Goodnight friends, I leave you with a cartoon to ponder...

http://www.google.com/imgres?start=57&hl=en&biw=1920&bih=851&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=s1-UXLOh5nJz0M:&imgrefurl=http://www.alipreston.co.uk/&docid=3fc9qGbERqfBPM&imgurl=http://www.alipreston.co.uk/funny-cat-picture-kitty-squished-in-hammock-domestic-animal-cartoon.jpg&w=583&h=383&ei=Ya2cT5m_IPC00QH14JCLDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=161&vpy=516&dur=8517&hovh=182&hovw=277&tx=169&ty=124&sig=112378531351294060110&page=2&tbnh=106&tbnw=162&ndsp=65&ved=1t:429,r:33,s:57,i:5

Wild Turkey Track

I thought some of my followers may appreciate this photo I took while out looking for Morel Mushrooms...

My Simple Pulled Pork Recipe

Yesterday, I smoked some pulled pork.  It was my 1st time of making it for me and it was great.  It is recommended to use pork butt however I only had pork loin.  I rubbed it down with some sweet rub and let it stay in the fridge the night before I put it in the smoker.  The next morning I wrapped it in aluminum foil (double layer).  I started my fire in the smoker (Oak wood) and let it get to around 200 degrees.  I put the pork in the smoker for about 2 hours with the foil open at the top so it could get smoked.  I then wrapped it tightly and kept the fire going for 9 more hours.  When I unwrapped it it began to fall apart.  I put it in a large dish and I finished pulling it apart with forks and dumped an entire bottle of "Sweet Baby Rays" BBQ sauce on it.  After stirring it up we had some great sandwiches!  Give it a try, you will love it.

Here's the sweet rub I use...
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Competition-Barbecue-Rubs-150-32-oz/940659.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dsweet%2Brub%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26x%3D19%26y%3D9&Ntt=sweet+rub&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

If you have never used Sweet Baby Rays, you can find it at your local grocery store or click the link...
http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Baby-Rays-Honey-Barbecue/dp/B0003290ME/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1335644784&sr=8-3

My Chicken Coop

It seems everyone is posting about chickens and chicken coops (including myself).  I thought I would share my chicken coop project.  This is a lean-to that I attached to an existing outbuilding.  It was originally built for a sun room and for plants.  It was covered in plastic and the plastic eventually got ripped off and I never did fix it back up.  I thought it would make a great chicken coop as we have recently purchased 10 chicks.  These photos show it has been used to store "junk".  We (myself and my son) have the floor boxed off ready for the joists.  There are also photos of how I built the nesting boxes (which was my wife's design)I will post more photos as I progress with this project....

Frog sitting like a human

This is just funny and thought I would share this find...

"Frogs have a reputation for being kinetic creatures. Hoping from lily pad to lily pad, searching for flies. But sometimes, an amphibian just needs to relax."...read more here
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/frog-relaxes-world-goes-wild-211337903.html

Reclaimed wood projects/ideas

Hut made form reclaimed wood and take a look at some of the pics on shed working

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homestead-Homeschool/390316590999379

https://www.facebook.com/Recycled.Upcycled

http://www.shedworking.co.uk/2007_09_01_archive.html

How to Build a Rotating Canned Food Shelf

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homestead-Survival/189287804456890

http://homesteadsurvival.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-build-rotating-canned-food-shelf.html

Chicken coop ideas/designs

Many ideas/designs of chicken coops...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homestead-Homeschool/390316590999379

http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

What is Paracord?

I often make posts about using paracord.  For those of you who may not know what it is, here's an explanation....

Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of US parachutes during World War II. Once in the field, paratroopers found this cord useful for many other tasks. It is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. This versatile cord was even used by...Read more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord

How to make a paracord wrist lanyard

This instructable will show how to make a wrist lanyard using paracord and the snake knot.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-wrist-lanyard-made-with-the-snake-knot/

 

Paracord Fusion Ties - Volume 2: Survival Ties, Pouches, Bars, Snake Knots, and Sinnets

How long can you go without food and water?

"You sit in your cubicle like a zombie and pretend to look over expense reports. Your stomach growls like a cornered dog. As a test of will and"...Read more
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/live-without-food-and-water.htm

How to send smoke signals

In westerns, filmmakers portrayed Native Americans as master communicators with smoke signals. They would send complex messages in an....Read more
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-send-smoke-signal.htm

Starting a fire with a firesteel

https://www.facebook.com/SurvivorCrockettsInfoDepot

Do you see the shape in this photo?

Do you see the shape in this photo?

How to make a cobbled-soloman-bar-paracord bracelet

http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/2012/01/cobbled-solomon-bar-paracord-bracelet.html

Grow Morel Mushrooms At Home...

The Morel Habitat Kit was developed so everyone could enjoy growing their own morels in their own backyard and...Read more
http://gmushrooms.com/MHK.HTM

Farmer deploys guard bees..

Organic vegetable farmer Gus Nawara is tired of thieves scavenging his collection of old farming equipment. "When times got tough like they have recently"....Read more
http://now.msn.com/living/0330-farmer-guard-bees.aspx

https://www.facebook.com/SaltoftheEarthUrbanFarm

https://www.facebook.com/punkrockhomesteading

Best homemade natural ant killer

"Ants give me the heebie jeebies. We never had problems with ants inside until last year. I called"....Read More
http://www.stacymakescents.com/homemade-ant-bait

https://www.facebook.com/frugallysustainable

Keep your chickens healthy

April is the beginning of the busy season for me. The snow is gone and the garden beckons but the first thing that I do in the spring is clean out the hen house.
Once a year, the chicken coop needs to be thoroughly cleaned; shoveled, swept, vacuumed and......read more
http://www.almanac.com/blog/celestes-garden/spring-cleaning-hen-house

Egg comparisons

Here's another photo of store eggs and farm eggs.  Can you tell which is farm raised??

https://www.facebook.com/livingofftheland

Goats as livestock

If you had only one choice of livestock animal for survival post event, what livestock species would you chose? Would your choice be...more
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/raising-goats-for-survival/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PlanPrepareSurvive+%28The+Survivalist+Blog+dot+Net%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

https://www.facebook.com/RationalSurvivorPage

Rabbits...

To a Prepper, Rabbit Feet Aren’t the Lucky Part!

Some folks simply won’t be happy with this article but I would be remiss not to share some very interesting points when it comes to...more
http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/04/to-a-prepper-rabbit-feet-arent-the-lucky-part.html

Dehydrated food

Check out the solar dehyrated food....

https://www.facebook.com/dontbuyit.makeit

Homesteading Books

Numerous books available for homesteading and self sufficiency...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=homesteading+self+sufficiency&sprefix=homesteading%2Cstripbooks%2C334

Easy Seed Starters

"Easy Seed Starters" is a collection of easy-to-follow projects to get your garden started.  Learn how to build windowsill greenhouses, cultivate seeds from your favorite vegetables, and nurture your seedlings into"....More
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Seed-Starters/

How Wilderness Survival Kits Work

"You're hiking through a gorgeous and serene state park when your gaze falls on an elusive species of wildlife off in the distance. Eager to get great photographic evidence of how incredible your vacation was, you judge that it shouldn't be much trouble to cross over to the next ridge for a closer shot. Unfortunately, you were a little too quick checking the weather report that morning and cut off the radio after you heard".....More

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/wilderness-survival-kits.htm

Tips to Tell You If a Tick’s Made You Sick (Even If You Haven’t Seen One)

by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Where I come from, it’s tick season. I suspect it is in your area too. On many a tree leaf or tall grass, the tiny blood-suckers lie in wait—ready to pounce on any warm-blooded creature that gets within distance—eager to share their multiple array of germs.
The CDC lists twelve tick-borne diseases in the U.S. alone. Early recognition and treatment is vital to prevent permanent disability, even death. But these diseases can be hard to diagnose. Symptoms can be very general—say, fever and muscle aches—and their onset can be delayed for days or weeks. Tick-borne diseases can be hard for a doctor to pen down.
So what if no doctor is available? Here are a few steps you can take to decrease your chance of a devastating outcome.

http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com/2012/04/24/tick-bites/

Signaling For Help

"There are many ways in how you can signal for help in a survival situation...

GOT A WHISTLE, HORN or GUN? Three short whistle tweets, three blasts from a horn or three shots fired from a gun and a pause means...HELP! And two short tweets. two horn blasts or two gunshot blasts back means "Hold on Buddy, I Hear Ya and I'm a Coming For You!"......More

http://www.survivaloutdoorskills.com/signaling.htm

ZIPPOS & SPARK LITES

"Before I talk about Zippos and Spark-Lites, let me show you what my German buddy [Friedrich W. Eickelen] sent me. Check it out! "......more

http://www.survivaloutdoorskills.com/zips_and_spark_lites.htm

Solar food dehydrator

https://www.facebook.com/canningfood

Pickled fiddlehead ferns!

https://www.facebook.com/FoodinJars

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/04/in-a-pickle-pickled-fiddlehead-ferns.html

Most Dangerous River Monsters

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/river-monsters-most-dangerous/#mkcpgn=fbapl14

Customers report possible spider mites in restaurant food

https://www.facebook.com/PrepperChicks

Disaster preparedness by the typical american family

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camping-Survival/48301221510

How to Deal With an Intruder in Your Home

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Self-Reliance-Network/209877245713757

http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-an-Intruder-in-Your-Home

Government Planning to Evacuate Chicago

http://offgridsurvival.com/governmentplanningtoevacuatechicago/

Worlds Most Threatened Tribe

The indigenous Awá people of Brazil are in a protracted legal battle to protect their lands from illegal settling and logging...
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/world-s-most-threatened-tribe-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fworld-s-most-threatened-tribe-slideshow%252Fawa-tribe-photo-1335372415.html

North Korea = Danger

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/North-Korea-has-enough-arms-to-defeat-US-Military-chief/articleshow/12875211.cms