survival « Robin Writes

Remember when President Obama was elected the first time? A lot of folks thought TEOTWAWKI was coming—and again, when he was elected the second time. I’ll admit it, that second election had me stumped.

We don’t hear so much, during the current election season, about either candidate being the Antichrist, but there are plenty of rumors about TEOTWAWKI.

The funny thing is that is depends entirely on which candidate you’re supporting. The news clips and articles, I mean.

Some take the threat of Russia very seriously—and perhaps we should—and are convinced that if Clinton is elected, Russia will act against us. Some also believe that many of our freedoms will disappear, Russia notwithstanding, if Clinton wins the presidency.

Others believe that Trump’s win would set off a world war, based on his personality and other characteristics, as well as set us back, collectively, a hundred years’ worth of civilization.

I think it could go either way.

By that I mean that, regardless of the winner, things could go south in a hurry. Everyone is so eager to believe the worst of their opposing candidate, that I think it’d be silly to dismiss the doomsdayers’ predictions outright.

So what do you think? Is now a good time to prep? Why?

For me, it’s always a good time to prep. I’ve been doing so for over four years now and will continue. I don’t KNOW what’s going to happen, but I’m ready no matter what. Besides, it’s much easier to go the barn storage unit than run into town if I happen to need something I don’t have in the kitchen.

Bringing you up to speed, we’re back it on the outdoor projects: farming and fencing. We installed the new wood furnace last week, and while we tested for draw, we haven’t actually used it yet:

We picked up an old Ford field tiller at an auction, and that’s certainly making the groundbreaking easier in the garden extension. It took a day to pull down the fence, work up the ground in the current garden, and put the fence back up to keep the deer out of the orchard. Come spring, we’ll add on to the fence.

Also borrowed a rock rake. Have to take care of this year’s crop, after all!

The pasture fence posts are here! And some are in the ground—the pasture will be about 300 feet by 100 feet, or just over three-quarters of an acre. If we ever manage to get additional land, we’ll revisit this, maybe add another pasture for cows.

In the meantime, we’re putting in an open pole barn for shelter and hay storage, because it looks like we might have a visitor from the neighbors: Chestnut, a seven-year-old sorrel mare who needs to be saddle-broke. No, I’m not planning on riding a bronc. She’s broke to harness, and needs some refresher courses.

Of course, I’m also the one who tripped over a landscape timber and had very sore knees for a couple days, so we’ll see how this goes. I’ll keep you updated!

Also found another Midnight-lookalike horse, from the Amish, who’s harness-broke. Very, very tempting . . . I messaged but haven’t heard back. Maybe I’ll call . . .