Last night at bedtime boy took off his shoe to show me his toe. He had gone to the nurses office during school and she looked at it and told him to show me. He has an abscess that has a little pus in it. (Doesn't this sound like what I just read on Survivalblog last night?) I asked him how his toe got this little infection. When did it start?
Then we talked about going to the nurses office. Why did you go? "Because my toe hurt." I told him he is not supposed to get out of class to see the nurse unless it's an emergency. But "my toe hurt!" Not an emergency. If you broke your arm on the playground, if you throw up, if you are running a high fever, if you fell and stubbed your toe...those are emergencies for you to go to see the nurse. Not for a sore toe. You know why? Because it wasn't important enough to tell me, it's not important enough to become an emergency just because it's bugging you in class. Not an emergency.
So what is an emergency? I suppose his toe could be considered an emergency if this infection got into his bloodstream or something of that sort. In our state the term emergency has actually been defined. Why? Because our citizens voted in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), with sort of mirrors the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). If you are doing any kind of project that required permitting where the government (state or local) has any sort of say, then that government office is supposed to consider CEQA. So does just about everything that any government body does if it can affect view, noise, biological, etc. Yes, the government has to take all sorts of things into account prior to either going ahead with a project or giving the go ahead for someone elses project. Except, and there's always an exception, in an emergency. So, they had to define emergency. Otherwise everything would be an emergency and nobody would be looking at the environment.
Now before you start with calling me an environmental wacko or complaining about regulations, I will explain myself a bit. I do see a need for some environmental regulation. The problem is while something starts off well, it usually gets so screwed up by people with certain agendas that it ends up not at all doing what it was intended to do. In my job, during an emergency I tell the people I work with that all environmental regulation (at least state regulation, not federal) gets thrown out the window. The problem is after the emergency is over. Then regulation comes back into effect so if you can avoid something during the emergency it's much easier and cheaper to deal with it after. But my saying when I teach is "nuke it" if you have to, just tell me what you did so I can deal with it, preferably before hits the media.
OK I'm really off track. This started with boy's toe. I still haven't defined emergency. An emergency is an occurrence, not a condition. It's that simple. Let's use a leaking roof as an example of the definition. If a tree branch breaks and puts a hole in your roof during a rainstorm and rain gets into your house, that is an emergency. If your roof leaks because it's an old roof in need of repair or replacement and it loses some shingles from the high winds in the rainstorm and rain gets into your house, it may seem like an emergency to you, but not to me. That is a condition. You've put off roof repairs. Too expensive. Too much time. You are afraid of heights. Whatever your excuse. Your roof is in bad condition. No wonder it leaks. See where I'm going with this???
Boy's toe was not an emergency. It may be something that we have to deal with right away but it's not an emergency. It's a condition. He should have mentioned it to me a day or two earlier. He shouldn't have waited until he was sitting in class bored, which gave him time to concentrate on his toe.
A lot of problems we have in life are because we don't take care of "conditions", we tend to wait until they become "emergencies." Keep up on your home repairs, your health, and prepare by doing things like storing food, self defense items, fuel, water, and learning new skills.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Teaching new skills
I told my kids that I was bringing the grand kids to a new acquaintances home to learn the fine art of chicken butchering among other things. My kids were not thrilled. They remember as children their task of butchering our ducks and chickens and said they don't wish that on anyone, especially their niece and nephew. Too bad, the grand kids are going to learn anyway.
About 25 years ago we used to butcher our chickens and ducks but I really honestly do not remember butchering, plucking, or anything. I must just be getting old. I'm sure that once I do it again it will all come back to me. If not, then it's one of those suppressed memories. Rather odd.
Yesterday I had some fieldwork to do. While I was out there the wife and young son of one of my coworkers came out to watch the bulldozers. The little one had a good time. The wife was talking to me and she said that she has no skills of value and she thought butchering chickens would be a good skill to learn. Just yesterday morning at breakfast she told her husband that she wants to learn how to butcher a chicken. I told the wife that I was going to PR to learn the fine art of butchering this Saturday! I told her that their family should come over to my house sometime in the next few weeks and I will pass on the skills that I will learn on Saturday.
It got me to thinking about the skills we pass on to others. Of course our kids learn: sometimes by watching what we are doing and sometimes by participating. Who else do we teach? Friends? Family? Neighbors? Not that there's anyone else I know who wants to learn how to butcher a chicken...
But what about our gardening skills? Shooting skills? Shopping, storage, and cooking? Sewing? House and yard safety? First aid? Do you have skills you can teach as a gift? The grand kids always make coupon books. They will make my bed, cook my breakfast, and do all kinds of things. How about a gift of teaching a skill?
About 25 years ago we used to butcher our chickens and ducks but I really honestly do not remember butchering, plucking, or anything. I must just be getting old. I'm sure that once I do it again it will all come back to me. If not, then it's one of those suppressed memories. Rather odd.
Yesterday I had some fieldwork to do. While I was out there the wife and young son of one of my coworkers came out to watch the bulldozers. The little one had a good time. The wife was talking to me and she said that she has no skills of value and she thought butchering chickens would be a good skill to learn. Just yesterday morning at breakfast she told her husband that she wants to learn how to butcher a chicken. I told the wife that I was going to PR to learn the fine art of butchering this Saturday! I told her that their family should come over to my house sometime in the next few weeks and I will pass on the skills that I will learn on Saturday.
It got me to thinking about the skills we pass on to others. Of course our kids learn: sometimes by watching what we are doing and sometimes by participating. Who else do we teach? Friends? Family? Neighbors? Not that there's anyone else I know who wants to learn how to butcher a chicken...
But what about our gardening skills? Shooting skills? Shopping, storage, and cooking? Sewing? House and yard safety? First aid? Do you have skills you can teach as a gift? The grand kids always make coupon books. They will make my bed, cook my breakfast, and do all kinds of things. How about a gift of teaching a skill?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Pudding
The grand kids like pudding of every kind. Vanilla, chocolate, and rice are their three favorites. I will make rice pudding for breakfast if we have left over rice from the night before. It takes about 2 or 3 minutes to make to make pudding. It's really that easy. And no, it's not the instant pudding mix package.
It's easy to make your own mix to have on hand. The ingredients are all things you should have in your home storage. If you don't have these items then you'd better add them to your storage program! You still have to add ingredients at the time you make it, it's not one of those home made mixes where you just add water.
Vanilla Pudding Mix - makes about five cups of mix or about 20 servings
3 cups instant powdered milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups corn starch or potato starch (don't pack it down when measuring)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
To make vanilla pudding
In a saucepan mix the following ingredients:
1 cup of the pudding mix
3/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cup water
1 beaten egg
Cook this together on medium to low heat. Mix constantly. Once it starts to thicken cook for another minute. Stir constantly. Turn off the heat.
Add in:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted butter (optional and I don't add it)
Chocolate Pudding Mix- makes about four cups of mix or about 16 servings
2 1/4 instant dry milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch (don't pack it down while measuring)
2/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
To make chocolate pudding
In a saucepan mix the following ingredients:
1 cup of the pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 cup water
Cook this together on medium to low heat. Mix constantly. Once it starts to thicken cook for another minute . Stir constantly. Turn off the heat.
Add in:
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted butter (optional and I don't add it)
The kids like rice pudding so once the vanilla pudding is done I just mix in some cooked rice straight out of the refrigerator. The cold rice cools down the pudding so they can eat it right away. This rice pudding is certainly not like the rice pudding you make when you steam the pot of pudding in water for an hour or so. The rice does not plump up. Since the kids don't know any different, only I do, they are happy to have it the way I make it. Sometimes I will put raisins and cinnamon sugar in just to change things up a bit. If you wanted to make the rice more soft and plump you can soak the rice in some milk overnight and add that to the pudding in the morning.
These two mixes are easy to make, perfect for a quick breakfast or dessert, and come right out of your food storage.
It's easy to make your own mix to have on hand. The ingredients are all things you should have in your home storage. If you don't have these items then you'd better add them to your storage program! You still have to add ingredients at the time you make it, it's not one of those home made mixes where you just add water.
Vanilla Pudding Mix - makes about five cups of mix or about 20 servings
3 cups instant powdered milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups corn starch or potato starch (don't pack it down when measuring)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
To make vanilla pudding
In a saucepan mix the following ingredients:
1 cup of the pudding mix
3/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cup water
1 beaten egg
Cook this together on medium to low heat. Mix constantly. Once it starts to thicken cook for another minute. Stir constantly. Turn off the heat.
Add in:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted butter (optional and I don't add it)
Chocolate Pudding Mix- makes about four cups of mix or about 16 servings
2 1/4 instant dry milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch (don't pack it down while measuring)
2/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
To make chocolate pudding
In a saucepan mix the following ingredients:
1 cup of the pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 cup water
Cook this together on medium to low heat. Mix constantly. Once it starts to thicken cook for another minute . Stir constantly. Turn off the heat.
Add in:
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted butter (optional and I don't add it)
The kids like rice pudding so once the vanilla pudding is done I just mix in some cooked rice straight out of the refrigerator. The cold rice cools down the pudding so they can eat it right away. This rice pudding is certainly not like the rice pudding you make when you steam the pot of pudding in water for an hour or so. The rice does not plump up. Since the kids don't know any different, only I do, they are happy to have it the way I make it. Sometimes I will put raisins and cinnamon sugar in just to change things up a bit. If you wanted to make the rice more soft and plump you can soak the rice in some milk overnight and add that to the pudding in the morning.
These two mixes are easy to make, perfect for a quick breakfast or dessert, and come right out of your food storage.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Brain Overload and no American Redoubt for me
Every once in a while I work so hard that my brain actually hurts at the end of the day. Please no snide remarks about government workers not working...it's not that at all. Well today is one of those days that I didn't get any breaks for more than a couple of minutes and each phone call or email message was urgent and something that I had to respond to instantly. I never did make it out to the field. That's for tomorrow as long as it doesn't start off like today!
I had one call where I had to explain why I had to do what I was doing for a certain project. I like those...justify your job. Only normally the person is totally obnoxious and they don't want to really listen. This wasn't the case. This person was part of a committee and the committee asked why I had to do what I had to do on their project and the person calling me didn't know how to respond. All he knew was I had to go out and make an inspection and I only wanted to do it in good weather! So I explained and he was satisfied. He will be able to get the answer off to his other committee members and all will be happy.
It's interesting being a government employee in an era of hating government employees. And my job especially is one that may need explaining. The government does WHAT???? On the other hand, when I am in what I call "the wrong place at the wrong time" I've done things like being in charge of saving people's lives and property. So it all works out.
One of the things that I did mull over in my mind is this super push lately on the survivalblog site about moving to the American Redoubt. You know:Idaho , Montana , the Dakotas , etc. Sounds great other than it's COLD there and I don't like the cold. I've been told by a friend of mine with plans to move to North Dakota
I do have the bug-out place in the hills about an hour from here. With the kids still doing their activities in the city moving an hour and a half from the city and then having to commute in two times per week for the kids and between two and five times per week for my job just doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps when I retire when the kids are older I may think about permanently moving to the other property. The only upside to moving there is that it's paid for and this place that I'm in now is not. I'd be spending less money each month even with the added expense of the commute and building a decent house on that property when compared to the mortgage on this place. But my time has value in that the time I spend in the garden and on the animals would be used for commuting.
So I just keep working on this place here. I make it as safe and secure as time and money allows. Unfortunately, time and money are both sort of scarce!
It's going to be cold once again tonight. We have a freeze warning from midnight until nine tomorrow morning. I'd better go out and check the trees to make sure the coverings I put on are secure just in case the wind picks up.
I had one call where I had to explain why I had to do what I was doing for a certain project. I like those...justify your job. Only normally the person is totally obnoxious and they don't want to really listen. This wasn't the case. This person was part of a committee and the committee asked why I had to do what I had to do on their project and the person calling me didn't know how to respond. All he knew was I had to go out and make an inspection and I only wanted to do it in good weather! So I explained and he was satisfied. He will be able to get the answer off to his other committee members and all will be happy.
It's interesting being a government employee in an era of hating government employees. And my job especially is one that may need explaining. The government does WHAT???? On the other hand, when I am in what I call "the wrong place at the wrong time" I've done things like being in charge of saving people's lives and property. So it all works out.
One of the things that I did mull over in my mind is this super push lately on the survivalblog site about moving to the American Redoubt. You know:
I do have the bug-out place in the hills about an hour from here. With the kids still doing their activities in the city moving an hour and a half from the city and then having to commute in two times per week for the kids and between two and five times per week for my job just doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps when I retire when the kids are older I may think about permanently moving to the other property. The only upside to moving there is that it's paid for and this place that I'm in now is not. I'd be spending less money each month even with the added expense of the commute and building a decent house on that property when compared to the mortgage on this place. But my time has value in that the time I spend in the garden and on the animals would be used for commuting.
So I just keep working on this place here. I make it as safe and secure as time and money allows. Unfortunately, time and money are both sort of scarce!
It's going to be cold once again tonight. We have a freeze warning from midnight until nine tomorrow morning. I'd better go out and check the trees to make sure the coverings I put on are secure just in case the wind picks up.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Cold tonight and heating the outside air
Around here the temperature rarely goes into the 20s at night. The record is in the low 20s and we average 21 days per year below freezing for the low. Last night the forecast was that the temperature would dip below 32 for a full 8 hours and for five of those hours be 28 or below. Around here, 28 is the magic number because citrus will die back if it's under that temperature. The full size citrus trees will have some branches die and it will ruin the fruit if the fruit freezes but it won't kill the tree. For the younger trees, a really cold night can kill the tree.
There are several ways to protect the trees. The large farms have wind machines that will stir up the air. Some even hire helicopters to do the same thing. You can use smudge pots in which you set afire to keep the area warm. Some farmers run water. Small operations will cover each individual tree. That's what I usually do, cover each tree.
Because of the windstorm that we had on Thursday and Friday people who had trees covered lost the covers. I didn't have the trees covered for that reason. But this morning it was cold so in order to protect the trees I got up and turned on the water. If you wait too long to get the water turned on the pipes freeze. Not enough to burst them, just enough to block the water from coming to the house, or through the hose. Usually this happens around 6:30 and will stay frozen until about 8 or 9. Fortunately for me the water wasn't frozen. I turned on two hoses and ran the water on the ground around the avocado and the three small citrus trees. The rest of the citrus: lemon, grapefruit, orange, and kumquat were going to be fine. The kumquat can withstand 28 degrees once the tree is established. The orange is large enough that if there's some die-back it won't be a big deal, other than it's got a full crop of oranges on it and I'd hate to lose the oranges. The lemon and grapefruit are next to the chicken coop. I'm figuring that there must be some heat coming from that! Also, there are a couple water jugs in the coop so that will help keep the temperature up.
How does running water help things to not freeze? The water that comes out of the well is 56 degrees. In order for it to fall to 32 and freeze it has to lose 24 degrees of heat. That heat will go out into the air so as the water cools the air heats. All I need is for the air to stay above 28 degrees so running the water will instantly warm up the surrounding air. After all, I'm turning the "heater" on to 56! I can turn the water on earlier in the night, once it gets close to 32. After all, the killer is if it's 28 for any length of time.
If we aren't going to get any more winds then this week I'll get the trees wrapped.
Today we did get some chores done. The grand kids pulled out the rest of the weeds by the blueberries and raked the pine needles up from the next door neighbors front yard. They then spread the needles around the blueberry plants. We will be gathering up a lot more pine needles as I'd like to make one of the garden beds more acidic. Plus, the more pine needles we put around the blueberries the less weeding we will have to do.
I transplanted three peppers into an indoor pot and also one tomato plant. I'm not sure how well the tomato plant will do. It's got a couple of little tomatoes on it so hopefully they will ripen up well and we can have fresh tomatoes all winter. I pulled up all tomato plants because the freeze killed the plants off. I was hoping to pull the tomato vines up and let the rest of the tomatoes ripen in the garage except they all died back from the freeze. I was able to pick about a gallon of tomatoes that hadn't frozen and burst.
The eggplants weren't completely killed off by the freeze but were looking pretty bad. I pulled one out and replanted it. We are going to try to grow it in the house over the winter. If it works out, even if we don't get anything from it I'll transplant it into the ground in the spring to give us a jump start on the eggplant. I picked about 2 dozen eggplants today. I cut one up and boiled it with the spaghetti noodles. It's a good way to get extra vegetables into the kids.
There are several ways to protect the trees. The large farms have wind machines that will stir up the air. Some even hire helicopters to do the same thing. You can use smudge pots in which you set afire to keep the area warm. Some farmers run water. Small operations will cover each individual tree. That's what I usually do, cover each tree.
Because of the windstorm that we had on Thursday and Friday people who had trees covered lost the covers. I didn't have the trees covered for that reason. But this morning it was cold so in order to protect the trees I got up and turned on the water. If you wait too long to get the water turned on the pipes freeze. Not enough to burst them, just enough to block the water from coming to the house, or through the hose. Usually this happens around 6:30 and will stay frozen until about 8 or 9. Fortunately for me the water wasn't frozen. I turned on two hoses and ran the water on the ground around the avocado and the three small citrus trees. The rest of the citrus: lemon, grapefruit, orange, and kumquat were going to be fine. The kumquat can withstand 28 degrees once the tree is established. The orange is large enough that if there's some die-back it won't be a big deal, other than it's got a full crop of oranges on it and I'd hate to lose the oranges. The lemon and grapefruit are next to the chicken coop. I'm figuring that there must be some heat coming from that! Also, there are a couple water jugs in the coop so that will help keep the temperature up.
How does running water help things to not freeze? The water that comes out of the well is 56 degrees. In order for it to fall to 32 and freeze it has to lose 24 degrees of heat. That heat will go out into the air so as the water cools the air heats. All I need is for the air to stay above 28 degrees so running the water will instantly warm up the surrounding air. After all, I'm turning the "heater" on to 56! I can turn the water on earlier in the night, once it gets close to 32. After all, the killer is if it's 28 for any length of time.
If we aren't going to get any more winds then this week I'll get the trees wrapped.
Today we did get some chores done. The grand kids pulled out the rest of the weeds by the blueberries and raked the pine needles up from the next door neighbors front yard. They then spread the needles around the blueberry plants. We will be gathering up a lot more pine needles as I'd like to make one of the garden beds more acidic. Plus, the more pine needles we put around the blueberries the less weeding we will have to do.
I transplanted three peppers into an indoor pot and also one tomato plant. I'm not sure how well the tomato plant will do. It's got a couple of little tomatoes on it so hopefully they will ripen up well and we can have fresh tomatoes all winter. I pulled up all tomato plants because the freeze killed the plants off. I was hoping to pull the tomato vines up and let the rest of the tomatoes ripen in the garage except they all died back from the freeze. I was able to pick about a gallon of tomatoes that hadn't frozen and burst.
The eggplants weren't completely killed off by the freeze but were looking pretty bad. I pulled one out and replanted it. We are going to try to grow it in the house over the winter. If it works out, even if we don't get anything from it I'll transplant it into the ground in the spring to give us a jump start on the eggplant. I picked about 2 dozen eggplants today. I cut one up and boiled it with the spaghetti noodles. It's a good way to get extra vegetables into the kids.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Heading out and not getting chores done
We lost power yesterday for about a second. Army daughter for several hours. Some people in the city still haven't had their power restored but it should come on soon. A couple people were interviewed on the morning news. Most complained that they need their electricity. One person said he just turned on the generator and has two lights on in the house and the refrigerator and freezer are up and running. Smart but I'm not sure I'd want to advertise that I had a generator. Some things are best not discussed in front of a viewing audience of half million people. Of course, I don't know who the guy was so I'm not going to be one of the hordes of people going over asking him to put my stuff in his freezer or keeping in the back of my mind that this guy is the house to raid.
There was no damage at all to the bug-out place. In fact, they didn't get any wind at all! That's actually a good thing to know. Each area has a different microclimate and for that location to not get wind when less than 20 miles away as the crow flies we are getting blown away is pretty remarkable.
I have to go down south again. I don't expect to be gone too long. Just need to help out for a couple of days. I got everything here ready for my absence. Checked the animals water, gathered eggs, filled chicken feeders. It's too cold for yip-yip to stay outside at night and she's too stupid to go into a sheltered area. She's going to sons apartment for the time being. Hopefully the grandsons won't terrorize her too much. Big dog stays home. I just put out a bunch of food and she's good. She'd rather sleep in the house during the day since she's up all night on patrol but that's the way it goes. Army daughter actually has to do Army things today so baby is here keeping me company while I do my chores and get ready to head out.
I don't know if I'll get any chores done this weekend since I'm not sure when I'll return. The number one item on the list is to transplant more of the asparagus (dig it up, divide it, and then replant along the fence line) and the berries. Next weekend we are going to take a drive and butcher the chickens. While we can do that on our own, I've always found it good practice to learn from someone else. They can tell you what works for them and what doesn't and why.
There was no damage at all to the bug-out place. In fact, they didn't get any wind at all! That's actually a good thing to know. Each area has a different microclimate and for that location to not get wind when less than 20 miles away as the crow flies we are getting blown away is pretty remarkable.
I have to go down south again. I don't expect to be gone too long. Just need to help out for a couple of days. I got everything here ready for my absence. Checked the animals water, gathered eggs, filled chicken feeders. It's too cold for yip-yip to stay outside at night and she's too stupid to go into a sheltered area. She's going to sons apartment for the time being. Hopefully the grandsons won't terrorize her too much. Big dog stays home. I just put out a bunch of food and she's good. She'd rather sleep in the house during the day since she's up all night on patrol but that's the way it goes. Army daughter actually has to do Army things today so baby is here keeping me company while I do my chores and get ready to head out.
I don't know if I'll get any chores done this weekend since I'm not sure when I'll return. The number one item on the list is to transplant more of the asparagus (dig it up, divide it, and then replant along the fence line) and the berries. Next weekend we are going to take a drive and butcher the chickens. While we can do that on our own, I've always found it good practice to learn from someone else. They can tell you what works for them and what doesn't and why.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Blowing in the wind
In case you missed it, it's pretty windy in central and southern California today. So windy that the 75 foot tall tree in oldest daughter's front yard blew down. Fortunately it aimed right for the street and didn't hit anything. The back of her house didn't fare as well. A branch from the olive tree broke her bedroom window at 3:30 this morning. Good thing she and her husband don't have their bed under the window. Most Californians know that you don't place your bed under the window or below a picture, just in case there's an earthquake, or in this case the wind breaking tree limbs and throwing them through your window.
We fared much better here at my house. One of the sheds shed a portion of its roof. I thought I had spare metal roofing but I forgot it was used up when building the addition to the chicken coop. I can't buy any right now. It's too windy to get it home.
I haven't heard yet how the bug out place fared. While I'm hoping they were spared from the high winds (in some places 100 mph) a part of me was hoping the whole house would be picked up off the foundation and tossed about. I'm sure all's fine.
I brought the trailer over to oldest daughter's so they could buck up the tree and stack the limbs in the trailer. Just last week they were helping a neighbor of theirs cut down some of the neighbors trees so they already had two of my three chainsaws. That's good because their tree was blocking the road so they were able to get that part cleared before the neighborhood tried to get kids off to school. Looking at the size of the tree I'm going to get several cords of wood out of the deal. They have a fire place but they don't use it more than once or twice a year.
Several people have stopped by their house and asked if they can have wood. I suggested to son-in-law that instead of just giving it out to whomever drives by and asks, that he should suggest that they come out and help and then they can take whatever they help with. It's not that I want it all for myself, but unless it's for someone who isn't capable of working for it, I'd rather they work for it rather than son-in-law work for it and give it to them. Even if that means someone raking up the leaves or picking up the dirt clods that the tree flung around the yard as it was pulling its root ball out of the ground. Son-in-law had to take the day off work to do this clean up, others shouldn't take advantage.
Army daughter has to go to school tonight. Since she's leaving before her husband gets off work she dropped baby off here. It took her almost an hour and a half to drive the 17 miles because the signals were out so each signal became a four-way stop sign. At least it wasn't during commute time. I'm sure it would have taken another hour!
What if there weren't supplies to be picked up at the store for the repairs? I could rig up something to keep oldest daughter's fence up. I don't have any spare windows but we do have cardboard, heavy plastic, and duct tape. Good thing I have chain saws. And extra chain, fuel, and oil. Son-in-law bent the bar on the smaller of the two saws. He's going to pick up a new bar today, and some new chain while he's at it.
I need more metal roofing material. We have about 3000 square feet of barns and sheds under this type of roofing material. I have the roofing screws and nails for it but no panels. Some of the panels we have are the opaque white ones to let in light while others are the metal. I like the opaque ones except they only last about five years while the others will last a lifetime if they don't get blown off. Perhaps I should check to see if the rest of the roofing needs additional reinforcement. Just not today when it's windy.
We fared much better here at my house. One of the sheds shed a portion of its roof. I thought I had spare metal roofing but I forgot it was used up when building the addition to the chicken coop. I can't buy any right now. It's too windy to get it home.
I haven't heard yet how the bug out place fared. While I'm hoping they were spared from the high winds (in some places 100 mph) a part of me was hoping the whole house would be picked up off the foundation and tossed about. I'm sure all's fine.
I brought the trailer over to oldest daughter's so they could buck up the tree and stack the limbs in the trailer. Just last week they were helping a neighbor of theirs cut down some of the neighbors trees so they already had two of my three chainsaws. That's good because their tree was blocking the road so they were able to get that part cleared before the neighborhood tried to get kids off to school. Looking at the size of the tree I'm going to get several cords of wood out of the deal. They have a fire place but they don't use it more than once or twice a year.
Several people have stopped by their house and asked if they can have wood. I suggested to son-in-law that instead of just giving it out to whomever drives by and asks, that he should suggest that they come out and help and then they can take whatever they help with. It's not that I want it all for myself, but unless it's for someone who isn't capable of working for it, I'd rather they work for it rather than son-in-law work for it and give it to them. Even if that means someone raking up the leaves or picking up the dirt clods that the tree flung around the yard as it was pulling its root ball out of the ground. Son-in-law had to take the day off work to do this clean up, others shouldn't take advantage.
Army daughter has to go to school tonight. Since she's leaving before her husband gets off work she dropped baby off here. It took her almost an hour and a half to drive the 17 miles because the signals were out so each signal became a four-way stop sign. At least it wasn't during commute time. I'm sure it would have taken another hour!
What if there weren't supplies to be picked up at the store for the repairs? I could rig up something to keep oldest daughter's fence up. I don't have any spare windows but we do have cardboard, heavy plastic, and duct tape. Good thing I have chain saws. And extra chain, fuel, and oil. Son-in-law bent the bar on the smaller of the two saws. He's going to pick up a new bar today, and some new chain while he's at it.
I need more metal roofing material. We have about 3000 square feet of barns and sheds under this type of roofing material. I have the roofing screws and nails for it but no panels. Some of the panels we have are the opaque white ones to let in light while others are the metal. I like the opaque ones except they only last about five years while the others will last a lifetime if they don't get blown off. Perhaps I should check to see if the rest of the roofing needs additional reinforcement. Just not today when it's windy.
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