Hello all! Hope everyone’s week has started off well. Tonight it’s going to drop to around 6 degrees here in Maine. It’s been a very easy winter as far as snow goes. Currently, the forecast is calling for some snow on Friday and Saturday but a lot can happen between now and then.
We shall see.
I recently picked up a partial cord of wood from https://www.youtube.com/@woodtimesinthe207
I didn’t need the wood, but, like ammunition, if you have a wood stove you simply can’t have too much. I’m so glad I connected with “207” as he’s a great guy and provides a fantastic product. All the wood I got tested out at between 10-14% moisture and was extremely uniform in size. I’m going to reach out to pick up another load soon.
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Maine Prepper Girl and I enjoy going to antique shops and estate sales. At a recent estate sale, I came across an old Coleman lantern pictured above. It mounts atop a standard 1-pound propane canister and shines extremely bright. As part of our grid-down preps and combined with redundancy with battery-operated lanterns and candles it alone can light up the entire cabin.
I ended up ordering two more identical lanterns off eBay and picked up a bunch of the mantels for them. Over the coming summer, we will stock up on 1-pound propane cannisters for the following winter. Now – these are not only winter items. Light is needed all times of the year.
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Come Spring there is a lot of work to do. November 2024 is our target date to get so much accomplished – and to be as ready as possible for what may await us.
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My local Tractor Supply just got in a huge variety of plants, and seeds, and is getting set up for baby chicks. MPG and I are planning to get a chicken coop and caging in an area for them. We are looking at adding additional blueberry bushes and also planting several apple trees.
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Stay safe all and please…..keep preparing.
Rourke
Build a Pantry You Can Rely On — Without the Overwhelm
- Pantry Inventory Sheets (printable)
- Pantry Gap Checklist (what most people forget)
- Pantry Shelf Life Reference Chart
- Bucket Food Storage Guide (Mylar + oxygen absorbers)
- Step-by-step Mylar packing instructions
- $5 / $10 budget food storage plan
- Pantry organization tips
- Food rotation basics
- Practical preparedness advice
- Want to build a pantry but don’t know where to start
- Are trying to prepare on a budget
- Want to keep your food storage organized
- Live in an area with storms, outages, or uncertainty
- Want to take better care of your household
- Peace of mind
- Flexibility during hard times
- One less thing to worry about
I remember at deer camp when I was young waking up to the hissing
of the trusty Coleman Lanterns and the smell of bacon and coffee.
Of course in those days we used Coleman white gas for fuel.The small
bottles of propane were not on the market yet but I recall that they cost
less than a dollar. Touching the mantle with the match and breaking it
got a major stink eye from the old folks.I’d give a lot to turn the clock back.
Those were the best of times.
I would like to mention that fire is our best friend and can be our worst
enemy. We work hard and sometimes struggle to get all of our preps in order. Any time a flame is used for lighting purposes there is a chance
of an accident.Whatever you have on SHIT Day is probably all you have for
a long while.
We have a good supply of 100 hour liquid paraffin candles but they will be
used only as a last resort.
Our go to lights are Dynamo/Solar/AA lanterns.The solar outdoor sidewalk
lights also work well.I can think of no use for empty propane bottles.
The price of fire wood has gone crazy all across the county.As John said
you can never have too much.
For those of us that are old and rickety we have a place that sells fire
wood by the pound.Just pull the truck or trailer on the scale.They weigh
empty and load you up with a conveyor belt and then weigh again.Pay up
and head for home.We are lucky to have neighbor kids that will unload
and stack for pizza and root beer.
Redundancy is good
Just a tidbit for those like me that don’t throw out much. You can buy an adapter to refill the one pound propane bottles from the twenty pounders. Seems like I got mine from Harbor Freight. I’ve had good results using them. Stay safe and prep on.
Brad