The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

I planted chives yesterday in a pot which can be brought inside over the winter. I love chives, which taste like onions, mild and green. According to directions, the more you harvest them the thicker they grow. Now, that's like storing up a whole lotta seasoning.

Now, back on the homestead, I'm reading up on how to render lard. This website gives great directions about hogs. http://nourishedkitchen.com/how-to-render-lard/

Of course, with all the wild pigs and bear around here, should things go from bad to worse, we may be eating bear.
How to render bear fat http://www.helium.com/items/2158368-how-to-render-bear-fat-into-lard
is an art I may be learning soon.

According to sources, a medium bear can produce up to 2 gallons of lard. That's a lot of frying! Think of the survival benefits of all those calories.

One of the main things a person needs is a good stock pot. None of these wimpy aluminum things. A good cast iron, or stainless steel with a heavy bottom. A person can do this over a fire outside, or on top the stove.

They suggest pouring fat into mason jars. I'm sure plastic would be hazardous. A person would have to let the fat cool first.

We generally eat very low fat. I use canola oil, or olive oil for my cooking and baking. However, I am learning this skill for furture needs.

Remember years ago when Popcorn lung was attributed to opening microwave popcorn inside the house. Apparently the steam rising off the inside of the bag was toxic.
Some companies started making a variety without the dreaded chemical whose name I can't remember.
Then, shortly thereafter, while watching CNN I learned a trick from the newsroom. A reporter demonstrated what she did to achieve a bag of delicious, fat free, no dishes to wash, microwave popcorn.

Into one lunch size brown paper sack, measure 1/3 cup popcorn seeds. Roll the top over twice and staple (yes, unbelievably) staple twice to seal it.
Depending on the power of your machine, microwave as you would normally do the prepackaged stuff. My microwave takes 3 minutes and 40 seconds.
Now, I do admit it made me nervous to do staples, and I did scotch tape. The popcorn blew it open. After retrieving all the kernels, I tried the two staples. It made a believer out of me.

One it comes out of the microwave, I slice the top open so its like an open bowl. I use the butter flavored spray, and then salt it generously. The flavor is outstanding, no additional calories from fat and you can enhance with spices as you wish. Try some garlic powder!

This costs about half and is much healthier than the stuff they sell to us prepackaged. We've been doing this for several years now and it works.

Notice the time, almost one in the morning. The landscape is a winding trail snugged in between ridges and hallars. Steep sloping sides and mountains funnel wild life down this old forest service road. The nearest paved road is 3 miles away. The nearest gravel road is 1/2 mile away.

This motion detection camera did not take any photos of any humans or animals. Only the light. Some have suggested a helicopter. None were heard by us. Perhaps a stealth helicopter?


We're not into ghosts or flying objects. If you have any ideas, please post.

This is the normal daylight shot, with me hiking at 8:30 a.m.

My partner has a trail camera set up to take photos 24/7 on a nearby trail I hike every day. It gives us wonderful wild life photos of bear, coyote, raccoon and turkeys.

These above photos were shot last night.

The location has been chosen for the new wood stove, that window by the door.
I'd like to install it without  cutting through the roof, going through the ceiling insulation, and then the ceiling.

This metal building has four windows, so I'm going to sacrifice one screen, which would be half  a window opening, and angle the pipe right through that, hopefully a 45 degree angle.


http://canvascabins.com/stoves.cfm

The links here have been very useful in thinking about how it will draw and what my expectations can be heat wise. I expect the stove to actually be overkill. With a 13 r factor insulation, and temps in Georgia seldom below zero, a 12 x 16 building should be a piece of cake.


http://www.walltentshop.com/stoveinfo.html

There seem to be several to choose from, and that's what's sorta holding me up.

What gage steel do I get, and the corresponding weight factor, will it make a huge difference? I tend towards light because then I can move it myself.

I read where horse packers, canoe travelers, r v people all use these packable stoves. Not your classic pot bellied cast iron beauty, but a functional heat and cook source, the lightest one is 22 gage, the heaviest one is 12. There's one in between.

If anyone has experience with these square sheepherder stoves, please comment.

The round ones looked interesting, but space being a huge factor, I am choosing a rectangular stove for efficiency. Posters told how they created a "false bottom" with a metal sheeting insert, sort of an upside down cookie sheet. Sounds workable.

So, just throwing this out there to all you survivalists.

Today I took out my thermometer and took the temps on the water I have laying in the back window. Yesterday I uploaded some photos of my new solar shower and had the bright idea to check out the platypus.
And, hey, how about a soda bottle filled with water, while I'm at it.

I found the platypus had a temp of 148 degrees, at 2 p.m.
The soda bottle water temped at 142.
The solar shower bag is actually on the seat of the car. I gave it an extra hour to heat because it wasn't receiving direct sunlight.

Now, I temped it and it reads 118, which is plenty hot for a shower. If I wanted to lay it up in the back window I am certain it would achieve the same temperature as the bottles.

So, who knew my car was actually hot enough to cook in the back window? I bet I could fry eggs on the trunk lid. It feels every bit as hot.

The interior of the car is actually gray. If I places a black cloth beneath these bottles, I'm almost afraid they'd burst with boiling water. Maybe tomorrow?

A few years back I had a solar shower experience. A trail crew had these bags laying in the sun to warm and invited me, a dirty Colorado Thru hiker to enjoy a shower. It only held five gallons, so I was somewhat skeptical, but thought, hey, why not? They told me just grab a bag, and take it into a curtained off outdoor space and hang it up.

The hose hung down and the nozzle was easy to open and shut. Turned out, five gallons of hot water was plenty!
So, today I bought one for home use. Its been very hot and we're running the air conditioner a lot. Some how the thought came, why not utilize all this sunshine and heat and get us some solar heated water.
My partner and I agree, if this works at all, we'll turn off the water heater during the summer.


I got to thinking, while this clear plastic warms in the sun with a black plastic backing. I have a platypus and my car is legendary. Hot, an oven, and why not try this in the back window to serve as dish rinsing water?

If we are ever without power, we can still take a shower. Depending on the season, and the amount of sunlight, it will vary in temperatures. The directions state it should take about 3 hours.


Stay tuned for further reports and photos.

The new trend in America seems to be streamlining and downsizing. Redbook Magazine did a good article in April 2010 about this, listing six easy step to bring your life under control.

Here is the gist of their article:
1-Take the first step by tackling the stuff that really drives you crazy. That's supposed to build confidence to move on to the less crazy inducing categories.

2-Involve your family. Tell them what you plan on doing and why and the article claims they are more likely to follow the plan.

3-Streamline a space. They actually, with a straight face, tell you to designate a few primary uses for each room and stick to the list. Does the writer not have kids?

4-Give you stuff-the keep or toss test. They tell you to consider what if everything disappeared in the room you are about to clean. Would you miss any of it?  At this precise point I asked myself How does Prepping for the SHTF work with decluttering your life? I know if things got bad, I would want a good tool box, lots of assorted glue, paint, nails, wire, tape, rope, fabric, thread, food, containers, just to name a few things. I guess the bottom line is to be sure its all stored neatly and findable.

5-Quit multi tasking. Used to be that was considered a given and looked upon as a skill. Now they tell us it has been proven to impair brain function. No more walking and chewing gum, you guys. Right now I have the evening news on while I type this blog. Bad girl.

6-Prioritize which to them is Physical activity, Escapes, and People. The simple joys in life. They claim by getting control of your stuff and your schedule you have time for the things that matter most.