M109A3 conversion

This is what has been keeping me busy over the last few days along with major construction plans this weekend.

Right now the front half is waiting for its 3rd coat of white paint. It has really soaked up the paint.
Trip to the lumber yard tonight to pick up the wood for the Bed/Fuel storage area and the built over cabinet.

The fuel tank will hold 325 gallons of fuel. Good for a bug out situation. The smaller tank is a water tank and will hold 70 gallons of water on board. This will all be enclosed into the bed area, hopefully with alot more storage options. I'm worried about Grey Knight's plans for this since it seems to me storage will be very limited. If all else fails bins can be piled on the bed area, I guess.

Do It yourself MRE Drink Mix and more!

This post was inspired by K over at http://planningandforesight.blogspot.com/  Every week it seems, he reviews MRE's  and I was paging thru his back posts today about them. I noticed the price tag on the MRE drink mixes and then got thinking about how the Grey Knight likes these little Wylers packets to mix into his water at work.

 Now last time we bought these several months ago I was shocked at the price. Was roughly 3.50 for a box of 8 of these, which makes 16 8 oz servings. However at Aldi, I got this container of drink mix for less than 2.00 for 60 8 oz servings.

So quick math just to give myself a headache...
 .21 a serving for the Wylers
 .03 a serving for the cheap Aldi brand

Now we all know, carrying around a container of drink mix while hiking, camping, bugging out, etc takes up alot of room in any pack. How about a easy way to tote these around?

The bright yellow package with all the fancy labeling is of course the Wylers package.

The other one is mine. Here's how you do it. It's very simple and can be adapted to hold instant coffee, powdered creamers, any dried beverage mix.

First off you get ahold of some clear straws. One straw gets cut in half. This half will hold your individual serving.

You will need a candle, any one will do and a pair of needle nose pliers. Pinch the straw between the pliers at the end leaving a small tail to it. Hold this tail over your candle to heat seal the plastic from the straw... like so...

 Pour 3/4 tsp of the drink mix in (may need all of the straw for things like coffee etc.) This is a tedious job, something to do while watching tv or a movie or such.  Heat seal the other end and you are good to rock. You could probably fit 50 of these or more in a qt ziplock bag. Just throw in a pair of nail clippers to open the end of your homemade drink straw and add to your water.

Prepper Overload?

Anyone else experience this? We have realized that we are severely disorganized in our preps. In a bug out situation, we would most likely end up leaving essentials behind simply because we couldn't find them.
The Grey Knight works from 5 am to 7pm 5 days a week, and we had been trying to get things done on the weekends along with prepping tasks as well as running the farm. I've kinda woken up and realized that since I'm home 7 days a week with just me and the dog during the week, I need to light a fire under my butt and take this organization on myself.
Of course, this also comes with my household chores, farm chores and all the drying, canning and weeding that comes with that. I'm not having a pity party just feeling a tad overwhelmed.
Right now I'm attempting to work at least a corner in the back shed clean and organized making lists of things we need to repair and/or get while cleaning and organizing that area. I'm also trying to locate indoor preps by category in one spot as well. One indoor, one outdoor project a day plus chores.

Of course, the type A in me feels this isn't going fast enough or that I'm not doing enough, anyone else get this kind of prepper depression?

Chocolate Raspberry Jam To Die For!

Okay so its not pretty, but fruit and chocolate seriously? you can't go wrong!

Gather your materials.

6 cups raspberries (I threw some strawberries in there for good measure)

4 cups sugar

1 box low sugar pectin

5 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup Dark Chocolate cocoa powder

Mash your berries and start bringing them to a low boil. Mix the cocoa powder and pectin. *Cuss loudly because you spilled some on the counter*

Once the raspberries are at low boil, add the cocoa powder and pectin mixture.

Stir well.

*Stop to say aloud and to the dog and anyone randomly listening thru hidden mics (just kidding) Wow, that looks like baby....*

Bring back to a rolling boil for 20 min. Makes 3 pint jars or 6 half pint jars. Waterbath for 15 minutes. Make sure you taste it before you can it, it may not make it to the canning stage if you do!

While it is in the water bath, click the link on the side of this postK's Fajita Seasoning and gather the ingredients.

Be sure to duck as the spices come falling out of the 3 little cabinets that you have to store food in.

Sneeze several times from the peppers.

Place in a mason jar for later use!

By the way, did you know that the tops from parmesan containers screw on perfectly to mason jars?

Odds and Ends of Prepping

Just a hodgepodge of stuff going on here on the farm.

Made a new batch of a blended tea. It's a combination of anise (mountain mint), bee balm (bergamont) and spearmint. Tastes and smells like a minty black jelly bean!

Looks so pretty in the dehydrator as well.

Got berries everywhere! Even though we aren't getting any rain, the berries seem to love it.
Canned some strawberry desert topping this morning. Picking up more canning jars this evening and canning some chocolate raspberry jam/filling tomorrow. I'm envisioning turnovers filled with it!

And the gratitious dinner picture just for Kymber, since she always posts yummy food that she is eating!

It's what we call a gondola dog with a side of spaghetti. It's basically a italian sausage wrapped in pizza dog then I brush a mixture of olive oil, fresh herbs from the garden and parmesan cheese on it and bake.

As you can see we are keeping busy! Next week will be a round of fishing up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin along with forgaging. Hoping that we do as well or better fishing up there as we did in Kentucky.

Raspberry Pecan Jam

Ambitious this morning after finally getting a night's sleep. Bear has developed this new habit of wanting to go lay down outside in the middle of the night. He barks when he wants to go out. Night before, I didn't get to sleep til close to 430 am and up with him again at 630 am. The training collar seems to be helping though I still have to get up to tell him No and to go back to sleep but less times last night.

Anyway, made Raspberry Pecan Jam this morning. This is the first year that our bushes have really produced and I am picking a little over a quart a day with no end in sight. Still plenty of green berries on the bushes.

Recipe is your basic jam recipe.

Raspberry Pecan Jam
4 quarts of Raspberries (roughly 6 1/2 cups)
2 cups of sugar
1/2 package of powdered pectin
scant tbsp of water
tbsp of lemon juice
1 cup of ground pecans

Combine everything but the pecans in a pot. Bring to boil and allow to boil for 20 min. (220 on candy thermometer). Last 5 minutes add the ground pecans.

Process in hot sterilized canning jars (pints) for 15 minutes at a rolling boil. Makes 4 pints.

It's like a peanut butter jelly sandwhich in a jar! Makes a impressive Christmas gift as well.

Repurposed Mittens from A Sweater

Or...Sew along with Beth.

I know mittens are something we don't want to think about with just coming into spring. I like to have tons of pairs around since they get wet and then your hands get cold. These are great for shoveling snow, walking the dog, or just bringing in firewood.


A wool sweater shrunk up in the wash works best but I have even gotten away with using 50% wool ones. I happened to have this one that Bear nicked a large hole in. It went into the sewing pile to be used for mittens.

First cut your patterns.

You will need 2 pieces of each of these..They are rather simple shapes to eyeball.

and 2 of these as well...

Once you have your pieces cut, then comes the fun part. Pinning them together.

Here is a picture of one pinned. You will need to pin the other one opposite since you don't want to end up with 2 left hands or 2 right hands.

I am using some hand dyed wool and cotton thread to stitch these ones together. Don't you love my camp table by the way! The Grey Knight built it for me and it folds up to be carted around where we need it. Right now its serving as my folding table for laundry.

Now with the magic of the internet....A finished pair for you to see what you will end up with!

Of course this one comes out fuzzy and with the lighting they dont look like the deep purple they are. II'm a firm believer that winter clothes and footwear should be bright to help with the winter blues.

If you do this project and get stuck. Feel free to email me at bwilliams0113@hotmail.com!

Spoiled Rotten

Someone is spoiled rotten around here and it's not me!

He loves his new cooling pool. Though he was unsure about it at first. It quickly became the comedy sitcom of the neighborhood with neighbors coming out of their houses to watch Bear frolick in the pool. If you throw something that sinks in, he has to get it out of the pool, and he puts his whole face in and blows bubbles! The pool is good to stand and go around in circles for about a half hour then it becomes a game of tug of war to move the pool around the yard finally spilling it and then running around with the pool in his jaws like he won a prize or something.

Finally got Bears pack done and we have taken it for a test walk. He doesn't seem to mind having it on once he realizes that we are going for a walk.  Wasn't to much of a pain to construct even with the hand sewing.

We used a extra large dog harness and a set of Coleman ATV bags (19 bucks at Walmart).

Place the bag on table with bag openings to the table, then lay the harness in the postion that it would sit on the dog (this is the hard part making sure that nothing is tangled) The coleman bag has a circle hole in the center and this lines up perfectly with the dog's leash hitch on the harness. Pin into place and then tack with a hand sewing, making sure to use strong thread as this will see alot of wear and tear.  I went over some places with the sewing machine just to give it added strength.

And there you have a dog bug out bag or a dog walk backpack for less than 20 bucks (if you already have the harness.

Will try to get pictures this weekend of it on the dog.

The Lists!

I'm a lister. I make tons of lists and leave them all over the place in order to keep on track around here.

I have lists for inside, the farm, prepping, sewing etc etc.

Right now I am working on checking things off the lists. With spring here they get big.

On the sewing list, I have been working on putting Bear's bug out bag (or walking backpack) together. With him being such a large dog, it is impossible to find a premade one. Will do a post on how I constructed it later.

On the farm end of things, (hands head in shame) I am still working through getting this fall's wheat threshed and sorted. I am saving the shafts to make bee skeeps with. Mainly decorative but a trade or barter item with the yuppies around here. We are getting a delivery of dirt later in the week so I can fill the remaining raised beds. Add that to the list....

Put some burdock root, dandelion root to dry for spring tonic, clover looks like it will be up soon. Harvested shepards purse to dry for ointment and also for seed.
After this bout of cold mornings this week, the Grey Knight is off this weekend and will be getting the big tiller out to finish the main gardens. Planting next week before we run off south for a week. We set up a timed irrigation system on Saturday which should work pretty good. We really haven't gotten much rain this spring. Weird weather.

On the prepping side of things, we ordered paracord last night to make belts and watch bands etc. Looking a handgun thats on sale at Bass Pro. We should get some range time in when we are down south.

Today will be spent working on the wheat again and possibly finishing Bears bug out bag. Its slow going as it has to be handsewn. May your days be productive!

Beth chases Bear out with wheat straw in his mouth!

Weekend work

Imagine this full since I failed to take a before picture.

As you can see this is a healthy sized compost bin probably 6 ft by 4 foot in size and a good 2 and half feet tall. Yes this was full before. One goose egg and a mouse family later, its empty!

Here is where its all gone. You can see other summer projects in this picture as well. The roof on the left needs replacing, a gate is being built between the 2 building to hide the area, that wood on the right and all the wood in front of this barn needs to be spilt. We had a big wind storm that was a boon for our wood levels this year. The next raised bed that is being built is around the trees in the right side of the picture, there are 3 of them (small dwarf apple trees). The raised bed will encircle all 3 of them and will be planted with a apple guild then.

The Grey Knight has mandated that I take the day off today to give my hands a chance to heal. I don't know if anyone else has hand issues, but I do so much around here and then go inside to play in the water doing dishes cleaning , dog drool (LMAO) that my hands crack and bleed. I use a hand cream that they use on cow's udders called Udderly smooth, but if i dont use it like 4 times a day, I get in this shape on my hands.

Speaking of Dog Drool.... We are calling him Bear McHair lately as he is blowing out his coat. Tons of hair everywhere!!

Candle Making .500 (or what not to do)

I don't like being outside in the dark. Don't like it one bit! Comes from being stalked by a big growlie thing (cougar) for an hour in Missouri once.

So WTSHTF I want light. Sure I've got oil lanterns, kerosene and lamp oil, even have emergency candles. What happens when that stuff runs out? Beth has to face the big growlie things lightless!! No way!

I've never experimented with candle making before and wanted to do it from the ground up so I started with making my own wicking (yes I have extra lantern wicks but ...see above)

You can get alot of candle wicks out of 420 ft of cotton twine. I braided these together 3 strands at a time to come up with this.

All the research I did said to soak the wicking for 12 hours in a mixture of 1 cup water, 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp boric acid..I don't know why but who I am to argue?

So this morning after soaking and drying the wicks out, I got out my supplies. Everyone on the net recommends toilet paper or paper towel tubes as inexpensive molds..DON'T DO IT!! What a mess!



I wanted to scent my candle with some calming traditional Native American scents. So I added about 1 cup of combined chopped sweetgrass and white desert sage that I was lucky enough to wildcraft on our trip out west last year. (Mental pic of Beth drying sweetgrass on a unlit bbq grill in a campground in the sun)

After the fiasco with the toilet paper tubes (leaks out from the bottom) I mad dashed all over the house trying to find suitable glass containers.  Here is what I ended up with.

2 candles scented with sweetgrass and desert white sage and while I was at it I made 10 containers of lip balm flavored with hazelnut extract (because I'm wierd like that) The directions for the lip balm are hereLip Balm from PatarusFamilia Blog

The chopsticks I used to keep the wicks upright while drying. I will trim the wicks up later.

Anyone have suggestions on how to do it better?
Beth

Mozarella stuffed Meatballs (or Mock Applebees Dinner)

I have a confession, I enjoy eating out too much! But we end up disappointed every time we go out to eat. You would think we were food critics the way we tear apart the meal and talk about how much better we could do it at home and for alot less.

Last month Applebees had a special 2 for 20 on their mozarella stuffed meatballs with spaghetti. The taste was okay but I was disappointed with the meatballs, they just lacked that oozy cheeseyness. Last night I decided to see if I could make them better.

I started with my meatball mix.

Beth's meatloaf mix

2lbs of ground beef

2 healthy tbsp chopped garlic (more like 1/4 cup)

dash of powdered onion

handful  of dried oregano, sage and basil

3 whole eggs

3/4 cup of breadcrumbs.

Mix and leave to set in fridge for an hour or two. I find this enchances the seasonings, don't know why.

To make the mozarella stuffed meatballs, cube mozarella cheese. Start out with a small half meatball, like a mini patty. Press the cheese into the center of it then add another half meatball on top, and press closed.

Heat olive oil in a pan, and saute the meatballs on each side just to brown.

Add drained meatballs to a crock pot of sauce ( I used 2 batches of homemade spaghetti sauce this time) and allow to simmer on medium for 2 hours. This allows the meatballs to finish cooking since all you are doing with the oil is browning them.

Top cooked spaghetti with meatball sauce mixture and voila dinner!

From this batch, we got 2 healthy sized dinners, and 3 boxed lunches for later and enough meatballs leftover to do a meatball sub later on. These freeze well when partial cooked.

You can see the oozy melty cheese escaping from the meatball!

Beth and Bear! Who by the way loved his meatball plain!



Chive Oil for Kymber

Olive oil, fresh cut chives from garden, mortar and pestle

(No that's not a rug on the floor, thats Bear sticking as close to Mom as possible!)

Kymber asked for this recipe which is simply easy as ...cake?

This works best with fresh cut chives, use scissors to snip them into small sections, then bruise with mortar and pestle to help release the oils.

Add to canning jar (or whatever jar you wish) then add about 1/2 cup of olive oil, we use EEVO.

Shake and place in fridge, this is best made the day before use, will store up to 5 days in fridge (though I believe it will go a bit longer)

This is great on grilled asparagus  and potatoes!! We love it with a bit of chopped garlic, cubed potatoes in a pan with some of this added. Gives it so much flavor!!

Later this week, I will be making a big batch of chive butter for the freezer. We add the chives to softened unsalted butter, roll it in wax paper to form a cyclinder, then slice off as we need it ...I know this sounds like a heart stopper but its excellent on grilled steaks!

Free Cheese Press Plans Online

Cheese Press Plans

Picked up the new copy of Hobby Farm Home at Farm and Fleet today, and they have the plans for a cheese press in it. The online plans aren't as detailed but still work for someone with basic woodworking skills.

Thought I would share this resource.

Temps Rise-Maintence Time

With the summer like temperatures this early in spring, it has become a high drive to get maintence done early around the farm.

Right now, I look like I have a bad case of the measles with red paint speckling my arms. The last side of the gargage is getting done as well as the Bear Mansion Dog house (ever wonder what a dog house for a 200 lb dog looks like, you could park a car in it!), well not really but i can sit comfortably in it.

I have such a good man! Grey Knight before he left at o dark thirty in the morning went out and tipped the dog house up on its side so I could fully paint the bottom. All it took was a mention in passing that one evening when he got home, we needed to tip it.

Aldi run tonight (Aldi for those that don't have them) is a discount warehouse type grocery store. They have a ton of produce picks on sale, onions for 49 cents a lb, peppers for 99 a 3 pack, mushrooms for 49c a half lb, red potatoes for 1.29 a 5 lb bag. All of which will be thrown into the dehydrators for veggie flakes to add to soup mixes. Of course, I need to finish drying the 2 dozen eggs left in the frig too. I was impressed by the ease of drying them. 6 fit nicely on my fruit roll sheets and after drying simply grind them up (being careful not to breathe the egg powder in as it is still raw egg) and putting them into a canning jar with a couple 02 absorbers. To use them after simply substitue 1 tbsp for 1 egg in baking mixtures adding additional water to the recipe for liquid.
From what I have seen on survival food sites, unopened will last for 5 years, opened and stored in a cool place (like refrig or root cellar) will last 1-2 years.

Off to finish the painting! Just call me SPECKLED!

Jumble of Ideas

Several upcoming blog ideas rolling around in my head today. Started a giant crock of homemade saurkraut this weekend. Thank you for St. Patricks Day sales (a preppers friend) was able to get 25 lbs of cabbage for $5.10. As the Grey Knight said , thats less than a gallon of gas and will provide more gas than a tank of it! The 5 gallon crock will ferment for 4 weeks and then be canned up to 9 qts. of kraut.

Also started some fermented lemons this weekend to add to homemade mustard. Very simple to ferment them just add able a tsp of pickling salt to each lemon after its been quartered. Squeeze the juice into a mason jar and add the lemon. Continue til the jar is full. Top with a brine (1 qt water to 1 tbsp salt). Let sit for 4 weeks.

Also been thinking about substitues for WSHTF. It's all nice and good to have 12 bottles of shampoo and umpteen bars of soap. But when that runs out, what can you do to keep clean. Gonna do some experiments with planting Soapwort this year and using it as a soap and shampoo.

Pulling on my native american heritage, I'm gonna try the old fashioned way of getting oil from sunflower seeds. We like our food around here and frankly when SHTF, I plan on eating well, just doing alot more work to get the supplies.