Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1200)

2 months ago

Hello Everyone!

A blur of a morning, Swapping out the dog bedding, Cleaning out the solar shack, All too many flashbacks & Those wicked pestilence and vermin!

Alright, I am beginning the writing routine about forty-seven minutes early tonight... which yeah is much better than starting late. Having had a long day and wrapping things up a bit earlier than usual (due to a big storm rolling in) it is nice to have some leeway with my timing... which has not been the case lately.

I am really unsure when I woke up this morning because at one point I clearly recall looking out the window to see that the sun had not risen... but am flat out unsure if I got up then or if I fell back asleep for a while. I was also pretty caught up in some weird dreams that I was having... and trying to muddle my way through them... so essentially everything to do with 'waking' was a bit of a blur.

Once I was up and about and got some espresso in me... I dug a bit further into some of the regulations around alternative septic systems, took care of some correspondences... and did my usual Hive engagement routine. Honestly, even all of that is a bit fuzzy at this point and although I could blame the fatigue... my fuzzy memory probably has more to do with being preoccupied with packing and thinking about moving.

Early in the day I also faced down my 'institutional aversion' and reapplied for food assistance... like I previously mentioned needing to do. Hopefully, I did not bugger the application process up... because during it all I kept getting a bunch of errors and got a bit frustrated with the rigmarole of it all.

Since it is now the end of the month I am due for another supply run... but of course I am down to the very last of my funds (on my food assistance card) and will have to spend some of my dwindling funds to get cleaning supplies along with a bunch of other random stuff that I need. It is always so frigging challenging to pick and choose what is most important... but one way or another I have to get the stuff that I will need.

Whoa, I am glad that I started earlier than usual on the writing... because no sooner did I finish typing out that last paragraph than I found myself overwhelmed by the fatigue and falling fast asleep. I was not too concerned with oversleeping because I knew that inbound storm would frighten the dogs... and they in turn would wake me up which is exactly what happened.

Anyways, long before noon today I got outdoors and after doing my usual chores... I spent some time swapping out the dog bedding (as well as the rug) and then mopping out the cabin yet again. That process was actually a bit more of a hassle than usual... because the wind was gusting like crazy... and the door kept wanting to swing shut after knocking over the shovel that I had stuck in the ground holding it open.

With the wind being so intense I decided to work on cleaning out the solar shack instead of working 'up on the flat' where the shop tent is located. Between the little hill... and the way the door to the solar shack faces away from the wind it really was not all that bad but I still wound up getting covered in dust.

Mainly all that I did was shuffle the bulk of my gear that is stored in there to outside... where I piled it on the deck, the stoop of the cabin and onto the PVC table... so that I could get the shack swept out... and deal with the rodent nests in there. Although it was not quite as bad as the shop tent was (with the vermin mess) it was rather stinky, dusty and downright gross to boot.

The other things that I did in there was to get whatever trash (and things that the rodents trashed) thrown away... as well as separating out more odds and ends of things that belong to the landowner here. All total the amount of stuff that I was storing (that was not mine) amounted to quite the pile... and it is no frigging wonder why my storage has always been a 'cramped affair' to say the least.

Of course along the way I also found so much stuff with vermin waste on it... that I wound up adding more water to that barrel (that I have been soaking stuff in) and poured in some of my dwindling bleach supply... to help sterilize the new stuff that I tossed in there to soak. I kind of wish that I could have gotten more done in the solar shack today... but with the storm blowing in so rapidly... I was happy to get the three quarters of it cleaned out that I did do.

My big plan with all the stuff in the solar shack is to give it all a deep cleaning... like I plan on doing with the gear in the shop tent... and today I more or less just focused on making some room, figuring out what all the rodents had damaged, eyeballing the cleaning task ahead... and figuring out what all in there that I want to keep. In other words it was quite the 'stuff shuffle' but I feel good having tackled it... and having gained a better perspective for what I am in for with it all.

While doing all that jazz... I kept having flashbacks to many of the other times that I thought that I was going to be at a 'forever home' and just how much gear that I have trashed along the years... while shuffling from one place to another. Admittedly, it has all been a massive shitshow and now at long last when I am at the 'eve' of such a move... most of my stuff is in total disarray... and quite the mess given all the vermin activity.

Then there is the damned pestilence (like the fleas and mites) that I picked up from various hippies... and I have no frigging idea how to avoid taking them with me to the new site... without throwing everything away that harbors them and their eggs. If I could afford to do that I sure would... but the idea of trying to get all those clothes, cold weather attire, rugs, blankets and such again... is not the kind of gamble that I want to take.

All of which has me thinking about those used pickle barrels with lids again... and how I might be able to get a bunch of 'bug bombs' (total release foggers) stuff a bunch of stuff in a barrel, set off a bug bomb in it... and seal the lid on! It is really not that bad of an idea... as long as I can leave the stuff in there until I get moved... and can later wash everything with borax... but it does seem a bit extreme nonetheless.

Well, I think that I am going to wind this entry down... and get on with the editing and posting portion of it all. I hope that everyone is doing well... and no matter how grungy of a task that you have to face... that you remember to tackle it one step at a time! Ta ta for now.