This week has been hard on America. Before I delve too deeply into that, I want to talk a little bit about the normalization of prepping.

Generally, I don't take a lot of photos of my home - it's just not my thing. But as I have been promising, I've begun working on my small space prepping series, so photos are a must.

If you've been following my move-back-to-the-states saga, I initially moved into a fully furnished tiny house. Disaster struck when I learned the house was there illegally and I had 15 days to move and furnish a place.

I spent two weeks locating an apartment in a safe neighborhood that was within my budget and professionally managed, because after living in AirBNBs and the Tiny House Trauma, I was ready to relax and not worry about things.

So, I found a place, bought all my furniture off of Facebook marketplace, found a couple of pieces in the trash, and put it all together with some of the decorative items that I had in my storage unit here.

In the newsletter photos, you can see the main rooms in my 600 sq foot apartment. Lurking within this perfectly normal, average-looking space is hidden a LOT of stuff.

Tonight (Sunday, the 22) at 7:30 Eastern time, I'll be on The Survival Preppers' Livestream again and I'll be opening cabinets, doors, and drawers to show you the preps hiding in my ordinary-looking apartment.

Tune in and join the chat! I'd love to talk with y'all live tonight!

It's tough to know where to start. Like many Americans, I felt we did not need to be in Afghanistan, particularly for two decades. At the same time, I'm angry and outraged at how the withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled. Not only are many of our own citizens trapped - left behind to suffer God-knows-what at the hands of the Taliban - but so too are the many Afghanis that helped us over our 20 years there.

I was not a fan of President Trump in many ways, but I tried to remain neutral and judge his actions, not his Twitter account. I criticized him when he did something I felt was wrong, and I praised him when I thought he'd done something well. I'm no Biden fan either, but I had attempted thus far to be neutral and fair regarding his actions.

This past week has solidified my low opinion of President Biden. He bungled the withdrawal horribly, then reacted defensively when the press called him out on it. When asked about one of the most horrific scenes of the withdrawal, desperate people falling from airplanes they tried to cling to as they left Kabul, our "leader" waved it off, saying, "That was four or five days ago."

He has shown his ineptitude to the entire world, and believe me, the world is taking note. We were defeated in Afghanistan in a week under the instructions of the president. They are taking note that our president is at best weak, and at worst, senile, and possibly a combination of the two. This puts the United States in a terrible position. We have armed our enemies with approximately a billion dollars worth of weaponry and aircraft. We have displayed our weakness on the world stage. We are in an extremely vulnerable position, and it's due to terrible leadership.

Meanwhile, the DHS is wringing its hands over people who disagree with Covid mandates being homegrown terrorists. Hello? We have real problems to worry about!

In other news...

The Haiti Earthquake has claimed at least 2000 lives and destroyed more than 10,000 structures.
California is ablaze, with the Caldor Fire and the Dixie Fire being particularly destructive and fanned by 'red flag winds.'
The University of Virginia - you know, the one founded by Thomas Jefferson, who signed the Declaration of Independence - disenrolled over 200 students who did not get their Covid vaccines. That sound you hear? It's Jefferson, turning in his grave.
Protests over Covid restrictions are becoming increasingly heated in France and Australia.

It's been a hell of a week.

Do NOT give up on your garden yet!

Lots of gardeners this year have struggled with late-season frosts or unusual weather patterns. Every year is difficult in the garden, in its own way! But even if your summer garden got off to a rough start, don't give up yet. There's an entire fall gardening season ahead of you!

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This week, we finally relocated stuff from our storage unit, and I also bought some additional food. I put in a big order for medical supplies that inspired me to ask our new writer, Chris Hayes, to put together a thorough list.

I have easily 6 months of food for myself, 4 months for my dogs, and will have about a month of water once the barrel I'm turning into a table on my patio arrives. (Currently, I have a week's worth under the bed.)

I'll be adding to this stash, but it's a good start for only being here a month. And it just adds to my firm belief you can prep anywhere.

While living in an apartment would not be an ideal place for a long-term grid-down scenario, for another year of crazy economy and shortages, I feel pretty well-located. I'm near my daughter, I'm in an energy-efficient building with awesome neighbors, and I have what I need for work.

Tonight I'll be on The Survival Preppers' weekly livestream with Dale Goodwin and Brian Duff. We had a great time last time around and more prepping fun is expected. I'm sending over some pictures that show how I'm storing my preps in a tiny 600 sq foot apartment. We'll also talk about small space prepping in general, censorship, and all sorts of other good stuff.

Go here to set your reminder and be sure and join the chat. Tell them Daisy sent you for a chance to win...well...nothing! Just tell them! 😂