Yep, we had temps in the 60's yesterday, but today awoke to a blizzard. High was 27 and that was at 6 a.m. ... has been steadily falling ever since. Low is expected to be around 6 or 7 tonight. Brrr. And lots of blowing snow.
Brrr.
Because my two girl goats are expected to kid any day now. They're late, actually. So they now live in my garage. Not outdoors in the pen it took us two weeks to put together, but in my garage. Each girl has her own 6x10 kennel, on top of a tarp that's covered with hay. Then each has hay, food, water and a heat lamp at one corner and a medium "round tub" to use as a "nest".
On good days we've been talking them out to their outdoor pen but as of last night, they'll be inside until a nice day shows up. Well, once the babies are born, it'll be a month or so until they go out.
You'd think it would be stinky in my garage but actually its not. Every couple of days we sprinkle more hay on the bottom alternating with pine shavings. Then probably in January or Feb, during a nice "warm" day when the babies are able to go outside, Hubby and I will open the garage, take out all the old hay and poo, replace with clean straw (assuming we can find some by then).
Good solution. Just hope the girls don't get stir crazy waiting for these babies. Come on, girls! Labor, already!
GUSTY WINDS
In the past week or so, here on the Colorado Plains we've been innundated with unbelievable wind gusts. None of the local TV stations got it right ... breezey my heiny!
Just ask our chicken houses ... if we hadn't set them in concrete this last time, they would have been gone! As it was, we found all kinds of chairs, dog houses and bantam chickens all over the place! Rescrued everything (and everyone!) we could find.
Lesson learned: build things for the worse possible weather, then make it even more sturdy. Just because you don't experience high winds on a regular basis doesn't mean you won't. Do you want to be hunkered down as the zombies roam around (tongue in cheek) then suddenly have to turn your attention to keeping your livestock warm, dry and safe?
Do it now. While you can afford and have access to the supplies and time.
Just ask our chicken houses ... if we hadn't set them in concrete this last time, they would have been gone! As it was, we found all kinds of chairs, dog houses and bantam chickens all over the place! Rescrued everything (and everyone!) we could find.
Lesson learned: build things for the worse possible weather, then make it even more sturdy. Just because you don't experience high winds on a regular basis doesn't mean you won't. Do you want to be hunkered down as the zombies roam around (tongue in cheek) then suddenly have to turn your attention to keeping your livestock warm, dry and safe?
Do it now. While you can afford and have access to the supplies and time.
COLORADO UNDER SNOW
We're in the plains of Colorado, southeast of Denver. Technical the terrain is desert but people tend to forget it.
The weather people told us the snow was coming. Rain turning to lots of snow. A little wind. Very low temps. Monday we had 80 degrees. This morning we woke up to 32 degrees (our day's high), 3 inches of heavy wet snow, and it's still coming down. Total of 4 inches now, with another 3-4 expected before it stops late tonight. Low of 17 degrees expected for tonight, which means the slush on the ground will be a THICK SHEET of ice by morning's commute.
Wonderful.
Luckily, we finished the livestocks' homes just in time. Meant to take pictures but now I'll have to wait until the snow melts. Why? Because right now, it would all look white white white!
The bantam (miniature) chickens are cuddled up in one 6'wide x 6'deep x 4'tall kennel, covered with wood, plastic and tarps. The chain-link door, uncovered during decent weather, now has a big ole tarp covering it, weighted down, and is doing an excellent job of keeping snow out of the kennel. Only just finished this yesterday. Whew! Still need to fence in an exercise yard ... since we're expecting 60's by Friday, we'll try to do that on Sunday once the snow melts. Won't be big but a covered area of 6x12-15 so would be great for them.
The boy goats have their own fairly-small pen with 2 separate little houses for each goat. (They don't like to share). Just enough space for a little running around, and canNOT see the girls. Even has a little chicken house in there for when we move a couple of boy chickens in. Thinking it will have room for a couple more mini goats because we plan to keep future boy babies (to wether to raise to eat).
The girl goats, both due to kid (have babies) around Thanksgiving, have plenty of covered area. Room to kid (have their babies) and room to play around. Their hay area is covered, plus I have feed buckets in the kidding kennel. That's where I found the girls this morning when I went to feed them. Good that they are comfy. Even with the door to the kidding kennel open, barely any snow blew in.
As for chickens .. the HUGE coop we just had built is doing a 98% job of keeping the snow out. Whew! Sure it's cold in there but it's dry and without wind. They can survive below-zero temps as long as there is plenty of air circulation, and is dry. We threw some old hay in there last night so by this morning, it was already scratched out. Good. Something to keep them occupied. Sprinkled some of their feed on it too so more scratching to keep them busy and warm.
Also yesterday managed to bring in some pots for indoor veggie gardening this winter. My leg is really hurting but should be able to start seeds for cucumbers, beans, squash, etc tomorrow or so. Yum.
Oh, before I close this posting ... was watching the news around lunchtime, and was astounded by someone interviewed in Denver. Lots of trees down due to heavy wet snow, so lots of people with no electricity. This person said on camera that since there's no electricity, there's no food. Oh well, guess they'll have PB and J.
What?
Boy, I'm glad we prep. Not because of end-of-the-world scenarios and so forth, but for times such as these. Even if our electricity goes off, we'll be just fine! Stocked up with food, fuel, water, candles, etc.
The weather people told us the snow was coming. Rain turning to lots of snow. A little wind. Very low temps. Monday we had 80 degrees. This morning we woke up to 32 degrees (our day's high), 3 inches of heavy wet snow, and it's still coming down. Total of 4 inches now, with another 3-4 expected before it stops late tonight. Low of 17 degrees expected for tonight, which means the slush on the ground will be a THICK SHEET of ice by morning's commute.
Wonderful.
Luckily, we finished the livestocks' homes just in time. Meant to take pictures but now I'll have to wait until the snow melts. Why? Because right now, it would all look white white white!
The bantam (miniature) chickens are cuddled up in one 6'wide x 6'deep x 4'tall kennel, covered with wood, plastic and tarps. The chain-link door, uncovered during decent weather, now has a big ole tarp covering it, weighted down, and is doing an excellent job of keeping snow out of the kennel. Only just finished this yesterday. Whew! Still need to fence in an exercise yard ... since we're expecting 60's by Friday, we'll try to do that on Sunday once the snow melts. Won't be big but a covered area of 6x12-15 so would be great for them.
The boy goats have their own fairly-small pen with 2 separate little houses for each goat. (They don't like to share). Just enough space for a little running around, and canNOT see the girls. Even has a little chicken house in there for when we move a couple of boy chickens in. Thinking it will have room for a couple more mini goats because we plan to keep future boy babies (to wether to raise to eat).
The girl goats, both due to kid (have babies) around Thanksgiving, have plenty of covered area. Room to kid (have their babies) and room to play around. Their hay area is covered, plus I have feed buckets in the kidding kennel. That's where I found the girls this morning when I went to feed them. Good that they are comfy. Even with the door to the kidding kennel open, barely any snow blew in.
As for chickens .. the HUGE coop we just had built is doing a 98% job of keeping the snow out. Whew! Sure it's cold in there but it's dry and without wind. They can survive below-zero temps as long as there is plenty of air circulation, and is dry. We threw some old hay in there last night so by this morning, it was already scratched out. Good. Something to keep them occupied. Sprinkled some of their feed on it too so more scratching to keep them busy and warm.
Also yesterday managed to bring in some pots for indoor veggie gardening this winter. My leg is really hurting but should be able to start seeds for cucumbers, beans, squash, etc tomorrow or so. Yum.
Oh, before I close this posting ... was watching the news around lunchtime, and was astounded by someone interviewed in Denver. Lots of trees down due to heavy wet snow, so lots of people with no electricity. This person said on camera that since there's no electricity, there's no food. Oh well, guess they'll have PB and J.
What?
Boy, I'm glad we prep. Not because of end-of-the-world scenarios and so forth, but for times such as these. Even if our electricity goes off, we'll be just fine! Stocked up with food, fuel, water, candles, etc.
Survival Preparedness - My Personal Journey
G.O.O.D. Bag Accessories
#1 Self Protection
Aside from the four essentials (shelter, fire, food and water), a means to protect yourself is the most important item or accessory in your GOOD bag. I guess, technically, it won't be inside your bag... schemantics...
I can understand some people's hesitation with a side arm. I think the good in everyone wants to believe that it is not a necessary item. For me, I would prefer to error on the side of caution and never have to use mine than be caught in a situation where I needed it and did not have one. I've been watching reruns of a BBC series call Survivors. The show is based in Great Britain and in the wake of a super virus apocalypse a group of people immune to the disease band together and strike out to make a new life. While the show is fantastically entertaining, it is bothersome in that the group regularly places themselves in situations where they are unable to protect their members or their limited supplies. I find it very unrealistic that anyone in any type of survival situation would be able to make it very long with a sidearm. Maybe things are different in England?
I am currently looking at purchasing the Springfield Armory XD .45 ACP or a Springfield Armory XD .45 in the 5" tactical length. Both are a polymer framed pistols that feed from a double stack magazine which holds thirteen cartridges. What I like a lot about the XD is the grip safety that will not allow the weapon to fire unless it is depressed, which happens naturally when the pistol is held properly, but automatically goes "on safe" when the grip is released, such as if the weapon is dropped or re-holstered. I find that it sits very comfortably in my hand (which are not petite but I would say fairly average in size) and is one of the driving reasons behind my consideration of the XD model. Most all the reviews comment on the ergonomics of the grip and how well the XD fits most average sized hands. Conversely the Glock Model 21 .45 G.A.P. pistol has a notoriously bulky grip though they have introduced a Model 37 that is slightly smaller and easier to handle. Unlike some, I have never developed the "appreciation" for the Glock pistols. Though one attribute they share in common with the XD is their trigger safety. The trigger has two interdependent parts that when held and fired properly will operate naturally. However, unintentional pressure or a strike against the trigger is unlikely to do so.
Something super cool about the XD is the fact that you can drag this pistol through a swamp and come out the other side firing. Here is a pretty amazing link to a torture test the XD 9mm survived. Granted it's not the .45 but it's still crazy cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XTPbPNWCV0
I hope it will never has to go through so much but it is insanely reassuring to know that it could and would still operate as efficiently as it does all clean and shiny new.
With your sidearm you also have to consider how much ammunition to carry. I have read that approximately 200 rounds is the drop dead minimum to consider carrying to get you to your retreat but ideally 1000 rounds is a safer bet. Thinking about that... 200 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition weighs about 40 pounds, 1000 rounds weighs over 200 pounds. I don't know about you but I couldn't carry 200 pounds on top of the weight of everything else in my bag. So I am planning on having four magazines loaded with 52 rounds and about 200 additional rounds stored in an ammo pouch that can attach to the outside of my G.O.O.D bag. The rest of my ammunition will be stored in a waterproof ammo box that I can throw in the back of my Jeep. I hope that if the time comes I will be able to make most of the journey out of dodge in my Jeep but I think I need to face up to the fact that some or all of the trip could be on foot.
Note to Self: find a retreat that isn't too far away...
Next post: G.O.O.D. Bag Accessories #2 Communication and Electronic Accessories (toys) for your bag
LISTERIA IN COLORADO CANTALOUPES
I'm sure you've read about the instance of the deadly Listeria (bacteria?) in cantaloupes. Allegedly, looks like the infected cantaloupes came from a Colorado farm, Jensen Farms. One woman is already suing them because her husband was infected and may never be 100% again.
Absolutely LOVE cantaloupe. My garden didn't do very well this year so I ended up buying the cantaloupe I ate. Probably came from Jensen Farms. Not concerned.
Jensen Farms became proactive this week, killing the rest of their crop, and recalling all produce from everywhere it was sent.
Look, it's not like they purposely infected their cantaloupe. They didn't set out to poison anyone or to kill anyone. Or come up with a reason to shut down their farms.
But chances are, this will cause enough of a financial hardship that they'll need to close their doors.
I feel sorry for them.
Absolutely LOVE cantaloupe. My garden didn't do very well this year so I ended up buying the cantaloupe I ate. Probably came from Jensen Farms. Not concerned.
Jensen Farms became proactive this week, killing the rest of their crop, and recalling all produce from everywhere it was sent.
Look, it's not like they purposely infected their cantaloupe. They didn't set out to poison anyone or to kill anyone. Or come up with a reason to shut down their farms.
But chances are, this will cause enough of a financial hardship that they'll need to close their doors.
I feel sorry for them.
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