Preparations Update

[Tank-Girl]

I paid $305USD ten months ago to get my girl cut. When you convert to Australian, you got an excellent price!

I was lucky, I just told my girl how pretty she was in her new dress and she tolerated the collar well. She strutted around and then started playing with this new toy. It still got shredded but at least she didn't get freaked out. It was a soft collar but had some rigid plastic so I had to take it off as she shredded the plastic leaving sharp edges.

He's a grizzled old cow vet who does some small animal work every now and again to keep his hand in.
He deals daily with some pretty wild and rank Brahman cattle so I don't think he's too worried about a pit.
I have to take her in early before any other patients are in the waiting room and be with her and hold her as they sedate her.
They've already planned that when I pick her up we take her out the back door.

These people really have their heads screwed on straight.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

Its hard to phase a large animal vet. They come to the farm limping on one leg and leave limping on two legs and never a complaint about what just happened, yet again.

You do need to be prepared for your critters to be called some rather colorful names. I really don't know how they get out of bed in the morning. It's got to hurt something awful.

I agree, they are no nonsense practical people who understand the animals and the risks involved. If you have properly described Landshark to them, and they still said yes, you are golden and she will get through it.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Its hard to phase a large animal vet. They come to the farm limping on one leg and leave limping on two legs and never a complaint about what just happened, yet again.

You do need to be prepared for your critters to be called some rather colorful names. I really don't know how they get out of bed in the morning. It's got to hurt something awful.

I agree, they are no nonsense practical people who understand the animals and the risks involved. If you have properly described Landshark to them, and they still said yes, you are golden and she will get through it.

I spoke with some of the pig hunters in the area (they hunt feral pigs with dogs and knives) and he seems to be a favourite vet for the community.
Considering how he's charging under $400 and not $600 like the townie vets I can see part of the reason why.
Pig hunting dogs and their owners would spoil the genteel atmosphere of their practice of clipping nails and worming small, overly spoilt laps dogs.

 

[LadyLocust]

I'm slowly....slowly....solarifying? the house. I recently figured out that even on my smaller solar system that was intended just to charge devices and run the pump, that I can light all the rooms in my house indefinitely with DC LED strip lights...so I'm installing those.

I've been avoiding 'big' solar for years as I don't want to end up too dependent on electricity, let alone solar which is pretty seasonal here, but slowly I'm finding more things to use it for.

I think I finally have Hubby realizing this. Neither of us like the idea of batteries, but we are also perplexed because we do like our freezers. The other night we were chatting and he fiiiinalllly said as if it was a sudden realization "It would be pretty nice if we didn't need electric at all." (Forehead slap) I have been singing that song a long time. We have a whole house generator for when we find a place, but that is still electric just a different facet.

 

[Tank-Girl]

The 1 kilo of St Mary's thistle seed just turned up and yesterday the empty gel caps.
The thistle seed is to protect my liver from the fenben toxicity.
These seeds are large and they have a tough coating so they need to be ground up and then put into the gel cap.
You can make tea with them but it's easier to take them in cap form.
60 Milk Thistle seed caps costs me $29 and I take 4 of these a day.
Out of the sups they are the most important.
These supplies will be put into storage for when I can no longer get the pre-made store brought caps.
I might take a few teaspoons and plant them and see if they're viable so I can grow my own.

 

[Amish Heart]

A few good buys at the bin salvage shopping....a case of 24 boxes of mac and cheese for $4. Large glass bottles of Perrier (husband loves) for 50 cents. Boxes of masks for 99 cents. I'm sick of masks, but we use them when mowing and other dusty stuff. I got home, and little granddaughter and I laughed. Someone took a colored pencil to the box of masks and wrote, "I hate you". Hmm. Also found some boxes of Near East brand rice mixes for 50 cents a piece.

 

[Aerindel]

I think I finally have Hubby realizing this. Neither of us like the idea of batteries, but we are also perplexed because we do like our freezers. The other night we were chatting and he fiiiinalllly said as if it was a sudden realization "It would be pretty nice if we didn't need electric at all." (Forehead slap) I have been singing that song a long time. We have a whole house generator for when we find a place, but that is still electric just a different facet.

So the 'Rule' we started with here was that we can use grid power for things we like, but not things we need. Freezers fall into that, as the food we have in the freezers, is food that could all be preserved by other means in a short period of time if we had to give up the freezers. The justification being that its not a weakness to prefer frozen meat in the mean time while electricity is cheap, to canned meat, if you have a pressure canner ready to can that meat when the power is gone. If we DIDN'T have the freezers, we would be buying the same meat, and eating the same meat, but we would have to be canning it too. Freezing the meat while it can be frozen, saves time and expense to use for other preps, during current conditions.

This is somewhat in contradiction to our maxim of "live like it already happened", but the efficiency benefit is too hard to ignore.

 

[goshengirl]

Someone took a colored pencil to the box of masks and wrote, "I hate you".

That's going to give me some chuckles throughout the day!

 

[LadyLocust]

So the 'Rule' we started with here was that we can use grid power for things we like, but not things we need. Freezers fall into that, as the food we have in the freezers, is food that could all be preserved by other means in a short period of time if we had to give up the freezers. The justification being that its not a weakness to prefer frozen meat in the mean time while electricity is cheap, to canned meat, if you have a pressure canner ready to can that meat when the power is gone. If we DIDN'T have the freezers, we would be buying the same meat, and eating the same meat, but we would have to be canning it too. Freezing the meat while it can be frozen, saves time and expense to use for other preps, during current conditions.

This is somewhat in contradiction to our maxim of "live like it already happened", but the efficiency benefit is too hard to ignore.

That's a good way to look at it. I hadn't really thought of it that way. I do have on hand jars and nonelectrical means to can it if need be. Also, we've been looking into and are going to try salting. I will attach a video that I think explains it well. Hubby wants to build a cold smoker as well, but that would be better done once we find a place.
(Had to go find the video)

 

[Tank-Girl]

My Fyke net was just delivered.

During a SHTF situation conservation of calories is extremely important.
You have to eat as many if not more than you burn or you start to go into a calorie deficit.
Set lines and nets passively collect calories and if a number are set increase the probability of actually getting those calories.

For those who don't know what a fyke net is here is an excellent video on them.

 

[Aerindel]

That's a good way to look at it. I hadn't really thought of it that way. I do have on hand jars and nonelectrical means to can it if need be. Also, we've been looking into and are going to try salting. I will attach a video that I think explains it well. Hubby wants to build a cold smoker as well, but that would be better done once we find a place.
(Had to go find the video)

Salting works very well and is the lowest tech option, but salted meat is less desirable for general use than canned. I stock hundreds of pounds of salt for this purpose but I think of it as more of a fallback if for some reason pressure canning is not feasible and there is meat that needs preserving. It will all depend on what the exact situation is on 'the day' if there is a such a thing as a single day when you can say 'now its SHTF'.

It also depends on what is actually in your freezer. A freezer full of whole cuts of beef can be counted as a prep, IF you have the means to convert it to shelf stable forms. A freezer filled with frozen dinners and ice cream is only useful for as long as you have power.

This sort of all relates to what I was getting at earlier, that JUST having piles of food is not prepping, it really does matter how the food is stored and what kind of food it is.

 

[jazzy]

a friemnd is taking me to town ext week for stuff and this is n my list

electricl tape, gorilla tape, masking tape, scotch tape
acetaminophen --found out china makes 70% of the worlds pills and numerous reports of shortages in stores so im getting some common OTC meds like that, ibuprofen, cold pills, sinus pills, cough medicine, vitamins, melatonin, all the common everyday stuff.
dish soap, lysol, vinegar
dish sponges, steel wool
toothbrushes
and some other non food around the house items.

freezer bags, quart and gallon. did yuo know you can trim off the top sipper part of these freezer bags and then use them in a vac sealer? works pretty good. but dont get cheap ones,,the stronger the better. i always like the ziplock freezer bags, last a good long while. i wash and reuse.
just some everyday things i dont think about too much

and chapstick---got to have chapstick generic or whatever. amazon has a pretty decent deal
heres a tip--when the tube gets real low and theres almost nothing left, dont toss it. put it in a box with others and in time when you got enough, take something like a Clean flat tip screwdriver or whatever. scrap out the leftover into a small pan. enpty all tubes as best you can. Gently heat the lip salve stuff to melt, gently pour into tubes. let cool in fridge standing upright.
we throw so much away

 

[Cascadian]

I got 8 cases of jars 4 qts and 4 pints. My wife would have said we didn't need them so I didn't tell her. I was going to buy some mountain house and thought who am I kidding food will probably not be expiring.

My wife found the jars. She said where did these come from? I said the store. We stared at each other for a second. It felt like that moment when the dog is eyeing the cat to see if it will run or not. Finally she said well they don't go on the floor. I said Ok.

 

[Caribou]

Just picked up a pill crusher for Mom. This was something that I never even considered so that will fill in a hole.

I picked up a tub of rice pudding to put Mom's crushed pills into. The pills

a friemnd is taking me to town ext week for stuff and this is n my list

electricl tape, gorilla tape, masking tape, scotch tape
acetaminophen --found out china makes 70% of the worlds pills and numerous reports of shortages in stores so im getting some common OTC meds like that, ibuprofen, cold pills, sinus pills, cough medicine, vitamins, melatonin, all the common everyday stuff.
dish soap, lysol, vinegar
dish sponges, steel wool
toothbrushes
and some other non food around the house items.

freezer bags, quart and gallon. did yuo know you can trim off the top sipper part of these freezer bags and then use them in a vac sealer? works pretty good. but dont get cheap ones,,the stronger the better. i always like the ziplock freezer bags, last a good long while. i wash and reuse.
just some everyday things i dont think about too much

and chapstick---got to have chapstick generic or whatever. amazon has a pretty decent deal
heres a tip--when the tube gets real low and theres almost nothing left, dont toss it. put it in a box with others and in time when you got enough, take something like a Clean flat tip screwdriver or whatever. scrap out the leftover into a small pan. enpty all tubes as best you can. Gently heat the lip salve stuff to melt, gently pour into tubes. let cool in fridge standing upright.
we throw so much away

Save those tubes and make your own lip balm from beeswax.
https://carolinahoneybees.com/how-to-make-beeswax-lip-balm/

 

[jazzy]

Just picked up a pill crusher for Mom. This was something that I never even considered so that will fill in a hole.

I picked up a tub of rice pudding to put Mom's crushed pills into. The pills

Save those tubes and make your own lip balm from beeswax.
https://carolinahoneybees.com/how-to-make-beeswax-lip-balm/

thanks, ive done that and it comes out pretty decent. and a pill crusher or spl;itter is a good idea, ill get one. thanks!

 

[LadyLocust]

One more thing I thought of that I need to pick up just to have - gasket maker. You know how handy that stuff is! (not actually a question if I were to say it aloud.)

 

[Neb]

One more thing I thought of that I need to pick up just to have - gasket maker. You know how handy that stuff is! (not actually a question if I were to say it aloud.)

Good point!

I have been meaning to get some gasket material.

Edit
It should be here tomorrow.
Ben

 

[Tank-Girl]

I'm pretty certain the two collapsible water tanks I ordered will be delivered today.

All but the tanks and the Pathfinder water/mess kit have been delivered so far.
I'm very relieved.

Out of all the preps I brought the Pathfinder kit was the one I needed least.
If it goes "missing" it's a bummer and I'm down $180 but really doesn't effect my health or outlook.

 

[Bacpacker]

One more thing I thought of that I need to pick up just to have - gasket maker. You know how handy that stuff is! (not actually a question if I were to say it aloud.)

Great idea. I hadn't thought about that stuff in years. I need to get me some

 

[Caribou]

thanks, ive done that and it comes out pretty decent. and a pill crusher or spl;itter is a good idea, ill get one. thanks!

Get one of each. I needed to quarter Mom's pills before the pill crusher would work. They were huge.

 

[Cascadian]

My wife said our little pantry is full and there is no more room in the house. What she clearly did not say was "don't start putting stuff in garage", and she says I don't listen. I don't mean to make it sound like she is not on board, because she is. We just don't agree on how big our train should be.

 

[montanabill]

I have used up normal storage spaces to the point that I now buy a couple of cheap garbage cans to store things in outside temporarily when i shop or hit the yardsale/estate sales. .

 

[LadyLocust]

My wife said our little pantry is full and there is no more room in the house. What she clearly did not say was "don't start putting stuff in garage", and she says I don't listen. I don't mean to make it sound like she is not on board, because she is. We just don't agree on how big our train should be.

This sounds like Hubby and me but in reverse. He sees enough - I don't understand that foreign word

 

[LadyLocust]

I've not been able to get a hog lined up for fall this year so went to the store this morning for pork loin and breakfast ssg. It's the same price it has been for ages: $3.99/lb for ssg. and $2.49/lb for the whole loin.

 

[Tank-Girl]

The water tanks didn't turn up even though the tracking states that they are both at the delivery depo.
More signs of delivery issues.
Maybe today? Maybe?

I have been noticing for a long time here in OZ and now on various American farming channels about the gross inaccuracy of gov. weather forecasts.
Look at YT channels Sonne Farms and Vesser Cattle Co. if you want to see how badly the weather stations have screwed them during their various harvests.
Attack on the food system?
You be the judge.
I, myself follow a private weather forecaster and he's bang on every single time.
He's 4 to 5 days ahead of the gov with his cyclone warnings, intensity and where it'll cross the coast.
He's Called Higgins Storm Chasing.
If I didn't have a subscription to his service I'd be looking at the colony of ants that live in the hand railing of my front steps.
Ants are very sensitive to drops and increases in barometric pressure.
An increase in barometric pressure and the whole colony is moving to the top handrail of the steps.
They bring their eggs and they make a little mote of dirt around their entrance.
Out in the yard the ants will pile up dirt into tall mounds around the entrances of their holes if they are living in the ground.
Other species will climb trees and use their own worker ants to hold bunches of leaves together to make a nest made up of live ants and leaves.

I'm buying a mechanical barometer to add to the ants weather intel.
IT doesn't need a battery and it doesn't need electricity.
Considering I live in the tropics I should have one already and I realise I have become too comfortable with outside electronically delivered forecasts even though they are extremely accurate.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I can now tick the rain water tanks off my list of expected items.

Now the fun begins.
Getting two pallets to put them on, some bricks to level them up.
Then I have to find someone with a chainsaw or I buy one myself to get rid of a tree stump that's in the exact place I want to put the tanks.
Chainsaws and circular saws frighten me a bit.
Sure, I go swimming and spear fishing in waters filled with sharks, crocs and jelly fish..but using a chainsaw has me a little spooked.

 

[montanabill]

I can now tick the rain water tanks off my list of expected items.

Now the fun begins.
Getting two pallets to put them on, some bricks to level them up.
Then I have to find someone with a chainsaw or I buy one myself to get rid of a tree stump that's in the exact place I want to put the tanks.
Chainsaws and circular saws frighten me a bit.
Sure, I go swimming and spear fishing in waters filled with sharks, crocs and jelly fish..but using a chainsaw has me a little spooked.

Chain saws are to be feared. I have used them forever and still treat them with respect. I have the kevlar chaps, hard hat with screen face protection and attached ear protection. I also have scars and big rips in my kevlar chaps....Depending how big the stump is I have used a cheap electric chainsaw to good effect around the place.
Look for the sturdy pallets that have been treated with preservative if you can find them, a 55 gallon barrel weighs over 500 pounds full.

 

[Aerindel]

55 gallon barrels of water weigh exactly 458lbs, plus the weight of the barrel. I've got two of them hanging above my kitchen sink in place of upper cabinets for my water supply (that way I only have to run the pump for about 20 minutes each week to fill them up.

Chainsaws are like guns. You can kill yourself in an instant if you use one wrong, but you don't HAVE to use one wrong. Follow the rules of use and you can use them all your life without ever touching a moving blade to any part of yourself.

 

[Plainflatlander]

Chain saws are to be feared. I have used them forever and still treat them with respect. I have the kevlar chaps, hard hat with screen face protection and attached ear protection. I also have scars and big rips in my kevlar chaps....Depending how big the stump is I have used a cheap electric chainsaw to good effect around the place.
Look for the sturdy pallets that have been treated with preservative if you can find them, a 55 gallon barrel weighs over 500 pounds full.

Bought myself chaps when I turned 50. Realized my reflexes are not what they were at 25.

 

[angie_nrs]

Hey Tank - congrats on your delivery! They might be pricy, but you could look into getting a battery powered chainsaw. I have one from Milwaukee, but I think other brands make them too. The batteries are pricy but the big batteries last almost as long as a tank of gas on a regular saw. I still wear my PPE, but don't need earplugs b/c these things are quiet, which is another advantage. It's also nice for those who have shoulder/arm issues and can't start a regular chainsaw. Heck, hubs will sometimes grab mine over his if he just has a quick little job to do. You still need chain oil, but don't have to worry about the issues a gas saw can present, such as a gummed carberator or bad gas.

One of the first (and most important IMHO) tips hubby told me when I first started using a saw, was to never use the top tip of the saw when sawing downward. So, if you can imagine a line making a 90 degree angle from the middle of the end tip of the blade going upward......that is the danger zone. Although, that area is safe if you are cutting from below and bring the blade toward you. I am always acutely aware of that 90 degree area and have thus far never had a kickback, although I have pinched the blade in a log. LOL! Yeah, that'll happen. It's frustrating but not dangerous and the more practice I get, the less that happens. I also don't use the saw when I'm alone. So, usually when I get in a literal bind and get my blade stuck, hubby will help me out.

If you don't have a lot of trees where you are, then maybe you could just rent one from a local shop if that is an option.