The Zombie Apocalypse Is Already Here

Mayan Calendar - Peel and Stick Wall Decal by Wallmonkeys

They were anxiously waiting the countdown on December 21, 2013. 

The Mayan Calendar came to an end. It sure did. But what most people fail to realize is that the Zombie Apocalypse is here and it has been for decades.

The Zombie Apocalypse is not in the form of a T Virus or some deadly plague - or is it? 

It is here among us in the form of drug dependent people who have let their use of chemicals over ride anything in their lives other than the pursuit of more. Look around you. Have you seen the way a Meth addict staggers? To me they walk like a worm wiggles. Slithering back and forth. This way and that. Just amblin along. The hardcore lost ones do this. Its sad but funny. They can't hide it. It shows in the way they talk. Their eyes all bugged out of their heads. Skeleton skinny and usually a conversation with them is impossible. Its a shame, too. Many of these folks are very intelligent or were before they got into trouble. These are our Zombies today. The only difference is they are not mumblin' "Brains!!!" or dragging broken body parts with

them.

It is a sad state of our world and one that will get worse as out economy and political climate darken. 

These folks are already desperate for anything they can use to get more dope. They rob and steal. Some can work but I doubt they can keep a job long. The drug holds too strong an influence over their minds and will.

Walking Dead Attack TV Poster Print

I bring this up because it is a minor tone of what will be happening when the SHTF for real. I am approached on a daily basis sometimes many times through my day and asked for money. I see them on the street corners and in the parking lots of large warehouse chain stores. My answer is NO - to them most of the time. I cannot help you until you choose to help yourself, is my reply. I do contribute occasionally to someone who is in need because my heart will tell me that person needs it. The rest of them can go put that in a pipe and smoke it!

Now, before you jump off the deep end and say I am bashing helpless people and I don't know what I am talking about, I want you to know that as of this moment I have been clean and sober for over 8 years now. I very well know what I am talking about. I have seen it. I have lived it. I survived my stint on the streets and that is what I am driven by today. 

I Am A Survivor!

I want to share with you this because while you are reading my posts, I want you to remember this. While most of them seem like Pollyanna - Aunt Bea from Mayberry light conversation, at the core of all of these writings is a woman who faced her demons, the streets, and survived a few years among people like I have described above. I am not an couch potato - PC nerd who hasn't ever left home.

I survived 25 years of off and on the streets and I know what it is like to go through a time span of hunger, what it means to be homeless, and how frightening it is to be so very alone with only the clothes on my back and a few things in my pockets to help me survive. Today I have a life worth fighting for and I will not let anything take it away from me. I prepare because I care. I share what I have learned and the things I stumble across in my searches so that you and I may meet on the road somewhere and be apart of the circle that is the core of the American Heart. Our patriots and preppers....

Read more preparedness at:
Survival-Recovery.com

Starter Survival Food Storage

Starting a food storage inventory for survival is not a difficult task. 

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Staple foods for your survival food storage pantry.

Tonight I stopped by the market and added to my reserves.
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When I looked at the goods I selected I thought this would be a great starter list for anyone who has yet to begin with planning food storage.

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This list are your basic staples. With these simple  items you have a base to build on and a few things that will be used for baking bread and other essentials. 

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Yes, there are rice and beans here, but they are a great source of protein and carbohydrates. This can be a good way to begin stocking up and for about $75 at your local Walmart. I chose the most economically priced items for the dollar. You can add to this list week by week at about $25 dollars per pass at the grocers and have what you need for a month or more in just a few weeks time. Let me share some ideas with you. 

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Basic List for Storage - Dry Goods

• 1 - 25 pound bag of flour
• 1 - 10 pound bag of sugar
• 1 - 20 pound bag of pinto beans
• 1 - 20 pound bag of rice
• 5 - pounds of elbow macaroni
• 2 - Boxes w/ 10 packets of Instant Oatmeal
• 2 - 1 pound bag of lentils
• 3 -  pounds of rotini 
• 3 - pounds of egg noodles
• 3 - small honey containers
• 2 - peanut butter
• 2 - Packets of Yeast

Carbohydrates are important energy sources

The reason I bought the pasta is I needed to add more goods to my grain group as I have depleted my stash and on a good week I supplement some of the categories I need to replenish. I use this food in my cooking weekly so it can stay rotated. I do not store anything I will not eat. 

These pasta items can be made into pasta salad with just oil and vinegar and dehydrated veggies in them or made into a goulash. They can be added to soups or mixed with a powdered cheese sauce and complimented with canned ham or chicken. There is a variety of meals you can make from these items. They can be prepared over a sterno can burner or a wood fire if needs me. 

Once prepared they can keep for several days if kept cool.

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Flour And Sugar In Bulk

The flour and sugar are a must have. These items will constitute a bulk of your staple items. The flour is for baking bread and tortillas and other bread like items like banana bread! It can be used for gravy and biscuits.

Sugar is a main ingredient in most baking or treat recipes so I like to have a lot of it on hand. I generally don't use it a lot for drink mixes but it helps make that sweet tea we all love. Kept in bulk and in stock we always have a source of quick energy.

Beans and Lentils

The lentils I add to my bean soups. With the beans and lentils alone, and about 4 tablespoons of onion flakes all I need is water and slow cooking for a great tasting soup. A batch of that gets picked at for a day or two then turned into chili. You wouldn't believe there isn't any meat in it! The lentils add almost a beefy flavor to the mix. Served over rice you have a filling meal item. 

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What Other Foods Can I Store?

I would recommend adding powdered milk, gallons upon gallons of water, and a few cases of tomato sauce and canned veggies, fruits, and meats to the above list. Building the menu comes next. What meals can yo make quickly and easily from these food items? Add a few tidbits for flavoring -- your favorite herbs, spices, and condiments that will keep on the shelf well while sealed.

There is so much more I could tell you about food storage and I have a few articles published about it. If you would like to know more about how to store these foods when you get them home, read more here 

Survival Food Storage and: Survival Food Requirements 

For more about the food groups and recipes, tips, and other facts see the site:

Survival Recovery.com

If you look at what is happening in the news, the potential for disasters or crisis is always close at hand. Insure your family has a decent supply of food available if something does happen. Emergency food storage planning covers your family's nutritional needs in a crisis. It is also a way to keep the food budget in check. Oh, and hey, it also is a way to have everything you need on hand to make the family's favorite baked items!

Stock, rotate, use, enjoy!

What item would you add to a beginner food storage list?

Back To The Survival Container Garden

The sun is starting to brutalize my survival container garden so it is going to have to be shifted sometime in the next few days. 

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The peppers and tomatoes are hanging their leaves in the afternoons but are bouncing back in the shade of the evening. I still have everything growing and am tending to it daily.

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The Weather In Vegas For Gardening Is A Challenge

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Summer weather in Las Vegas will kill most plants It is the biggest challenge we have for gardening. I have some shady areas on my patio so I will move herbs and other plants that will accept diffused lighting. The system I installed for drip irrigation watering is doing wonders for my schedule. It is useful for flooding out the root systems when I do not want to water each plant specifically. I use it in the mornings if I am awake. Thankfully the pump that runs it is quiet. I still have to carry buckets to the porch, but at least I only have to pour them into the container that holds the pump.

There is more information about this here: Drip System Irrigation For Container Gardens

Banana Peppers Have Popped!

My Banana Peppers are finally popping for me. I think this image is really strange so felt compelled to share it all over the place! I am happy with this plant and it looks strangely happy with me. This was an easy to grow vegetable plant. I just set them into an 18" pot. There are 3 plants in this pot. They seem to have gotten along pretty well and not over powered each other so I left them as is.

Settle the bottom of the pot with stones or gravel to keep in the soil and plant a starter plant level with the soil surface. Leave about 4 to 6 inches of room in the container so you can flood out the pot. The containers tend to dry out and you want them to stay moist but not soggy for your roots. Set a catch basin under them so they have a little humidity to supplement the heat and catch any over flow.

My porch is a second story patio and the new neighbors discovered a gardener above them when they moved in. They were not happy with the dripping water coming off of the deck, so I am carefully monitoring what I need to prevent this. My last neighbor didn't have any issues with it, but I do not want to be a nuisance to the new residents. When the cool weather comes back around I will be sealing the area and deck so this does not happen. Wait till it rains.... that leaking I can't prevent.


Fertilizing In A Container Garden
I fertilize every month and it is time to do so again. This time I mixed the feed with the watering cycle and dumped it into the water reservoir for the drip system pump. It dripped out nicely to all the plants and I did not have to keep mixing. The container I used holds about 6 gallons of water at the same time so I added a mix of one gallon according to the directions on the Miracle Grow package. It weakened the solution, but that is ok in a container garden. It will not be too strong as to burn these tender plantings.

What are some of the odd plants you are growing? I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for visiting!

I Would Love To Raise Chickens

Raising chickens around my home is not a possibility because I am an apartment dweller. 

Chicken Embryo Educational Poster - Amazon

I do not think that constructing a coop on my patio would be welcomed by the property manager but it is always a thought! I will have to wait until I am in a home of my own with a yard that will allow room for a coop large enough for roosting and nesting. 

My 3 Hens 

I had 3 hens in Florida when I lived there and I enjoyed watching them grow from fuzzy little chicks into the beautiful hens they became. Two of the chickens were pullet chicks and the other was a Rhode Island Red. I brought them home as these tiny, little peepers and let them nest in a large, clear, plastic storage box in my living room. 

They had a clay pot with a light bulb fixture run through it for a heat source and a feeder. I believe I had a jar feeder for their water, too. I need to dig out the old images and see what this cage set up was so I can share it with you. In time I will diagram the cage and the set up. It had a thermometer in it and shredded pine in the bottom for soft nesting. When their feathers filled in and they were no longer babies but full hens, I placed them in the cage in the yard.

Life Cycle Of A Chicken Chart - Amazon

They were housed in a large steel mesh pen and covered with a plywood lid that was weighted down at night with potted plants on top. I had to make due with the materials at hand. This box was in a shady area and I could hose it down when needed. It was  roomy enough for them to each have a section to themselves.

Keeping chickens in an area that has predators is always a challenge. *

Around my yard then, there were raccoons, foxes, and stray cats that were a sure threat to my birds. I lost them one by one because I couldn't watch them every second and I did not have a screened in yard for them to roam in. I let them wander the garden during the day and they were picked off one by one. 

I left them out over night after a month of putting them outside and heard this squabbling noise. I ran screaming out the house. "LET HER GOOOOOOOO!!!" I did rescue that chicken but looked down to see that I was running almost in the buff. What a sight I must have been tearing out the door and off the porch in to the woods in my underwear!

The next time I set up a chicken dedicated home there will be some changes. I live in Southern Nevada now,

Fancy Chicken Coop - Image: MorgueFile.com
This coop looks more like a condo for chickens than a coop!

so the raccoons and foxes won't be an issue but keeping them cool will be. I am thinking about adding a misting system to the outside of the coop where they can stay cool in the summer heat. A/C would be a little extreme but I do love my critters!

I still have a chicken feeder that sits on one of my book shelves. It silently reminds me of the first three birds I kept and the long term goal of keeping chickens for eggs and meat again.

If you keep chickens, do you plan for their 72 hours of emergency supplies? For chickens their kit would require a bulk stock of chicken scratch feed and water for drinking.

Chickens won't need much. Leave them behind if you have to bug out unless you are prepared to drop them into a soft bag or a pet carrier of some kind. It depends on your crisis. They probably won't be very happy with you sticking them into a pillow case...

Related links and topics:

How To Build Your Own Coop: Chicken Coops On Skruben

Amazon Affiliate Links and Sales Pages 

Raising Chickens For Dummies

Free-Range Chicken Gardens

Summer Survival

The Winds Are Blowing Hot Air And It Is Not Even Election Season... 

Tempertures Rising!

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It is the imminent arrival of summer temperatures. In the desert of Southern Nevada it is necessary to re-adjust to the heat that greets us as we walk out our cozy, air conditioned offices and homes and face a brutal sun and the sizzling concrete and asphalt under our feet. The car steering wheel and seats lie waiting for our touch and it is like grabbing onto a hot stove. The air is blistering and anything you touch is heated to about 140 degrees or higher it seems. Stay out of the heat as much as possible. Summer survival is about shade and hydration!

What do we do to fight off the extremes of these temperatures? Me? I think of cool things. I have to. I work in this hot, arid air and start my day shined and ready to work but quickly feel like I am melting as soon as I get in my vehicle. I wear a full suit and tie and work out of a huge black car that can feel like a furnace at times. Thankfully, I do have a few spots I can stop and get shade and cool off occasionally. 

I do not recommend walking around at noon here in the valley during the months of June, July, and August. It is invitation to serious discomfort. It is amazing to me how may people come here, already in an unhealthy physical condition, imbibe in way to much alcohol, and then meander around the Strip in the heat of the afternoon. This is a disaster brewing.

Morguefile.com

The best thing we can do for summer is stay hydrated. The exhaust of our body water is dripping from our foreheads and down our backs and we must replenish it. Drink more than your daily recommended amounts of water.

We all know that the sun can cause serious sunburns but it also can be the kindling for internal damage as well.

Stay covered. head to toe. I don't mean walk around with a heavy tent on, but wear a wide brimmed hat and if you are going to be in the sun for any length of time other than for leisure,  wear light clothing that will cover your skin. The sun's rays are very damaging here and exposure should be taken in limited amounts.

What would you do if you were trapped in the wilderness and had to survive this heat? Find a shady spot and wait until the sun settles in the sky some. Hiking around at noon in this climate can be a death warrant. A lot of our city and area residents go nocturnal at this time of year. It is easier than having to deal with the higher temperatures here in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert area. 

In the desert find a cliff face that has a shadow. Look for a nook that you can dig a pile of sand out of and give yourself a resting spot. Find a place to shade your body and let it cool down. A cool cloth on the back of the neck can bring some welcome relief. In the city, get indoors until you are able to cool off. 

MorgueFile.com

Being out in a high desert area brings on some necessary realities. First, there is the risk of sun exposure. Sun poisoning is a side effect of too much sun and it can bring on hypothermia just like exposure to cold can do. In this instance, you don't run the risk of losing limbs, but you may lose consciousnesses or become disoriented. Then you are really stuck. Find shelter. Stay hydrated. Stay out of full sun. Think of fishing trips to Alaska! 

For more about water and its cool benefits on our body see the following article:

A Dozen Healthy Reasons To Love Water