How will it end and how do you think it will end?

First of all, I think the whole hash mark thingy for the Occupy Wall St. is moronic and a sign that normal human communications is devolving into 160 characters (or however it fits).  #OWS.  Stupid.  However, I can embrace it enough to make fun of it.  #OccupyTheBarn or #OTB.  The goats have hit the 150 day mark and need to kid.  Now.  I'm tired of waiting, so I am #OTB and will chant, bang my bongos and refuse to shower until my demands are met (3 preggo goats, I want 8 babies (the over/under bet with my wife is 6 babies)), or until I get tired and/or have to go to work.

Onto the 99%.  I had a blinding flash of the obvious today.  99% of the population is unhappy with ______.  No kidding.  I bet 99% are unhappy because their job isn't cool enough, their pay isn't good enough, their woman/man isn't pretty enough, they never thought that they would have to actually pay bills, or even the things they want are hard to get.  It's called life.  It's tough, then you die.  It's an easy formula.  Consider yourself lucky you live in the era you do.  In the 1940's you would have been shipped off on a free vacation to the other side of the planet to meet new people and kill them.  And if you would have bitched this much about it, your friends would have shot you.  But that was the greatest generation.  BTW, you are embarrassing their memories by protesting.  THEY went to war to defend our freedom. Gladly, because THEY were taught a sense of duty and honor.  Some died there.  THEY came home, finished school, went to work, worked long and hard to get that piece of the American dream THEY dreamed about on the shores of Europe and Asia.  THEY became parents, not friends, of their kids and sacrificed to make sure their kids never had to go through what THEY did.  THEY left their world a better place then how they found it, and THEY are dying at a rate of 1,000 a day.  When THEY are gone, who will remind us of what the American Spirit is?  99%?  Maybe if you work, you can join the 1%.  But whining is so much easier.  Babies.

Duke's Post about TEOTWAWKI the other day got me thinking.  I know I give a lot of thought about how it might happen.  My question to you is three fold:

1. How do you think the SHTF will occur?
2. What would be the worse case scenario that you are preparing for?
3. If you had to decide how it would happen, what would be the "best" scenario?

Honestly, I would like to see if my worst case is really the worst that could happen.

Off to bang my bongos or play the TIVO copy of the XFactor to the goats until they submit.

Using the 1st Amendment to protect the 2nd.

Love it.

However, I'm sure that they live in a subdivision with a HOA with Nazi-style laws, banning the use of these signs.  Besides, I'm sure when their neighbors get robbed, they will be sued for instigating.  

And if I posted that sign, it would be shot down in hours.  

First snow of the year.

This post goes out to my friend Arsenius the Hermit to remind him that old man winter is coming and he's heading for the mountains.

Woke up to some snow in the garden.

The chickens are still out and about in the snow.

The driveway is filled up.

White out conditions.

the non-pregnant goats and Sam looking for food from me.

Pow Pow getting ready to pop, in her pen.

 The Tweedles are ready to pop, too.  Couldn't get them to sit still for very long.

We got several inches last night of the white stuff.  The mountain pass to the west of the homestead got 3 feet of snow Thursday night. It's coming and we haven't all the winterizing done yet.  So busy day today before the LSU Tigers whoop the Florida Gators in a couple of hours.  We hope to get the wire and switches soon to wire the barn.  Another project, another time.

Weekend at the Homestead

It's another weekend here at the homestead.  Figured I would give you the nickle tour of the place on a Saturday afternoon.  

Sam is on the prowl, trying to figure out what I am up to.  He keeps the coyotes at bay, and all the female dogs in a 2 miles radius pregnant.  We plan to bring him to the vet to be "tutored," but don't tell him.

Goats.  From left, Ms. Priss, Tweedledum (we are thinking is carring 3 babies), and Tweedledum (maybe 2 babies, but C-section scars still on her side from Feb.)

From left, Ms. Scarlett, Jumper (not preggos, not happy), and Pow-Pow (she had 4 babies Feb, hoping for only 2 this time).  

The only time the goats are quiet.  Feeding time.  

The first raised bed.  Got winter rye in this one starting to sprout.  Hopefully I will get better with this.

Greenhouse.  Cleaned out the inside, and the raised bed inside is almost ready for lettuce and cabbage.  Will be installing glo lights for longer grow time this weekend, and cleaning up the garden area of debris.  In front of the greenhouse is hay we cleaned out of the barn to spread out.  This slowly composts over the winter and keeps the moisture in the first few inches of the soil.  Otherwise the ground dries up fast.

My first garden if you remember from my first few posts.  We plan to clean it up, let the chickens run free over it, plant more grasses, and make it the only grassy area on the property, and fence it in as my wife's quiet area.

Today's haul of eggs.  We share them with the neighbor we like all the time.  She offers to pay us, but we can't take their money.  We would rather make sure our eggs get eaten, then go to waste.

The chickens.

Another shot of the chickens.  That's the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the background.  I figure if the chickens have a nice view, their eggs will be filled with hope and change, and unicorn tears. No, but it is worth a try.  Note the lack of trees, which means I either need to drive 20 miles to the forest for wood, or buy it.  However, it makes patrolling my property easier.

Birthday Present

I obviously was good this year, so my wife let me get a new firearm.   When we went to Colorado Springs and the store ran the background check.  When I passed, he said I could buy 4 more guns.  My wife, in a moment of delusion, allowed me to purchase another one.

The top is a Ruger 9mm, and the bottom is a Remington 870, pump action 12 gauge.  The Ruger replaces my S&W .357 Magnum for close quarters, in house self defense.  

Here I am, practicing for the Golden Horde, without the use of proper defensive weapons.  See how I protect vital organs by laying on my stomach.  Hunter, on the left, trying to figure out the best way to make me yell in pain, and Hippie, on the right, just enjoying the time with her uncle and getting to hit something.