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Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

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Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

I really should read my own blog.

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JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Everybody saw this coming.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

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You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

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Accountability, motherfuckers.

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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / John Cole’s Winter 2019/2020 Post Apocalyptic Bunker Complete

John Cole’s Winter 2019/2020 Post Apocalyptic Bunker Complete

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I got the last run of sauerkraut out of the crocks and canned, and the bunker is 95% complete.

Still have about 10 butternut squash to deal with, but I will just clean them and freeze them, a bunch of beets and green beans still growing, and some basil to pack in olive oil, but I am done. That was a lot of work and a lot of fun to do.

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56Comments

  2. 2.

    Cathie Fonz (formerly Cathie from Canada)

    Wow, that looks so great. I think you have Christmas wrapped up!
    I wish I knew you so I could ask for a jar or two for Christmas.

  5. 5.

    germy

    John Cole’s Winter 2019/2020 Post Apocalyptic Bunker Complete

    Unless it’s an earthquake. Then I imagine Cole sitting there among all the shattered glass like Burgess Meredith, muttering “It’s not fair, it’s not fair…”

  6. 6.

    Hilfy

    @TaMara (HFG): The rest of us deserve a Penelope pix! Or at least pix of some of your other feathered/furry menagerie. After all, today is Sunday.

    John Cole: Congratulations on your canning.

  7. 7.

    MagdaInBlack

    Congratulations ?
    Come January, you’re gonna feel so smug and happy opening those jars and tasting summer ?

  9. 9.

    CaseyL

    Now I know where to go when Western Civilization collapses. Come for the canned food, stay for the cantankerous snark!

    Seriously, that represents a LOT of work. Congrats, and here’s to a tasty winter!

    @TaMara (HFG): Penelope pics? Did I hear Penelope pics?? Pleeeeaaase.

    “Be kind to your web-footed friends!
    That duck may be somebody’s mooooother.
    She lives in a hole in the swamp,
    Where the weather is very damp…”

  10. 10.

    MelissaM

    Holy ball had shit! That’s a lot of work there! Good for you and I’ll come down for the first roast pork and kraut dinner. I’ll bring the bread dumplings.

  13. 13.

    Duane

    You did good Cole. I won’t even bitch about the willow, which seems to be rooting thru the basement window. //

  14. 14.

    LuciaMia

    Easy way to preserve basil. Whoosh it up with a tiny bit of water in your processor/blender. Pack them into ice cube trays. Freeze then pop them out into plastic bags. Makes it easy to take out as much or little as you need.

  16. 16.

    Kelly

    If I were a doomsday prepper I’d store a pallet of canning jar lids. To inexpensive to attract thieves before the collapse. Some to use and some for trade goods. Who’d want gold after the collapse?

  17. 17.

    debbie

    @Duane:

    I noticed recently that a vine has managed to squeeze into a crack in my apartment’s foundation and is now growing down the wall. Stupid thing, there’s no water or light down there. I’m watching to see if it realizes that, turns around, and grows back outside.

  19. 19.

    Ohio Mom

    @debbie: Oh, the memories that brings back! We had a vine growing through a crack in our basement, years ago. It never turned around, just kept growing toward the florescent light. Maybe there was another stem that sensibly stayed out in the real sun that was fueling it.

    It was removed during our first attempt to fix the basement. That weed removal might be the only permanent effect of that go-round.

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @debbie: The vine might instead expand until there is water and light in the crack. In one of the Discworld novels, Terry Pratchett referred to “the hammer that can drive a marshmallow-soft mushroom through six inches of concrete.”

  21. 21.

    debbie

    @Ken:

    It’s in the darkest part of the basement, no lights and boxes piled high. If it does force in some light, it will definitely make a u-turn.

  22. 22.

    HRA

    Absolutely stunning, John! Yes, for me it is a reminder of days gone by when I watch my parents doing the same work.

  29. 29.

    geg6

    Just got a bunch of kolbasi on sale and put it in the freezer to have with your sauerkraut the first cool day we have, Cole. Had some of your pickles with the BLTs I made the other night. If the sauerkraut is as good as the pickles, I cannot wait for some cooler weather. Yummy! Thanks so much!

  34. 34.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    I can’t help but observe the uneven distribution between food for the hooman after the Apocalypse versus food for the dogs and cat.

  35. 35.

    grammypat

    John, Will you be getting local apples this fall? If they are unsprayed/organic you may want to consider making your own apple cider vinegar. How to do it looks really easy: … and you can use your kraut containers to do it!

  39. 39.

    John Revolta

    @Duane: Hungry little eyes that could not speak
    Said “Even little doggies have got to eat”
    He was a winner
    But he became the doggies’ dinner……………….

    -Nick Lowe, Marie Provost

  40. 40.

    Shana

    I assume someone somewhere along the line has recommended Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle about her family’s year of eating only what they grew/preserved themselves and what could be purchased locally like flour oil meat. I think they set a limit of 20 miles away from their house. It’s a really interesting book and seems right up your alley.

    Very impressive supply by the way. Very impressive.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    You do know that you don’t have to do anything in particular with winter squash like butternut, right? It will keep for months all on it’s own.

    ETA: I am mightily impressed with your larder. Job well done. I will be even more impressed if you eat it all within the next 6-8 months, which has always been my problem.

  44. 44.

    Gretchen

    @Shana: Yes, that is a really good book. They moved to, I think, Kentucky, because they realized that they wouldn’t be able to do it at their original home in the southwest.

  46. 46.

    laura

    Abundance, comforts of home, freedom from want, idle hands . . ., waste not, want not, pantry pride, simple gifts, color, that picture just taps a very deep feeling of hominess.

  48. 48.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    Gorgeous! Imposing! It would be awesum enough if it was just one gleaming row showing per shelf, but the angle lets you see the serried ranks receding like endless Iowa corn rows back into the distance! Wow.
    So when do you start putting up the jar upon jar of homemade cat and dog treats, John?

  50. 50.

    Jake Gibson

    Canned Tenderloin and Spareribs or GTFO.
    My mother is the only person I know of that home canned those. Supposed to be to risky for home canners, but she never made us sick.
    They would melt in your mouth.

  54. 54.

    Ol'Froth

    A suggestion: If your jars are properly sealed, remove the bands. They can rust on the jars, and will last longer if removed, cleaned and put away for next year.

  55. 55.

    Tams

    So happy for you and your bunker. All your hard work, sweat, frustrations, trips, monies and injuries have definitely paid off! Your bounty is fierce and impressive. You should be beyond excited and proud! ??????

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