Category Archives: What I Did This Week To Prep

Momma Bear’s May Preps

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May’s preps might have been a little obsessive. I am one of those people that likes to learn something new–and master it–before moving on to the next thing. May’s preps (in addition to making the usual stockpile purchases) have been almost exclusively focused on gardening, tomatoes mostly, and on my new food dehydrator.

I have decided that gardening is about one-half learned and about one-half luck and mother nature, and I am severely behind the learning curve. I’ve also discovered that rodents have teeth sharp enough to cut through chicken wire to get into my delicate young blueberry bush. Luckily I caught it early on and have since replaced the caging with a thick grade of plastic fencing. On a positive note, we have already harvested the first of our cilantro and lettuce and replanted more.

The other steep learning curve has been with the tomatoes. The seedlings did not survive the cats, so we went to the hardware store and randomly picked six tomato plants and started them in buckets. Random is bad. A few weeks into the project I finally decided to look up the varieties we had purchased and I discovered that four of the six plants would grow up to ten feet tall and produce tomatoes between one and two pounds. Oops. Thus they will require tall, sturdy stakes and some extreme caging structures. So we built ridiculously tall tomato cage/planters (and probably spent too much money). The second thing, about the tomato plants, is that they are really sensitive and tricky; they are susceptible to too much sun or water and are prone to bugs. Every couple of days I am out there hand picking off bugs, spritzing neem oil, and suckering off (trimming unwanted new shoots). I would sincerely appreciate any advice/suggestions as my ultra-urban gardening neighbors only grow flowers!

My second obsession of the month is my new food dehydrator. After packing up our first few months of food stores (beans, pasta, rice, etc.) we decided to try another approach to food storage. Our food stores weigh a lot and would be difficult to lug if we were bugging out. Plus if we are in a longer term bug-in, say in a power outage situation (snowmagedon anyone?), beans take significant time to soak and cook. This would dwindle our fuel supply quickly. So what if we had homemade, family-sized dehydrated meals stored? Like a backpacker’s meal, only family sized and not store-bought. They would take up less space, require less preparation time and be more transportable (if needed). Also, my family just plain does not like beans and I have to find more creative quick and easy ways to use them beyond simple beans and rice. I have found about 15 dehydrated meal recipes, and have started dehydrating some of the ingredients to make meals. The idea is that I will prepare, then vacuum seal these meals in mason jars (short-term), and my family will try them over the next several months to see which they like best and which need adjustments. Ultimately, we will put the “approved recipes” into mylar bags with oxy absorbers for longer term, portable family meal storage. You can see the jars in the photo, each card has the directions on the back and a rating of quick, medium or long for cooking time.

You can pretty much dehydrate ANYthing and it will take up much less room in your cabinets, whether stored in mason jars or mylar. I am currently dehydrating cooked beans (the canned kind or cooked dried ones and then drying again in the dehydrator).These can be left as beans or ground into powder and added to the meals to sneak in the protein (the same with carrots which my family doesn’t really like either). They come out crunchier than the original, but are lighter and take less time to cook. I also dehydrate rice every time we have any left over from a meal. You can even dehydrate chicken breasts and lean ground beef, though we have not started this yet. I will say that the downside to the dehydrator is that it makes for some intensely smelly days here at home depending on what is drying. It also requires some prep work and occasionally some minor blanching/cooking of the food prior to dehydrating (potatoes especially or they turn black). But so far I am really enjoying the results and look forward to sampling the recipes.

What did you do to prep this month?

What We Did This Week To Prep 5/18/12

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The sunny warm spring weather, up here in the Northwest (it doesn’t normally happen this way), motivated Sarah to get some of the plants out of the greenhouse and into the ground this week. She didn’t do all of them, but she did transplant the several varieties of squash and the green beans. Hopefully, when the temperatures return back to our normal “temperate” levels the plants will be okay (it really doesn’t get, and stay, warm here until July); if temperatures get too cold we’ll cover up the young plants at night. Sarah also planted all the seeds into the garden. The tomatoes, and a couple of other things, are still in the greenhouse for a few more weeks. It’s also fun to see our perennials: raspberries, strawberries, lavender, asparagus, rhubarb, and some of the herbs that we planted last year coming back to life and growing again.

Sarah spent this week in Portland for a business trip; since I have Sunday and Monday off, I went down with her for a couple of days. We left early Sunday morning and drove all the way down to “meet” some prepper friends who we had previously only known through the internet. It was fun to meet and talk face to face. They recently bought a wonderful, river front, homestead in western Oregon. It was about a six-hour drive to get there; but OR is beautiful this time of year, we enjoyed the one on one time, and the drive passed quickly. We enjoyed seeing their new homestead in it’s raw form. It’s always easy to sit back and say when I get “mine” I’ll do this or I won’t do that, but once you’re actually there that gets tougher to do. They are actually doing it. They have an amazing vision for the property and are making plans to accomplish their goals. It’s too bad they don’t lived closer to us so we could help them more, but we wish them the very best in their endeavors! Seeing their property makes us want our own place even more.

The fish antibiotics arrived that I ordered last week. We ordered through a company called Aqua-Products. They had the best prices and their deliver was very quick. Even after all I’ve read and heard about fish antibiotics and human antibiotics being the exact same thing I still felt just slightly skeptical. As I had all these generic looking fish pill bottles sitting in front of me, I decided to open a bottle and look at the pills (I hadn’t actually done that before, not wanting to break the seal). The Aqua-Mox, which is amoxicillin 500 mg capsules, was red and pink with ‘WC 731’ written on both halves. I looked it up drugs.com Pill Identification Wizard, and it matched exactly with amoxicillin 500 mg. This unequivocally convinced me they are all the same, they all come from the same place, and the only difference is the label on the bottle.

What did you do?

What We Did This Week To Prep 5/11/12

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Today is my 100th post. On one hand that number amazes me and I can’t believe I’ve written that much, but on the other it seems like I’ve been doing this forever. I said I’d write, three times a week, for a year and see where I am at that point — I’m into the 9th month.

We went to Costco. It was a relatively light trip, actually under budget. Since we had a little extra, we again added to our stock of over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Right now OTC generic meds, like: ibuprofen, acetaminophen (Tylenol), diphenhydramine (Benadryl, for allergies), loperamide (anti-diarrheal), pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, for congestion), guaifenesin (Mucinex, a cough suppressant), hydrocortisone (topical for skin problems), loratadine (Claritin, 24-hour allergy med) and daily multi-vitamins are all cheap and readily available. If you keep them stored in a cool, dry, dark place, they’ll last a long time. There may be a time in the future they’re not as readily available, so stock up now–even if you don’t use them much on a regular basis–you’ll be glad you have them then. Remember, as with all your preps, rotate your stock and always use the oldest first.

On the medication category we also budgeted money to buy more fish antibiotics. We already have the fish version of amoxicillin, cephalexin, and metronidazole. I ordered more amoxicillin (probably the best, widest spectrum antibiotic available in the “fish market”), more cephalexin (a good antibiotic to use for cellulitis, which I believe will be a very common type of collapse infection), doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin. We’re still not quite where I want to be, but probably a good 2/3rds of the way. Again, these are only to use after a total collapse, but at that point they will be life-saving. This is another item you can buy now, easily and inexpensively and safely store for years; and it’ll be invaluable to have in your preps if the SHTF. Unlike almost everything else we store, this is not to be rotated and used on a regular basis. This is only for a collapse, and then only to be used with proper care and education, and sparingly. If things collapse, on a large-scale, it’s likely these will never be available again.

We’ve been shooting airsoft regularly and really enjoying our little airsoft pistol. Sarah, Ryan, Alison, and I have all been shooting on our small “indoor range” inside the house; now that the weather is getting nice we go outside and shoot cans and plastic bottles off the picnic table (Sarah, especially, is getting really good). Since we’re using it so much I’ve decided to upgrade to a better, more accurate airsoft pistol. I’m also considering getting a tactical-style rifle to incorporate into our training.

On a related note, security and home defense have been in the forefront of my mind this past week. I recently read Holding Their Own and looked through Holding Your Ground, both by Joe Nobody. Also a prepper friend and I have been discussing homestead security concerns and ways to address them. Then Jack, on The Survival Podcast, did a show this week on “Security During a Break Down” (TSP episode 899) which made me do even more thinking on the topic. Security isn’t something to panic about, but it definitely needs to be part of your planning. As Jack said on the show, of your five basic needs, your body tells you when you need food, water, shelter, and energy–but sometimes you don’t know you need security until it’s too late.

I hope everyone is enjoying their spring weather and shaking off the “long dark winter” cobwebs; it’s been especially nice here. If at all possible, plant a garden this summer, start it this week if you haven’t already (it’s not too late). Even if it has to be something small; start learning the skills, eating healthier food, and learning an appreciation for growing something with your own hands.

What did you do this week?

What We Did This Week To Prep 5/4/12

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Our greenhouse is up and running. All of the seedlings are out there enjoying the available sunshine while being shielded from the wind, elements, and most of the cold. The plants seem to be doing well. Sarah went out and transplanted the sprouts from the small starter containers into larger ones to allow them to have their own space and grow larger and stronger. It’ll be interesting to see how big the seedlings get before we put them into the ground mid-June. When it comes to gardening–including maximizing our greenhouse–we’re still learning so much; someday this will all become routine, but we’re still a long way from there.

Recently, on The Survival Podcast (TSP), Jack interviewed ‘Joe Nobody’ (TSP episode 881). Joe is a former military man with extensive security expertise. I was skeptical when I first heard about the interview thinking him to be “one of those guys”. But I was impressed with his logical reasoning and common sense approach to security, both personal and property. I bought two of his books after hearing the interview: a how-to book, Holding Your Ground – Total Defense and his first novel, Holding Their Own – A Story of Survival. I’m almost done with the novel and I’ve looked through Holding Your Ground and I’ve enjoyed and am impressed with both. While we discuss security as one of our basic needs, Joe takes it to a whole new level. Will a collapse/SHTF event happen on a level that these types of security skill-sets will be necessary? I don’t know, probably not in the way they are portrayed by Hollywood or even in Joe’s novel. But could we have a couple of weeks of chaos and local anarchy? Yes we could, and that is far more likely. While we know we need to eat, drink, have energy and be sheltered on a daily basis (and those should be our top priorities), security needs to be part of any plan you develop for your family or group. Personally I am expanding our family’s security plan, and adding equipment, based on his advice.

Sarah recently bought us Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits – Breeds, Care, Facilities. It will provide us with information on all things rabbits. It also has some good plans/ideas for hutches, I already have most of the needed materials in the back and now that the greenhouse is done that’s the next project. We have also found Rise and Shine Rabbitry (the link can also be found on my blogroll) to be a great resource; Rick Worden has put together extensive, usable information there and he also puts out a lot of good information on his facebook page.

What did you do?

 

 

Momma Bear’s April Preps

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April has been an unusual prepping month for us. The unseasonably warm spring in Virginia has been joined by some dry weather (sad face as I drag the hoses around the yard). The gardening is a huge, HUGE learning curve. This month I did manage to buy four 55-gallon pickle barrels and twenty 5-gallon buckets for ridiculously great prices (though the smell was terrible!). Two of the barrels are already composting on a new rack in my back yard; next I’ll focus on a rain barrel. I woke up one morning and discovered long white cat hair in place of all the leaves on our tomato and pansy seedlings. So rather than starting over, we sucked it up and bought heirloom tomatoes from the nursery, not hybrids, so that we can harvest seeds when we are finished. We also discovered that something has been eating our beautiful little blueberry bush so we had to make a cage around that. Currently we have lettuce, radishes, cilantro, sunflowers, onions and chives all making their first appearance in the various garden spots and planters. We are very happy so far!

Food storage is always on my mind when I prep. We stored another two weeks of food supplies in mylar, after adding sprouting beans to our stores. Having lived in Asia, mung beans (long bean sprouts) are our favored sprout. I buy mine at the international food store where they are super cheap and there is a big selection. I cannot tell you how great sprouts are as a secondary fresh food source in a SHTF scenario, especially since they are grown indoors in just a jar. I also recently got a second vacuum sealer attachment for my food sealer (now I have both sizes). I learned two things this month about vacuum sealing jars, 1) The jar of my husband’s favorite pickles can be resealed with the attachment (an additional source of jars/lids for things that don’t have to be “canned”), and 2) You can vacuum seal lids by using the Ziplock brand handpump over the Foodsaver jar attachment (see photo). Although with non-canning type jars, because the lids are harder to release once sealed, it is best to poke a pinhole in the lid and seal it with electric tape, then simply pull up the tape when you want to release the seal. In this case I am using the jars for seed vaults since the jars still smell like pickles (I think it’s the lids). I also managed to pick up almost three cases of mason jars in assorted sizes for $10 at a yard sale. I treated the family to a “beans night” which they survived. I am trying to incorporate more beans into our diet and try more recipes since it is the ultimate survival food. Half of us like beans, half don’t and this night was no different food (we love rice though!). In this instance I made northern beans in the crock-pot, with leftover ham/bone from Easter, and then threw in spinach at the end so it was like a soup (but a completely balanced meal since I used so much spinach). Here is the recipe link.

Our last area of preparedness for April was our taxes and a house refinancing (we also amended a couple of years of returns as well which were caught by our new tax professional). Because it was our first year in the house we were able to claim a lot of expenses and will get a nice tax return, which in turn will go toward credit debt. Because finances are a tough area for us, we pay to use a tax service that comes with one of those “previous year audits” and insurance to reimburse us for any of their mistakes that result in us making payments to the IRS. We balance the expense of using a preparation service against the peace of mind that it was done properly. We also were able to refinance the house (after only one year), reducing both our interest rate and our monthly payment. This was a tough decision for us since we are not the most financially minded people on the planet, but we’re trying to learn.

How did your preps go this month?

(Monday: DIY Indoor Grow Box)

What We Did This Week To Prep 4/20/12

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Sunday was sunny, one of our first really nice weekend days this year, and we were out working in the yard. Sarah built her potato box and planting potatoes in it. Ryan and Chanse worked on the greenhouse putting up some of the polycarbonate siding. I did miscellaneous, around the yard, projects; exciting stuff like turning the compost, raking out dirt, pruning the tree, weeding (aka adding greens to the compost pile), all while being available for technical assistance as needed.

Later in the week I got back to the greenhouse and almost finished putting the polycarbonate up. I’m now, finally, within two to three hours of being completely done; hopefully that’ll be Sunday, which is again supposed to be sunny and warm. The greenhouse has been a big learning experience, construction-wise; I’d hesitate before recommending the project to anyone else–because of the amount of time, energy, and money it took–but I’m glad we did it. We really look forward to putting it to use this spring and, hopefully, using it all winter also. I really do need to finish it Sunday, because I plan to write up the greenhouse project for my Monday post.

Not really prepper related, but I also transplanted a couple of rose bushes. I bought three bushes for Sarah last year, unknowingly buying the climbing variety, and had planted them way too close together. So I dug up two of them and moved them to a better location against the fence, and put up a trellis for them to be able to “climb”. While most of our gardening is focused on food production, striving for self-sufficiency, there is a place for things that are just pretty. But even the pretty things–roses, lilacs, rhododendrons, and the annual flowers we will plant–have practical value because they attract pollinators to our yard which will then, hopefully, move on to our fruit and vegetable plants.

I bought some external pockets for my GHB* hiking pack (Maxpedition Falcon II), made by S.O. Tech, that I really like. I got them through SurvivalGearBags.com, they had great customer service and fast delivery; I was impressed and will buy from them again. Like Momma Bear mentioned, when discussing packing BOBs, it’s good to put items you may need quickly in easily accessible pockets. I love the PALS webbing stystem, on the newer tactical-style packs, that allows easy and secure configuration of external add-ons. In general I love all things bags/packs, and the more cool pockets on them, the better – I’m sure there’s a point of diminishing returns, but I haven’t found it yet. In the picture you can also see the red carabiner tied to the cord leading to my FAK.

What did you do?

(Monday: The Greenhouse Is Completed)

*For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.

What We Did This Week To Prep 4/13/12

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As the weather gets nicer (sort of, Spring is slow in coming to the Northwest) we are spending more time outside. Last Sunday was the first time we ate outside this year (on the picnic table Ryan built last summer). Alison asked if we could have a fire that night in our outside portable fireplace, and I said sure. As it was starting to get dark I had Alison, since it was her idea, gather up the needed items to start the fire. From the kindling box she got small twigs and kindling. She assembled her kindling teepee over a vaseline cotton ball, with her larger kindling nearby, and lit it with a lighter –  we’re still making it easy, trying to guarantee success. There was a little bit of pressure, because the whole family was watching her, but everything caught fire nicely. She slowly added in the larger kindling until we had a good fire going. Sarah, Alison and I ended up sitting out there for a while enjoying the fire, night air, and somehow stumbled into a physics discussion explaining to Alison the relationship of the sun, moon, Earth, atmosphere and gravity (keep in mind Ali is 10 y/o). It was a nice night.

Sarah took the day off on Monday and we borrowed my friend’s truck and headed for the hardware store; we needed to get all the things, that wouldn’t fit well in our subcompact car, for our ongoing/upcoming projects. We got polycarbonate panels for the outside of the greenhouse; not only is this greenhouse taking longer to finish than planned, but has the added benefit of coming in over budget. We also got lumber for a rabbit hutch and a potato box, and bought a half whiskey barrel to move our live christmas tree into. The truck bed was pretty full. I now have the materials I need for my next several projects.

We hit Costco on the way home (early this month, but we had the time). We didn’t really get much special, mainly just replaced what we had used in our SWYE and got a couple of OTC meds and, of course, Costco pizza for lunch.

When we got everything unloaded from the hardware store Ryan, Sarah and I went out to put up the polycarb panels. They were more work than we anticipated, go figure, and we only got one half of the roof done. But that part was the hardest part because it had to be done on ladders. The rest should go faster and we hope to have it done this weekend during the predicted sunny weather.

I got together with a couple of my prepper friends, Rick and Mike, this week for coffee. Rick and I try to meet on a regular basis, and this was the first time Mike joined us. I’ve met both of them through the online prepper community. It was nice to just sit for a couple of hours and discuss projects we’re all doing, our families, the progress we’re making, and the goals we have as like-minded friends who “get it”. We each have our strengths and weaknesses, skill-sets and experiences. Again if things ever do go bad we can’t do it alone; take the time now to develop your personal (regional) community before “it” happens. If anyone lives in/or is visiting in the Seattle area, get ahold of me and let’s meet over a cup of coffee.

What did you do?

(Monday: DIY Potato Box)

What We Did This Week To Prep 4/6/12

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The greenhouse project continues forward, not nearly as fast as we had hoped or planned (my projects are never as fast as planned), but forward. At this point it’s all framed and ready for it’s plastic coating. This weekend Sarah and I will select what plastic to use, borrow a friend’s truck (can’t wait to get our own) and HOPEFULLY finish it and move plants in early next week. It has been a good learning experience. We’re pleased with how it came out and excited about the options it will provide for us. Next building project: rabbit hutch.

I say “move plants” because Sarah planted the ones that needed to grow the longest, and put them in the grow box I made last year. It doesn’t fit a lot, but they’ve sprouted and are on schedule to be the size they need by mid-June when they’ll go into the ground.

This week was our kids’ spring break, so taking advantage of the lack of school and sports practices, Ryan and Brynn had all four of their wisdom teeth pulled last Friday. Not an especially fun week for them (and us by association), but now it’s done. This got me to thinking how miserable it would be to have impacted, painful wisdom teeth in a collapse world. Even if you could get them out, what a horrible experience it would be without any/or only minimal pain control during and after the procedure. I then thought about other surgical procedures that maybe we’ve been thinking about and/or know we ought to get done – but have been putting off. Perhaps it’s time to get them done. Things like root canals and other dental work, knee/joint repairs (surgical or non-surgical), even Lasik eye surgery. There have been discussions in the comments section about the value of having extra glasses; while nothing surgical can be done for the farsightedness that comes with age, Lasik surgery can completely repair your eyes for life. I had radial keratotomy done on my eyes in ’93 (the surgical precursor to the Lasik laser eye surgery) and it completely corrected my nearsightedness. In this chaotic economic time, when there seem to be very few ‘safe’ investments, maybe it’s time to invest some money to take care of yourself.

As mentioned, when Kate (our Border Collie) and I go for our regular walks, I carry my weighted backpack as part of my workout routine (walking in my hiking boots, off-trail, carrying extra weight). My pack isn’t huge (ia Maxpedition Falcon II, with 1500 cu. in. capacity), and after I put in some good GHB type stuff, I filled the remaining space with large rocks to make it weigh more. I was thinking it weighed about 50-60 pounds. (note: We didn’t own a scale. I’ve never felt like body weight is a good measurement of fitness, so I never bought one.) This week I broke down and bought a scale, so I could weigh my pack. Anyway it only came in at 40 pounds. I was a bit disappointed because I want to be carrying closer to 65 pounds –  which is how much our BOBs weigh (and close to 1/3 of my body weight which is the recommended maximum amount to be carried for any distance). Since I didn’t have room for any more rocks, I took out the rocks and put in three 10 pound weights (they take up less space and are less abusive to my pack) taking the total weight up to about 60 pounds (when the CamelBak is full of water). Yesterday’s walk resulted in some tired muscles, but I was able to keep the same pace. I’m going to keep that weight for a couple of weeks them put in the final plate to take it to 70 pounds; I’m still trying to follow the old military (and hopefully prepper) mantra of “train like you’ll fight, fight like you trained”.

What did you do?

(Monday: Stop The Bleeding)

Momma Bear’s March Preps

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Aside from the usual slow and steady food, water and medical supply preps, here is what we did this month:

  • Our primary focus has been on preparing our garden areas and planting seeds. This is our first year planting, so it’s been quite an adventure!
  • Cleaned up our old tents and practiced setting up/tearing down. And created two camping gear “go boxes” to include tents, camp stoves, camp showers, etc.
  • Studied up about dog “carting” which is the idea of having one or both of our large dogs pull a good-sized garden cart with supplies in it (I am looking at the canvas garden cart at Costco). This has become a future project that we might try this summer.
  • Created a secondary food storage location at my mom’s house, one state/six hours away. This is our primary bug-out location until we can purchase property.
  • Laminated four state maps for the go bags. I got these free at the state visitor’s center on the interstate. I folded them in half before laminating to cut down on their size.
  • Read, or skimmed, 13 library books about gardening and homesteading. Ordered Guide to Virginia Vegetable Gardening as an addition to our prepping library.

Overall it has been a pretty steady month for prepping and we have had a lot of fun gardening in the unseasonably warm weather here in Virginia.

What did you do?

(Monday: “I’ll Figure It Out If/When I Need To”)

What We Did This Week To Prep 3/23/12

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I’ve discussed the importance of walking and having quality hiking boots several times, but I’ve never gone over caring for leather boots. Since joining the USMC at 18 years old, polishing boots has been a part of my life. But I realize most people don’t have this habit; even current military people – those new tan boots don’t even require polish (what do you do in boot camp with your ‘spare time’ if you don’t have to polish boots?!?) To polish my leather boots I use Lincoln Shoe Polish, but any quality brand will work; I’m not a purist. At least once a month I thoroughly clean–using saddle soap if necessary–and polish my boots. Think of leather boots like your skin, when it loses its moisture it becomes dried out and can even crack. While living skin has natural occurring lubricants and protectants, leather doesn’t. So it’s essential to regularly clean and polish your leather boots to ensure they will last for many years. After cleaning, and letting them dry, I use a dauber, or a soft cloth, to work the polish into the leather. Then I use a soft brush to buff them out, effectively sealing the boots with the polish (I used to buff them for appearance and function, now it’s just function). You paid a lot of money for your quality boots, take good care of them.

Also on the topic of walking I came across a great ‘white board’ video this week by Dr. Mike Evans: 23 and 1/2 hours. He discusses the health benefits of spending half hour a day walking – then you can do whatever you’d like with the remaining 23 1/2 hours. He talks about how exercise, mostly just walking, half an hour a day will significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, dementia, and diabetes. It will reduce anxiety, depression, and fatigue. It will even help you live longer and improve your quality of life. He clearly shows how “low cardio-respiratory fitness” (aka not enough exercise) is the number one preventable cause of early death. He quotes Hippocrates (the Father of Medicine) “Walking is man’s best medicine.” And concludes the presentation with, “Can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 1/2 hours a day?” We’re preppers, we’re doing so much to try to be prepared – take half an hour a day to prepare and care for your body also.

Another month, another trip to Costco. We restocked some canned goods we’ve used (you’re rotating your SWYE foods right?), got some more OTC allergy meds (on sale), more ibuprofen, and more Vitamin C (on sale), extra toothpaste (not crucial in a collapse, but nice to have), toilet paper was on sale, added more charcoal to our preps (on sale), and batteries were on sale (which was nice because we rotated batteries in prep items this month). Plus we got Sarah a new office chair so she has somewhere comfortable to sit while she’s helping me edit my blog.

The other big thing was that we finally did our annual BOB inspection and rotation. We brought all three BOBs (we keep one in each vehicle) into the house. We opened them up, changed out batteries, replaced most food items, replaced the bleach (it’s only good for a year), changed out the water, added dog food (we didn’t have Kate last year), and packed them back up. Not much more to say, but we’re glad it’s all done.

What did you do?

(Monday: Gun Show Review*)

*Gun show this weekend at the fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA (March 24-25), I’ll be going Sunday. It’s put on by the Washington Arms Collectors and open to all. They, of course, have a wide selection of guns, ammo, and related equipment, but also a good variety of prepper items and books.