Book Review: Prepper's Survival Retreats

When Dan and I started looking for a place to homestead, we had a list of things we were looking for. Our goal was self-sufficiency, but we were somewhat limited, simply because we were wanting to do something we hadn't done before. Thinking back on that now, I realize we would have benefited greatly if we had been able to talk to someone with experience. Prepper's Survival Retreats: Your Strategic Relocation Plan for an Uncertain Future by Charley Hogwood would have been the perfect book for us.

Why would a book on survival retreats be helpful for two folks looking for self-sufficiency? Because as a homesteader, many of our motives and goals are the same. We don't have confidence in the current cultural and economic system, and are looking for a safe haven in the event of system failures, whether that means a permanent home or a bug-out retreat.

This book offers a step-by-step method of analyzing one's goals and what will be needed to reach those goals. The first several chapters discuss why a survival retreat is an excellent idea and what you need to consider for success.

• Chapter 1 gives two real life collapse scenarios and why they are relevant today.
• Chapter 2 discusses what you need to survive and explains the eight main areas of survival. 
• Chapter 3 is "The Big Questions:" why, how, who, when, and where. As you work your way through this chapter you will develop your big picture, i.e. everything you need to consider in your planning stages.

The next two chapters discuss all aspects of evaluating and purchasing property.

• Chapter 4 focuses on purchasing an existing home. It begins with a discussion of realtors, credit, types of loans, and types of sales including some nontraditional ones. It discusses house size versus land size and tips on how to broaden your search terms for homes. It tells you what to look for when you go to evaluate a specific property, plus an inspection checklist with tips on how to spot potential problems. 
• Chapter 5 is entitled, "Can you make it here?" and tells you how to evaluate the area in which the property exists: community resources, community culture, regional land features, and location realities. It also give you some tips on how to read the trees, soil, evaluate potential water sources, and the location's potential for being off-grid.

Want to build your own home or retreat?

• Chapter 6 contains lots of good information on building from a prepper perspective. Includes things you need to know if you're working with a builder or doing it yourself. Discusses design considerations, aboveground houses, subterranean and earthen berm houses, and underground bunkers. Includes home fortifications, appearance, and the best ways to deal with neighbors.

What about a prepper community?

• Chapter 7 discusses everything you need to consider about working with a group of like-minded folks to create a community survival retreat. Discusses the basics, compounds and multiple structures, land needed, group site planning, and the pitfalls of group purchases of property, including liability.

Lastly, how do you choose the best of several good possibilities?

• Chapter 8 helps you whittle down your short list of properties. It gives you checklists by which to compare properties, and comparison tables for you to lay out your important qualifiers side by side. 

I have to say that all in all, this is the most comprehensive book I have seen on this subject. Some books give you some good advice in looking for property, but this one includes things that most of us wouldn't even think about. An excellent resource for homesteaders and preppers alike. And - the book is affordably priced and available at Amazon!

Book Review: Prepper's Survival Retreats © April

2018 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Baby Miracle Update

An update already! But my surviving preemie kid is doing very well, and I think we're out of the woods.

Mama Anna and baby Miracle.

It took two days before she could manage to stand and another day to learn how to use her legs. She was pretty wobbly for several more days but interested in exploring everything. Once she could stand well I put her mother on the milking stand and help Miracle find a teat. She took right to it.

Now she can find her milk on her own and is no longer interested in the bottle. That means no more middle of the night feedings for me! I think most folks would have taken her into the house to tend to, but I'm glad I kept her in the stall with her mother. The bond was already forming and the nursing has sealed it.

A good place for a nap?

She is still very small, so I worry about her being out and about. But she thinks she is one of the goats and so that's where she wants to be.

Belle and Cy check out their baby half-sister.
They are six weeks older than she is.

Anna is an excellent mother and if any of the others get too curious about her baby they get a head butt for their trouble.

I have no idea about kids' developmental stages during the last two weeks before birth, so it will be interesting to see how she looks on her official due date, April 8. At least I'll get to find out.

Baby Miracle Update © March 2018 by

Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Miracle Baby

Saturday morning we went out to start on chores, just as it was getting light. As I walked toward the goat shed I heard a distressed goat calling. I ran to turn on the light, and there was Anna with kids on the ground. She wasn't due until April 8th, so I was not at all expecting this.

She had delivered quads. A tiny doeling was alive and already dry. The other three were dead, one still in the birth sac. Anna had also delivered the placentas, so she must have kidded at least several hours earlier. 

Anna and her surviving doeling.

Goats usually have a 150-day gestation, but this kidding happened on day 135. That's two weeks too early. It had been a mildly chilly night, so thankfully this little girl wasn't hypothermic. I was especially relieved that she had a sucking reflex. Hypothermic babies can't suck, which is obviously serious because that means they can't eat. Premature babies have trouble regulating their own body temperature, so I put her in a basket in Anna's stall with a heat lamp.

The other problem with being born this early is that their lungs are underdeveloped. I could tell breathing took some effort, but her tongue, nose, and gums were bright pink which means good oxygenation. I put a call into the vet to see if I could get something to help her breathing. Then I milked some colostrum from Anna and was able to feed this tiny baby from a bottle. The vet didn't call back, I reckon because it was the weekend. So I started her on an herbal lung tincture, very diluted and in the tiniest amounts.

She seemed to do okay with the bottle that day, but when I took it to her several times during the night she wasn't much interested. That was discouraging. Her mother kept vigil laying right next to the basket, nuzzling and licking her baby. The next morning I didn't expect to find her alive but she was awake and alert.

Thankfully she was eager for her bottle and readily took several ounces. Her sucking reflex is good, but she has trouble latching onto the nipple by herself. Once I get it in her mouth she can fill her tummy. She managed to stand on her own, and she definitely knows how to holler!

Breathing was still a chore, so last night I upped the tincture to one drop undiluted. This morning she seems to be breathing more easily and her nostrils aren't flaring with each breath. She sleeps a lot but moves around a bit too. She's very wobbly on her feet, but she likes to stand and stretch.

So it seems this little miracle baby will make it. She will also likely remain a bottle baby, even though she's receiving her mother's attentions. I've tried to put her on Anna several times, but since she has trouble latching on I haven't had much success. Once they get used to the bottle, it's very hard to switch them to natural nursing (or vice versa).

Losing baby animals is one of the hard parts of homesteading. I'd like to think that if I had been there when Anna kidded I might have saved them all. But what-ifs are things that should never be entertained. Better to stick with what is, and focus on doing my best with that.

Miracle Baby © March 2018 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/