A prepping book worth reading.

       A lot of free books are not worth reading. I just finished this one and it is a good one. No longer Free

Miserly-Without-Being-Miserable-Preppers-ebook

If you like Jim Dakin at  Bison Prepper you will like this book.

Been reading a lot

       Over the last few weeks I have been reading more than normal. A lot of my recent reading has been westerns. Right now I am in the middle of a Modern western  I highly recommend  its even free right now.

Marshall Law

  It is a post apocalyptic  western of sort 

      I have also been reading a few by C.J. Petit  his are westerns but  didn't notice  while a top rated western writer his books are also tops in the romance categories but then looking back at my favorite westerns the good guy always did get the girl.  Romance or western I like his writing style and story lines.

Free Kindle books

  This link is for journey to the center of the earth but in  the "what others bought " is a 100 more classic novels and more for free.

Free kindle classics

the long ride home an EMP story  she isn't the best writer but a decent short read .

Blueberry bushes for BBQ

     This Friday one of my customers had a dozen or so blueberry and fig bushes in the back of his truck. He does landscaping for a large nursery in the area. Mac's boss had a bunch of these he needed to clear out of the green house so Mac loaded his truck bed .
     Now I have known Mac for over 10 years and his yard isn't big so I asked where you going to plant all these? He said he was going to use about 8 of them, did I want the rest ? Hell Yea so I got 4 blue berry's and 2 figs. I asked him what I owed him ? 2 BBQ sandwiches fair trade? Sure, that means its pizza night for the kids huh ? Yep  its Friday.

     Well today I got them planted in the side yard I think one will die but the others should make it . I will be keeping them watered for a couple weeks I  want them to take hold before frost.

 All in all a good deal for us both . The only down side was I found out my shovel , pick and set of posthole diggers handles were dry rotted glad I got spare's. Now I got to go to Mt. Top for handles.

Say Cheese ! Why now??

    Saw this today. Why now and do you believe its a giveaway?

http://www.ibtimes.com/usda-buy-cheese-worth-nearly-20m-help-dairy-farmers-2406356

   While I don't have a problem with them doing this, for some reason I have a problem believing they will GIVE it away.

    The government commodity programs ended in the early 80s much to the destruction of family farms . I remember commodity cheese and pork and beef. In the 70s the government determined break even cost on farm products. If say milk went 20% below cost of production the government bought till the price returned to even  if it rose above a certain % profit it sold its inventory to drop price.

    Back then it stabilized food cost, provided food for the hungry and supplemented school lunch programs. It also guarantied as a nation we had a 90+ day supply of grains meat and dairy . We had a national pantry! Those Days are gone what we have now is just government subsidy to corporations till more family farms fail .

Was given a pop up camper.

    Last weekend a man came by the BBQ and asked me if I wanted a old pop up camper. I  miss understood where he was going on it and told him I couldn't afford to consider buying another camper no matter how good a deal. He got a big grin and said it was free he wanted it out of his yard.

    Ok the price is right, he told me where he lived about 2 miles from the house. Now he was honest he said it wasn't in good shape but had seen how I modified other trailers and figured I could do something with it.

    Me and my son went after we finished selling to get it. Of course the only rain we got in 2 weeks started as we pulled up. It had 2 flat tires off the rims no spare and they were 8" rims which I have none. So in Redneck style I pulled it home on just rims.

 

  This is how it supposed to look . Ours was half put up with the sides hanging out but it was at the house. Sunday I decided to set it up and see where to start demolishing . With the small tires it was going to  be a nice low deck hauling trailer. But low and behold when we got it up it was in decent shape !

  Ours had some screen tears but the fabric is leather in good shape . My Son claimed it as his camper ( Funny a kid living in a camper wanting a camper to camp in) because it is light enough to pull with his car. All it needs is a little patch tape a few screws and 2 tires and it is ready to go. For a freebie it is going to get a new lease on life and if it tears up  it can still be just a low deck trailer later.

 Ps it has a stove sink the tanks, air and a 10 amp 12 volt charger that all works plus a 30 amp 25 ft. power cord.

Funnel cake for halloween.

     This year for Halloween I was asked by one of the local churches to do funnel cakes for Halloween. They were having a Trunk or Treat for the kids .I was asked last year but I had a prior commitment. The weather was terrible a steady rain but the folk that did show up had a good time. The church members had hotdogs, drinks, Chili and games inside for the kids . I was outside in my trailer in one hour I did almost 60 funnel cakes. I had fun most of the people that came by recognized me and the trailer as the man that does the BBQ  on the road. It is nice to give back to the community that has supported me. Some of the people had never stopped at the BBQ so may be I will pick up some new customers. The cost to me was less than 15$  to make over 80 people smile.

Old propane tank / wood heater

      If you have ever wanted a small wood heater and haven't wanted to spend a lot a lot . Or you have a small space and most store bought wood heaters are to big try making one out of a 20 lb old propane tank. We made one this weekend for my son . It cost 15$ and required no welding.
  

     Both of these are web pictures but the bottom one is identical to what we built . We bolted the door and vent on and used an old grill grate inside .This is going in a 27 Ft. trailer so it should heat it up nice.
     You could build a heater like this from any 20 ,30 ,40 lb. or larger empty propane tank do a web search lots of ideas available .
      Here is my BBQ smoker its nothing but a 200 gallon oxygen or propane tank .

    All we needed to make our heater was a sawzall and drill .A large hinge and exhaust flange and bolts and nuts.

     I have an old air tank that I think will make a nice medium /small wood heater just to keep in the shed just in case . I may make it a little more elaborate with a cooking plate and a small oven mounted on top.I have to admit I am now hooked on fresh bread and want a way to bake in any event !

 

 

cordless tools are great till the batteries die !

      Every one has those cordless tools in the house or truck that are lifesavers . For years I have used Ryobi 18+1 tools drills circular saw , reciprocating saw and work light  oh yea sander .I have 6 batteries that are shot 1 works for less than half what it did when new. A new battery will cost 35$ the tools are old battery technology  I will replace with the new lithium ion ones some day. Right now I have tools that for all purposes are use less .

     As I have been helping my son at his place being without power for plug in tools and my cordless ones being useless it has been a problem .Today it was a high of 30 outside so I was bored ! Went on instructables and found several things on how to make a 18 volt cordless tool work off a 12 volt car battery. Now I know it has a cord but when nothing is available in the middle of the woods even a corded tool is great . I disassembled a dead battery gutted it to the leads and taped in 2 10 foot leads + and - crimped on alligator clamps to the other end . To test it I used a jump pack , popped the gutted wired 18 volt base in my circular saw snapped the clips on the jump pack worked great a little less powerful but very useable .Tested it in all the tools and was well pleased.
    Now this may not seem important but I had a 150$ worth of useless tools that now I can use anywhere I have my truck. It cost me 0$ and took less than 30 minutes to do. Using a jumppack makes it very portable on a job. I have a 800 watt inverter that I use/keep in my truck but that wont run a saw or drill .I would love to have a 2000/4000 watt inverter but hard to justify at this time that kind of money. Cost of 0$ vs 200$  is a no brainer .
 
    If you have cordless tools and no or dead batteries check out the   How to ,or Instructables sites !!!   http://www.instructables.com/answers/Is-it-possible-to-operate-18Volt-power-tools-from-/           or     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCcbnNtyfyU

new computer's take time to set up.

     Sorry for not posting but I got an early Christmas present.My daughter bought me a new laptop.My old one was an 06 model.It  was on its last leg ,missing keys and a ton of other issues.I have had to hand type in my favorites to the new one but kindle did transfer its files to this one now I have to do family pics and movies by hand.the old one will still be used but I am getting to like this one.
    I may one day faraday cage the old one but for a while I will use it for something.This new HP has wireless so mabe I can use it when camping.Windows 8 takes some getting use to but will learn.

An easy money saving tip

     Ok we have all seen commercials for products to clean and renew car headlights.They are pricey and the 2 I had tried didn't work very good .My daughters boyfriend has been using her spare car and he saw a thing posted on face book on how to clean her headlights(hers were BAD).It was to use mosquito spray with 40% DEETs.Just spray rub repeat then wash and wipe.I had an old can of OFF tried it and was amazed.It took 15 minutes to do 3 cars.
     I drove my jeep last nite and could see the road great.Last month i had put new bulbs in because i couldn't see at nite driving now i see fine.I love this cheap fix . To replace my jeep headlight lens would have cost 100+ dollars.The Off spray i had.

Cast iron cooking ! free link

     If you want a easy to read book on cast iron cook ware care and reciepies that are easy try this free kindle book.
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHW4LA6/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=58YGJME6KYI4&coliid=IZXRS1954ULDJ 

Never judge a book till you read the END.

     Ok the other day i said the book Bunkers seemed like a good read.It was very well thought out on points about group dynamics and human nature. I enjoyed it till the last 2 chapters.The ending to me blew chunks.Hats off to the writer for his time and effort and it is his right to end his story as he wanted but I would have choose a differant one for a book of this gerne.

A great site for free kindle books

        Sorry i havent posted in a while first i had a problem with my hughs net reciever then my computer refused to log on to the web.I think i have it fixed now.
       I found this site in a comment section and it has links to a lot of free books on amazon scroll to the bottom and click on the gerne that you want. Enjoy!!!!
  http://preputilityvehicle.blogspot.com/

survivalism trash talk

     Last post was to make you think about what risks trash could put you and your prep's in.The disposal of packaging is as important as disposal of human waste. Everyone situation is different but you do need to have a plan so that no one knows where it came from.
   Cans need to be crushed or cut and flattened.
   Cartons and bags need to be broke down
    Bottles need to be reused or shattered and bagged
   A spot needs to be set aside for burying what cant be reused

  At present i burn most of our trash.After SHTF i will sort and bury it.Last week i came in from burning the trash my wife asked me what i was cooking? She said it smelled good,I asked what did she think it smelled like she said fry ed chicken.I then informed her it was 2 bags of garbage.It was grease she had put in one bag from chicken wings.The smell of burning trash can carry a long way just like a wood fire.
   This is just one of those things we take for granted trash is bagged and then disappears.You better have a plan,for sanitation and secrecy.

Survivalism Trash Talk Part 1

     Yesterday i was in the back burning the trash.We use a 55 gallon burn drum to dispose of the garbage here at home.Rural pickup runs almost 20$ a month around here i go 2 the dump every 6 to 8 weeks and empty the burn barrels for 8$.Every time i go to burn i fish out the cans that was in the trash from before.In regular times we have a lot of cans.To cut down on the bulk i crush them and throw them in a bag till its time for the dump.Burnt tin cans are easier to crush than just emptied.As i was doing this chore i looked around and wondered if the SHTF how many more cans there would be!

     Now most peppers have a large number of can goods in there food storage.I have read a lot of blogs on food storage but i have never seen any one write about the trash.Have you thought about it?Look at your food storage how many cans will you have to open per day to feed your family?Do you have any idea what your going to do with the cans,have you ever tried to crush a # 10 can ?I have its not easy.Would it be safe where you live to burn your garbage in a SHTF situation?Do you have room to store your waste boxes cans,bottles and other packaging.Will putting bags on the street and risk someone knowing you have food or store them in the corner of your property and risk your families lives?

   

A few pictures

   This was how it looked before i started.

This is stripped and the lean to sheets in place

    Here it is with the new scrap metal on.All that's left is to cool seal it and make it pretty.It has rained twice and so far no leaks but it still needs to be sealed.The fun part will be draging stuff out burning hauling to the dump and scrapyard what has been shoved in it over 28 years.

finished the roof

    Got the roof finished on the lean to and garage Wednesday. Got it done just in time for a lite rain on Thursday.Had no leaks that i could find.All that's left is to cool seal it.I will post a picture of it this weekend. I have to run will update on here later.


PS  still at 2 cigarette's a day not bad  in  my book.

The story of dog

     Yes folks i named my dog DOG.She has been with me for 8 or 9 years.The kids call her Baby Girl she comes to both but knows the difference in what name is used.If i call her dog she looks to see what i want her to do,if she is called baby girl she knows she is going to get petted and played with.
     When dog first wandered up i didn't want a dog.I had just had one get run over and i didn't want to go through that again.Well i decided to ignore and not feed this skinny Black Lab and she would go away.After a week i was finding dead rabbits squirrels and other critters in the front yard.This mongrel had to go so i decided to haul her away.I loaded her into the truck and went about 3 miles away and put her out.Good riddance,no more half eaten carcasses to clean up.On the way home stop ed and got me a coke and a bag of chips then pulled in the drive.Sitting on the porch was that skinny black Ker. Damn dog had cut through the woods and beat me home.Well i loaded the dog back up and took off this time i went 5 or so miles out into a rural valley and put he out wished her luck and took off.I went and grabbed lunch with a friend.After we ate we stopped to get some tools at the house and laying in the yard was that Damn DOG.My buddy looked at me and said "if she isn't your dog your her human".After we did our project i went and got her a bag of dog food.
    Dog has been the best dog a man could want even my neighbors have gotten to know her bark.She has her talking bark for other dogs she has a deer bark for when they are in the field.She has one for some one just drove up,God help someone walking down the road she lets loose loud.One day the boy next door was out playing and 2 dogs from down the road started growling at him DOG stood between the boy and the strays till he went inside.DOG waited till he was gone and stared taking chunks out of there butts as she ran them down the road.
      Dog has filled out over the years she is a solid 110 pounds or more.Her teeth are wore down from all the game she has dragged up over the years.Now days she just eats dog food with table scraps.Dog has never been to a Vet for some reason she refuses to get in any car or truck! I hope i have been as good a human to her as she has been a Dog for me.

Made progress on the roof

    Got the lean to roof on and the garage roof stripped.Not a bad days work for a lazy fat man.

This is the old leaky roof and the lean to that was made out of 20 scrap pieces of tin.

    Here is the lean to made with 6 sheets 18 ft long.If you look at the wood on the garage it is over 80 years old and only had 1 board  rotted.It holds my 260 pound butt!Next is to put felt down then the Tin.

    The whole garage is sheathed walls and roof with 1 and 1/2 inch ruff cut pine can still see the blade marks on the planks.

P.S. Smoking is still at only 2 cigs most days its getting easier.