I Promise

As soon as my body temperature returns to normal, and after I build a pot of chicken and dumplings, I'll write something of interest...or at least try with the good Lord's help.

The chicken dish should only take a couple of hours. I make mine from scratch.

I've been working in our yard all morning - felt good, other than the humidity and sweat soaked shirt. Still, it was nice to retake my domain from others, if you get my drift.

I'm also very ticked. For several hours last evening I tried in vain to replace the water hoses on our Maytag piece of crap washing machine. A job I've done with ease many times in my life. Seems these newer machines require the assistance of Maytag repairmen.

By the way, always and I mean, always replace those black rubber hoses with lifetime braided lines. Trust me on this....and, never purchase a Maytag. Pieces of junk.

Later.

Stephen

Nice Old Pour

This beauty is for my friends Jamie and kymber.

Gotta love the old pour bars.

Stephen

Independence Day

Cut the melon, clean the grill and torch a few burgers, then ease off and fire a few rounds for God and Country.

And, take care out there.

Stephen

After Effects

We're home, and my mind is blank. Probably an after effect of vacation. I haven't experienced that much time away from my business in over a decade. Feels weird.

Give me a day or two to readjust my force field.

Until then,

Stephen

Oh, Baby

Come to Papa.

Show me a person that doesn't enjoy a batch of warm Beingets with a fresh cup of coffee and I'll show you a child bashing democrat voter.

Here's the link for the recipe. When you arrive zip through the wedding stuff and you'll find the recipe at the bottom of the page.

Enjoy.

Stephen

Her Gift

She gently slid the white bag to my side and said, "I hope you like it. I thought it the prefect gift for you."

Her gift to me. A Steve Bloom hand made knife. One hundred sixty-eight layers of carbon steel with a Damascus patterned blade. Hondorus rosewood grip. Nickel Silver fittings. Razor sharp.

I'm in love.

With her too.

What a nice anniversary gift. Thank you, Sweetheart.

(www.ironflower.com)

Stephen

On the Road as a Survivalist

She bugs me when I pack for a trip. Always, it's with the, "Really, do we need a thousand rounds of ammunition? Why do you need a coil of rope. What's with the small ax? Really, two jugs of water...."

And on, and on. But in reality she'd never climb into our SUV without all 'my stuff.' Smart lady I married.

I'm an old time survivalist. Been whacking away at this weird extreme hobby since before many of you were born. I'm a Mel Tappan kind of guy. As such I tend to over plan. If travel arraignments require a drive of over two hours I lean heavily on the side of safety.

For instance...I travel with three firearms, four if you count the wife's carry piece, all chambered for the same ammunition. This trip it's nine millimeter. My folding critter getter and two sidearms. Commonality of caliber is important.

I also pack both of our 'get home bags,' and a small and very light backpack tent with room for two. Two gallons of water, and of course, our med kit. Just makes sense to me. Hey, you never know when the critters will attack.

Our drive consist of hours along wilderness two lane highways, and cell signals, even in the best of conditions, are erratic to none existent. Vehicle breakdowns, are very bad. Lord forbid Allah decides an EMP attack should take place while I'm out of town.

We stay (vacation) on an island situated in the Gulf of Mexico. Storms, love this place. Just last evening we had winds exceeding forty knots. Power, kaput. This year I made changes to my gear requirements.

I brought along a new piece of equipment.

It a small lightweight folding solar panel by GoalZero. This isn't a paid endorsement so Google it. Anyway, mine is the Nomad 7. I also purchased a companion piece, the 'Switch 8 portable recharger. I highly recommend the set. With the Nomad one is able to charge cellphones, laptops, Kindle readers and those silly little pads, and it'll give your laptop a fifty percent boost. Not bad.

If you want portable recharge power one simply connects the Switch 8 to the Nomad. After the Switch is powered to capacity one is able to pack it separately for a quick portable power boost to your cell phone or pad. Neat.

I took both of these pictures this morning.  Above, note the shadow...well that's me blocking the sunlight...sigh.

Give it a try. The set is very affordable.

Stephen