30 November, 2014 Venison, House Fires and Snowbirding

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy as we prepare to head south for the winter.  It was tight but we headed out on schedule.  Of course a few things went wrong on the road (as they usually do) but we're now in Nevada.

Susan has been canning things to take with us.  Here she is canning up Cheddar cheese.  When things go on sale we often buy in bulk then can it for later use,  It saves money several of ways.  First, we got the food originally at a lower price.  Second, once it's canned or dehydrated we don't need to refrigerate it to store it,  Third, if we have it on hand at the motor home we are less likely to make a trip into town for food (either prepared at a restaurant or from the grocery store) which saves money on gas and the extra price of the food itself.

We were given this squash several months ago and finally got around to canning it.  Obviusly it had to be cut up for cooking.

Susan has cubed it and is preparing it for the canner.

I shot a whitetail spike buck to fill my deer tag with.  He is one of the best tasting deer I've ever shot.

I shoot it and cut it up and Susan cans and cooks it!

I put the sides on the trailer so we could use it to transport things to Nevada.  We had some tongue-and-groove boards on hand so I used them for the sides.

The dog knew we were heading south and couldn't wait!  When Susan got the dog carrier in the back of the car the dog jumped in and refused to leave.  Scott arranged a little "nest" of blankets to curl up in and pass the time.

The trailer packed and ready to go.

The home of some neighbors caught on fire just before the Thanksgiving holiday.  I seldom do things like this on my blog but they could use some help.  The home was completely destroyed along with it's contents.  To compound the problem, the husband was recently diagnosed with cancer in his pancreas and liver.  It's going to be a tough time for them during this holiday season.  I've included a link with more of their story and a way to donate to them if you should desire.  http://missoulian.com/news/article_0aa3a442-e444-5b71-867b-ac90cdc5be30.html

Departure time!  On our way out we made the first tracks in our new-fallen snow.

We tried unsuccessfully to get ahead of a snowstorm.  After a couple of hours of driving 30 mph on the icy interstate we called a halt and spent the night in a Deer Lodge motel, 250 miles from home.  It dropped about 6 inches of fresh snow after we forted up.  The funny thing was that the power went off for about thirty minutes the next morning.  Scott wanted to watch television and couldn't understand the concept of the electricity not working.  We live entirely off-grid and he had never experienced a power outage before then.

We took I-15 south the next morning.  Otherwise we'd have followed the snowstorm for the next 300 miles.  It was still a couple of hours of 30 mph driving until we began to hit dry pavement.  This is what it looked like as we entered Idaho.  Once we were on dry pavement we stopped to switch drivers.  I did a quick inspection of the trailer and found out that two of the four lug nuts were missing on one wheel.  One of the studs was loose too. I took  one lug nut off the other wheel so we had three on each wheel then.  We tried getting another stud and two lug nuts at the next town we hit but ours are an odd size and they didn't have any that would fit.  So we took it the rest of the way on three lug nuts per wheel.

We hit headwinds in Idaho.  We were going about 70 mph into a 25 mph headwind with gusts above 45 mph at times.  One of the gust must have been a little harder though because it ripped the kayak and the luggage rack off the Expedition.  We were fortunate that the vehicles following avoided the flying kayak and a section of the luggage rack.  The kayak skidded safely to a stop in the ditch. It sustained only minor damage and is still usable.

One of the cross pieces to the roof rack was still attached to the kayak.

I anchored it to the top of the trailer and we were once again on the road.

Things were looking better as we entered Utah.

This is 26 hours after the photo was taken of the snow-covered Expedition in Deer Lodge.  Palm trees and no snow! 

Our motor home is the one next to the fifth-wheel.  The battery was dead in it and we couldn't get enough power in it to jump start the motor home.  It was Thanksgiving day and everything was closed.  We didn't want to drive into Mesquite or Henderson to buy another battery so we just drove to our camping spot and set up the tent for the night.  That night it got down to 35 degrees.  We were thankful for warm sleeping bags!

On Friday we purchased a battery from NAPA for $112.00.  I put it in and it would crank over now  but wouldn't fire.  I gave it a shot of starting fluid and the motor fired up so I switched tanks.  The auxiliary tank has some issues with dirt (sabotage from a squatter the previous owner evicted) so it isn't reliable.  It got us the mile to the camping area though.  On the way the brake light came on and the pedal went to the floor.  I suspect that there's some fluid leakage somewhere but I haven't checked it out yet.

We'd been having problems with the air suspension on our Expedition as well but the warmer weather seems to have fixed that.  I suspect there's an o-ring seal that needs replaced on the left rear air bag.

Scott found some sand (it's all sand!) in the camping area to play in and got out his construction equipment and began moving dirt! 

Our first evening campfire!

I didn't have time to make the stove for the motor home before we left Montana so I brought the parts and did it here.  We made a trip into the Henderson Harbor Freight Tools store and bought a welder and grinder.  The welder was on sale for $85.00.  I'd planned on buying a 120 volt stick welder but the wire welder was only $5.00 more and is more convenient so I bought it.  For a cheap welder it works very well.  It only uses flux core wire and has only two heat settings but welds nice and functions smoothly.  It weighs only half of what my Lincoln welder at home weighs so I'll use this one for jobs away from home.

I'm taking photos so later I'll be publishing a small booklet on how to make one of these.  You need two propane bottles and some other items to make a dandy little stove.

In the upper photo I've cut the hole in the bottle I'll use for the stove and the door from the other bottle.

Here, I'm welding the hinges to the door (under Scott's supervision).

As soon as I stop he grabs the welder, hammer, or whatever I've been using and pretends to work.  He's making hissing/welder sounds as he runs a bead here!

This is what the finished stove looks like after being installed in the Motor Home.  The cement boards are heat shields.  It works very well in the small spaces of the camper.  We have to watch to ensure that it doesn't get too hot.

You might wonder why we have a photo of the milk and lemons.  One of the things we missed in MT was the lemons they sell here.  Ours are small and expensive.  These are so much better than any we can get up north.

This is at the camping area right outside of town.  We'll probably be moving to our more remote location soon.

I made a separate post for this book but will include it here as well.  This is my most recent book.  It evaluates muzzle loading firearms (modern, traditional, and handguns), crossbows (and crossbow pistols), air rifles and pistols, and bows-n-arrows from a prepper's perspective.

July 15, 2014 Home Again

We arrived home from our book trip on July 3rd.  Total mileage for the trip was over 7,630 miles.  A lot happened on it but I don't have a summary organized yet so it will have to wait.  This posting will be some of the things that have happened since we arrived home on the third.

We purchased fireworks on the way home.  We decided to have our celebration the 5th instead of the fourth to give us more time to get the place ready for company.  We were gone during the monsoon season so we expected the yard to be severely overgrown.  We were not disappointed!  The grass had all gone to seed and was waist high and thick.  We purchased a good power mower on the way through Kalispell just for cutting through the tall grass.  After a couple of long days working with the weed eater and mower we got the yard in good shape.  We had most of the kids over to begin the evening with a barbecue and games then shot off about $500.00 worth of fireworks in the evening.

It was a good show.  We plan on doubling our fireworks expenditures for next year.  We'll buy more things for the kids to shoot in the afternoon while waiting for it to get dark to light up the big stuff.

 

We use game cameras for security cams.  This one caught some good photos of a whitetail deer and her fawn.  Most of what I've seen has been deer and rabbits.  There are reports of a grizzly bear roaming the area so I may have photos of it on another camera.  Nothing is missing so I didn't expect to find much in the way of illegal activity.

 

I used the weed eater and mower to clear some of the grass that had grown up on the garden paths while we were gone.  I tilled up the planting sections before we left but there wasn't anything I could to stop the grass from growing on the pathways.  You can see a sample of the tall grass we are dealing with on the far side of the photo.

The gophers moved in while we were gone so I set out a bunch of traps.  I caught four of the little buggers one day and average two per day for the other days.  The tall grass gives them good cover and about the only way to get them now is by trapping them.

 

We used all the water in the main tank so I loaded up the barrels and we made a couple of water runs. I have seven, fifty-gallon barrels here so I can get about 350 gallons per trip.  We filled these up in Fortine since we were going there anyway.  Normally I either pump it out of the lake or go to a neighbor's house to fill them.

 

We purchased 84 meat chickens.  I called up the local feed supply store to see if they had any chicks left and he said they had about 60 Cornish Cross chicks to sell.  We told him we'd take them all and when the final count was made we had 84.  He was selling them for $1.00 each and they were two-weeks old so he'd already been feeding them awhile so we got a really good deal!  These little guys are eating machines.  We take the food away after 12 hours to keep them from overeating.  We'll be getting a lot of meals out of this batch and canning a bunch of them too.

 

The "run" outside the henhouse was overgrown with grass and raspberry vines.  Susan got inside and cut it all out with hand clippers so the chicks could get outside.  Note the grass outside the pen and how tall and thick it is.  It was the same inside the pen.

 

Another view of the chicken run.  This is too small for 84 chickens so we'll split them up into other pens as they get bigger to keep their stress levels down.

 

We've also done some brush clearing.  I cut this out with the brush blade on the weed-eater (used the chainsaw for the big stuff) to make it easier to get into and out of the driveway.  I also took out a small tree near the road.  I used the winch on the truck to remove the tree stump.  I used a snatch block to double the pulling power of the (12,000 lb.) winch.  The winch barely grunted in exertion but we had to put the tires of the truck up against another stump to hold the truck back.  It was sliding all four tires.  It's a good way to remove smallish sized stumps as long as you can chain the truck to a good anchor.

 

The water tank needed cleaned so after draining it to water the garden I let it dry for a day then scooped the gunk out of it.  There were also left-over fireworks in the tank.  The kids liked seeing stuff blow up underwater.

 

We've been reading grocery store labels more and have been shocked at the amounts of salt and sugar used in processed food.  We had a hankering for turkey and finally found some that weren't injected with astronomical amounts of salt and other seasonings.  They were pricey but we'll get a lot of meals out of this one.  We have neighbors raising turkeys this year so we'll probably do some trading of chickens for a turkey or two this fall.  I can also shoot one during hunting season.  They don't have as much meat as a domestic turkey but they're still good, organic meat. 

 

Here Susan is picking the meat from the bones for use later.  Nothing is wasted.

 

After the first meal Susan boiled down the leftovers for broth and meat.  We'll use it all eventually.  We're also going to grind some for canning in addition to the regular small chunks for stews, casseroles, etc.

 

When we got back from our second water run Susan heard air escaping from one of the tires.  It had a large screw in it.  The good thing is that it's in a place I can fix without removing the tire and rim from the truck.

 

I marked it well with a tire crayon.

 

I then unscrewed it from the tire.

 

Scott is holding it in his hand.  It's fairly large.

 

I'll use a plug to repair it.  The first step is to ream the hole out good.

 

Next you put a plug on the installation tool and generously lube the plug with rubber cement. (Use lots of rubber cement!)

 

Now you just shove the plug through the hole leaving a little of the plug showing above the hole.

 

Pull back on the installation tool and the plug stays in the tire.  Leak fixed!  I then fired up the compressor and pumped the tire up to 80 PSI.

 

Susan has been busy in the garden.  Even though we got a late start we still planted some potatoes, carrots and onions.  Scott is big enough to help some although his attention span is still pretty short.  At least he knows to not step on the new plants and how to distinguish the weeds from the plants.

 

There's a lot more going on that's not on here.  Susan has put in hours cleaning out outbuildings and sorting things in piles to give away and throw away.  We've done laundry and moved our tubs back outside.  Most meals are prepared from raw ingredients which takes extra time.  We finally took one hot afternoon off to paddle around Murphy Lake in the canoe and kayak.  The temperatures have been in the upper 80's and low 90's so we do most of our outside work early in the mornings before it gets too hot and before the mosquitoes awake.

1-8 November, 2012 - Black Bears, Taters, Tires, Fires and Splitting Wood

We had a visitor last night.  The dog was barking her fool head off about 12:30 so I went to investigate.  I expected another skunk trying to get at the chickens but it was a large black bear that had dumped out the chicken feed and was enjoying his feast.  (At least he left the chickens alone.)  The dog was smart enough to just sound a warning and not engage him although the bear was pretty much just ignoring the dog.  When I arrived with the flashlight and shotgun the bear ran off about 30 feet and stopped to look me over.  I kept walking toward him and he took off for good. He was a pretty bear.  His back and front third were jet black and the middle section was chocoloate brown.  He was so fat he was almost as wide as he was long.  He'd better go find a place to den up before someone puts his hide on the wall and the meat in the freezer.  Maybe I should load one side of the shotgun with a slug from now on.

Winter is closing in and we've been playing catch-up since we got back home.  The weather has been overcast most of the time with some light rain so we had to run the generator once to fully charge the battery bank.  If you've never lived on solar power it's not good to run the batteries in a consistently undercharged state.  If the sun hasn't fully recharged them after a couple of days we run the generator to top them off. 

I called the Forest Service and we now have open burning so I torched three of our brush piles.  It was too wet the first time and I couldn't keep the fires going so I waited a couple of more days to try again.  They still didn't burn completely so I'll have to hit them again next spring.

The nice thing about winter weather is that we have the wood heating stove going and we can cook on it.  I just fried up some bacon and I'm now cooking eggs in that skillet while I make toast next to it.  When making toast we fold the aluminum foil over the top.  Otherwise the bread curls.

We finished digging potatoes in the garden.  We were fortunate that the ground hasn't frozen yet.  The harvest wasn't great this year.  We should have watered it a couple of times during the summer.

These are some of the spuds laid out in a storage room to cure a few days before being stored in the root cellar.

These are some that are sorted and ready to be placed in bins in the root cellar.

Susan's peeling potatoes for supper while I put a patch on a tube.  It was too cold outside to apply the rubber cement.

The patched tube, ready to re-install in the tire.  This is off one of the wheel barrows.  We have two wheel barrows and often consider buying a third one.  They are the workhorses of the homestead.  Garden carts are okay for many jobs but wheel barrows are more versatile.

It's time to get the winter tires on the Cherokee.  Usually we run studded snow tires in winter but this year they're just snow tires without studs.  We plan on spending a lot of the winter in places where there is no snow or ice!

I have my own tire machine (purchased from Harbor Freight Tools) so I mount/dismount our tires myself. These are used snow tires in almost new condition that we got for free (almost).

I had a fair sized stack of firewood from last year left over so I put most of it in the wood shed without splitting it (I didn't have room there last year).  I split this batch because it's what I call "trash wood" (it burns fast and not as hot as fir and larch).  I want to get it burned soon before it gets real cold.

Finished!

Each row is 2/3 of a cord of firewood.  I filled up one row and part of another then had enough left to fill a wheel barrow before I quit for the day.

These are from one of our kid's garden.  It was their first attempt at gardening and they had more than they knew what to do with so we brought these six pumpkins home with us.  They'll make great pies and pumpkin bars.  They had a good crop on everything that they planted but learned some important lessons as well.  The most important will be the new fence they'll put around it next year.  Deer are pretty to see but they love fresh garden produce.  It tkes a good fence to keep them out.  They estimate a 50 percent loss to deer over the summer.