Sorry, I have a busy life, please forgive me......

    Well as most of you have seen that I have not done a post in a while, I apologize but life has been hectic. First, I have transferred to a new location and getting my feet on the ground an running. Everything is good with the new job, I am really like it there. Baseball has been in full spring mode and now that we are done with out exhibition games, the season starts in 2 weeks. Both boys are doing very well on a team of mis-fits. This will be the last season we will play in the county recreation league as numerous parents from last years championship are wanting to put the old team back together and play travel ball. It should be fun.

     While I have been gone I have done a few things. As most of you know we no have pigs. We bought 3 gilts almost a month ago and they have been growing pretty fast, matter of fact I had to build a new hog pen as they started to out grow the first one. I also constructed the new one farther away from the house.

 

Went and got 5 more panels from Tractor Supply to start our breading expansion.

            Along with building the new pen for the pigs, I have also been getting the garden in the ground. We have been pretty lucky with getting the garden in without rain hampering our plans and holding off until it's all in. 

First 3 rows of sweet yellow corn

remaining 2 rows of sweet corn

5 rows of corn, 1 row of yellow onions, 1 row of green beans, 20 tomato, 15 various pepper plant, and row of red potatoes

row of red potatoes

      Now for some other news. I haven't even had a chance to do any upgrades on the "Fouled XJ" but here is a pic of it in the last snow fall when we went to a neighbors property to do some sledding.

And a small video of driving to town 

 

      Let me make this statement. I am so blessed to have a family that is so on-board with the lifestyle of being self-sustaining. Yes, there is more to do and we have come along way and we plan on doing more but the WHOLE FAMILY is involved. I mean, really how can you call yourself a big time prepper/survivalist when you live in a HOA mandated community, create multiple websites that all have failed, and do Internet postings of raised bed gardens when you have the fencing and area to actually plant a real garden? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people wanting to plant a few crops in planters in their back yard and enjoy the success of eating something you grew, but don't tout yourself as some expert when you can't even feed one person in your family with your bounty. As far as I am concerned, you have earned Amateur status in my book. You know who your are and your buddy lives in a freaking apartment and eats Wendy's on group camping trips. Enough said on this.......

     Well I hope everyone has a great week and I would like some input on this. JUGM and I have been thinking about combining out sites into one blog. The reasoning behind it is sometimes we may step on each other toes when doing blog posts of the things we are doing. It will also increase the postings that we will be doing as a family so I would like to hear every-ones input. So fire away.

Senior

 

Corn, Corn, and more corn, Spring garden has been started. I feel like I want to go on a rant.

As the title says. Last spring we planted 15 rows of sweet corn in the garden and had pretty good success with it, even dealing with "Drought like conditions here in SC". We ended up harvesting over 300 ears of corn that we are still eating off of. We took the majority of it and blanched it and stuck it in the freezer. Last year, we planted it farther apart than we did this year. I found a good document from Clemson University to go off of and this year and now we have the same, 15 rows, but the seeds are spaced < 6 inches apart. So figure this, 15 rows of Silver King corn seed planted per row with a row length of 80 feet. Do the math, yes I will be in corn up to my ears, literally.

     Since I am following Clemson's advice, I have about 10 days til I can start planting other goodies in the garden. If you saw on JUGM's blog, last Saturday she went to the Future Farmers of America sale at the local county farmers market and bought a bunch of stuff for around $10.00. Now, I like fresh Jalapeño pepper's when we cook Mexican dishes, so I will try it this year, along with some hot peppers for my pickled Okra I plan to do. The rest of the garden I have been prepping in anticipation of us planting. I have been using the 5 foot PTO tiller on the tractor and have been turning the dirt over with fertilizer and lime to get it ready.

 

Corn in the back, 2 rows of sweet onions in the front.

      As I was tilling up the middle section, I found two interesting things. First is:

So what tracks do we have here?

        While I was tilling, notice the edge of the tractor tire in the picture, I planted the corn on March 25th, and on April 3rd, we have this, less than 10 days and it's coming up. I guess my chicken crap/sand plan worked well.

Corn stalk coming up

      Tonight, I left early from the boy's baseball practice to get home, turn the dirt over some more with the tiller and also turned the sprinklers on the corn.

      This weekend will be a busy weekend with getting seed as we are getting all the seed in hand for us to plant this weekend.

    Now for my Rant.........

    It was brought to my attention from a close friend in Florida that I have struck a nerve with a former group member here in SC with his comments on his 4th or 5th website in as many years, Yes 4th or 5th website in as many years.  It's pretty obvious that if you start and stop this many websites that you have no clue of what you are featuring on these sites, almost like Hillary Clinton re-launching her campaigns.
    Seem's he doesn't like all the "Pop Shots" I have taken at him lately, I don't give a fuck what him or anyone associated with him think. He posted this on one of his postings and I quote:
"While I’m at it I’ve also been told that that I am no “survival expert”. Sure – I would agree with that. I’ve never professed to be one. I know a little about a lot and am very confident in my ability to figure things out even though I have never been show." Unquote....

   Yeah you are right, you are a expert at nothing, and you proved that in the year I wasted around you. Yes, you know "a little about a lot and am very confident in my ability to figure things out even though I have never been show" Geez, let's ask the other person who drives one of your vehicles of how they were riding down the road with only 1 lug nut left on the rear tire after you tired to change the brakes?

Senior 
  

Still getting things in order and in place, close to cranking up the presses.

    We are still moving stuff around and unpacking our things in the house and also in the storage buildings. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate over the years. The good thing is that all the large items are now in the house, including the safe and piano. We have made two runs to the county dump to get rid of some of my dad's things and stuff we have had. I have started the task of unpacking all my reloading stuff and setting up my presses again to get some production going. As we prepare to move the clocks next weekend, I will start using the extra hour or so to get some things done around the property instead of doing it on the weekends. Speaking of weekends, me and the boys had some work to do in the garden, but before that, we cooked up some breakfast outside with biscuits in the oven.

Sausage from our local meat store

    After breakfast, we headed down to the garden and managed to get two rows of sweet onions in the ground. I used one of the handy attachments I used in my drill when I would change out the numerous flower beds in Florida when I had my business.  It is also great for mixing chicken crap and sand together in a 5 gallon bucket before putting it on the onions.

flower bed auger

Sunday, we did a bit more work til around 1300, the we made a command decision to take the rest of the day off. First stop was to Captain Steve's Seafood restaurant in Fort Mill, SC.

File photo

    We had tried to take JUGM there for her birthday dinner but that happened to be at the time there was some ice and snow in the area. We showed up there but they remained closed for the safety of their employees. I can respect. Word to the wise, better get there early. They open at 1500, by 1600 the parking lot is almost full and there is a waiting list to get inside. They have by-far the best seafood, IMHO, in this area. I have even seen a Safe Harbor Seafood truck delivering shrimp there, Safe Harbor is located in Mayport FL and that's where I bought all my shrimp and the own the docks where the shrimp boats moor. Look at it this way, from the boat, to the counter, to your hands, that fresh.

    After Steve's, we had to go walk off our dinner so we swung over to Cabelas. Of course, the same ole stuff at a fairly decent price. Since I am close to resuming my reloading operations, they have .300 Blackout Brass. Yes, I don't have to make my own from 5.56, which is very time consuming to make. They had 250 count bags and 1000 round jugs.

Came out to .20 cents a case with military discount

     I take numerous routes home from work. I do it for several reasons. First, it breaks up the boredom. Secondly, it makes it less predictable on which route I will take home encase someone wants to follow me for some crazy reason. Finally, depending if I need to stop somewhere or pick up something on the way home I can. I found this Pre-Fab'd portable storage building that someone has made into a home/hunting cabin along the side of the road I travel from time-to-time and is surrounded by pine trees.

    I like the way it is setup; however, I find it a tad bit to close to the road so IMHO it cant be a bug-out location, but I am in SC and anything is possible. It does have a mailbox too, just wasn't able to snap it in the photo. Hey, I give them credit, they grew a set and made it happen. Back to what I said about it close to the road. If I was to buy property to make a bug-out location, I sure as hell would not be within 4 miles of a major interstate. Take for example, I-77, there are service roads that parallel it. What do you think would happen if there was a SHTF situation and a mass exodus people between the major cities they connect? What about a mass mobilization of troops or UN Blue targets? Some would stay on the interstate, some would get off and go the back roads using the interstate as a navigational tool. Anything is possible in a desperate life and death situation. I am proud to say that the nearest interstates to me are 45, 44, 50, and 75 miles. I think I am good.

     Hope everyone has a great week, so far day one went well and is over. Stay safe

Senior
   





    

Moving in, Sun Tzu is poetic gibberish, Baseball starting for the boys, and getting the garden ready for the spring

     As we continue to finish our move, I realize that I do not want to move anymore. As you get older, your body starts to feel every box, Fridge, Couch, etc, etc, etc. At the present moment, I don't plan to move anymore. I took 2 days off from work, and those two days included 3 more with the Presidents Day weekend, so it added up to 5 total which helped me save some days for the future. It is amazing that you live without most of your stuff for 18 months and you think, "Why don't I throw all this stuff away or donate it", but as you all know and have experienced in the past, you sooner or later will need that stuff. So what do you do? I know, I am throwing my hands in the air too.....

     During our unpacking, we come across our numerous boxes of books and uncover this one.

   Now, I was told by a former fellow group member here in SC, and I EXPRESS FORMER, the kind of guy who thinks he is a "Survival Expert" one who cant even tie knots or understand that you have to put wax on your bow string" that his writings are "Poetic Gibberish". Really, are you serious? Now I know that this book has been required reading for both the Naval Academy and Westpoint in the past, and I am sure it is still is, including operators in the Special warfare community but it is gibberish. You know, this is what happens when arm-chair "Survival-experts" who think by reading fiction survival magazines and daydreaming of being a soldier/sailor/marine/airman wake up to reality and find out that you are not a soldier/sailor/marine or airman and just a lonely minion in the real world. I dealt with something similar in Florida early back in 2000 learning survivalism and prepping with Stephen. There was a former group member who was a  marine and who served as a disbursing clerk, only serving one tour at a embassy thinking he had fought in Infantry. We both found that out who he was when he was shooting flare's into the night and bouncing off the ground as he went prone. You had to be there, trust me on this one.

     As I continue, it is that time of the year again when the "Boys of Summer" start practicing and getting ready for opening day. Yes, the boys have started and we had practice Saturday and Sunday. The kids having been practicing during the winter and I personally think they have a leg up on the other players. Both boys are starting their second year in their league and they are both considered veterans as the played in the same division last year. First practice went well with fielding and both tried out as a pitcher, and I have to report they did pretty good on their first look. NW looked like he didn't miss anything during the off season as catcher, except now he has an adult-sized catcher's glove. He took all his Christmas money and put it all toward it. Today they did some fielding, but as we had to leave early because JUGM's uncle came over for dinner, they went on to batting practice. OMG, NW was smacking the crap out of the ball, at 10 yrs old he was hitting the ball over half-way in the air to the outfield. ND being a lefty actually listened to me in the off season and was hitting the ball to third base side, giving him more time to get to first making it a longer and harder throw for the 3rd baseman and shortstop to get him out. If you could see me, I had a big smile on my face today, very proud of them.

     Saturday, I started getting the garden going for the spring garden. We recently did a big clean-out of the chicken coops and moved all the "Poo" down to the garden.

  
    With chicken "Poo" being so potent, I plan to dilute it with some sand. As you can see the disc harrow off in the distance the garden has bee broken up. Today, I hooked the 5' tiller up to the tractor and started tilling one side of the garden up. Current plan is to put yellow onions and cabbage out by March 1st.

  
    Then I took the cultivator and configured it with plows to make some rows. The 1948 IH Farm-all Cub is currently CAT 3 Casrep'd with a fuel bowl leak and just haven't had the time to fix her to properly make some nice looking rows.

    It's after 2300 and I need to go. The morning arrives early. Stay safe everyone and if you ever dream of having your own retreat, grow some balls and put your foot down with your wife and sell you house and move. Pretty easy for most men.......


Senior