T-Posts

Where I live t-posts should last forever.  It's too bad that I didn't buy more years ago when I first moved out of the city.  I did buy a lot as I needed about 300 of them when I fenced the property.  Unfortunately this wasn't enough.  Over the years I've fenced off individual pastures and used t-posts in the garden.  I've bought some here and there.  I've noticed that the heavy duty posts aren't as heavy duty as they used to be.  I want them to last forever.  I also don't want them to bend when I'm pounding them in or pulling them out.  Good quality posts don't bend easily.

 

A couple years ago, in the front pasture I planted more fruit and nut trees.  I also put the sheep in this pasture.  They ate all the young branches and leaves off the trees.  I cut some cattle panels (16 foot heavy duty) in half and made an eight foot square around each tree.  It didn't occur to me that the sheep would push the panels towards the trees and eat the leaves and branches.  They did. 

 

I purchased one t-post per enclosure.  They were called heavy duty but they certainly weren't the same quality as the ones I had purchased years earlier.  I figured that they would still keep the panels in place.  That wasn't enough because the sheep were smart enough to push the panels from the square pattern to an irregular quadrilateral and get to the trees. 

 

The next season I didn't have money for extra posts so I pulled up some of the posts in the garden and moved them to the front pasture.  I also cut up a few more panels to make these five sided enclosures.  Each enclosure had two posts securing the enclosure in place.  I figured with this new pattern the sheep wouldn't be able to push the panels.  This didn't work as the sheep figured out which corner of the enclosure to push on.  They ate the leaves again.   I ended up securing the corners of the enclosures with old 2X4s and branches.  This worked as a temporary fix.  At least the trees were getting a good root system even though they kept losing their leaves and young branches.

 

This year I decided to do it right.  I had some extra money over and above my spare $98 that's going for ammunition.  I was in the city and went to Lowes to pick up some t-posts.  I wanted 20.  Two more for each enclosure.  They had a huge stack of them.  As I looked at them I noticed that they were even more flimsy than the ones that I had bought a few years earlier.  Looking closer I could tell there were two brands.  It was easy to pick out the two because the ones with the bright white paint at the top was heavier duty than the ones with the cream colored top.  After further observation, the better quality ones with the white paint were made in the US.  The cheaper quality were made in China.  There were only nine good t-posts.  That's all I bought. 

Veterans Day

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations." President Woodrow Wilson

 

Ronald Reagan once said, "Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the United States was too strong."  I want to thank my father, brother, sister, son, daughter, and son-in-law for proudly serving our county in times of war and in times of peace.  My gratitude can not truly be expressed in words. 

How's the past year gone? Time to reevaluate

Almost a year ago I wrote an article for Survivalblog that was published last January.  http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/01/a_preparedness_plan_for_a_sing.html  I decided to reread it and see how things have changed.  After all, I keep saying that you have to evaluate and reevaluate.  How am I doing?

One of my basic premises changed.  I assumed that I will live where I’m at forever but this year I did buy a bug-out place.  It was one of those too good to pass up deals.  I don't expect to have to live there, but I am also fixing up that property, so now I have two parcels to work on rather than just one.  If nothing else, it gives me a lifetime supply of firewood.  I also hope to plant fruit trees there so I'll have fruit growing in two places.  If there is a bad season here, hopefully there will be a good season there.

I spoke about household items.  I had my lists and kept track of how much I had.  I miscalculated on how long some of the items would last.  Or perhaps I had to recalculate now that there were more people in the house, I'm not sure which.  I was figuring that most supplies I had on hand would last for ten years.  Then I took a closer look.  Some things only two or three years, others 5, very few ten years.

The garage still looks like a mini Wal-Mart.   Lots of grandkids live close by, not just the ones that live here.  I have more things in the clothing bins.  I have purchased new socks and underware for each of the grandkids that I think will show up here in the worst case scenario.  The garage and house are still very organized.  I don't ever have to purchase something because I don't know what I did with the one that I have. 

Weapons and ammunition.  I still don't speak about this much, mostly because I am not at all expert on this topic, but also because you don't need to know what I have.  I have purchased additional weapons and ammunition.  I've also purchased airsoft "toys" for the grandkids and encourage them to use them often.  The kids are looking forward to this summer.  My friend is an instructor at a local range and has promised to spend extra time with all of us next summer. 

I have doubled the amount of stored food this year. I still loudly tell people to change their eating habits.  (Yes, I like candy and ice cream and junk food) Rourke, at modernsurvivalonline.com has devoted space to my bread recipe.  I've always used dried beans but they are not really convenient.  I just bought a $10 one-quart slow cooker at Wal Mart.  I can put 1 1 /2 cups dry beans in it in the morning, fill the thing with water, turn it on, at at dinner have delicious beans.  Every dinner should have bread, rice, beans, potatoes, or something else that's good and filling.  The Atkins no carbohydrate diet is bad.  

I'm always looking to add to our garden.  A friend is moving and has a huge berry patch.  I like the kind of berries that he grew and asked if we could come over and dig some up.  He said sure.  We went over and dug around the patch.  We pulled out over 100 plants with roots and when we were done his berry patch looked great.  Prior to that it looked messy and overgrown.  These are going to be planted along one fenceline.   We also cut back his tomato plants and the tomatoes will ripen on the cut vines (I didn't take them out completely).  We picked some lemons. 

I also have seeds on hand.  I am still not crazy about getting prepackaged non-hybrid seeds.  They give you way too many of some seeds and not nearly enough of others.  I did receive a package of non-hybrid seeds from Rourke and will be using them this coming season.  I'll report on how well it goes.

This past year my volunteer beets did great and the eggplants volunteered in the middle of the corn patch.  I a couple of disappointments with the garden.  This could be an issue if TSHTF now it was just inconvenient.  The pumpkins are doing great.  They will be ready for Thanksgiving.  None were ready for Halloween.  I don't know why.  The tomato crop was a bust.  I planted some seeds from heirloom varieties.  They too are just starting to ripen.  I'm not going to get enough tomatoes to process before it gets too cold and kills the plants.  I did have lots of volunteer tomatoes this year but they were all cherry sized.  They tasted good but it's a good thing I have a years worth still canned from last year.  I need to get good heirloom varieties established and working in my volunteer system.

We added to the animal collection with some ducks.  I'm not sure why because I really don't like eating duck.  I do like duck eggs so I suppose that's a good reason to have them around.  They eat the bugs in the garden too.

We used 480 gallons of propane last year.  We ended up heating the house with the propane for a couple of months because we had visitors over the winter and I didn't trust them with the wood stove while I wasn't home.  I wonder how much we will use this year?  Perhaps I should get a second 500 gallon tank?

I thought I'd use my tax return to set up a solar power last year.  I bought the other five acre property instead.  I still want to set up a small solar power system.  I haven't even started to think about solar/water/heat, etc. at the new place other than it does have a wood stove and plenty of firewood needing to be cut up.

One of our house guests kids helped themselves to most of my prescription medication.  So much for leaving it in the cabinet.  I'm trying to restock this.  I do have a good stock of vitamins and OTC medicines.  I have thought of a way for my doctor to give me some additional prescriptions.  I'm going to let him know that I'm traveling out of country and would like to have some items in case I get sick.  That should work. 

I've stocked up on more medical supplies and have just started thinking about dental.  You never have enough medical supplies because one bad accident can use up a lot of stuff. 

I'm still working on the home library.  I've started printing up books and articles that I find on line.  I'm binding them into notebooks to turn them into "books".  I don't want to have to rely on the computer for anything.  We've added more bookshelves at the house.  I have the books sorted just like you'd find them at a bookstore or library.  I have to continuously straighten these up because of the kids but it's not a difficult task and definitely worth the effort.

I'm still collecting office supplies.  The kids use as much as I will allow them to use.  I gave the advice to take advantage of the end of summer back to school sales.  I forgot to follow my own advice this year. 

The trailer.  I had just purchased it.  We have used it about a dozen times this past year.  I wasn't replenishing it with supplies, just using what was there.  This was bad, as the last trip we took was for four days in the middle of the woods without anyone else around.  It's a good thing the kids caught fish because our food supply was low.  We would have eaten at each meal but I was definitely thankful for the fish.  The trailer now has over a month supply of food and water.  It has several changes of clothes for each of us plus some generic items including elastic waist shorts, t shirts, and sweats.  I have two full travel sized tanks of propane for it now. 

I was thinking about planting non-inviting plants along the property lines.  I've done some of this with roses and berries.  I'm looking for some cactus that I can dig up from other peoples yards.  The bug out property has lots of poison oak.  I am going to plant that along the very back of the property once I get someone else to help dig it out.

All in all it's been a good prepping year.

Stupid costs money

I don't have unlimited funds so I try to watch how the money is spent.  The more food I get out of the yard the less money I have to spend at the store.  The less money we spend buying clothes the more money I spend on future preparing.  If I speed while driving and I get a ticket, it's going to cost money.  If I do it a second time it's going to cost even more.  To me, that's just throwing away money.  It's simple.  I'm not sure why it isn't that obvious to others.  Take my son...please! 

Ok, the please part was a joke.  But my son is an example of what not to do.  He and my daughter-in-law and their two kids have had a pretty tough go of it, initially because of reasons beyond their control (a serious accident) but over the last two years, their problems are all their own doing.  They don't have a lot of money and are barely making it by their standards.  I look at what they have and how they spend their money and try to give advice.  I don't give unasked for advice.  That would be a waste of my breath.  On the other hand, if they ask for the advice perhaps every once in a while they should take it. 

My son got a job about 20 miles away from where they live.  They didn't have a car at that time and there isn't any public transportation to get to his job.  It was a job and after being unemployed for almost a year he needed to take it.  He wanted to get a car.  I told him that they couldn't afford a car they should move.  They could live in the town where the new company was located.  He could walk or ride a bike to work.  No, he went out and spent their last welfare check on a cheap car.  It did get him to and from his job for a month so all was good.  Then the car broke down.  He didn't save any of his money from the new job, instead they went on a spending spree. 

He then sold his 46 inch color tv (he didn't have a job for a year but somehow bought this tv while on welfare...I think from selling food stamps) and used that money to buy another cheap car.  I still said they should move.  I'd drive my truck and trailer to move them.  They moved (without my help) but to a different apartment a little further from his new job and for $100 a month more in rent.  After all, he had a job now.   I told him to pretend that they were still on welfare for a while and save the money.  No, they spent every bit going out to eat, going to movies, buying the kids new clothes, etc.  Oh yeah, and another 46 inch color tv. 

Then the car broke down.  Two cars in about two months was more than he could stand.  He went to the nearest used car dealer that sells rebuilt totaled cars at ridiculous prices and high interest.  Now he has a $300 a month car payment for the next four years paying on a ten year old car, oh, I mean SUV! with over 100,000 miles.  But, it's a decent car, even if he is paying twice the value of it. 

I shouldn't be complaining much.  After all, I get to see those two grandkids each weekend.  Never mind that the parents are still skimping because they now have a higher rent and a car payment.  Insurance is required in California and he has to pay this as part of his monthly car loan.  They are charging him $60 a month for insurance.  Not too bad if it was full coverage.  It isn't.  It's the minimum coverage to pay for someone elses vehicle if he hits someone else.  It will pay back the loan.  He would get nothing out of it.

California has a law saying you can't hold a cell phone while you drive.  He got caught doing this a couple of months ago and got a fine.  He paid it.  All was well.  Last Monday he got caught again driving while holding the cell phone.  This time didn't go as well.  He was told that his license was suspended due to an unpaid speeding ticket.  Oops, he figured that since he got that ticket while in Oregon nobody would notice.  They towed the car.  He is in the process of getting the car back.  After paying the fines, getting his license reinstated, and getting the car out of storage it will cost him about $1,000. 

I think about a thousand dollars and how would I spend it?  Stupid costs money.  He is spending the money and getting nothing tangible in return.  Sure he gets his car back but if he didn't hold the stupid phone to his ear in the first place he wouldn't have been pulled over.  None of this would have happened.  What was so important that he had to call?  He wanted to know what was for dinner! 

One thousand dollars?  Two days ago I was excited because I had a spare $98.

$98 to spend

A couple days ago I wrote that I had to go to Sacramento to teach a class.  I get $40 for meals and incidentals for each 24 hours I'm away from home and less for less than 24 hour periods.  For this trip I'll be given $98 which can be used to either buy groceries or take myself out to eat.  I can also keep the money for other things as long as somehow I still eat well. 

Sunday night: Ate right before I left home in the afternoon.  Brought fruit (grapefruit, persimmons, and pears are ripe on the fruit trees) Pocket the $18.

Monday: At the hotel they offer a free breakfast.  It's pretty lousy: cold cereal, toaster pastries, fruit, juice, bad coffee.  I ate a bowl of fruit.  At class a continental breakfast was also offered: muffins, bagels, juice, good coffee.  I had a bagel, blueberry muffin, juice, and coffee.  Lunch was served at class: lasagne, bread, salad, cookies, soda, water, juice, and coffee.  There were leftovers so I also had lasagne for dinner.  Money spent on day 1.  Zero.  Pocket the $40. 

Tuesday: Don't know what they are offering for lunch but I will be eating the main course for lunch and dinner.  I have left over fruit from the trees to eat on my drive home.  Pocket the $40.

Normally I buy clothing items with this travel money but I think we're all good for a while.  I'm going to spend the $98 on ammunition.  I like travel money.

Exercise for the kids

Raising a bunch of kids (or in my case grandkids) nowadays means prying them away from computers, video games, tv, and everything else electronic.  Around here the kids still have those things because I don't believe in not exposing them to this equipment, they just need to not be addicted to them.  They get to choose two electronic items each day on the weekend.  They can spend up to two hours total on electronics.  This of course only gets to happen if they are done with their chores and we have no plans for the rest of that day.  In reality, they may only have an hour of computer or video time per weekend.  During the school week they are only allowed to watch tv in the morning if they are ready for school at least 1/2 hour before the bus comes.  There is no tv during the week and no tv or radio during meals. 

There's such a worry about childhood obesity and adult obesity as well.  Too often people eat too much and don't do anything active.  Our property is set up for activity.  We have an obstacle course for the grandkids (and me).  We have tires to run through, a sprinting area, cones to zigzag around, large trees to climb, nets to crawl under, and a cross country running track.  I also set up a tether ball pole, a basketball hoop, badminton and volleyball net, croquette, whiffle ball, and a soccer goal.  We also go hiking and bike riding.  A couple months ago we all participated in a 5k walk for charity, and we did this again two weeks ago. 

Exercise and being active is important.  They think it’s just for fun.  I'm good with that.

Bread - so easy to make you'll never buy it again

Yesterday Rourke (modernsurvivalonline.com) wrote about bread making.  I sent him a comment because while his bread dough seemed easy, mine is easier.  It's easy to remember the ingredients and the amounts you need.  Remember 2, 1, 1/2, 1/2.  You don't even have to keep these proportions, and after a while, with experience you will be able to do so much with this dough.

2 cups flour
1 cup water (any temperature, but room temperature to 100 degrees works fastest)  I just take mine straight out of the faucet which is about 60 degrees.
1/2 Tablespoon (or 3/4 teaspoon) yeast
1/2 Tablespoon (or 3/4 teaspoon) salt (I use kosher salt but any salt will do)

Mix this together in a bowl using a spoon.  The dough should be easy to mix together.  If not, add more water.  You don't need to mix the yeast and water first, just mix it all together.  Let the dough sit in the bowl for anywhere from a couple of hours to all day, overnight, several days, whatever.  The longer the dough sits the more sour it gets.  This is how you make sourdough bread!  You don't need to use anything special.  I cover the bread dough with a dish towel.  If you are going to keep the dough for more than a day mix it at the end of the day and cover with a light layer of water to keep it from having a crust dry on top. 

When you are ready to make your bread you have to decide what kind of bread you are going to make.  I'll give some examples.  I like adding a couple of scoops of minced garlic and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  Or to make a challah, I'll put in egg yolks and sugar.  Prior to baking I'll brush the top with egg yolks to get a nice crust.  For breakfast or a great snack, add raisins and cinnamon sugar.   You can even just use the original four ingredients and add nothing.

A couple of days ago I rolled the dough out flat and brushed on melted butter.  I then rolled that dough into a jellyroll and cut into two inch rolls.  They were great.  You can roll it out and add additional raisins and cinnamon sugar then roll it back into a loaf.  Be creative!

OK, you have a bowl of wet dough, now what?  You need to take a couple of cups of flour and put it on the counter.  Add your other ingredients into the bowl of dough if you are making something other than the plain bread, then take the dough out of the bowl and pour it over the flour on the counter.  Keep flipping the dough over and over and adding the flour on the counter into this dough.  Once it's not sticky it's ready.  The more you flip it (which is kneading it) the softer the bread will be.  (Think of white bread vs. a whole grain artisan bread)

Shape the dough into either a loaf for a pan, a bunch of rolls, a round loaf or ???  If you want brush the top with oil, melted butter, egg yolk, or nothing.  Let it sit for anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour.  Preheat the oven to anywhere between 350 and 425.  Use the higher temp if you don't have the loaf rise for a long time as the higher temp will rise the dough quickly.  Bake until it's done (20 min - 45 min) depending on size and temp.