To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

We shifted cattle and horse pastures this week. The goal is to get a few yearling heifers, a steer calf, and one older cow ready for sale. But separating calves from their moms, even when they are 11+ months old — and ostensibly weaned — always leads to some drama and plenty of late-night mooing and bellowing.  As usual, I phoned our one closeby neighbor (about a quarter mile away), to let them know that we had just made the pasture shift.  I do this so that our neighbor won’t be alarmed by the vociferous cow-bellowing.  I wouldn’t want them to think that one of our critters got its head stuck in a fence.

I was busy with packing and mailing out Elk Creek Company antique gun orders this week. I also had to make two other trips to town, on errands. Since our ranch is fairly remote, any trip into town is at least a half-day proposition.

One of the rear tires on our electric ATV developed a slow leak. A long squirt of about 6 ounces of Slime tire sealant remedied that. When the nearest tire shop is more than a one-hour drive away, having tire sealant available can be a practical lifesaver. I recommend keeping plenty on hand!

Now, Lily’s report…

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Dear Readers,
The weather has mostly been cold rainy and some snow showers high twenties for lows and high low fifties for highs. Our migratory birds continue to return to our valley.  This week I heard or saw a pair of Killdeer in our yard, the Varied Thrush in the Main garden, and some huge flocks of Juncoes, some starlings, of course robins. At the end of the week, I saw our first vulture fly over the ranch.  I hear the Great Horned Owls hooting every evening and in the early morning hours. I love hearing them.

We celebrated Passover on Monday night with most of our Bible study group.  It was a very special time together. This week we are celebrating Unleavened bread. Jesus is the Passover and is the Unleavened Bread and is the First Fruits of God.  He fulfills and is the Feasts.

I tried to watch Lunar Eclipse on Sunday night, but didn’t see any major change in the moon. I went to bed at midnight.

I cleaned out the cow stalls and separated the mamas from their nearly yearling calves.  They, the bulls, and the horses are down in the Meadows.  One cow did not make it into the meadows.  I decided to train her to milk since she is hanging tight around the corrals where her yearling calf is housed.  I entice her into the crush stall with rolled oats and close her in.  She is at the end of her lactation so she is only giving about a quart and a half of milk. My cows are a bit on the wild side.  So she is getting used to being handled, milked, petted, and brushed. Jim and Miss Violet like the milk with their cereal in the morning and don’t react to A1 Beta casein. So we won’t buy any more storebought milk, for now. I also plan on making cheese for Jim and Miss Violet soon. I just learned that Tillamook Cheese uses rennet made by Pfizer? I don’t trust Pfizer.  Therefore it’s time to stop buying their cheese. Jim and Miss Violet love cheese.  So, I might as well get back into making it, since we do have a cow in milk for a while longer.  This early summer, we will be selling most of our small herd of cows and buying an A2/A2 cow with a calf at side.

I made our own pasta this week with freshly ground Einkorn flour.  The recipe was four cups of flour, 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, and one and half teaspoons of Sea salt, some water to moisten the flour.  I kneaded it and rolled it out on a counter.  I sliced long strips and cut them up into little squares and diamonds.  I put them in a pot of boiling water and boiled them for about eighteen minutes. I put my meat stir fry sauce over them: From the freezer: our recently processed ground beef, from our garden frozen zucchini chunks, mixed chopped sweet peppers, sliced onions, orange cherry tomatoes; some short-chopped lengths of fresh store-bought asparagus, Garlic, Cumin, Basil, Oregano, and Real Salt. We enjoyed the pasta meal very much.

I cleaned the Hen House this week.  I set a hen on three eggs, thus far to test her brooding instincts.  I will be “forcing” more hens to set eggs in the coming weeks.

We had some non-rainy weather on Wednesday, so we took the opportunity to take two-and-a-half hour hike part of the way up the nearby Unnamed Mountain. We had some great views of our valley and The Unnamed River, below.

I am paying attention to the possible coming sacrifice of the red heifer in Israel. Today (Saturday) is a date in the Rabbinic Calendar that states that this day is the Shabbat Parah.  The Sabbath of the Sacrificing of the Red Heifer.

A teaching from a Jewish man in Israel on the Red Heifer.

As I understand, the last time a Red Heifer was Sacrificed was 2000 years ago.  It is sacrificed and burned and its ashes are used to purify the priests for Temple service.  See Numbers 19.  The word on the street is that between now/today and the Rabbinic/Second Passover on April 23rd, they will sacrifice a Red Heifer. The four Heifers they have now are just about three years old and there is an age limit on the age of the animal to be sacrificed. The day that they sacrifice the red heifer will be a momentous and extremely serious event with dire and explosive consequences for the whole world.  Islam will go ballistic against Israel if it takes place…We are living in the window of the Last Days.  Please repent of your sins in the Name of Jesus Christ and read His word.  Get right with Him and the Father God so that you may escape from His Wrath to Come.  Keep praying and stocking up.

May you all have a very blessed and safe week.

– Avalanche Lily, Rawles

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As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week.  We want to hear from you.