This weeks preps check-in

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I looked on line at boots and yes they were a little cheaper, but as you pointed out without actually trying them on and walking around some you have no idea what you’re getting. Well worth paying a few extra dollars and making the trip to a couple stores.

Yessir, and my flat size 13’s are picky. I bet the salespeople are glad to see me leave the store, lol.
 
Yessir, and my flat size 13’s are picky. I bet the salespeople are glad to see me leave the store, lol.
Try finding an 8 extra wide anywhere! It’s like saying I want a mans width in the children’s dept.... I’ve been told I have hobbit feet a time or two.
 
Try finding 12 EEEEEE for people with high arches. New Balance is the only running shoe I can wear because they actually make a 12 6E.

I went into a big box shoe store one time and they didn't have a single pair of shoes or boots in the whole store that fit. The salesman told me to get an operation on my feet so that I could wear their shoes.

Red Head had snake boots that fit, but then they changed the last a few years ago and I can't even get the new ones on now. The soles on my old pair have disintegrated, and I don't know if they can be resoled because of how they are made.

I have to wear rubber knee boots hunting because I haven't been able to find a pair of leather boots that fit in over 5 years. My only pair of rubber boots that fits is wearing out and I am going to have to cut down hip boots to make knee boots because nobody makes a rubber knee boot that fits anymore. NOBODY!
 
Try finding 12 EEEEEE for people with high arches. New Balance is the only running shoe I can wear because they actually make a 12 6E.

I went into a big box shoe store one time and they didn't have a single pair of shoes or boots in the whole store that fit. The salesman told me to get an operation on my feet so that I could wear their shoes.

Red Head had snake boots that fit, but then they changed the last a few years ago and I can't even get the new ones on now. The soles on my old pair have disintegrated, and I don't know if they can be resoled because of how they are made.

I have to wear rubber knee boots hunting because I haven't been able to find a pair of leather boots that fit in over 5 years. My only pair of rubber boots that fits is wearing out and I am going to have to cut down hip boots to make knee boots because nobody makes a rubber knee boot that fits anymore. NOBODY!
Sounds like you're only choice is to go custom made then.
 
I'm going to try skidding the storage building to it's new location tomorrow. The building will be used as my wife's new bee house. Need to do a little more work on the snow road before I can try moving the building. There's one bad spot on the route that is narrow and has sharp corners, and the whole route is up hill.
 
I'm going to try skidding the storage building to it's new location tomorrow. The building will be used as my wife's new bee house. Need to do a little more work on the snow road before I can try moving the building. There's one bad spot on the route that is narrow and has sharp corners, and the whole route is up hill.
What do bees do in your harsh winters? Do they hibernate?
 
I bought a forward grip and sling for my 22 today. Just wanted to be able to stabilize it for accuracy a little better. If I could only have one firearm, the 22 would still be it. It really is a pleasure to shoot, is economical, portable and lightweight, amazingly accurate and ammo is everywhere. Not much of a big prep, but I was pleased. :)
 
Got the wife's bee house moved yesterday. The move took about 6 hours to go a little less than half a mile. It all went fairly smooth and almost no damage to the building. Once the snow is gone I can level the building and set it up the way she wants it.
We're getting 12-18 eggs a day now. I found a store just south of town that will buy all the eggs we can bring them.
The wife placed her bee order today. They should be delivered around mid April.
 
Got 5 mountain house #10 cans from amazon today. I got 4 cans of scrambled eggs and bacon and 1 can of chili Mack to add to the freeze dried goods. Adding to my pantry a little more of long term storage stuff is truly satisfying! It just feels right in my gut, no pun intended....
 
Went shopping last week to a store that has a large bulk food section. I loaded up on about 10 years worth of spices. Some of the spices I never heard of, but I figured a different flavor might be a welcome change if we ever had to "live" off the land. I figured that I'd vacuum seal the spices and store them in an airtight container.
This weekend there is a big regional boat show a few hours south of here. Told the wife that I was going to look for a new kayak and canoe. But I'm really going to look for a new jet boat and drift boat.
 
Went shopping last week to a store that has a large bulk food section. I loaded up on about 10 years worth of spices. Some of the spices I never heard of, but I figured a different flavor might be a welcome change if we ever had to "live" off the land. I figured that I'd vacuum seal the spices and store them in an airtight container.
This weekend there is a big regional boat show a few hours south of here. Told the wife that I was going to look for a new kayak and canoe. But I'm really going to look for a new jet boat and drift boat.

The old saying is ‘even shoe leather taste good with the right spices’

One could never have too many spices in my opinion!
 
After 18months of highs and lows My son is house hunting. He has a great job and is finally in a position to make such a large commitment. I'm incredibly proud of him. In a little over 3 years he has saved a almost a 20% deposit and has just had a mortgage approved in principle. He's been very sensible and is basing his budget on what he can afford to pay back, not what the bank is willing to lend him. He is also keen to overpay to reduce the term of the mortgage.
 
After 18months of highs and lows My son is house hunting. He has a great job and is finally in a position to make such a large commitment. I'm incredibly proud of him. In a little over 3 years he has saved a almost a 20% deposit and has just had a mortgage approved in principle. He's been very sensible and is basing his budget on what he can afford to pay back, not what the bank is willing to lend him. He is also keen to overpay to reduce the term of the mortgage.
I am a big believer in not borrowing money. In most cases I say if you don’t have the cash for something then you can’t afford it. A home is one of the few exceptions though. It’s just too big for a person starting out to be able to save up for. Sounds like he is on the right track. The 20% down is far better than what the average American over here is able to scrape together too. It takes discipline to build up a savings like that. Congrats to the both of you.
 
Went to the boat show yesterday. Little disappointed. There was only a couple of small jet boats there, and they were all out board models, which I already have. They had mostly ski boats and pontoon boats. I did see a jet ski that I think I should have though...
On the way home I stopped at Sportsman Warehouse and bought a holster for my Ruger Single Six. It was still a nice day to get out of the snow and ice and go to an area that is already starting to green up. And then I get home way after dark to a cold cabin, snowing and another slip and fall on the ice. There are times where I think it would be nice to live in the "low lands".
 
I am a big believer in not borrowing money. In most cases I say if you don’t have the cash for something then you can’t afford it. A home is one of the few exceptions though. It’s just too big for a person starting out to be able to save up for. Sounds like he is on the right track. The 20% down is far better than what the average American over here is able to scrape together too. It takes discipline to build up a savings like that. Congrats to the both of you.


We both feel the same about borrowing money, everything we have is paid for in full and it's the reason he has managed to save what he has. Niether of us have any debt so he's been able to save instead of servicing loans or whatever.
 
We both feel the same about borrowing money, everything we have is paid for in full and it's the reason he has managed to save what he has. Niether of us have any debt so he's been able to save instead of servicing loans or whatever.
It amazes me how most people I’ve talked with about money think avoiding debt is a bad thing. I can proudly say I don’t owe anyone anything, so what I make I am able to keep for me. I do use credit cards, both personal and business, I just never put anything on them that can’t be paid in full at the end of the month. The kid we hired recently told me his car loan was thirty percent. I tried not to choke when he told me.
 
Both of you are smart. I always saw interest as throwing money into the fire.
Most don’t really think about it other than the 38 dollars extra they pay each month (or whatever the interest is). But when you add it up over the entire year, or life of the loan, it becomes a substantial portion of your income.o
 
Yeah, I finally got around to ‘hiding some guns in plain sight’. This is something I have wanted to do for a while now. Primarily if someone breaks in while I am out I don’t want them leaving better armed than when they came in. I spent a good bit of time considering what and where to conceal throughout the house and finally came up with pretty good plans. Before I had everything firearm related stored in the same room, which made it really convient for some crack head to score some easy money. I even left some less desirable weapons out as a decoy so they hopefully would run off with them before really searching the place top to bottom. There’s a couple threads on here about hiding guns in plain sight with some good ideas. There are loads of websites dedicated to the topic too. Feels good to scratch that one off my list, and I really feel good that my defensive weapons are much less likely to end up on the street.
 
I got a 9 mm Springfield this weekend. :)
The 9mm is my favorite caliber. It’s cheap, can be found anywhere and has enough punch to stop anyone. The 22 would be my number one but it just doesn’t really have enough power for stopping a person quickly.
 
Last Thursday I ordered the wiring to connect my generator to the inverter. It was supposed to be delivered to the building supply store yesterday. So today I made the 60 mile trip only to find out it didn't get delivered. Maybe tomorrow. On the way home I got stuck in my driveway. Fortunately the snow bank kept me from sliding over the edge and rolling down the hill. Our road is covered with 3-6 inches of solid ice.
The wife ordered 35 meat chickens today. They should be shipped to the post office around mid May. That's about the same time her bees will arrive too. Once the snow is gone and the ground thaws out I'll build another chicken coop and setup an area for brooding the chicks. And make a bear proof enclosure for the bee hives.
The wife be home on Friday so I need to get this pig pen cleaned up before then.
 
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Last Thursday I ordered the wiring to connect my generator to the inverter. It was supposed to be delivered to the building supply store yesterday. So today I made the 60 mile trip only to find out it didn't get delivered. Maybe tomorrow. On the way home I got stuck in my driveway. Fortunately the snow bank kept me from sliding over the edge and rolling down the hill. Our road is covered with 3-6 inches of solid ice.
The wife ordered 35 meat chickens today. They should be shipped to the post office around mid May. That's about the same time her bees will arrive too. Once the snow is gone and the ground thaws thaws out I'll build another chicken coop and setup an area for brooding the chicks. And make a bear proof enclosure for the bee hives.
The wife be home on Friday so I need to get this pig pen cleaned up before then.

Will the new chickens survive in the cold weather where you live?
 
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