This weeks preps check-in

[Mountain trapper]

Progress on the house is coming along. The HVAC system is almost complete. The electrical is done and passed inspection. But I was told I needed a permit for the solar system. The plumbing is done and they've started on the insulation of the walls. The roof is finially finished. The roofer fell off the roof a couple days ago. He slipped on some ice. The snow broke his fall though. At least he wasn't on the second story roof.
The wood stove and the redwood for the deck was delivered last week. They should be starting on the drywall next week. The front door has been shipped and we can pick it up next week.
It's supposed to start snowing on Monday and possibly for the next 12 days. That could impact the progress some if I can't keep the road open.
Next week the wife and I are going to pick up the appliances, the front door and look at light fixtures and ceiling fans.

 

[Brent S]

Progress on the house is coming along. The HVAC system is almost complete. The electrical is done and passed inspection. But I was told I needed a permit for the solar system. The plumbing is done and they've started on the insulation of the walls. The roof is finially finished. The roofer fell off the roof a couple days ago. He slipped on some ice. The snow broke his fall though. At least he wasn't on the second story roof.
The wood stove and the redwood for the deck was delivered last week. They should be starting on the drywall next week. The front door has been shipped and we can pick it up next week.
It's supposed to start snowing on Monday and possibly for the next 12 days. That could impact the progress some if I can't keep the road open.
Next week the wife and I are going to pick up the appliances, the front door and look at light fixtures and ceiling fans.

It’s always exciting to see a big project come together. After all the hard work there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[DrPrepper1]

After reading about Articdude's near mishap and having to walk 2 miles to home in the dark, I got a scarf, winter hat, and gloves and put them in a space bag and put them in the trunk of my car.

I also thought about what I would need to get out of my house in a dire emergency. I am thinking like when the authorities would make you evacuate, or a fire, or some other immediate reason to leave. I made a short list on the computer, made the font small, wrote it in code (so that I would know what it means) and put it in a place that I would easily know where it is. Sometimes it is hard to think in an emergency.

I replaced all the batteries in the LED lights I have in the pantry and linen closet.

 

[Brent S]

I have a really nice solar powered led light/phone charger that was for emergencies. This morning at 5:30 when the power went out i grabbed it and it didn’t come on. It’s only about three years old and let me down.... the point is check your stuff often so when you need it, it will be there help you. I tested the thing at the most a month ago and it worked fine. I will let it charge in full sun and test it again before chunking it.

 

[Duncan]

I moved from urban Arizona to rural Idaho last July, just in time for all the fruit trees on our 'new' (house built in 1916) property to fruit. We spent about two hours a day canning (for the first time) and another six hours re-doing two of the rooms (in addition to paying for the pasture fencing, re-piping the entire house, and extending AC power to the outbuildings). Now the house is livable, the garden has been double-dug, and we're catching our breath until January, when we start pruning the overgrown fruit trees.
We converted a bedroom adjacent to the (tiny) kitchen into a 15' X 8' pantry. putting in a laundry sink, and shelving. This week, we built an enclosure for a single burner propane stove for our next year's canning.

 

[Brent S]

I fired up the generator around 5:30this morning and have let it run all day. I think I will shut it down by 8 pm. This is by far the longest I’ve ever run it . Read that the power company said 1800+ homes are without power in my area. The south definitely isn’t prepared for a little snow.... anyways, about mid day I checked the gauge on the 500gal propane tank and it didn’t show any appreciable movement. I will check it again in the morning and get a real world idea of fuel consumption. I am heating with the wood stove comfortably but it has been nice today having tv and internet. Hope to have power back on tomorrow, but it’s nice to know it’s covered if not. Prepping is well worth the effort and expense.

 

[Brent S]

Yeah, the power came back on! I just gave the genny a well deserved rest.

 

[tmttactical]

Brent, it is always nice when the plans come together.

 

[jontte]

the project started with this.. next phase was this (and alot of tree shavings ) this is almost done , know I could have bought it,but simply had to find out do I still have it in my fingers to do stuff..
weight around 700 grams,nothing glued,detachable parts.

 

[Petoski]

Looks great Jontte

 

[tmttactical]

Great job. Looks very well assembled.

 

[Brent S]

I have a sister that is pretty well off. Her and her husband live in a place called polo fields. Half million dollar homes with golf course lawns. Couldn’t pay me to live there.... anyways, to keep up with the joneses, she decided to remodel her kitchen. Her cabinets are solid oak, and absolutely beautiful. I spent the day helping my brother in law taking all of them down and loaded them up and brought them home tonight. I have enough cabinets to set up a great office and redo my laundry room. Yeah. There is a 40” farm house cast iron sink for the laundry room too, was a heavy buggar but well worth bringing home! There are two 8’ tall hutches with glass doors above and loads of storage. Anyways, nothing is unloaded yet but at least it’s all here and I have two days off to get it started. I really enjoy using repurposed materials espechially when they are really nice and free!

 

[Brent S]

Started reading the book ‘the lost ways’. The first two things I thought were worth anything were how to build a self feeding fire and how to make hard tac biscuits. The self feeding fire basically uses two slopes with stacked logs to keep your fire going all night long, allowing you to sleep without freezing, and to be able to cook breakfast in the morning.
The hard tac biscuits are a food used by soldiers and sailors for ages. The stuff is almost indestructible and some has lasted more than a hundred years and is still edible. It is basically 3 parts flour with one part water and some salt. It’s baked three to four times to remove all the moisture, and will last for ages with no problem. You might break a tooth on it, but it will sustain you and is so shelf stable that bacteria and bugs don’t even want it!
I’ll keep posting the interesting stuff from this really appreciated Christmas gift I got.

 

[jimLE]

i feel like that I've gotten far enough in my store bought canned foods and home canned foods,where i change my primary shopping trip for next month.gonna stock up on water this time round. And only buy what foods that i really do need to buy.

 

[Mountain trapper]

The house is coming along nicely, but very sloow. I had a crew hired to install the sheetrock, but they got scared of my road after they spent 8 hours stuck a couple days so I had to fire them. They didn't even carry tire chains in their truck. One of the guys even started walking home. The funny part is the guy went the wrong direction. Got another crew from out of the area that is supposed to start tomorrow or Wednesday. HVAC, drywall and plumbing should be finished by the end of the week. The builder is working on the sofits and then he'll start on the siding. Got another crew coming out to install the stove pipe and chimny cap. The roof is 12/12 pitch and covered with 2 feet of snow and ice. The top of the chimny is like 24' from the ground so I didn't want to install the pipe myself. The last 3 windows have been shipped and I'll pick them up on Wednesday.
We got over a foot of new snow yesterday and today so I'll be plowing the road again tomorrow. It's supposed to clear up and drop to zero for next week. The colder weather usually means less snowfall.

 

[Brent S]

The house is coming along nicely, but very sloow. I had a crew hired to install the sheetrock, but they got scared of my road after they spent 8 hours stuck a couple days so I had to fire them. They didn't even carry tire chains in their truck. One of the guys even started walking home. The funny part is the guy went the wrong direction. Got another crew from out of the area that is supposed to start tomorrow or Wednesday. HVAC, drywall and plumbing should be finished by the end of the week. The builder is working on the sofits and then he'll start on the siding. Got another crew coming out to install the stove pipe and chimny cap. The roof is 12/12 pitch and covered with 2 feet of snow and ice. The top of the chimny is like 24' from the ground so I didn't want to install the pipe myself. The last 3 windows have been shipped and I'll pick them up on Wednesday.
We got over a foot of new snow yesterday and today so I'll be plowing the road again tomorrow. It's supposed to clear up and drop to zero for next week. The colder weather usually means less snowfall.

I can’t imagine trying to build in that cold and snow!

 

[Brent S]

My house is filled with cabinets all over the place! I have pathways to squeeze thru right now. Anyways, I measured and re measured half the day today and have a pretty good plan for all these repurposed cabinets now. Unfortunately it involves moving most of them upstairs, so I will wait until I have more labor here this week. These cabinets are all wood, raised arched panel oak and are all large units. Like 6’ and bigger. My muscles will be glad when they are installed and this project is done.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I can’t imagine trying to build in that cold and snow!

It does have it's own challenges. Last week the builder slipped on some ice and fell off the roof. He's lucky that he was on the first floor roof so he only fell about 12 feet.
Actually the best temperature for working is in the teens or colder. The snow is dry and there's lot better traction for driving.

 

[Brent S]

It does have it's own challenges. Last week the builder slipped on some ice and fell off the roof. He's lucky that he was on the first floor roof so he only fell about 12 feet.
Actually the best temperature for working is in the teens or colder. The snow is dry and there's lot better traction for driving.

Yeah, but can you still feel your fingers!

 

[Mountain trapper]

My house is filled with cabinets all over the place! I have pathways to squeeze thru right now. Anyways, I measured and re measured half the day today and have a pretty good plan for all these repurposed cabinets now. Unfortunately it involves moving most of them upstairs, so I will wait until I have more labor here this week. These cabinets are all wood, raised arched panel oak and are all large units. Like 6’ and bigger. My muscles will be glad when they are installed and this project is done.

That's a great deal on your cabinets Brent. We ordered our cabinets back in August when I thought the house would be done by Thanksgiving. When they were delivered in November I had no choice but to store them in the unfinished house. They're stacked up mostly in the master bedroom. We went with solid hickory for the cabinets and oak for the floor.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Yeah, but can you still feel your fingers!

Well we do wear gloves around here. But the fingers do get a little cold, so do the toes. When the guys are whining about being cold I just tell them to work a little faster.

 

[tmttactical]

I would rather be the Great Lizard , than the Abominable Snowman.

 

[Brent S]

That's a great deal on your cabinets Brent. We ordered our cabinets back in August when I thought the house would be done by Thanksgiving. When they were delivered in November I had no choice but to store them in the unfinished house. They're stacked up mostly in the master bedroom. We went with solid hickory for the cabinets and oak for the floor.

The cabinets are still in the living room, laundry room and on a trailer. I got a deal on prefinished oak flooring at Lowe’s yesterday. They had a cart of special order 3/4” tongue and groove planks on clearance for 90.00 a box, down from 110.00. I offered 50.00 and they took it. Yeah! So, now I have the materials but could use a week off to install everything now.... I trashed the office today, removing everything and cutting out some of the carpet. Tomorrow I will put down enough flooring to install the built in desk unit and at least get the office back up and running. There is a lot of work to be done in this room yet but at least it is progressing. It’s been a junk storage area for way too long and I’ve wanted to fix it up for a long while now.

 

[tmttactical]

Have family visiting but in two weeks I plan to finish off my gun work bench area. New 6 foot peg board back wall with a 8 foot top shelf and new parts bin. I just bought 500 rounds of 22 Lr. in preparation for the Ruger Precision Rim Fire rifle. Next week I order the rifle and a Vortex scope. I plan to get the Strike Eagle 6 x 24. That should be good enough for a 22 Lr. Those are my current preps, until the budget recovers. I plan to use the 22Lr. to help teach me about bullet drop compensation and wind judgment. A good training rifle I can afford to shoot hundreds of rounds without going broke.

 

[Petoski]

Extremely windy here and it appears there are a few items in the yard that need securing. This will be fun in the cold.

 

[Brent S]

Have family visiting but in two weeks I plan to finish off my gun work bench area. New 6 foot peg board back wall with a 8 foot top shelf and new parts bin. I just bought 500 rounds of 22 Lr. in preparation for the Ruger Precision Rim Fire rifle. Next week I order the rifle and a Vortex scope. I plan to get the Strike Eagle 6 x 24. That should be good enough for a 22 Lr. Those are my current preps, until the budget recovers. I plan to use the 22Lr. to help teach me about bullet drop compensation and wind judgment. A good training rifle I can afford to shoot hundreds of rounds without going broke.

Not only is the 22 economical, but it’s the most fun to shoot. I finally got 500 rounds of 308 from a local guy and hope to sight it in and break it in soon. I will probably play with the 22 at the same time.

 

[DrHenley]

Started reading the book ‘the lost ways’. The first two things I thought were worth anything were how to build a self feeding fire and how to make hard tac biscuits. The self feeding fire basically uses two slopes with stacked logs to keep your fire going all night long, allowing you to sleep without freezing, and to be able to cook breakfast in the morning.

This one is obviously an outdoor self feeding fire, but you could adapt it for a fireplace.

 

[tmttactical]

@DrHenley

Great video. Thank you for posting it.

 

[Brent S]

Yeah it is a really good idea. If I could only figure out a way to feed the wood burning stove all night....

 

[Mountain trapper]

Yeah it is a really good idea. If I could only figure out a way to feed the wood burning stove all night....

What...and take all the fun out of getting up at 3 am to stoke the fire?