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Post by cavsgt on Nov 26, 2021 23:45:57 GMT -6
Thank You for the nice update.
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Post by texican on Nov 27, 2021 18:53:01 GMT -6
Thanks n.
Texican....
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 29, 2021 6:36:09 GMT -6
Chapter 104
Grace and Allie wanted to make a trip to Sam's and COSTCO to update their inventory. Their shopping list varied at times as they adjusted it when they had enough of a certain item. They had taken to watching for sales in papers and were buying clothing for the children of every size up to 15 years old, washing and folding them carefully and packing them in contractor bags and vacuum-sealed them. Once packed, the bags were packed in cardboard boxes and labeled. They would get a guesstimate how long it took to use an item and buy several monthly, without being conspicuous, until they were stocked up. Other things that had a limited shelf life, the families used and rotated stocks, without having to go to the store often to replenish them.
As usual, when they made their monthly shopping trip to Sam's and COSTCO, they stopped at Yoder's for breakfast.
Finishing his blueberry pancakes, Gil leaned back I his chair and took a sip of coffee.
"So, what do you have on your list today?" Gil asked Grace.
Grace selected the grocery app on her phone, selected "Resupply," and handed the phone to Gil.
Gil scrolled down the list:
2 cases Marathon toilet paper rolls 4 cases Pine Sol 2 cases Clorox Disinfecting Wipes 4 large packs paper towels 1 case Lysol Disinfectant Spray 1 case Fantastik 1 case of Dawn 1 case antibacterial hand soap 4 1-gallon jugs of hand sanitizer 4 cans Folgers 100% Colombian Coffee (repackage to mylar bags) 2 boxes Power Flex Tall Kitchen Drawstring Trash Bags Three boxes Commercial Contractor Clean-Up Trash Bags
"That's a pretty good haul." Gil said.
"That's Sam's. Check the COSTCO list."
Popcorn Soy sauce, vinegar, bullion Bleach Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators yeast & salt (curing and table) Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products. Vitamins
"I may have to get the curing salt from the Co-op. They've seldom had it at COSTCO or Sam's." Gil commented.
"Well, figure out how much you use each year and buy 5 years' worth. We'll re-bag it into 5-pound mylar bags."
The next four hours was buying and packing, buying and packing, with lunch stuck in between their trip to COSTCO. Once their list for that trip was complete, Grace had Brad stop by the Redwing Store and bought extra work boots for all the adults and several incremental sizes for Billy. When they got home, everything was placed in the basement for the girls to sort and repackage some.
When they had stopped at Yoder's, Gil had seen some benches they were selling for $300 each. They were simple in design but good looking and had tourist's prices on them. Taking out his phone, he called Don.
"Don? Gil. Listen, you wouldn't have any old dozer cutting edges laying around would you? You know, used ones. Yes I need ten of them. Okay, I appreciate it. No, I'll come and pick them up. I appreciate it. I'll talk to you later."
Using the cutting torch and grinder he could heat and bend the dozer blade cutting edges into 17" trapezoid legs for the bases after cutting and grinding down the cutting edge. The seats he could cut 4"x14"x48" boards from Hickory logs using the chainsaw mill. He had enough logs seasoning in the woods for that.
Billy came out as Gil was finishing up the cutting off and grinding the edge of the blade. Getting out the torch, Gil heated the steel at the 19' mark while Billy held the other end of the steel with two pieces of 2x4s clamped on the end. As the steel got hot enough, Gil used the 2-pound hammer and beat the angle in, making two other angles to bend around the edge of the board. They did this until he had the leg base formed. They were able to fabricate three sets of the five they would need before quitting for the day. Billy asked that he wait until he finished his modules and he would help his Dad finish the other legs. Gil had no problem with that, he would work on the thick seat boards, planing and sanding them.
Gil came into the house to fill his water bottle walking in on Mollie, Grace, Allie and Annie taking a break in the kitchen. They had been rotating the clothing in their sleeping quarters in the Chamber to summer weight clothing. All the clothing they kept there was seasonal and as season changed, they would pack the previous season's clothing, vacuum pack it and box it up, then change it out for the next season's clothing, repacking the drawers in the Captain's beds and closets.
"Gil, you interested in some more land?" Mollie asked.
"Where is it?"
"The Johnson place. Harold is retiring from the TVA. Sallie has always suffered from Chilblains and they've decided to retire in Florida."
"How many acres is there?"
"Just a tad over twenty-six."
Gil took a drink for the canteen, thinking.
"Do you have their number?"
Gil wrote down the phone number in his notebook and put it back in his shirt pocket.
"I'll look into it."
Refilling the Klean Kanteen, Gil returned to the shop and continued working on the benches.
That evening, Gil called Harold and asked if he could stop by. Harold told him to come on over. Gil pulled into the drive a few minutes later. Sallie answered the door and invited him in.
"Harold, Sallie, Mollie tells me you two are retiring to Florida."
"Yep. We wanted to do that for a long time. I'm coming up on 30 years with the TVA and we figure it's as good a time as any." Harold said.
"Have you put your place on the market yet?"
"No, we've talked to a couple of realtors but haven't come to a decision on who to use."
"Well, I'd like to buy the place. You could save around $8,000 in commissions if we just used our lawyers to do the purchase."
"I'm listening…"
"Well, land around here is going for around $3,000 an acre, I'd say this house is worth at least $200,000….I'll round it up and offer you $300,000 for the place."
Harold looked at Sallie. "Well, it makes sense for you to buy it, since it butts up against your property. Can Sallie and I talk about this and get back to you?"
"Sure Harold. I'll get on back to the house. I'll look forward to your call."
The next day, Billy helped Gil finish sanding, staining and putting a coat of gloss polyurethane on the bench seats. After bolting the legs on the seats, they called Grace out to look at them.
"Oh, these are just like the ones at Yoder's!"
"And I didn't have to pay $300 each for the things."
"They're almost too pretty to put up in the Chamber." Grace said rhetorically to nobody in particular. "I'd like a couple of these for the deck."
"I'll come up with another design. I don't want to have the metal leaving rust stains on the deck." Gil replied."
"Okay, then make me two."
Gil and Billy cut two more seats out and planed and sanded them. Billy then used the belt sander to make irregular dimples around the edge of the seat and different grits of flap sander heads on the drill to smooth out the contours.
Using the 2 ½" Forstner bit, they drilled holes on the bottom of the seat on a 7 degree angle and 2 3/4" deep. Billy used the hand belt sander to put dimples in the legs and sanded them with the flap sander. Gil had Billy, very slightly, taper the ends of the legs with the belt sander. When it came time to pound the legs in, Gil mixed up some epoxy and placed a little into each leg hole. The legs would never work themselves out. He left the staining and finishing up to Billy, suggesting he get with his Mother to see what stain she wanted on them.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 29, 2021 6:39:44 GMT -6
Chapter 105
"Hello?" "Gil, this is Harold Johnson. Sallie and I have talked it over and we're willing to take your offer. Which bank do you plan to finance this through?"
"Harold, I am going to pay cash, unless you have an objection."
"Oh no! That will be fine. Who will be acting as your legal beagle and I'll have mine get in contact with him?"
"My lawyer is Able Gates. We'll be buying this through a trust."
"Sounds good then. Well, we'll be in touch. I'll talk to you later."
"Later, Harold."
"Grace, invite Annie and Don over for dinner Friday night."
"What's the occasion?"
"Oh, just bringing the flock closer."
Billy stained the benches with an American Oak finish then coated them with three coats of polyurethane semi-gloss, sanding between each coat. After letting the last coat dry for a day, he and Gil placed them on the deck, next to the fire bowl. Grace gave both her men a hug and a kiss.
Friday evening, Gil cooked ribeyes and Grace did the baked potatoes and Billy tossed the salad and kept the twin's out of mischief. When Don and Annie arrived, they all adjourned to the deck, the women drinking wine and the men drinking beer.
When dinner was over with, they returned to the deck and refreshed their drinks.
"Don, Annie, I have a proposition for you two. I'm in the process of purchasing the Johnson place. Harold is retiring and they're retiring to Florida. There is a total of around 26 acres there that are usable."
Usable for what?" Don asked.
"Well, it would make a great equipment yard for construction equipment and wouldn't ruin the aesthetics of the home. The house was built in 1985 and was just remodeled 18 months ago. What I'm proposing is you two lease the house and land for $1 a year in perpetuity. Of course, If you sell the business, it will have to move. Move your business out here and move into the house. It's a little bigger house, I think, than you currently own. Sell your house in town and move out here and you'll save money. No town taxes, no lease on the property the business is occupying, and the property taxes are cheaper out here. We can get you get off the Co-op power grid and take the house completely off grid. Your expenses, except business related, will be minimal."
Don took a swig of beer and looked over at Annie. "What do you think?"
"When can I start packing my bags?" Annie grinned."
"Slow down woman, he hasn't even bought the place yet!"
"Well, she who cooks my meals has spoken." Don grinned." How long is it going to take to close on the property?"
"Well, we're paying cash, so I think less than 30 days, no more than 60 days. Harold is retiring the end of the month. I don't even know if they've even picked a place in Florida to move to yet." Gil said.
"Well, we've got some planning to do." Don said to Annie.
Gil was adding some rich compost around the watermelon plants when Harold Johnson drove up.
"Morning Gil."
"Morning Harold. How are you?"
"Doin' fine. I talked to Ted Barnes a little while ago and he told me we can hold the closing on Monday. Sallie is setting up movers to pack our things on Wednesday and Thursday."
"Have you already found a place in Florida?"
"Yep. Down in Okaloosa County. Sallie's sister and her husband stayed down there after he retired out of the Air Force. We'll be two houses down from them."
"Are you already retired?"
"Yeah, they held a shindig with the bigwigs attending. I'd never seen most of them. They gave speeches about how hard it will be without me around. You and I both know we're all expendable. Listen, I'm going to leave some things in the garage and another building. It's not that I'm too lazy to clean it all out. Most have some good use. I just won't have any use for it down in Florida."
"That's fine Harold. I like to keep stuff that might have some use later too."
"Good. Well then, I'll see you Monday."
"Take care Harold."
Twenty minutes later Gil got a call from Able telling him to be at Graham Beck's law office at 10:00 Monday. Able would sign the paperwork for the Trust, Gil would bring the certified check. Gil got another wheelbarrow load of compost and continued to tend to the watermelons running through his mental list of what he had to do to prepare for the corn harvest later that summer. Finished with the compost, Gil turned on the drip hoses and went into the greenhouse where the twins were playing n their playpen while Grace and Mollie planted another bed with lettuce and carrots.
"I'm going up to the Chamber and start the beans." Gil said.
"Okay, Hon. We'll be up in a while."
Gil opened up the Chamber and only locked back the blast door. Getting down the two fifty-quart stock pots, he sat them on the stove and added 20-pounds of pinto beans to each pot and ¼ cup of salt and fired up the stove. Moving the pots so one would cook faster than the other, Gil replaced the lids and began cutting up the smoked beef, ham, garlic and onions to add to the beans when the water started boiling. He then started a fire in the fire pit and put on a camp coffee pot.
Sitting in a lounge chair, Gil went through his notebook crossing out completed tasks and adding new tasks. When the beans began boiling, he added a little black pepper to them along with beef bouillon in one pot and ham bouillon to the other, readjusted the pots and checked on things in the Chamber. He was going to add another toilet facility to the Chamber, had it on his list, but he had to wait for the pieces and parts to come in. Gil walked around, inspecting several things until Grace and Mollie came in. Gil got the playpen out of the kid's room and set it then got them down with a bottle. They eagerly finished their bottles and immediately went to sleep. Gil and Grace took them to their beds in their sleeping quarters and covered them in a blanket. They always dropped off to sleep quickly in the Chamber. They seemed to sleep like a log in the cool air. Even with the firepit and the wood stove going, it always stayed a constant 57-59 degrees in there. Outside, it was 87 degrees and humid, while it was 58 degrees in the Chamber and dry. It made Gil want to take a nap too…. and he did.
When he awoke an hour later, the women had added the meat to the pots and stirred it in with the oak paddles. The pots were slowly simmering now.
"HE'S ALIVE!" Grace said, smiling.
"Hey, I was working out in the sun!" Gil retorted. "How are the beans?"
"They're fine. About another hour should do it." Mollie said.
"Anyone call?"
"Just Annie. She went over to Sallie's and Sallie showed her around. Sallie had a professional cleaning crew in cleaning while she was there. Annie is thrilled with the house and how well the layout is.
"When is she and Harold leaving?"
"Saturday morning. They've got an enclosed trailer already packed with what they'll need until the movers get there. It's an 8-hour drive, but they're taking it easy and breaking it up into two days. They'll stop in Attalia, Alabama on the way down then on to Niceville the next day. Sallie is so happy."
"Well, I hope she enjoys that heat and humidity, I sure wouldn't. It gets hotter than a June bride in a featherbed. It's bad enough up here." Gil got up and drank a couple of cups of water and checked the beans.
"The ham pot is ready." Gil called out, setting the pot off the heat and moving the beef pot onto its place.
The women had already sterilized the jars and had the pressure canner and had their equipment laid out and ready. Gil set the canner on the stove and the women began ladling the ham and beans into the jars. They would hand Gil the capped jars and he'd set them in the canner. When it was full, he put the canner lid on and tighten the thumb screws down.
"Go sit down, we'll call you when we need you." Grace said.
"Yes Ma'am."
When it was time, Gil was called back over to remove the canner from the heat and bleed the pressure off. Then they did the process again until the beans were all canned. They ended up with 60 quarts of beans cooling on the counter. Between the pots, Gil went and retrieved the twins when they awoke and gave them some Zwieback toast.
"Well, that's done." Grace said. "This is much nicer doing the canning up here. It is so much cooler. Let's take 6 quarts of each back with us. Mollie and Allie can have one of each. I'll come back tomorrow and put these away."
They washed everything up, Folded up the playpen and placed it back in the twin's room and headed back to the house.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 29, 2021 6:45:57 GMT -6
Chapter 106
Gil and Don decided on a grid-tie system for power. At least they could get some money back from selling the power they didn't use. They had to get a taller tower because the hill to their northeast was 40 feet taller then the house. Gil called Drake and had him design and install the system. Don had a large metal maintenance building put in and while that was being done, had his crew remove trees, grade and build a limestone gravel yard for the company. A lot of people were upset that Don was moving his business out of the town limits, especially the landlord, who was a member of the city council. He tried to hem and haw about oil spills on the property but Don had been meticulous about cleaning up any spills and removing the dirt. They had even built a kiln they burned the dirt in to remove the oils and replaced the dirt. Even the garage bays were cleaner than you would find. Don even had the bays steam washed before they vacated the property. The councilman even tried to include Bluff View into future annexation plans, but Gil's grandfather had worked something with the Trust so the property could never be annexed.
Now, if Don needed to call Annie, she would normally be found over at Bluff View. She fell in love with Mollie's Polaris and had Don buy her one. She could go from her house, through the woods, and get on the drive to Bluff View, but it was slow and Don and Gil didn't really like her doing that, so Gil gave Don permission to build her an access road around the back of the pasture and connect to the drive. Don didn't cut any corners. The road he built was as good as he had built for Gil.
Billy only got one more coyote then they just disappeared. However he did still go out once a week and set up the game caller at night, trying to draw a predator in. He did get a bobcat and a fox that had started sniffing around the Guineas and turkeys. Billy spent as many hours as he could either helping his Dad or roaming the woods with Sandy. He was very knowledgeable of the perimeter zones and always carried a controller with him. Just one look at the control panel in the house would tell them what area he was in.
Gil and Billy watched as the cavalcade of construction equipment turned in to the new company site. Written on the side of the maintenance building was "Gray Construction Company." Don was busy so they took "Annie's Cutoff" and stopped by to check on the animals. Sandy jumped out of the cargo box and went to check the perimeter of the pasture for predators and leave her "pee-mail." Gil was going to have two hogs and two steers butchered soon and would replace them. Billy went ahead and fed them while they were there then went home.
Grace, Annie, Mollie and Allie were all preparing strawberries for freezing and making jams and preserves.
"The blackberries are ripening. Billy brought back a few yesterday." Grace commented.
"Well, while we're of a mind to, you should send him out for more. We can make jam and can some for pies later." Mollie said.
Just then, Billy and Gil walked in.
"Billy, were there many blackberries in that patch."
"Yes Ma'am, and I know of another patch that has even more."
"Well, I'd like all you can get for me so I can make jelly."
"I'll go with him. Come on sport, let's get some buckets." Gil said to Billy.
They came back an 2 hours later with a 5-gallon bucket full of ripe blackberries.
Gil carried the bucket on the deck, set it down. Going into the house, he went into the kitchen as they were filling the last pint jars of jam.
"We got you five gallons, probably get you three or four buckets more tomorrow."
"We're about finished here. No use in doing just 5-gallons then have to start up again. We'll go with you tomorrow and help finish, but we don't really need more than ten gallons." Grace said.
"Okay, I'm going to cover the berries with water and set it in the garage then."
After picking all the berries the women wanted to can, Gil began working on the corn harvester. It looked in good working condition so he greased the grease points and went over everything else. Once he was satisfied, he then looked over the drill and greased it and cleared a little debris from the hoppers. One piece of equipment he hadn't had a means to power it so he hadn't bothered with it until now. He finally was able to have a PTO shaft modified that would fit his tractor and he'd be able to grind up the corn harvested in the fall. Cleaning the grease off his hands, the went back to the house.
The next few weeks everyone was busy harvesting vegetables and canning them. Gil took the freeze-dryer up to the Chamber and ran it off the battery bank there. It was drawing too much power from the house system with the freezer and refrigerator running too. By the end of September, they had all the major garden crops harvested and canned.
The news stations were revving up their coverage of the November elections. Politicians were promising everything under the sun but failed to mentioned how they were going to pay for it. Anyone who wanted to retain their seat or win one, never mentioned anything about raising taxes…. But after the election, all bets would be off. Inflation was rampant and the stock market was fluctuating with the financial instability. Gil was slowly selling off non-performing stocks and buying gold and silver. Gil and Grace were going to get absentee ballots. There was no way he would go to a polling place and watch the idiots hand out voting materials for Democrats. He had voted for the occasional Democrat in the past, those he knew and liked their ideas, but he wasn't going to this year. He'd come to the conclusion if you were running as a Democrat then you supported the hateful and anti-American tactics practiced by the DNC. He'd vote straight Republican or for one of the few independents he liked. He didn't know if the Republicans would do any better, but they couldn't be any worse than a Democrat.
Just before they were to harvest the corn, Gil realized that the harvester automatically shelled the corn and the corn was shot through a spout to a grain trailer towed behind the harvester. He made a quick trip back to Gibson's. This time they had the exact tractor he had bought from them before. He bought the tractor and two grain trailers. During the harvest, Gil drove the tractor pulling the harvester while Brad stood by with the other tractor and an empty grain trailer. When the trailer Gil was towing became full, Brad would change the trailer out and take it to the storage silo near the hangar to be stored temporarily. Once the corn was harvested, Gil mounted the corn grinder on the tractor. Brad had the other tractor and grain trailer sitting with the grain auger spout over the empty trailer. Gil used the generator to power the silo auger and slowly filled the hopper in the grinder which in turn ground the corn and dumped it in the hopper for the auger filling the trailer. It was a weird setup, but it worked. Once they had filled both trailers, Brad and Billy took the trailers and the grain auger up to the pasture feed silo and emptied the trailers. It took time, but while they were doing that, Gil filled 80 pound burlap bags with ground corn for his still. Once the feed silo was filled up, they still had around 25 bushels left in the storage so they bagged enough corn for planting the next year and ground the rest up for the chickens, Guineas, and Peafowl.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 29, 2021 6:50:14 GMT -6
Chapter 107
Gil hammered in the last bung and looked at Brad. "I hope this is worth all the trouble in a few years."
"When are you going to do the potatoes?" Brad asked.
"Probably next week. I want to take time to wash the potatoes thoroughly. If everything works out okay, that is going to be pure rocket fuel."
They washed and sterilized the carboys, bungs, siphon and airlocks out good and set them aside to dry. Before they left the Chamber, Gil took the turkeys out of the freezer and set them in the refrigerator, rearranging the beer he had stored there.
"Have you thought about making your own beer?" Brad asked.
"Yeah, I tried a couple of times. I just didn't like that craft beer taste. I'll just stick with mead. I just buy three or four cases of Red Ale and a couple of Guinness and be done with it. It keeps great in the storage chamber. Since we built the chilling room around the spring, it stays around 48 degrees in there. I tried a bottle of ale from a test case I put in there almost six months ago before we put the room in and it hasn't gone skunky yet."
Gil went over and checked the mead carboy. Taking the airlock off, Gil used a siphon tube to draw off a little for a taste test. Letting the siphon empty into a cup he tasted it then handed the cup to Brad.
"That's good!" Brad said.
"Yeah, I think I'll bottle this next week."
"What is in that jug?"
"That's blackberry mead. The girls like it."
Gil took the airlock off the carboy and they tasted the blackberry."
"That's sweeter."
"Yeah, when I racked the liquid off the lees, I added more honey."
I like those 'flippy' bottles you use better than the caps."
"Yeah, it's faster than using a capper."
They shut off the lights, locked up and went home.
"Did you think about the turkeys?" Grace asked.
"Yes Ma'am. They're in the fridge. Oh! I need to run over to Carl Griggs' place and pick up that last bucket of honey from him."
"You still trading him a gallon of whiskey for a five gallon bucket of honey?"
"He likes my whiskey, I like his honey."
"Why don't you rotated the honey out of our stocks?"
"Because the honey we have in stock isn't local. I like to use local raw honey for my brewing. I'll be back shortly."
Gil got a jug of whiskey and a few minutes later drove up into Carl's drive. Two blue-tick house stood lazily barking at him from the edge of the yard.
"Hey Gil!"
"Afternoon Carl. I came to pick up that honey." Gil said, handing him the jug of whiskey.
"Right this way."
Carl led him over to a shed, opened the door and took out a capped 5-gallon bucket.
"Here ya go. Say, you aught to let me put two or three hives on your place in the Spring."
"Probably wouldn't be a bad idea. I have 25 acres of corn and a ¼ acre garden. Wouldn't hurt."
"I'll talk to you again closer to Spring."
"Good, well I should be going, the missus has dinner about ready."
"Okay Gil. I'll be seein' ya later."
Gil got back home and set the honey in the garage. He didn't want to make another trip up the ridge. Walking into the house, he was met by Grace and Mollie, both grinning from ear to ear.
"What's going on?" Gil asked.
"Both twins said their first word today…. 'Gran'."
"Hey, what happened to Dada or Momma?"
"Oh, you know they love their Grandma." Grace grinned.
"Here I come back bearing sustenance for my family and am told I am riding second class in my own family."
"Grace walked up to him and put her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "I'll show you how first class you really are later, Sweety."
"Well, okay then. I'll have more blackberry mead bottled next week." Gil said.
"Oh good! Mollie, we don't have to hoard those last two bottles anymore. Oh! The gummed labels came in for your bottles today, just in time."
"Good. Is dinner about ready?"
Grace looked at the clock. "Ten more minutes."
"Okay, I'll go get washed up."
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Post by freebirde on Nov 29, 2021 7:49:18 GMT -6
"Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care, the master gone away"
When corn is ground the oil starts to oxidize, how fast depends on temperature and other environmental factors. Before modern processes and storage, corn and other oil grains were only ground as needed.
Hominy and masa/masa flour is corn that has been treated with lye. This both helps preserve it and makes the vitamins and minerals more digestible. Roasted or deep fried hominy makes a good 'corn nut', season to taste. Do not put wet hominy in a deep fryer to prevent oil boiling over.
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Post by sniper69 on Nov 29, 2021 8:15:37 GMT -6
"Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care, the master gone away" When corn is ground the oil starts to oxidize, how fast depends on temperature and other environmental factors. Before modern processes and storage, corn and other oil grains were only ground as needed. Hominy and masa/masa flour is corn that has been treated with lye. This both helps preserve it and makes the vitamins and minerals more digestible. Roasted or deep fried hominy makes a good 'corn nut', season to taste. Do not put wet hominy in a deep fryer to prevent oil boiling over. Are you referring to a process like Nixtamalization?
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Post by freebirde on Nov 29, 2021 9:05:30 GMT -6
"Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care, the master gone away" When corn is ground the oil starts to oxidize, how fast depends on temperature and other environmental factors. Before modern processes and storage, corn and other oil grains were only ground as needed. Hominy and masa/masa flour is corn that has been treated with lye. This both helps preserve it and makes the vitamins and minerals more digestible. Roasted or deep fried hominy makes a good 'corn nut', season to taste. Do not put wet hominy in a deep fryer to prevent oil boiling over. Are you referring to a process like Nixtamalization? I had to look it up. I'm just a redneck foodie that use to watch Alton Brown's "Good Eats".
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Post by gipsy on Nov 29, 2021 10:18:16 GMT -6
Thanks for the great update.
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Post by texican on Nov 29, 2021 13:14:08 GMT -6
"I may have to get the curing salt from the Co-op. They've seldom had it at COSTCO or Sam's." Gil commented.
Have additional curing salt to be bought. The dear wife prepared and baked the front quarters of a wild pig that was harvested and they were eaten quickly. The dear wife finished the hind quarters and they are outstanding. Better than you can buy out of the market. So now have additional curing salt to be purchased.
The seats he could cut 4"x14"x48" boards from Hickory logs using the chainsaw mill.
Nice wood large pieces of hickory to seat benches with.
Thanks n for the chapters.
Texican....
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Post by ydderf on Dec 1, 2021 0:19:59 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by NCWEBNUT on Dec 2, 2021 13:32:06 GMT -6
Hey ncsfsgm haven't heard from ya in a few days hope all is well.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 2, 2021 14:42:45 GMT -6
Chapter 108
The week before Thanksgiving, Gil had another hog and steer butchered. He purchased two shoats and two yearlings to replace what they had butchered this fall. Don pitched in and added another shoat and yearling to the pasture. Brad did the same thing. They wouldn't do without protein, that's for sure. It also gave Gil more meat to turn into pemmican and jerky.
Thanksgiving dinner was held at Gil and Grace's house and the ladies put on a big event. They had plenty of leftovers that were shared between the three families. Of course, Mollie got her share of them also. After dinner, everyone took turns either drying or washing the dishes and getting everything put away. Then Gil broke out the newly bottle meads that had been thoroughly chilled.
"Gil, this stuff kind of sneaks up on you." Don said.
"Where did you get these Viking drinking horns?" Brad asked.
"Grace found them online somewhere and got eight of them. Neat, hunh?" Gil replied.
"Where's my sword!"
"Gil, you in the market for a trailer?" Don asked.
"I think I have enough trailers right now Don.
"No, this is a TinyHouse on wheels, you know, like a travel trailer that looks like a small log cabin. One of my new customers has one down in Gatlinburg set up as a weekender. He and his wife are getting a little long in the tooth to be climbing a ladder to go to bed at night. Might make a decent guest house."
"What would it take to set something like that up?" Gil asked. "Not much. It already has solar and a composting toilet. Maybe a septic tank for the shower and washer."
"For some reason, that intrigues me. Think we could take a look at it Saturday?"
"I'll talk to Mr. McCroom tomorrow."
Late the next day Billy got another deer, a nice ten pointer with the .30 caliber air rifle, Gil helped him drag it close to where they could bring the Gator in and using the winch on the Gator, hoisted it off the ground and quickly had the deer field dressed. They weren't going take the deer to Mr. Hirschfeld this time. Billy wanted to turn everything into jerky and pemmican. Jerky and pemmican were becoming almost staples for Billy. He could always be found with a handful of jerky in a Ziplock and a bar of pemmican in one of his vest pockets. They got the deer back to the Chamber and finished skinning the deer and hung it in the storage chamber. Billy would process it tomorrow. Billy then took the hide and began fleshing it out. Mollie had told him if he got another hide tanned, she would make him a set of buckskins. Gil left Billy to his work and went back to the house.
"Get one?" Grace asked.
"Yep. Billy took one with the air rifle. He's fleshing out the hide now."
"Well, I can hold back dinner for a bit. It's BLTs and vegetable soup. Are you hungry?"
"Not just yet. I'll wait. We can probably get Alan and Alana fed."
Gil's phone rang.
"Gil? Don. I got the keys to the TinyHouse from Mr. McCroom. Do you still want to take a ride to look at it tomorrow?"
"Sure. Let's leave around nine. I'll pick you up."
"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."
They found the lot in Gatlinburg the next morning.
"It really is a tiny house." Gil said.
"It's about right for two people."
Don unlocked the little house on wheels and went inside. Gil estimated it was around 150 sq ft downstairs and probably a total of 250 sq ft overall, counting the two lofts. One loft was bedroom loft about 10' long with dormer for more headroom, and front storage loft was about 3' long. It was heated and cooled by a split ac/heater. The living room had a leather love seat with built-in storage. The interior walls and ceiling were covered by Cedar tongue and groove. Two 100-lb propane tanks provided fuel for the heater and kitchen stove.
It had a spacious kitchen with custom butcher block counters and breakfast bar, large sink, propane 4-burner stove and oven, large apartment-sized whirlpool refrigerator, spacious pantry, rolling utility cart for added counter space, and rustic pendant lighting with Edison LED light bulbs. Covered front porch with rustic porch lights and decorative cedar spindles.
Gil was surprised to see a very spacious bathroom with a 38" corner shower, washer dryer hookups, and a propane tankless hot water heater, and a composting toilet.
"How much is he asking for this?" Gil asked.
"He's asking $55,000 with the lot. The lot is at worth at least $15,000."
"Well, I'll offer $35,000 without the lot."
"I'll give him a call." Don said.
They locked up and made their way back to Bluff View, making a stop at Bass Pro Shops to pick up two 25-lb. mineral blocks.
Gil dropped Don off at his house, and as Don was getting out, told Gil he would call Mr. McCroom. Gil took Annie's Cutoff and was soon going into the house as Grace finished preparing lunch.
Gil ended up getting the TinyHouse and decided to put it down next to the river between the river and the old homestead. They had dismantled the house a while ago and stacked the usable wood in the old barn. The barn was still in decent condition and they'd replaced a few wallboards and battens and re-roofed it. Gil checked out the PV system and it was charging adequately but they had a lot of cloudy days during the winter so he decided to add another battery and a wind turbine since the only heat was the ac/heater unit. Don had a couple of his guys come out with a load of limestone gravel and turned the whole area around he house into hard-packed gravel that would keep weeds from growing up. Mollie and Grace came down and made sure it had plenty of linens and towels, a can of coffee, basic spices, powdered creamer and the refrigerator had bottled water.
"It would be small for more than two people." Grace said. "Why did you put it way down here?"
"I don't know, on a whim I guess. There's been times I've seen people want to just get away in solitude."
"Have you ever felt that way?"
"Not since you floated into my life."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 2, 2021 14:43:50 GMT -6
Chapter 109
The shape slowly rose and watched as the fox stalked the guineas perched in the branches of the roost Billy and his Dad had made from two locust trees. The fox sniffed the air, looked around for any danger, then slowly moved toward the roost. Drawing back the bowstring to its fullest, Billy let the arrow fly, instantly dropping the fox. The Guineas raised a racket as Billy drew back the hood of the ghillie suit and removed the arrow from the carcass. Nice fur. Billy grabbed the fox by the hind legs and began walking toward the house.
Sunday, at church, Reverend Jim announced that little Jessica Graham was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and was in St. Jude's for treatment. He asked for a second passing of the collection plate to help the family with finances. After another thought provoking sermon, Gil got the Reverend to the side and palmed him six of the 1863 Double Eagles.
"You are a good man, Gil."
"Good for me is relative, Reverend. If there is anything else I can do, let me know."
When Gil, Billy, and Grace got home, Gil called Steve.
"Steve, don't you have an office in Memphis?"
"Sure do."
"Listen, one of our parishioners at our church has a daughter that was just admitted to St. Jude's. Her parents are Aileen and Gary Graham. The little girl's name is Jessica. Can you have someone check on them and get them whatever they need. I'll pay for it."
"Not on your life! I got this, but I'll let you know what's going on. This might be the closest I ever get to being an angel."
"You're the man, Steve. Thank you and I'll talk to you later."
Gil walked out on the deck and silently stared off into the distance. Grace walked out and stood next to him.
"Are you all right?"
"You know, I expect bad things to happen to adults, karma and all that, but kids, kids don't deserve that. I called Steve. He has someone in Memphis that will be watching over the Grahams to make sure they have what they need."
Grace put her arm around Gil and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you."
Billy cut the pieces of the old house siding while Gil and Brad called out measurements and nailed the skirt around the TinyHouse.
"Billy? Do you need to go shopping before it gets too close to Christmas?" Gil asked.
"No Sir. I learned from last year. I don't like the crowds. I've been buying presents throughout the Summer and Fall"
Gil grinned at Brad. "That young man has a good head on his shoulders."
They finished up the skirt and Billy looked around.
"Dad, there's no thinking place."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there's nothing like sitting around a fire and watching the flames and just letting your mind wander. There's nothing like that here."
"We've still got some of those stone blocks we cut out in the chamber." Gil said. "Billy, go pick out enough to make a fire pit here. Don't just pick out a bunch of blocks and bring them down. I want you to sit down and figure out how many blocks we need for a 3-ft firepit."
"Yes Sir."
While Gil and Brad were collecting their tools and the scrap up, Billy was doing math in his notebook."
"I'll need six of them, Dad."
"Okay, get six blocks and mortar them in. Brad and I are building a small deck tomorrow, The pit will be your project."
"Sure thing Dad."
The next day Gil and Brad built the 6x8 foot deck with stairs and Billy did the firepit. He mortared the stone blocks and made sure the mortar was wiped clean around the seams. It looked very professional.
"Maybe I should make a couple of benches " Billy said.
"I think we can get by with a couple of chairs for now. Walmart has a cheap disassembled Adirondack Chair you could use for a pattern. The wood is crap and only lasts a year or so, but I've still got some oak planks left. You could use the chair parts as patterns. Just take the parts list out of the box and we can find or order stainless steel screws and bolts for the chairs. They'll last for years." Gil said.
"Okay Dad."
Gil got the chair and Billy made up a list of the hardware they needed. After he finished his school modules each day, he would head for the shop and cut, shape, and sand the pieces. Gil found the hardware he needed up in Kingsport and bought twice what was needed. Before assembly, Billy stained each piece with a Pickled Oak stain and gave them three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. Billy finished the day before Christmas Eve and decided to wait to put them together.
Mollie was up Christmas Eve, after the twins had gone to bed, to bring a bunch of presents to place under the tree. She stayed long enough to sit and have a glass of eggnog with Gil and Grace.
"You're coming up for breakfast, aren't you?" Grace asked Mollie.
"I wouldn't miss seeing those babies opening their presents for anything in the world!" Mollie replied.
Gil woke up Christmas morning at 6:00 to the smell of coffee and frying ham. He looked over and Grace wasn't there. Gil got up, pulled on a set of sweats and his moccasins and went down stairs.
"Good morning." Gil said.
"Good morning, Honey." Grace said, getting up and pouring him a cup of coffee."
"I'm surprised the two imps aren't up yet."
"Billy kept them up as late as he could last night. We'll bring them down in a little while and steer them straight to the kitchen. If they see all the presents, they'll never eat breakfast."
Gil chuckled. "That's for sure. Need any help?"
"No, we've got it."
Billy soon came down and made himself a cup of hot chocolate.
"What time are we getting the twins up?" Billy asked.
"In a few minutes. We want to bring them straight to the kitchen and get some breakfast into them before we go into the Great Room."
Billy grinned. "They are going to be so excited."
In a few minutes, Mollie and Billy went up and carried Alan and Alana down and put them in their high chairs. After eating some cereal and scrambled eggs, they drank their juice and began getting restless. Finally, everyone couldn't stand it anymore and got up from the table. They let the two run into the Great Room and sat on the floor in front of the tree, like Billy told them to do. Handing them a present, he told them to take them to Gran. Running over to Mollie they held the presents out and said, "For Gran!"
Mollie teared up and watched the two run back and take their seats. Billy held out a gift for each of them and they all watched as the twins tore the paper off their gifts. Gil took his place in gathering up the paper as it was discarded and burning it in the fireplace. It only took three presents and they were busy playing with what they had, ignoring for the present time any other gifts.
Mollie opened her gifts and had received a nice scarf and a framed picture of her holding a smiling Alan and Alana on her lap.
"Oh, they are such precious babies! Mollie said.
Gil chuckled. "Oh, I think they've graduated from being babies."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 2, 2021 14:44:49 GMT -6
Chapter 110
The day after Christmas, the temperature was up to 52 degrees. Billy loaded the disassembled chairs in a Gator and he and Gil took them down to the TinyHouse and assembled them. They had to try them out so Billy built a fire in the pit and they sat around poking the fire for a while. They let the fire die down and then made sure it was out. Gathering up their tools, they took them back to the shop. Billy went into the house and Gil went up to the Chamber to check on the potato mash he had fermenting. He checked the specific gravity and decided to leave it one more day before siphoning of the wash. He was making vodka and he was going distill it three times. It would definitely be potent.
Brad came up and watched as Gil siphoned off the wash and poured it into the still. When Gil lit the fire, Brad went to the freezer and got out a plastic 1-gallon bucket out of the freezer that Gil had set in that the week before to freeze a chunk of ice. As the temperature on the still rose, Brad squeezed the bucket to pop the block of ice out and sat it down inside the condenser. Gil had two 2-quart measuring cups ready to switch out under the condenser spout. He would pour the liquid back into carboys and run it back through a clean still later.
The women wanted to do something different for New Year's. They decided they would party and stay overnight in their rooms in the Chamber and even make breakfast there. It would be sort of a dry run. The women started planning foods they would take up there and even went up to make sure everything was ready for them in the Chamber. The men just shrugged and made sure they had firewood and drinks enough for the evening. The women were going to do all the cooking on the wood stove and the fire pit. With the alcohol lamps on the table and on brackets attached to the wall, the Chamber had a twilight feeling to it. The doorways on each bedroom had a stainless steel alcohol lamp illuminating the area around the doors. Cal wanted more lighting in there but it would be a future project because it would entail drilling numerous holes and stringing hundreds of feed of 3/8" cable. What they had now was sufficient and gave him a caveman feeling, but it might be a little less depressing with more lighting if they had to stay secluded for months.
The women served lasagna with fresh baked Italian loaves and salad out of the greenhouse. Gil had brought the horn mugs up, so the men stayed out of the women's way and sipped cold mead and talked about things they wanted to do in the coming year. When dinner was over, the men took turns helping clean up then everyone adjourned to seats around the firepit. Gil opened a bottle of wine for the ladies and the chatter began.
"Gil, whatever happened to Dave Marcos?" Brad asked.
"Last I heard, he was flying bush planes out of Whitehorse."
"Didn't he fly for one of the oil companies up in Alaska?"
"I guess he found better pickings in Whitehorse."
"Gil, what do you think is going to happen with the Democrats still in power?" Mollie asked.
"Well, if you can wade through the effluent continuously spilling out of their mouths about 'for the children, for the betterment of all, and pay your fair share of taxes' then anyone can see that they'll raise the debt so high my great-great-great grandchildren won't be able to pay it off. Democrats think all you have to do is throw money at something and it'll get better. But all that money flows through sticky fingers, usually the fingers of Democrat supporters. It's just one big wheel of corruption. That is precisely why I moved here. I can prepare myself, and my family for whatever comes. My basic motto is 'If we don't have it, grow it, raise it, hunt it, or make it, we do without, or try to trade for it.' That's what I want you all to keep in mind as we think of things to stock up on for use under no modern conveniences and possibly government. If things get bad enough, our government could collapse like a house of cards."
"I'm with you on that." Don said. "I find myself thinking on what I really need to live on and stay away from things that would be a burden if we lost power, or the fuel ran out."
"Heck, all we need is Bullseye Billy to bring home a deer now and again!" Brad said, slapping Billy on the back.
"Billy, would you get me the bowl of smoked sausage out of the fridge and that pair of long tongs off the counter?" Grace asked.
Billy got up and retrieved the items for his mother and she dumped the bowl on the grill insert and leveled the sausage out on the grill with the tongs, occasionally turning the sausage. Mollie got a pack of bamboo skewers out and people would spear a chunk of sausage and nibble on it while talking.
"I'm going to put in another composting toilet in here next week. I got the parts in right before Christmas but haven't had the time to work on it." Gil said.
"I'll come over and help." Don said. "I went ahead and gave everyone at the company off for the rest of the week."
"We can get it knocked out in no time." Brad said.
"Are you going to have men's a women's bathrooms?" Allie asked.
"Not really. Why?"
"I thought it would be nice to store some women's hygiene things in there."
"Put them in both the cabinets in there. I certainly won't use them." Gil grinned.
"Be nice, Gil." Grace said.
"Okay, I'll make sure you have a free shelf above the toilet paper in the cabinet."
"Thank you."
Gil opened two more bottles of mead and poured the men more drink. He even poured Billy a bit to taste. Billy made a face and went over to the sink, rinsed the cup out and filled it with Gatorade from the fridge.
They sat and told stories about their lives and things they had seen then, there was a break to put the twins to bed. Allie put some music on and the women grabbed the men and danced, acted silly and overall, were having a good time. Mollie got a dance from each of the men and all the women danced with Billy at least once. As the hour drew closer, Billy was giving time hacks to keep them ready. When 12:00 arrived, they all counted down and the couples hugged and kissed and Mollie gave a toast to the coming year. When the hubbub died down Gil and Brad stood off to the side and raised their mugs to each other.
"An unsere gefallenen Kameraden! Bis wir uns in Walhalla treffen!" (To our fallen comrades! Until we meet in Valhalla!)
Gil, Don and Brad hauled the pre-cut wood for the toilet up the ridge with the Gators and trailers attached. Using lessons learned from the construction of the first one, Gil had it pretty much down to a science and everything went together quickly and they were finished with everything before noon except for the painting. Billy was going to paint after lunch. Gil and Brad were going to do the final distilling of the vodka. Don decided to stick around to see how they did it. Before Gil would let Don sample it, he cut it with the calculated amount of water.
"Whoa! This could put you down in no time!" Don said."
"That means you can use half as much and it goes twice as far." Brad said.
They bottled, sealed and labeled the bottles and return them to their cases. They ended up with 15 12-bottle cases and a few spare bottles, splitting the spare bottles between Don and Brad. Washing up everything, they sat around the firepit and discussed lighting in the Chamber and critiqued Billy's painting.
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Post by gipsy on Dec 2, 2021 15:38:23 GMT -6
Thanks for the great update.
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Post by ydderf on Dec 2, 2021 18:34:34 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by texican on Dec 2, 2021 19:29:19 GMT -6
Gil took his place in gathering up the paper as it was discarded and burning it in the fireplace.
Always enjoyed burning Christmas present wrapping paper in the fire place for the myriad colors would just glow.
Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 2, 2021 20:36:07 GMT -6
Lots of chemical compounds in the colored ink used on that paper - but I understand some of the things created when those inks are burned are not kind to your body. It's been 60 years since I burned Christmas wrapping paper in a fireplace so perhaps it didn't affect me other than the third ear that started growing that next April...
Once upon a time, I could have told you which compounds were in the inks by the colors in the flames but that's not been a useful skill for a number of years - too much high tech analysis (gas chromatography and the like) for simple tests to be considered "analysis" these days, although Sherlock Holmes might have considered my methods "modern" ;-) If you're curious, see if you can find a simple search phrase for determining an element by the color it tints a flame ;-)
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Post by udwe on Dec 2, 2021 21:12:47 GMT -6
Thanks for the update!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 3, 2021 1:01:22 GMT -6
Lots of chemical compounds in the colored ink used on that paper - but I understand some of the things created when those inks are burned are not kind to your body. It's been 60 years since I burned Christmas wrapping paper in a fireplace so perhaps ir didn't affect me other than the third ear that started growing that next April... Once upon a time, I could have told you which compounds were in the inks by the colors in the flames but that's not been a useful skill for a number of years - too much high tech analysis (gas chromatography and the like) for simple tests to be considered "analysis" these days, although Sherlock Holmes might have considered my methods "modern" ;-) If you're curious, see if you can find a simple search phrase for determining an element by the color it tints a flame ;-) You had colored wrapping paper!?! When I was a kid, we saved our the few brown grocery bags we got throughout the year to wrap presents at Christmas. We'd carefully unwrap the presents so we'd have the paper to make new schoolbook covers for the rest of the year.
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 3, 2021 1:06:34 GMT -6
Sure we had colored paper - my grandparents took the Sunday paper and the comics were in color. Who wouldn't want free wrapping paper?
We did the brown grocery bag wrap on the schoolbooks every year.
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Post by freebirde on Dec 3, 2021 1:19:22 GMT -6
We did the comics wrapping paper when the kids were little, all they cared was that it easy to open. A few years ago I saw a roll of comics wrapping paper in a store.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 3, 2021 21:31:53 GMT -6
Chapter 111
Gil and Brad had talked about it and Gil decided to put in a security gate on the drive. Steve would have the knowledge base on that so Gil gave him a call.
"Yeah, I can get you some information on that. Why don't I fly out and bring some information on the different type gates and take a look at where you want to put it."
"You don't have to go to all that trouble. Just mail the stuff to me."
"No, it's no trouble. I need to talk to you about something anyway."
"Well, okay then. Come on."
"I'll be out in the morning. I'll give you a shout ten minutes out."
"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."
Steve called the next morning and Gil drove the Gator down to the hangar to pick him up. Steve shut down the engine and was met by Gil handing him a travel mug of coffee.
"How was the flight?" Gil asked.
"About as nice as it gets. Beautiful flying weather. Where's Brad?"
"He went to a doctor's appointment with Allie. I think she might be pregnant."
Gil drove them slowly up the drive.
"I need you to tell me where the best place is to put a security gate. I saw one in an article once that had a rolling high impact gate that had a tire popper strip that locked the blades in place until the gate was fully open."
"Where do you think you would like place it?"
"Well, I've go two possible places. Both are not accessible around the gateposts by a two-wheeled vehicle."
Gil showed Steve both places.
"Well, take your pick. Both are sound just for the reasons you said. Also, it would be very difficult to access over the ridge from those two points. The sensors would detect intrusion."
"Okay, what about the gate? Do you have access to anything like that?"
"Sure do! Just finished installing a couple of the gates you're talking about at Fort Campbell. I'll have to order it. Let's stop at the first site and let me get some measurements."
They stopped and Gil helped measure the width of the opening and Gil drove them back to the hangar.
"I think we might have to use Harold's laser gizmo on setting the gate posts. Think you could get that 30Kw generator again?"
"Shouldn't be a problem. Just give me a heads up."
"Gil, do you remember Colt Bennigan?"
"Bennigan….wasn't he on ODA-0214? Medic, wasn't he?"
"The same. He got out as soon as he could after his second trip back from the Sand Box. He had four of his team mates blown up right next to him. He had a few internal injuries caused by the blast but came out of it relatively unscathed. He's let that ride him ever since. His long time girlfriend dumped him when she found out he had some serious issues, all PTSD related. Ever since, He just travels around, stopping here and there until people start getting close to him then he just pulls his tent pegs and goes somewhere else. He's down in Chattanooga, right now. Is there any way you could put him up for a while?"
Gil drove right by the hangar and on to the TinyHouse.
"You think he could put up with something like this for a while?"
"Where in the world did you come across this? This might just do the trick. It's off by itself, looks comfortable and he can set here and not get worried about some woman putting the moves on him. You don't have any single women around do you?"
Gil grinned. "Yep, but she's on the far side of 65."
"Might still be a danger. You know how women of all ages used to chase after him."
"You tell Colt he's welcomed to stay here as long as he wants. Has he been to any counseling?"
"Oh yeah. It's just that sometimes the nightmares give him a fit. Sometimes he tries to stay awake to dodge them, but he ends exhausted and all out of whack."
"Well, he's welcomed here. Give him our coordinates."
"I'll do that. I've got to get out of here. I have a 1300 appointment."
Gil drove Steve back to the helicopter and watched as he did pre-flight checks and started the engine. Steve waved to him as he lifted and turned the helicopter, heading west.
Saturday morning the four women were heading out to Kodak to plunder the flea market and hit a few yard and garage sales on the way back. As they were topping the ridge another vehicle was coming toward them.
"STOP ALLIE! Isn't that Shannon?"
Allie pulled to the side of and waited for the car to pull up beside them.
Hi Aunt Mollie, Allie. Where are you headed?"
"Down to Kodak to the flea market. Want to go with us?"
"Sure! Where can I park?"
"Drive on down and park at the first cabin on the right."
Allie turned the Suburban around and went back down to pick Shannon up. Once she was buckled in, Allie again headed for Kodak.
"Lord child, what are you doing here. Did you drive all the way from Nashville this morning?" Mollie asked.
"No Aunt Mollie, I stayed in Knoxville last night. I wanted to see you and Allie before I went to Greeneville to look for an apartment."
"What do you need an apartment in Greeneville for?" Allie asked.
"I got a promotion at the bank and they offered me a position at their branch in Greenville and I jumped on it. You are my only relatives left that are living in this state and Greeneville was as close as I could get."
"So, how far are you willing to live from work? Is a forty minute drive to far?" Mollie asked.
"Aunt Mollie, I've been driving 40 minutes every morning into work, five days a week for the last three years. That's old hat for me."
"Good, then you don't need to find an apartment, you can come live with me. I've got a big bedroom that no one has used since Allie moved out, and the company would be nice."
"Are you sure?" I would love living here. It seems so peaceful."
"You won't believe it Shannon. It's like you're in a different world here." Allie said.
"So, it's settled then. When can you move your things here?" Mollie asked.
"Well, I don't have to start until week after next. They gave me this next week to find a place and get set up."
"Leave it to us. We'll get you here lock, stock and barrel."
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