What have you done to prep today?

[thatGuy]

BTW, I'm with you WhiteWolf. This weekend we bought a cubic yard of manure that ended up being more like 3 yards!

You wanna talk about hurt backs? Moving all that out of the back of the truck almost got me and I doubt I will ever get the smell washed out.

[Colombo]

Anyone figure out what I have been working on?  Circuitry is a pretty fun hobby, so far.

Speed controller and disco lights for your disturbingly large rotisserie?

[WhiteWolfReloaded]

Finished my secondary garden and bought an electric tiller for small jobs. Also got a burn barrel. More importantly, took a small vacation to the beach for the wife and kid.

[JohnyMac]

WW, what beach? Lake or Ocean?

[WhiteWolfReloaded]

WW, what beach? Lake or Ocean?

Hilton Head, SC. Not my favorite, but the stay was free. I'd much rather go to Charleston, SC. The folks in Hilton Head can't drive for shit. Dodged a car wreck while I was there.

[JohnyMac]

LOL! When my wife and I were cruising down the ICW in '96 we stayed in Hilton Head over Thanksgiving. We found a turkey in a grocery store that would fit in our Force 10 propane stove and invited way to many people over to Mad Max.

What I do remember is there was a lot of golf courses.

Glad you got out!

[Reaver]

and that makes a +1 for Reaver.

 [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co thanks bud.

[APX808]

Today I went trekking to an abandoned clay mine.

Besides doing some walking with my pack, I was able to do some movement in extremely low light conditions and it was a very fun experience 

[thatGuy]

Super important stuff there APX.

Everyone should be getting out at least once a month for a long walk.. fuck training do it for your soul! Getting some training too isn't bad..

[crudos]

Right on TG about long walks as part of training. Go into the woods, mountains and just silently take the wonders of nature in.

No walks for me today, unless you count walking to a from a brush pile to fire pit. Started in earnest cleaning up the messes left by previous owners of my house and property. Did some gardening too.

[Colombo]

Visited this fancy new site after doing 850 arm reps.
250 9mm reps.  300 10mm reps. and 300 45acp reps.

[JohnyMac]

Whats on the menu for dinner...BEEF!

The farmer from across the dirt road form the cabin uses our meadow below our cabin for his Highlanders in the summer. Having them there serve multiple purposes:

1) Fertilization,
2) We put up temporary electric fence around our yard so they can keep the weeds down, and
3) Now a maternity area for cows to give birth.

So Tess gave birth to a strappen male Highlander at 6:00AM on May 30, 2013. Here are two pics.


I am sorry I could not get a closer shot but Tess was rather protective of her new baby and was making charging challenges while I was taking pics.

Ben the bull, was going to be heading to become hamburger this fall as he had not impregnated any of the cows as yet. Well he proved to us he had it in 'em.  I guess we will keep him another year if he keeps up on his end of the bargain. 

[APX808]

Since 2 weeks ago I started the course to get my HAM radio license.
Today we went to mount a campaign radio station with the local Boy Scout group.

Is interesting, I wouldn't dare to say "funny", you need a shit load of really expensive equipment.

I think I'll never buy HAM radios, I'll just operate in 2 meters, In SHTF I'll know some guys with real HAM radios to do the calling for me LOL

[JohnyMac]

I hear ya' man! 

That craps pricy!

[thatGuy]

I don't know how it is down there but up here you can join a ham club and after years of climbing the tower, hauling around batteries and other general shit work those guys will start burying you under the weight of their 'hand me down' equipment... all while providing you with a working education on the topic.

Not the best way to go but certainty a way to go. 

[JohnyMac]

Yupper TG you are 100% correct on that one.

The ham club meeting I went to this past winter; when they saw me...A potential new member, they were licking their lips like a wolf looking at the sheep herd. I was the youngest member there!

[APX808]

The radio club here has some equipment from the 80's then there is some newer stuff also but nothing newer than the 90's
the resell price of those oldies is extremely high, just because the price of new equipment is fucking science fiction for our economy LOL

I don't think they'll give me anything, besides I don't think I'll stand being a HAM for years.
Is really expensive and really boring LOL

[Well-Prepared Witch]

My Dad's a HAM (so's my Mom, but she really just does it to spend time with my Dad), and much as I love him I keep thinking that HAM isn't going to be as useful in SHTF as, say, CB or short wave.  More people have CB and short wave, so you can monitor what other people are doing and reach out (if the situation warrants) and possibly reach people.

And, to honor the title of the original post, my prepping today is to start reading "Gardening When It Counts".  So far, all two pages, I'm enjoying it.

[crudos]

The wife picked up a copy of the Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening for cheap at a garage sale. Will be very helpful I suspect as I re-learn about gardening.

[JohnyMac]

This is really a prepping site with news & politics thrown in for some spice. So to kind of get things back on the road this is what I/we have been up to prepping for the fall/winter.

> Bought 100#'s of potatoes
> Had 1 cord of wood delivered and one more will be delivered next week
> Cleaned out 4 carboy's to be filled with apple cider. It will then be turned into hard cider over the winter
> Got invited to pick apples on a neighbors property that Sdoon's husband is haying. Picked 5, 5 gallon buckets
    and 2 milk crates.

This is how how we get the apples at the top of the tree (s) - Scary as I am the one at the controls in the tractors cab! 

What have you done?

[APX808]

I just bought a plant pot to plant my Basil plants.
Sadly living in an apartment I can't have many plants, but with my Basil plants I can do "Pesto noddles"
Some chopped nuts, garlic and basil mixed with oil, and you use that as gravy for the noddles, that's a great recipe from my Italian ancestors

[JohnyMac]

  I love pesto!

EDIT: Added space between the Up: and the rest, so we can see the smiley. John, remember to add the space - APX808

[special-k]

Today, while cycling through mid-term food preps (canned food),  I opened a case (sealed at the factory) labeled as "chicken."  It ended up being an entire case of the shitty, inferior and cheaper "ground beef."  There's nothing I can do about it now being that I ordered it back in 2011.  I did open the rest of the cases I had ordered from that company and they were all labeled properly... but they cheated me out of that one.   

[mariecurtishomes]

use the cores and peels from the apples to make wine. When you make the cider, the mash will also make great wine...or give to the animals...the wine is great..I'll show you how.

[JohnyMac]

Thx Marie! Going to the Cider festival Sunday. Hope to see ya' there 

SK, still contact the company. The worst they will say is, "Get lost." maybe they will do something in the middle for you. If you don't ask they can't offer...