound of brown mustard seed, a pound of ceylon cinnamon bark (medicinal), small jar of nutmeg nuts all vacuum sealed. I also got 2 new ceramic water filters for making impromptu filter containers. I can use any type of metal or plastic container with stand alone filters.

I got 4oz each of eucalyptus, teatree, and lavender oils.

The last one has been on my list for a decade, corks! I know preppers who've collected old wine bottles and other similar. I have also. The glaring problem has always been how do I seal the bottles in the future?

I bought 150 new wine corks for $8.

Corks Preps 4 a.JPG
 
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Peanut said:
..The glaring problem has always been how do I seal the bottles in the future?
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Wax dip? 🤔 Also looks like there Are 'heat shrinkable' options, too:

(Arrgh, not sure Why Amazon links always bloody read as 'Media' on this site :rolleyes: but.. Amazon-search Item B0799JR621, that should turn 'em up..)

Fwiw.. :cool: +1 on Cinnamon sticks, too! Mission-critical for the Best Pulled Pork-recipe, ever.. https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/what-are-you-having-for-dinner.96/page-151#post-333952👍
jd
 
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Peanut said:
Got in some mail preps today, more already shipped. I figured I should get some late items while the mail still works. I got a box of life boat emergency rations (mainstay).

Got a pound of yellow mustard seed and a pound of brown mustard seed, a pound of ceylon cinnamon bark (medicinal), small jar of nutmeg nuts all vacuum sealed. I also got 2 new ceramic water filters for making impromptu filter containers. I can use any type of metal or plastic container with stand alone filters.

I got 4oz each of eucalyptus, teatree, and lavender oils.

The last one has been on my list for a decade, corks! I know preppers who've collected old wine bottles and other similar. I have also. The glaring problem has always been how do I seal the bottles in the future?

I bought 150 new wine corks for $8.

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From a certain source or your friend Google Searchman?
 
SoJer said:
(Arrgh, not sure Why Amazon links always bloody read as 'Media' on this site :rolleyes:
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Amerzit links do that with me also. Sometimes I copy the link, paste it here but a space between the w's, ww w. Then it'll no longer appear as a link. Users here can then take out the space and use the link.

LadyLocust said:
From a certain source or your friend Google Searchman?
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Are you asking about a specific item? All the above items came from amerzit or through someone's store front on amerzit.
 
Today I received 50 ft of wick for the 3 camp lanterns. Already have 100 ft for the indoor lamps. Also received 2 new pressure gauges for the Prestos and have an extra belt coming. Already have 2 new belts but spending the money while it is still worth a bit. I am giving 1 Presto to a grand daughter and want to make sure it has all new parts. Went to DT and spent $69 and that is with the shelves having a lot of bare spots. Want my grandkids to have what I can provide.
 
Peanut said:
Amerzit links do that with me also. Sometimes I copy the link, paste it here but a space between the w's, ww w. Then it'll no longer appear as a link. Users here can then take out the space and use the link.



Are you asking about a specific item? All the above items came from amerzit or through someone's store front on amerzit.
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Ah! I was just curious if you went through a specific source like a bulk store or whatever. The whole nutmegs are what caught my eye. I can get some, I was just curious. Always good to have resources :)
 
Added some more canned veggies today
Also bought 2 pork tenderloins on BOGO
Also bought 4 packs of dried chipped beef on BOGO. (I'll be vacuum sealing them and then freezing them for later)
 
Hubby went on a buying spree. Bought a backup refrigerator and a backup chest freezer.
They'll be delivered on the 7th of november

I have no comment. Its a good idea but thats as far as I'll go lol
 
WVDragonlady said:
Hubby went on a buying spree. Bought a backup refrigerator and a backup chest freezer.
They'll be delivered on the 7th of november

I have no comment. Its a good idea but thats as far as I'll go lol
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He did good!

(Coming from a guy that purchased 2 refrigerators in the last couple of weeks ;) ).

Ben
 
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