New home for the chicks

Snap and Crackle were outgrowing the crate we had them in.  It was well past time to put them in the coop with the rest of the chickens so they could learn they weren't humans.

But first I had to give the chicken coop a long-overdue cleaning...

...as well as set up the little cage within the coop for the babies.

A little elbow grease, and the floor was clean.

Some fresh straw...

And things started to get downright cozy.

At least our rooster thought so!

Naturally Snap and Crackle looked a bit bewildered in their new home...

...but they soon adapted. They have their own heat lamp so they're warm and toasty. And it's nice to get them out of the house!

Signs of the times

I passed through the small (and somewhat isolated) town of Rockford, WA recently and stopped for gas.  I was startled to see this:

To be fair there's still gas in the underground tanks, available by credit or debit card (neither of which I had with me that day).  Once that gas is gone, Rockford will be entirely without a gas station, and the nearest places people can buy gas is about twelve miles in either direction.

Signs of the times.

The sound of silence

Sorry I've been so quiet on the blog, but I've had an exhausting week. In addition to it being our busy season, I had two columns and an article due this week as well as a writer's conference (held today) where I was giving two workshops (which, of course, required all sorts of preparation - remind me to start preparing earlier next time). I was up past midnight last night getting ready for this conference, and up at 5 am this morning to continue my preparations, then was gone from 7:15 am til 6 pm at the conference and then errands.  And tomorrow I have commitments which will keep me on the run morning and evening.  Phew!

I have many lovely emails but frankly I'm too pooped to reply to them at the moment, so I'll just offer an apology here and promise to get to the emails when I can.

Seeking reader input...

Occasionally I'll get emails seeking help in relocating to more rural areas.  I try my best to offer what advice I can, but naturally I'm limited in what I can say.

Recently I received this email (posted with permission):

Patrice, I have been reading survival and prepping type blogs for several years now.  Your blog and others have been distributing a wealth of needful information.  One thing I feel that is missing are large groups or communities that are actually WILLING to work together in un-plugging from this current "system."  If I'm not mistaken, it is the current system of economics, politics, geo-politics etc. that we are all prepping for in case of its collapse.  If you know of any communities in the mountain west that promote trade and barter and a more agrarian lifestyle, would you please pass that information on.  My family believes in the importance of living apart from the current system (living for ourselves and others instead of just existing as a cog in the system) and are more than willing to move to be in such a community.

Thanks so much for all that you contribute,
Jack in New Mexico

Here is my reply:

I honestly have not heard about any communities like this, beyond the attempts at hippie communes or whatever.  That said, there are various places that seem more "survival minded" as a whole, and those tend to be in rural places out west - Montana, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, NE Washington, etc.  But that simply means there are more individuals with a prepper mindset in these areas - not whole communities (at least, none that I've heard of).  I suspect there may be groups coming together that are of one particular religious persuasion, but I wouldn't know where to find them.

May I post your email on my blog and open it up for reader input?  Can't hurt might help.

So, dear readers, if you can offer Jack some concrete advice, please post it here!

My Secret Shame

Here's my latest posting on RegularGuy.com called "My Secret Shame."  Chew on this one!

More random pix

I have a slew of photos that I've taken in the last week or so which I'll keep posting just for kicks.

Early morning wisps of fog:

This time of year we get a lot of kestrals (small falcon-like birds) in our area.  Apparently this one must have swooped in front of someone's vehicle:

We get very little fall color in this area due to the preponderance of conifers.  Thank God for ninebark bushes, which give little splashes of brightness.

The Virginia creeper is juuuust starting to turn red:

Some other modest fall color:

I was trying to photograph leaves floating on the river, with limited success:

Chickens...

Chickens...

And more chickens.

Our cows are currently grazing down a neighbor's acreage, which includes a pond:

Brit, our horse:

Last spring, we had a massive wind storm that ripped the tender blossoms off our peach and pear trees.  As a result, our poor little fruit trees have a grand total of... one pear, three peaches.  That's it.

One pear...

Three peaches.

While visiting a neighbor, I took this shot through their outdoor sitting area:

Evening cumulus:

Full moon rising:

Sunset color:

Canning bacon bits

I found a nice deal on bacon ends recently and decided to try something I hadn't done before: canning bacon bits.

Bacon bits are wonderful for any sort of food, especially when added to otherwise bland beans-and-rice dishes or (my favorite) stir-fry.

First I cut it up...

...and filled the pot.  This was about half the bacon I had, but it wouldn't all fit in the pot so I split it into two batches to fry down.

Cooking it down...

Draining.

 I used squat pint jars.

After all the bacon was fried down, here's what I ended up with:

This filled a dozen pint jars.

I canned them dry, meaning I didn't add any water to the bacon in the jars.  (Of course, there's a little water in the bottom of the canner.)

The default canning time for any kind of meat is 10 lbs of pressure, 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts.  Interestingly, I had a number of failures-to-seal in this batch (something that seldom happens), which makes me wonder if I had a questionable batch of lids.

At any rate, I processed the failed jars a second time (with new lids) and they all sealed perfectly.  I'll keep an eye out for when bacon ends go on sale and keep on canning!

Ready...aim...

Last Friday I did something I've been meaning to do for quite awhile: target shooting.  I'm not too bad with my revolver but had never shot larger weapons.

So I visited some friends who have a small shooting range and got instruction for both a 12-gauge pump action shot gun (yuck)...

 and a lethal-looking AR-15.

Wow, I think I'm in love!  That AR-15 was smooth as silk and awesome to handle.  The shotgun was awkward for me (for starters it was a touch too big) but the AR-15 had very little kick and was just plain FUN.

Didn't do too badly on my aim, either.

Now if I could only figure out how to put an AR-15 into a bra holster...

It's the little things in life...

One of the things we're trying to do in our preparedness efforts is make sure we'll have clothing in the future.  To that end, I've been purchasing sheets from thrift stores in suitable colors and fabrics, with the idea of sewing shirts, dresses, skirts, leggings, etc.  Thrift-store sheets are unparalleled sources of large amounts of fabric for incredibly cheap prices.

I've been washing and bagging away cotton, cotton-poly blend, and flannel sheets as I find them.

Sheets are also superb (and inexpensive) fabric sources for kids to learn to sew.  I hate sewing but can do it in a pinch, and one of the things my girls and I are going to start doing is once-a-week sewing lessons.

I've also stocked up on pins, needles, and thread.  Can't forget these little essentials!

Another thing we've been thinking about is personal grooming, specifically razors.  I've long been disgusted with the ridiculous prices for replaceable disposable razor heads for our Gillette razor.  So we decided to look into the old-fashioned metal "butterfly" safety razors, the kind where you unscrew the handle and the top opens like butterfly wings, allowing you to replace the two-sided razor within.  Trouble is, new ones cost anywhere from $20 (for plastic-handled ones) to $40 (for metal), and I just hated to spend that kind of money.

I visited a local antique/junk store recently and found three razors for $5 each.  Duh, why didn't I think of this sooner?  I'd like to find one more (so we each have one) and will keep my eyes peeled.  Double-sided razor blades are a whole lot cheaper than disposables razor heads, last longer, and have a multitude of uses besides personal grooming.

Once we use up the last of our disposable razor heads, I will happily switch to these beauties so we don't have to pay through the nose just to shave.

It's worth pointing out that these razors are a little less "safe" than disposable razors, so caution is necessary to keep from cutting skin.  But these are the types of razors I grew up using when I was a teen, and only as an adult did I switch to the "cooler" and more sophisticated disposables.  Never more!

Random pix

Here's our doe friend, back again.

Young starlings on our deck, already in winter plumage...

First day back at school (last week)...

Some pretty forest shots...

Our barn cat JJ...

Our rooster, strutting his stuff...