|
Post by gipsy on Feb 2, 2022 16:16:51 GMT -6
OK
|
|
|
Post by cavsgt on Feb 2, 2022 16:50:59 GMT -6
WOW Here we go again!!!! (He carefully backs away from the crumbly edge of the canyon)
THANK YOU Phill
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 3, 2022 13:14:59 GMT -6
Chapter 217
Gil was sipping his coffee and watching the Weather Channel when Grace came down.
"Feel like some country ham this morning?" Grace asked.
"Sure!"
"Good, you make the pancakes then."
Gil chuckled and got up.
"If you've got anything to do in town today, get it done before noon. We've got bad weather coming in this afternoon."
"I don't have any reason to go in. Mollie, Allie, Sarah and I will be working on a quilt. Shannon is looking for container bids and Carrie is coming with Sarah to study with Billy. Can you get another bag of powdered milk out of the pantry for me? After breakfast I'll need to make more."
Gil got the bag of milk and went ahead and made a pitcher of milk and made the pancakes. The twins and Billy came down as the eggs were done. Gil gave each two pancakes and Grace ladled scrambled eggs on each plate. Billy went around and cut up the ham for the twins.
"Billy, there's a winter storm coming in this afternoon. Feed the livestock at noon and feed storm rations. I don't think we want to be out in this mess."
"Okay Dad."
After breakfast, Gil went and stoked the furnaces and filled them as much as he could. He went around and made sure everything was battened down and went to his shop. He had things he could do there.
"Jarrod? Can you hear me?" Jarrod picked up the radio. "Loud and clear."
"Jarrod, there's a winter storm coming in this afternoon. Make sure your stuff is secure."
"Roger, thanks Uncle Glen."
Jarrod went outside and folded up the recliner and put it and Beau's water bowl, blanket in the recliner in the trailer. Looking around, he went and got the recliner cover, folded it and put it in the storage compartment. He got out some bungie cords and secured a tarp over his stack of firewood. Jarrod went over and put the switch for the awning into the locked position.
"Well, looks like an afternoon of John Wayne westerns," Jarrod thought as he and Beau went into the RV.
The temperature dropped ten degrees and the wind was blowing around fifteen miles an hour. It didn't start the light rain until around 3:00. The truck turned off Highway 11 and picked up speed. The long bed, belly dump, dump truck hauling a mere twenty tons of limestone gravel was headed to a farm in the southeast part of the county. Maybe it was just that exact spot or whatever. A thin glaze of ice had formed on the bridge, invisible to the naked eye. The truck hit the icy spot and went into a skid, the truck slamming into the bridge railing. The four foot railing should have just snapped off, and it did, but something else happened. After years of corrosion caused by road salts, the impact and the vibration, the bolts holding the bridge spans together sheered and broke clean off and cracked a girder, causing it to shift far off the concrete piling and taking with it three quarters of the roadbed, the gravel, the truck, and the doomed driver.
"Gil? Will Tatum. The Malinda Bridge has collapsed. I don't have anyone close. Can one of you guys go and secure your end of it?"
"On it Will."
Gil called Brad and told him to gather up saw horses, 2x4s and two or three Dietz #8 lanterns and some marking panels and bring them down to the Malinda bridge. They needed to block it off. Gil sped down the drive and was behind a car. He flashed his lights, passed the car and reached the bridge a few hundred yards in front of the car. Turning on his warning flashers, he parked his truck across the lanes, partially blocking both and got out, waving for the car to stop. Gil told the driver what had happened and recommended that if he really needed to go into Rogersville, to go back on 344 to 133 and 70 into town. As the guy turned around, Brad and Colt showed up. They set up three saw horses across the road, laid 2x4s on them and draped VS-17 panels and hung the lit lanterns on the barricade.
"What happened?" Colt asked.
Gil shrugged. "Sheriff Tatum called and said the bridge collapsed and for us to barricade this side. I'm going to move my truck to the far side of the sawhorses."
Gil moved the Power Wagon and got out, pulling on a Gortex rain parka.
"I'm going down and see what happened."
"Be careful!" Brad called out.
Walking down the edge of the bridge, Gil could feel spots of ice. As he was approaching the halfway point, he could see a dark gap ahead and flashing lights through the mist. He slowed his approach and the gap appeared substantial and taking all of one lane and a portion of the other. He hoped no one drove into this mess. Gil pulled out his radio and switched frequencies.
"This is Gil Conners calling the Sheriff's Department personnel at Malinda Bridge."
"Gil, this is Deputy Gibson."
"Deputy Gibson, we have the south end of the bridge secured, awaiting instructions."
"Roger Gil, we will have someone there in about thirty minutes to relieve you."
"Roger, standing by."
Gil walked back to the barricade to find Brad and Colt still there.
"There's someone from the Sheriff's Department coming to relieve us in a bit"
"Could you tell what happened?" Brad asked.
"No, but whatever happened left a gaping hole almost all the way across the roadbed."
“God save anyone if they went over.” Colt said.
The Deputy arrived fifteen minutes later. Deputy Jones had several folding perimeter sawhorse-type barricades, each with a flashing warning light. The guys helped him set them out and removed theirs.
"Do they know what happened?" Gil asked.
"A big dump truck slid on an icy patch and slammed into the side rail. Something went wrong and it took the bridge out."
"Did the driver make it?"
"I doubt it. The dive team should be in there now."
"Sad. Well, I'll bring down some coffee for you. Cream and sugar?"
"No, black."
Gil and the guys went back to Bluff View. Gil filled up a large thermos with coffee, another same size thermos with iced water and Grace made sandwiches. Gil returned to the barricade and handed the Deputy the food and thermos bottles.
"Thanks Gil! I thought I'd have to live off the two Payday bars I found in the console."
"Don't mention it. When you go off duty, just leave them with Sheriff Tatum and I'll get them later."
"Okay, will do. Again, thanks."
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 3, 2022 13:17:40 GMT -6
Chapter 218
Gil could hear branches cracking and breaking. Occasionally, he'd hear the 'THUMP' of them hitting the ground. There were going to be a lot of widow makers when this storm was over. He went to the deck door and turned on the spot lights. It was as if the landscape was made of crystal, the more than a half inch of ice on the deck railings sparkling against the spot lights. Heaven help anyone who had to be out tonight. Gil thought.
Gil was up early the next morning and looked outside. There was an inch of ice on everything that was still standing. Gil searched in his equipment locker and pulled out his tomahawk and a pair of crampons. Dressing warmly, he went out to the front steps and busted the ice, clearing the steps. Sitting down, Gil put the crampons on his boots, picked up his walking staff and made his way to the furnace, filling it with wood and adjusting the damper. He then made his way to the wind turbine. It looked in good shape and wouldn't need ice chipped off it. He made his way back to the drive and had second thoughts about using the Gator. He didn't have the right chains for ice right now. Carefully, he walked down the drive to the greenhouse and took care of the furnace there. Gil checked the automatic chicken feeders and waterers and gathered eggs, taking them to the canning house and placing them in the refrigerator. He called Allie on the radio and told her he'd taken care of the chickens. Grabbing a full carton of eggs out of the fridge, he made his way back to the house.
Grace was pouring a cup of coffee in the kitchen when Gil walked in.
"How bad is it?" She asked.
"Bad enough. Don't bother going out and tell Mollie not to go out. She could break a hip in this mess I took care of the chickens for Allie and let her know."
Gil washed his hands and got a jar of dried beef out of the pantry. Chopping the beef up on the cutting board, he placed the frying pan on the burner and threw a stick of butter in the pan. Getting out the salt and pepper grinders , flour, and the picture of milk, Gil added flour to the melted butter and got the gravy going. He gradually added more milk as the gravy thickened then dumped In the dried beef and stirred it in. Gil gave it a taste and decided it didn't need salt but added pepper. Adding a bit more milk, he turned the burner off and gave the gravy a good stir. Gil stepped out of the way and Grace slid a pan of biscuits into the oven.
"Let the kids sleep in " Grace said. "When they get up they are going to want to go outside and when this ice starts falling, it's going to get dangerous."
"I don't think this is going to thaw off too quickly." Gil said. He turned the TV on to a Kingsport station to get the local weather. The Ice storm had covered the entire area. Schools and businesses were closed and DOT assets were fighting to get roads open. It looked like they were running out of road salt, which made him think he had twenty-five bags of magnesium chloride mix down in the basement he needed to spread around after breakfast. Then the forecaster said another band of freezing temperatures was coming and a low system had formed over eastern Ohio that would hold the convergence of moisture and freezing temperatures in the area for several days. That meant they were going to get more freezing something.
"I need to get Billy moving and eat. We've got work to do."
"What's wrong?" Grace asked.
"We've got more of this crap coming and I need to get the right chains on the Gators. We might be in this mess for several days."
Billy was already up and coming down the stairs. Gil explained to Billy what was going on and Billy nodded as he ate his eggs, biscuits and gravy. While Billy was getting his heavy clothing on, Gil went down and got a couple of bags of the ice melt and spread it on the deck and all the steps. They both got their crampons on and went out to the Gator shed and pulled the two Gators there out. Billy went and got a jack and Gil got out the ice chains from the attic of the shed. He had never had to use them before. They shook the chains out of their bags and did a side at a time.
They quickly did both Gators and put the jack away.
"Do you have your radio?"
"No Sir." Billy replied.
"Go get it and go get the livestock fed Take some buckets of sweet feed up and give them all a good feeding. I'm going to deliver ice melt to the rest of the people. You take it easy, even with the chains it is going to be slippery out there. Take it slow and let the chains dig in."
Gil went to the basement door and carefully walked across the concrete floor in his crampons and loaded the bags onto the back of the Gator. His first stop was at Mollie's where he chipped the ice off the steps and applied the ice melt.
"What are you doing?" Mollie called from the door.
"Cleaning your steps. Mollie, unless the house catches on fire, stay inside. We've got more of this mess coming. Do you have plenty of firewood inside?"
"I was going to go out in a little while to get more."
"I'll bring it to your porch door. You just carry it the rest of the way. I've got crampons and don't want to mess up your floors."
Gil cleared the stairs to the porch and brought her wood up on the porch. She filled up her woodbox inside and Gil stacked more wood beside the door on the porch, out of the weather.
"Mollie, if you need more wood, you call me on the radio and either Billy or I will come down. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay Gil, Thanks."
Gil delivered ice melt to Brad and Allie where Brad was already clearing his steps.
"This is a mess!" Brad said.
"Yeah, and we will be in it for what looks like several more days. Keep your radio handy."
"Roger that."
When Gil got to Colt's place, he too was cleaning the ice away. Gil dropped off a couple of bags of ice melt and gave Colt the same spiel he'd given Brad.
Going up the drive to Trace and Sarah's the drive was icy, but the chains held well. He helped Trace finish cleaning and spread the ice melt.
"Keep your radio handy, Trace. I don't know how the cell towers are going to handle this."
"Okay Gil."
Gil went back to the house and wondered about the Deputy down at the bridge. He filled two more thermos bottles with water and coffee, and Grace made a couple of bacon, egg and cheese biscuits and two BLT sandwiches while Gil went out and put his illegal chains on. Tennessee DOT forbid this type of chains because they cut the asphalt up. Hell, he'd be lucky if the spikes even reached the asphalt!
He kept the Power Wagon in second gear all the way to 344 and checked the traffic. Nothing on the road so he eased out on out. The chains had a good grip but Gil never got above second gear. When he got to the barricade, Gil saw Deputy Jones was still there.
"You still on duty?" Gil asked.
"It got too dangerous to be on the roads last night. I called in and told them I'd stay."
"How did you fair?"
"Well enough, thanks to the food and coffee you left. I ran the car to keep the ice melted. I've got to go to the bathroom bad though."
"Take my truck up to the church fellowship hall and use the bathroom there, I'll hold the fort down until you get back. Keep it in second gear and you won't have any problems."
"Thanks Gil."
When Deputy Jones got back, he no longer had that pinched look on his face.
"How are you doing on gas?" Gil asked.
"I've got a quarter of a tank. Jones replied.
"I'll bring some fuel cans back and get you fueled up. You can call me on this frequency if you need anything. I've got an antenna on that ridge up there. Let me have these empty thermos bottles.
Deputy Jones got the bottles and gave them to Gil. "Did they recover the driver?" Gil asked.
"Yeah. He was still in the cab." Jones replied.
Gil slowly shook his head.
"I'll be back with the gas." Gil said, getting into his truck.
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 3, 2022 13:21:46 GMT -6
Chapter 219
Glen Took his axe and chopped a path to the outhouse and answered the call of nature. When he got back, he fixed a little oatmeal with dried blueberries and drank a cup of coffee. He thought about it a bit, then decided he'd wait until tonight to take a hot shower. It was nasty outside and he wasn't going anywhere. He took the jug of water he'd boiled the maple twigs in and had added alum. Reaching up on the wall, he took down four of the ash splint rolls and laid them on the table. Getting the drip pan he'd bought at Auto Zone on sale, he laid the hoops in the pan and covered them with the maple water. Soaking them for a while would give them a reddish tan hue that he wanted to pattern into one of the baskets.
Jarrod woke up from his nap to the stillness and the occasional cracking of tree limbs. Shuffling over to the door, it was crystal city outside. Ice covered everything! Beau wanted to go out but Jarrod made him wait until he could get on some clothes. After getting dressed and putting on his boots and hat, He eased his way on to the RV steps and down to the ground. He held Beau's collar to keep him from coming down too fast and got him on the ground. The first few steps were like watching a cow on ice. Beau stopped and looked back at Jarrod, giving him a "WTF" look. He had a little trouble cocking his leg at first, but soon got the hang of it and had steam rising from the base of three or four trees. Jarrod got a shovel and began breaking up the ice around the doorway. As he worked, sleet began to fall and was accumulating. Beau came back over and stood in front of the door and stared at it. Jarrod opened the door and Beau jumped up the steps.
"Wipe your feet!" Jarrod called out. Giving his work up as a lost cause for now, He put the shovel away and went inside to start on another basket.
Gil sat at the table, quizzing Billy on pilot exam questions. Every time he got a question right, Gil would lay a fresh one dollar bill in front of Billy. Every so often Billy laid one of them in front of Gil, but mostly he got them right.
"How much money do you have there?" Gil asked.
Billy counted the bills. "Forty-eight dollars."
"Okay double or nothing." Gil asked him the hardest question he could think of…..and Billy answered it correctly and explained his answer.
"HAH!" Billy yelled, slapping his hand on the table.
Gil grinned and started counting out forty-eight one dollar bills in front of Billy.
Gil finished counting. "There, now go play in the street or something."
Billy, grinning, scooped up the piles of money and went upstairs. Gil got up and went to the window, looking outside. The sleet that had been falling had turned to snow. This is going to be a mess! Gil thought. He went into the kitchen and got out the Whirley-Pop to pop popcorn and emptied it into two bowls. Grace had been on the couch with the twins, reading them a book when Gil walked in.
"TOM & JERRY TIME!" Gil called out.
The twins bounced up and down on the leather couch and cheered. Grace got up, grinning at Gil and started the DVD. Gil had the twins sit back on the couch and handed each a bowl of popcorn. They would be glued to the screen for the next two hours.
"You're going to ruin their dinner."
"Well, it's a snow day." Gil said, sticking his tongue out at Grace.
"Come on. Help me put a beef stew together." Grace said, taking Gil's arm.
"Jones to Gil." Gil's radio blared.
"Gil here."
"Just to let you know, they moved in Jersey barriers and big flashing warning signs. I'm outta here. I can leave the thermos bottles in the church fellowship hall."
"That's good. You be safe going back."
"Roger, you guys stay safe."
Glen woke up and opened the damper and added wood to the stove. It was starting to get chilly in the cabin. Pulling on his overalls and a wool shirt, he was glad he'd taken that shower the night before. Cracking open the door he looked out. Snow, and still coming down. He couldn't tell how much had fallen, but it was more than a couple of inches. He'd measure it later.
Sitting the frying pan on the stove, he began heating it up. His lips were dry, he needed to get a little moisture in the cabin. Taking out his favorite bean pot, he added freeze-dried onions and garlic, smoked pork neck bones, and about a pound of pinto beans. Adding a dash of salt, he covered it all in water, put the lid on and set it on the stovetop.
Taking out a couple of patties of pork sausage out of the refrigerator he had left in there to thaw the night before, he placed them in the frying pan and listened as they began to sizzle. He set the coffee pot up and it was soon making noises. He flipped the sausage and picked up the radio and switched to his and Jarrod's private frequency.
"Jarrod, you up?"
"Yeah, Uncle Glen. You okay?"
"Fine as a frog's hair. Just checking in.
" We're fine up here, although Beau hasn't been out yet. He's still wrapped up in my old blanket just looking at me."
Glen chuckled. "Dog's got good sense. Talk to ya later."
"Roger, out."
Jarrod got up and looked outside. Snowing.
"Beau, if you need to go out, you'd better go now. It's not going to get any better."
Beau blinked, got up, shaking the blanket off, and took a long stretch. Walking over to the door Beau stared out at the snow.
"Go! You're letting all the cold air in!"
Beau hopped down the steps and headed for a tree, left a big yellow spot and ran back to the door. Jarrod grinned. Beau wasn't wasting any time this morning. Jarrod opened the door and Beau came right in and took a drink from his bowl. Jarrod filled his food bowl and gave him a dental chew. Beau took the bone over to his bed and laid back down.
"Breakfast in bed this morning?" Jarrod asked.
Beau began worrying at the bone. Jarrod took a hot shower and made a big helping of oatmeal with brown sugar and dried blueberries. It would keep him filled. As he stirred the oatmeal with the round spurtle, he looked around. He needed to move the finished baskets out to the trailer. They were beginning to take up space. He also needed to get more splints from Uncle Glen.
Jarrod finished cooking his oatmeal, poured a cup of coffee and turned on the weather radio, Listening to the local news while eating, that's when he found out about the bridge. That poor man. He said a quick little prayer for the man and his family. Finishing his oatmeal, he washed everything up, dried, and put everything back in its place. Throwing on his coat and trapper's hat, he set the baskets next to the door and went outside. Reaching back in the doorway, he grabbed half the baskets and headed for the trailer, unlocked it and put the baskets inside. One more load got them all inside. Jarrod went back in the RV and prepared for his little trip down to Uncle Glen's.
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 3, 2022 13:26:06 GMT -6
Chapter 220
Glen was removing the bark from the small log with the draw knife when Jarrod knocked and he and Beau came in.
"Good morning!"
Beau walked over to Glen and nuzzled his hand trying to get him to scratch his ears.
"Good morning, Jarrod, Beau. You two are out and about early. What's up?"
"I ran out of splints."
"You finished all those baskets?"
"Yes Sir…hey! How did you get that tint?"
"Soaked 'em in maple water with some alum to set the color."
"Do you have any other colors?"
"Not yet. I was thinking of trying blueberries next. There's more of those splints hanging up over yonder you can give a try."
Jarrod took four of the tinted splints and gathered up an armload of the untinted ones.
"You need some help making splints?"
"Nope. It helps me break up my time during the day. Where are you storing your baskets?"
"I'm keeping the finished ones in the trailer."
"I need to haul some of these out. I'm running out of space. Maybe when the weather lightens up we can take the bunch over to Grace. She's going to sell 'em on consignment to make money for the church."
"Yeah, we can do that." Jarrod agreed. "You need anything?"
"Nope. Got me a pot of beans on and I'm not getting' outside except to go to the jakes. I'm good."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
Glen went back to removing the bark from the log.
Gil went down to the forge building and heated up the neck on a hoe with his torch and bent it out straight. It wasn't snowing so heavily now and was supposed to stop later on in the afternoon. As soon as it quit, they'd remove the snow and scrape the ice. That's why he was turning the hoe into an ice scraper. Temperatures were supposed to get in the high forties day after tomorrow. If he could get the snow removed, the ice would melt quicker. He took his "new" ice scraper and went back to the house and set it by the door on the deck. Brushing the snow from his hat and coat he opened the door. Grace already had the "snow blanket " in front of the door so he stood on it to remove his hat, coat and boots. Slipping on the moccasins Grace had set out, he went into the kitchen and the smell of bacon frying. He took a piece and was ready to bite into it when Grace popped him on the hand with her tongs.
"Don't eat up my bacon! I'm making pasta salad with bacon crumbles!"
Gil finished eating the piece of bacon and grinned. "You can hold back on mine a little."
She snorted and pushed him away from the stove.
"Have you talked to Glen this morning?" Grace asked.
"No, I haven't. I need to call the Reverend too if the phones are working."
"Mine isn't working this morning." Grace said.
Gil took his radio out of its holster and called Glen.
"Glen. Are you up over there?"
The radio broke squelch. "Been up since light."
"Just checking to make sure you and Jarrod were all right."
"We're both fine. Tell Grace as soon as the weather is tolerable, we'll have her a passel of baskets to sell."
"Okay, I will. If you need anything, just yell."
"I will. Ya'll take care."
"Roger Glen, out."
"You know, I was thinking of taking the baskets down to Yoder's. They'd get a lot more exposure down there." Grace said.
"Good idea. Really, with the bridge out, it would be easier to get them there than Rogersville."
"I'm sure."
The radio broke squelch again.
"Gil, you on?"
Yeah, Whatcha got Trace.
"I checked on Reverend Jim this morning. He's fine."
"Okay, thanks."
"Roger, out."
Later that afternoon the snow stopped and Gil took the snow shovel and a broom and removed the snow from the deck. Once the snow was off, Gil spread the snow melt on the ice. You could hear it start cracking. He didn't even try to move any of the furniture, it was frozen to the deck. Gil took Alan and Alana out to play for a bit but they soon tired of the cold and he took them back in.
Later Gil and Billy cleared the snow from in front of the buildings and spread snow melt on the ground and the deck. Tomorrow it should speed up the melting process.
|
|
|
Post by gipsy on Feb 3, 2022 15:24:55 GMT -6
Thanks for the update. Kind of prophetic to our weather here. Just not as much ice so far.
|
|
|
Post by texican on Feb 3, 2022 17:24:37 GMT -6
biscuits and gravyare a food group by themselves. One of my favorites with chicken fried steak and gravy.
Texican....
|
|
|
Post by texican on Feb 3, 2022 17:43:43 GMT -6
A thin glaze of ice had formed on the bridge, invisible to the naked eye. The truck hit the icy spot and went into a skid, the truck slamming into the bridge railing.
Mother wrecked her vehicle on a trip from work on black ice on a bridge for you can not see it. I remember how upset she was and learned that when you approach a bridge you let off the accelerator and coast across the bridge.
I was going into work at a hospital in Dallas late one morning with ice and snow on 35E. The section of 35E I was on was elevated with guard rails and a curb on the inside lane. A semi was in the left lane and I was in the right lane approaching a bridge when I checked my review mirror and saw this car speeding down the highway and knew that the vehicle would not make it across the bridge. She must have been late for work. I had already taken my foot off the accelerator and watched the vehicle pass me and spin out. The gal's vehicle went in front of the semi and I knew she was toast, but in a couple of seconds her vehicle bounced out from in front of the semi and stopped in front of me. She had to be going fast enough that her vehicle slide sideways in front of the semi and I bet she could only see the front of the semi. That had to be an experience that she would never forget. She had to hit the curb hard enough to throw her vehicle out of the semi's path. The semi never hit its brakes. She was ashen and her knuckles on the wheel were white, but she did not appear to be hurt. The semi and I watched her straighten out and take the next exit. She had to go home and change clothes after that experience.
People in the south do not learn how to drive on snow and ice for it only happens every few years. I learned to drive on snow and ice in Lubbock where it snowed and had ice several times a winter. Took a girlfriend back to her apartment in the wee hours one morning and it had snowed and there were no tracks in the snow. Went to the Furr's parking lot where there were no parking blocks and had so much fun spinning the Torino GT and perfecting my driving skills on snow and ice. Was nearly day light when I made it back to the apartment.
Be careful out there with the snow and ice that covers a lot of middle America.
Texican....
|
|
|
Post by gipsy on Feb 3, 2022 18:08:52 GMT -6
I was in Dallas for a morning commute on ice. It was the funniest thing I ever saw watching them try time after time to go up a parking or freeway ramp spinning tires like crazy.
|
|
|
Post by freebirde on Feb 3, 2022 19:51:10 GMT -6
Somebody whisper in Gil's ear "Hovercrafts".
If you don't want to wait until it completely cools to crumble, cut up the bacon before cooking. If you keep stirring the pan full of cut up bacon, you will get a more consistent doneness without some parts burnt and other rare.
|
|
|
Post by catspaw65 on Feb 4, 2022 1:40:05 GMT -6
Somebody whisper in Gil's ear "Hovercrafts". If you don't want to wait until it completely cools to crumble, cut up the bacon before cooking. If you keep stirring the pan full of cut up bacon, you will get a more consistent doneness without some parts burnt and other rare. I made breakfast fried rice for dinner and that is how I prepare the bacon. Love that crunch.
|
|
|
Post by gipsy on Feb 4, 2022 9:03:45 GMT -6
"BACON" "BACON" "BACON" "BACON" "BACON"
|
|
|
Post by texican on Feb 4, 2022 17:41:39 GMT -6
Perfect food: bacon gravy and biscuits.
Texican....
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 4, 2022 20:59:38 GMT -6
Chapter 221
When Gil got up, it was thirty eight degrees. He stepped out on the deck and applied snow melt to the deck and steps. Looking up in the sky he could see very few clouds and knew once the sun was fully up, the ice would be melting quickly. He put a pot of coffee on and turned on the weather radio and listened to the forecast. The recording said it would get to forty-eight degrees today but Gil figured at least fifty. It always got a couple of degrees warmer than the radio report. Good, the ice would melt even quicker. After the coffee perked, he filled a travel mug, donned his hat and coat, and walked out to the furnace. Removing ashes and adding wood, he continued down to the greenhouse and serviced the furnace there. Walking back to the house, he could already see little rivulets of water beginning to flow from the melting ice and snow.
Jarrod stepped outside with Beau and the brilliance of the first rays of sunlight reflecting off the crystal-like trees almost hurt his eyes. Squinting and looking around, he could see droplets of water forming on the tree twigs. There would be ice falling all day long. Beau stayed out a little longer, sniffing around where the animals had been, his fur wet from the dripping trees. Jarrod went back inside and got a towel he kept for Beau and brought it back out. Getting his recliner and Beau's outside water bowl out, he set them up and filled the bowel with water. He looked around to make certain no falling ice would damage anything then unlocked the awning and rolled it out. Jarrod retrieved a tarp and Beau's outside blanket from the trailer and set his resting area up. Getting kindling and wood from the woodpile and a firestarter and the Lightning Strike from the storage bin, he lit a fire, soon, having a good fire going. Beau finished his pee patrol and came back to the fire pit. Jarrod rubbed him down with the towel and Beau flopped down on his pad by the fire ring.
Jarrod went back inside and poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a Milk Bone for Beau. Silently, they sat by the fire and enjoyed the beginning of the day.
Beau's head snapped to the right, jumped up and ran around the front of the LTi. Jarrod started to get up but sat back down when he heard his Uncle Glen's voice. Soon, Beau trotted back to his pad and Glen walked up.
"Morning Jarrod."
"Morning Uncle Glen."
"You feel like going into town?"
"Sure, but it will be a ride."
"I figure this afternoon we could run down to Morristown. I need a red cabbage, more alum, a bag of baking soda and a jug of vinegar. "What do you need a red cabbage for?"
"Red cabbage and baking soda is supposed to give a robin's egg blue tint. Blueberry juice and vinegar a is supposed to give a pastel pink. I don't know the exact amounts so I've got to experiment."
"Okay, I'm game. What time do you want to leave?"
"Any time after 1300. The roads should be good then."
"Okay. When you're ready, come on up."
Gil drove his Power Wagon down to the bridge barricade and looked around. They had even set up fence barricades warning of the closed bridge several hundred yards from the bridge, but left room enough to go around for local residents. He sat there and his thoughts drifted to the truck driver's family. Turning around at the entrance to the boat ramp, he headed out on 344 to take the long way around to Rogersville. Seeing he had cell service, Gil called Grace and told her he was headed to the Sheriff's Department.
Thirty minutes later Gil arrived at the Sheriff's office, finding Will coming out of a meeting.
"Hey Gil. I appreciate your help the other day."
"No problem Will. What about the truck driver's family?"
Sheriff Tatum slowly shook his head. "Sad. Kevin James left a young wife and a two year old girl. She works up at Food City. There is a fund started for them and the gravel company paid out on a small insurance policy, but she's going to have some hard times ahead."
"Okay, that's all I need to know. Hey, that Jones is a good Deputy."
Will smiled. "I'll tell him you said so."
Gil went back out to his truck and called Abe Gates' office number and his receptionist answered.
"Kathy, this is Gill Conner. Is Abe in?"
""Hold a moment Gil, I'll connect you."
"Abe Gates."
"Abe? Gil. Can you meet me down at the First Community Bank in ten minutes?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"New charity project."
Gil watched as Abe walked up to the bank. His office was only two blocks away.
"Morning Gil."
"Morning Abe. Let's go in and talk to George."
George Stillman, the bank president, quickly ushered them into his office."
"What can I do for you gentlemen today?"
"I'm sure you heard about the accident at the bridge the other day."
"Yes, yes, a real tragedy."
"I want you and Abe to put your heads together. I want to set up an education fund for the James girl, also for the mother if she needs more training. I want all bills and mortgages wiped clean. If they need a new vehicle, get them one. Then get her the money it would take to clothe, feed and house the James family for three years. Abe, this is all to be handled through the Foundation. Questions?"
"Pretty cut and dried. We'll take care of it Gil." Abe said.
"Then I'll leave you gentlemen to your tasks. Call me if you need anything."
“Gil, We’ll get this done but there’s another matter I need to talk to you about.” Abe said.
“Sure, I’ve got time now if you want.”
“No, I’ll give you a call and set up a time.”
Gil went up to Tractor Supply, picked up more mineral blocks and returned home.
Filling buckets with wildlife feed, Gil filled the feeders and replaced mineral blocks. He spread handfuls of feed on the ground around the feeders. After filling the guinea feeder, he went back to the house to find Grace and Mollie making bread in the kitchen.
"Gil, Mollie and I were talking. Is there anything we can do for that truck driver's family?"
"Already taken care of."
"Is that why you went into town?"
Gil shrugged. "I had to pick up some mineral blocks too."
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 4, 2022 21:01:50 GMT -6
Chapter 222
That afternoon UPS showed up with two heavy boxes. Gil signed for them and placed them in the shop. The shipping label read JAARS, with an address in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Suspiciously, he cut the tape on the boxes to find they were filled with radios.
Bill….
Gil called Brad and had him come up to the shop. When Brad arrived Gil asked him what he was doing that day.
"Making some silencers."
Gil cut his eyes and shook his head.
"Hey! My life is filled with a series of undocumented ATF violations."
"Okay, get these radios charged and programmed for all Bluff View adults including Jarrod and Glen, and one for Billy, and be prepared to give a class on them."
"Roger that!"
Glen got two big red cabbages, two gallons of vinegar, a big bag of baking soda, two big bags of frozen blueberries and what alum they had at the Walmart Supercenter. Alum wasn't normally stocked this time of year, just during canning season. He picked up more at Ingles. When they returned home, Glen dumped the blueberries into a large stockpot he'd found a while back in a thrift store and added a couple of gallons of water. He'd let that simmer overnight and strain it tomorrow and start his experimentation. Taking out another stockpot from his shed, he cut the red cabbages up and threw them into the pot and added the water, placing it also on the stovetop. Glen reminded Jarrod they needed to take the baskets over to Grace in the morning. Jarrod said he'd be over around 0900 with his baskets.
The next morning, Jarrod went down to Glen's cabin. All the baskets with handles were strung together with a 4mm cord run through the handle and the square ones with tops were placed in a hammock/survival fishing net to keep them all together.
"Helllo the cabin!"
Glen stuck his head out the door.
"I'm going to take these on down to the hovercraft."
"Okay. Can you come back and help me?"
"Sure, I'll be right back."
Glen gathered up all his baskets and strung a cord through the handles. He had four bundles you could comfortably handle. Jarrod came back and picked two of them up and Glen carried two. Glen checked the fuel and oil in the hovercraft and started the engines. The temperature was in the mid-thirties and the wind was chilly on their faces but they were soon across. They loaded the baskets in the back of the Suburban and headed for Gil and Grace's house.
Gil was coming out of the shop when they drove up.
"Brought Grace her baskets." Glen said.
"Let's lay them out in the garage so she can see them good." Gil said.
After they had the baskets arranged by size on the garage floor, Gil called Grace.
Grace zeroed in immediately on a couple with the tinted splints.
"I'm keeping these two for myself!"
Glen chuckled. "You do what you want with them."
"But I can't take them." Grace frowned.
Glen looked startled. "Why? What's wrong?"
"They are much too valuable! But I will trade you for them! What about ten pounds of potatoes, six pints of strawberry jam, six pints of blueberry jelly, and six pints of whatever kraut you want and six pints of watermelon rind of your choice?"
Glen frowned. "I don't know, that's a lot of food. You think these baskets are worth all that?"
"And more. The baskets with the tinted splints will be worth even more. Take it or leave it."
Glen grinned. "We'll take it."
Grace went over and hugged Glen. "I'm serious. Make more baskets with the tinted splints. They will sell like hotcakes." Grace said.
Gil helped gather up the food and put it into cardboard boxes and Glen and Jarrod drove away.
"Gil, Burt at Food City called. The case of pectin came in that I back-ordered. Could we go pick it up?"
"Sure, I'll help get the kids ready."
"No, just me and you. Mollie said she'd watch Alan and Alana."
Gil grinned. "Okay then, get yer britches on woman!"
Grace rushed into the house and got her coat and gloves and hopped into the Power Wagon with Gil. Gil took his time, enjoying riding with his wife, commenting on the tree damage and seeing the places people slid off the roads. When they got to Food City, Grace went straight to the manager's office to see Burt and Gil hung out in front. A young woman, working at one of the checkout counters walked over to Gil.
"I don't know how you did it, but thank you." She said, then hugged his neck.
"Gil blushed and stammered. "I'm s-s-sorry I…"
"You're Gil Conner, aren't you? I'm Diane Deese. I'm Kevin James' sister-in-law. I want to thank you for setting things up for my sister. You've taken a big burden off of her shoulders."
"I didn't do any…"
"Oh hush! People around this town know Abe Gates doesn't sneeze a nickel without your prodding. Just….thank you."
"Diane! Are you molesting my husband?"
"No, I want to throw him on the floor and kiss the hell out of him, but I have my modesty."
Grace grinned at Gil. "Burt's getting the pectin."
"You're canning this time of year?" Diane asked.
"Just some pureed strawberries we put up back in the summer. We're going to make jam out of it and clear up some shelf space."
"Well, ya'll take care. I need to get back to work. Thanks again, Gil." Diane said, wiping her eyes and returning to checkout.
Gil looked at Grace. "You set me up."
"Diane called me early this morning and told me what Abe had done. I knew you were hiding behind Abe and wanted you to understand just how much people appreciate what you do. So there! Beat me, bite me, burn me, make me feel unwanted, but I won't stop loving you for the man you are!"
Burt came out with the pectin and insisted he carry the case out to the truck for them. They put the case in the back seat and Grace got in.
"Take me to our cabin, Mr. Dudley Doo-Right." Grace grinned.
Gil and Grace dropped the pectin off at the canning house and returned home. Brad was waiting with Billy. Grace Got Mollie and Brad went over the new radios with them. They had a primary channel for the Bluff View net, a family private net, a tactical net, and four other channels programmed for as needed use. The radio was in a constant scan until someone pushed the mic button on net and started transmitting. You could just listen or you could press its net button and fully transmit and receive. They were much easier to use than the older radios and every channel was encrypted. Brad collected the older radios and issued new radios, charging stations and spare batteries. He'd mothball the older sets.
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 4, 2022 21:08:38 GMT -6
Chapter 223
The ice had disappeared from the trees and a drying wind had helped get rid of a lot of moisture on the ground. The logging crew returned and began working again. Gil had marked out more of the roadway and trees. And a few of Don's men came in and began preparing the roadbed from the gate and around the property to the edge of the old woodline. Earth scrapers, bulldozers, and compactors worked hard and dump trucks hauled in assorted sizes of stone to make the roadbed sturdy.
Jarrod's bike was delivered and a thrilled Jarrod and Glen raced across the river to where the crates had been dropped off near the greenhouse. As they unpacked the crates, Jarrod was like a kid at his first Christmas. After unpacking the bike, he made sure the bike had oil, added gas, and mounted the hitch to the bike. He'd wait to mount the side car when they got it back to the other side. He'd bought the GPS holder as an accessory and mounted that, but mostly left the other things disassembled. With some careful packing and strapping down, they managed to get the bike and the rest of the parts on Glen's hovercraft and got it over to Bear Head Point. Jarrod connected the one-wheel trailer and set the side car, manuals, and assorted pieces yet to be mounted and he made his way through the woods back up to his camp. Glen didn't see him the rest of the day. One extra option Jarrod had purchased had been the quick change rear cargo rack that gave Beau a seat behind Jarrod or as extra cargo space. In hindsight, Jarrod probably could have done without because Beau usually would rather run beside the bike than ride on it.
The women were in full jam making production. Quarts of pureed strawberries were emptied in to pots and turned into pints of delicious strawberry jam. Dozens of pints of cooling jam were lining the tables, and the cooled jars were packed into the cases to be stored after decorative labels had been placed on the jars. The labels were a simple woodcut-like depiction of the bluff edited from a picture Billy had taken while he and Gil had flown around the property. The depiction, in black ink, overlaying the brown paper was recognizable to those who knew the property, not so that anyone not from Bluff View could recognize the location. The simple lettering "Bluff View Strawberry Jam" adorned the rest of the label.
The next day, Grace and Mollie took a case of jam and two of each type of basket down to Yoder's Country Market in Bulls Gap and made their pitch. The owners' were enthusiastic about the basket and thrilled about the full-bodied taste of the jam. They bought everything straight up and were hurriedly putting everything on display. Several baskets were snatched up by customers before price tags were even placed on them. The manager got Grace to the side and contracted for as many of the baskets as they could deliver. Grace reminded him these were hand made by only two people, but they would do the best they could. She did promise weekly deliveries though. A happy Grace and Mollie drove back to Bluff View with plans swirling in their heads.
When they got home, the women got together and talked. Shannon and Debra showed interest in learning how to make baskets, so Grace was going to ask Glen if he and Jarrod would train them. Grace called Glen and asked them over for dinner so they could discuss the proposition. Glen said he would be proud to train the women and Jarrod agreed. They decided to use the canning building as their training area. Glen asked Gil to mill up a couple of Ash trees and make billets. They'd need a lot of splints.
Taking note of what was going on and transportation needed, Gil decided to get a cargo hovercraft. He called Universal Hovercraft and ordered the UH Heavy Load craft that had a 2500 pound payload to be delivered in a shipping container to Bluff View. They gave him a delivery date of two weeks. Gil had Billy find an Ash tree about ten inches across they could mill for Glen. A couple of days later Billy found one they could cut four, four foot logs out of. Gil called Glen to come over to take a look at it. Glen was excited and said it was just what they needed when Gil said they would mill it up into billets and then run the billets through the planner, alleviating the need for draw knife work. That would decrease Glen's splint making time.
When the basket making classes started, Mollie added herself to the group. Glen milled the billets and ran them through the planer. Glen and Gil moved a three-foot piece of hickory log into the canning house and set it upright, for Glen to have something to pound out splints on. He kept the billets damp with a spray of water and wrapped them in 6-mil plastic. Gil's input was a splint trimming board he made with a box cutter blade and a little fence held in place with thumbscrews. You could quickly run a splint through and make any width you wanted.
The deftness of the women was soon shown as they turned out their baskets. Jarrod and Glen seldom had to correct them, only show them different or better ways to do things. Baskets were turned out each day, with Glen adding the tinted splints to their work material. The women were quickly producing more attractive designs than them men had. As each new type of basket was made, Grace would take pictures of it and added it to her folder. Her intention was to make a sample sheet with the name of the basket and the wholesale price for Yoder's. If the sales of one type basket exceeded their expectations, Yoder's would give them a call and add more of a specific basket to their weekly delivery. The harvest baskets were usually made of plain splints, but then the girls would at a tinted splint to the top of each basket, giving each its own distinction.
Grace had to use the Suburban to make their next delivery to Yoder's. They were even told to bring another case of strawberry jam. Before they even unloaded the baskets, two employees were out at the Suburban with price guns and a store checklist to price the baskets before they went inside. Again, customers were taking up the baskets before they could be put on display. At least this time, they had brought more baskets than the customers were prepared to buy. Grace gave the manager the wholesale display sheet which he immediately made a file copy and replaced the prices with his retail prices and placed it into a document protector for the employees to refer to.
On the way back, Mollie said, "You know, we are close to doubling our Church Charity Fund."
"I know, let's stop by and give Reverend Jim the checks."
When they pulled up at the parsonage, Reverend Jim greeted them at the door. He was surprised when he saw the amount of the checks.
"This is quite the profitable enterprise. Do you think maybe Glen could train volunteers here in the Fellowship Hall? Some of the people would enjoy the work and would feel good about being able to contribute."
"I'll talk to Glen. It would free up our people for work at the Bluffs."
"I'll talk to the congregation Sunday and see how many volunteers we can get." The Reverend said.
Glen quickly agreed to train the people. He wanted nothing more than to see his grandmother's skills carried on. From then on, his time was spent on making and tinting splints. Sunday, Reverend Jim, after the sermon, gave a financial report on the charity fund and told them of the small enterprise. When he asked for volunteer basket makers, twelve women and four men raised their hands. He asked to meet with them after church in the Fellowship Hall. A lot of smiling faces left the church that day. Grace and the Reverend met with the people and got contact information. They set up a time for their first class on Wednesday and everyone departed.
Glen and Jarrod were spending all their time making splints and tinting about a third of them. Gil even got into the act and helped make splints, then he and Brad took the log truck and went to Bear Head Point to bring back a load of Ash logs to mill. They now had dozens of billets planed and moistened, waiting to be turned into splints.
Gil cut two, three foot hickory stumps to take to the Fellowship Hall for the older men in the volunteers to make splints. They delivered everything there Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the class on Wednesday.
Wednesday, all the volunteers showed up and Glen began with a brief history of basket making and the various materials used to make them. He had piles of splints laying on the table in front of the "students" and began teaching the women how to start weaving a harvest basket, their biggest seller. Jarrod took the men into another portion of the hall and showed them how to pound the billets and separate the growth rings into splints and to further split the splints. These were older men and wouldn't have the stamina to work very long. That was the reason there were only two pounding stumps. They could rotate around between the four men. They would build up their stamina after a few days.
That afternoon four men with tired arms and twelve women with sore and stiffening fingers left the Fellowship Hall with smiles on their faces and senses of accomplishment.
|
|
|
Post by cavsgt on Feb 4, 2022 21:27:30 GMT -6
Thank You Phill
|
|
|
Post by gipsy on Feb 4, 2022 22:40:05 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
|
|
|
Post by bluefox2 on Feb 5, 2022 8:00:58 GMT -6
Good story. always a good feeling to read about folks helping folks with a hand up not just a hand out.
|
|
|
Post by udwe on Feb 5, 2022 22:29:13 GMT -6
This is a great story, glad to see they are teaching people "to fish"!
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 6, 2022 18:29:50 GMT -6
Chapter 224
Gil closed the back of the Suburban and he and Colt got in.
"Lots of meat." Colt commented.
"Yeah, but we eat good.''
"When are you picking up the yearlings?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, from a guy on Pleasant Hill Road down near Bulls Gap."
"I'll help you." Colt said.
They unloaded the meat at Gil's. The women had rotated the meat out of the freezers in the Chamber and were divvying it out and separating what Gil and Colt had brought home to place in the Chamber freezers.
Glen continued his experiments with tint coloring. He now had a Robin's Egg Blue, Pastel Pink, Reddish Tan, and Yellow-Green. The earth tone colors worked well for now. He'd be able to make more brilliant yellows in the spring and summer when the goldenrods and dandelions started blooming. He toyed with the idea of using food colors but stuck with planted-based colors. Next week, he'd start adding tinted splines to each table and have the women weave in their own unique patterns. He didn't want any two baskets to look alike. Gil had ordered express an little electric branding iron with a circular design that said "Bluff View Christian Church and had a cross in the center. Every basket was branded on the bottom with the logo.
The Bluff women were still weaving baskets, but they took it up much like other women took up knitting. Some of the baskets were kept for themselves, but they continued trying assorted designs. Glen had to make some stiffer splints for Shannon. She was making a laundry hamper and needed the extra support. Glen had to show her some new techniques in order to get what she wanted. Soon, the other women took up the idea and began making their own unique patterns with the tinted splints.
Gil and Colt picked up the yearlings and turned them out into the pasture. They walked around the pasture electric fence and kicked weeds away from the wire. It wouldn't bother the operation but the charger was strong enough to set fire to the grass. Returning to the equipment barn, they washed out the cow flops the yearlings had left behind.
When the women volunteers had thirty-six harvest baskets made, he had each weaver make one more basket and gave them assorted colors of splines and told them to come up with their own design. The men were having a contest on who could make the most splints, while the other two were rolling up hoops of splints and tying them off. Glen crossed his arms and watched. It reminded him of his time at the Special Forces School, instructing students and watching them have fun learning.
The gate buzzer sounded and Grace checked the monitor. Seeing it was Abe Gates, he pressed the latch release and called Gil on the radio. Gil was down at the forge building and stepped out as Abe's car drove up. Abe and another man got out.
"Gil, I want you to meet my nephew, Gary Gates. Gary is going to start taking over my clients, I'm going to retire."
Good for you Abe. Gary, good to meet you." Gil said, shaking Gary's hand.
"Gil, Gary is going to be working with me for the next six months, getting to know the lay of the land. Of course, my two main clients are the Foundation and you."
Gil grinned. "Well, I'll try and not make it too rough on you, Gary."
"Gary grinned. "I'd appreciate that."
"So, what do you need from me?" Gil asked.
"Nothing, I just wanted you to know there's a new and up and coming Sheriff in town."
"Well, you deserve to take it easy for once; get some fishing in and relax."
"Well, we need to get along. Gary, give him your cell number. Our office number will be the same."
Gil got the number from Gary and watched them drive away.
The next day an 10'x8'x8' 6" shipping container was delivered. When it was off-loaded, Gil broke the seal and found it stuffed with ammo. He stood and stared at it for a minute then called Brad.
"Brad, can you come down to the forge?"
Brad arrived a few minutes later.
"What's this?"
"Ammo."
Brad opened the container and checked over a few lot numbers and their dates.
"This is all fairly new manufacture."
"That's what I thought. Look, what do you think of building a bunker in the corner of the woods by the range and rotating some of the older lot numbers down there and store this up at the chambers."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Okay, I'll throw a lock on this and order a refurbished twenty footer container. "We can bury this ourselves. Just build some cedar revetment walls and mound it with dirt, like we did the root cellar."
"Okay, let me know when you want to start."
"Okay. Let me make some calls."
Glen asked Gil to get him some more deep, oil drip pans so Gil and Grace went to Auto Zone and picked up more. The took them to the Fellowship Hall and found the weavers busy and the splint making was going at a steady pace. Glen was showing the men also how to tint the splints. The hall was filling up with completed baskets.
"When is your next delivery Grace?" Glen asked.
"Friday. They called this morning and are running low."
"Well, you need to talk to them about storing a certain stockage down there, and how many they can store. Maybe get a shipping container if nothing else. That way, they could just call you and you could replenish the stockage."
"I'll talk to them. Oh good! You're using more colors!"
"Yep. Some of the women are doing patterns, some are making all tinted baskets. I'm thinking of introducing Shannon's idea of hampers too. I'll have one with a tinted pattern for you to take down with you to show."
"Great! Glen, this isn't taking too much of your time, is it?"
"Oh no! I'm having fun. As we get enough stockage ahead, I'm letting the ladies produce their own basket designs and work the kinks out. They're producing some great Ideas. One lady came up with the idea for a storage hassock with a padded quilt pattern lid. We've just got to come up with a design that's strong enough for a person to sit on."
"Have you come up with more tints?" Grace asked.
"We're basically stuck with the plant dyes we have now. Come flower blooming time, I can start working with some other colors."
"Okay, we'll get out of your hair then. Magnificent work!"
"Glen seems happy." Grace said as they headed home.
"Yeah, he was a hell of a fighter but he told me one time he really enjoyed training people and letting them come up with their own ideas. It got the students more involved."
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 6, 2022 18:33:32 GMT -6
Chapter 225
Shannon got another container. It arrived on Thursday and Gil and Brad were there to help her open it up.
"What do the shipping documents say?" Gil asked.
"I don't know. It looks to be in Chinese. I can't read this!"
"Gil, doesn't Glen speak Chinese?" Brad asked.
"I think so. Let me call him.
"Glen, pick up."
"Whatcha got?"
"You speak Chinese?"
"Little Rusty, but yeah."
"When you get time, can you run down to the equipment barn? I need you to identify some things."
"Be there in a few."
When Glen got there, Shannon handed him the manifest.
"Let's see….looks like….a Trailer Mounted Kitchen #80048. Boy! This container definitely got off track. Looks like this was intended for the Chinese Army. Let's see…this will feed three hundred troops three meals a day, it's multifuel, there are insulated food containers in there….up to sixty liter capacity….has a field hot water system and complete cook set with utensils.
"What the heck are we going to do with this?" Shannon asked.
"I don't know. We'll take it out. Work up a cost estimate between what it cost us and its value. Maybe we can donate it to the church and write it off on the taxes. Shannon, talk with the accountant and see what we can do." Gil said.
Gil used the 7x10 foot enclosed trailer to carry the next delivery of baskets to Yoder's. They didn't take any more jam. They just didn't have the production Yoder's needed, so they stuck with the baskets, but they did double the normal number of baskets they delivered. Again, the manager had two employees put the price tags on the baskets before the baskets were taken through the back door. When Grace showed them the laundry hamper, the manager was ecstatic. He was asking for another delivery as soon as possible because they wanted to test sales in their Yanceyville, North Carolina store. He even requested six inch open topped baskets to display loose candies in.
Gil told him they had doubled their normal delivery and he could use those to stock the store. The manager agreed to either make room in their small warehouse or arrange a storage building to be moved in. Grace told him to call her when they had the storage figured out and she would make an immediate delivery.
As they headed back to Bluff View, Grace and Gil discussed the basket sales.
"Gil, we're getting excellent sales at the Mennonite store, what do you think about offering Cracker Barrel the same deal?"
"Well first, be careful not to overextend yourself. Second, if you offer Cracker Barrel the same prices, you won't make as much. You'll have to figure in transportation costs. Oh! Did Gary get the 501(c)(3) set up?"
"Yep, all done. Bluff View Christian Charities is official."
The two shadowy figures move below the ridgeline as not to silhouette their bodies against the starlight. The larger of the two held up his hand and went to one knee, the shorter of the two mimicking and taking off his pack. Laying a small tarp on the ground, he unfolded the entrenching tool, unfolded it and began removing the leaves from a spot on the ground and placed them aside. As the larger figure kept watch, a hole was dug to specific dimensions, dirt carefully laid on the tarp. After a few minutes, the two switched positions and the excavation of the hole continued. Fifteen minutes later, the hole was finished with gloved hands cleaning out the last dirt in the bottom of the hole. The black five gallon bucket was silently set in the bottom of the hole and dirt was hand packed around it. When the bucket was covered and the dirt packed down, the leaves were replaced and sifted over the cache. Tying the tarp up to hold the remaining dirt, the two figures returned to the bottom of the ridge on a meandering route. Setting the tarp containing the leftover soil inside the door of the equipment shed, the two figures returned to their home.
Gil set the accumulated buckets of ash in the back of the Gator and headed for the mulch pile. Stopping by the equipment barn, he added the tarp of soil in the with buckets. After dumping everything, he went over to the greenhouse furnace and gathered up the buckets there and dumped them. Brad and Colt rode up in one of the E-Gators.
"We've got the other cases packed. Colt and I will set up the next cache tonight."
"Did you add the deterrents?"
"Yep, two claymores in each case."
"Good. When we have them all emplaced, we'll switch around and verify locations. I want to set up one more cache down near the pasture with full loadouts for six people."
"We'll pack them up this afternoon." Brad said.
The slope for the bunker was shallow so they only dug down enough to level and pack gravel for drainage.
When the container was delivered, they maneuvered it into position and leveled it. Cutting a doorway in the side, they began building the revetment walls and anchoring them into position. Gil attached ventilator pipes onto the top at both ends and when they put the pond liner over the container, then sealed around the pipes with roofing tar before placing the ventilator cap on the pipes. Now they had to get enough dirt to cover everything. Don came to the rescue. He sent over to large dump trucks of excess dirt from the road building. Brad used the tractor to scoop up and cover the container while Gil and Colt built the door. Grace and Mollie planted blueberry shoots over the whole mound.
Trace, Colt and Brad began moving the ammo. They didn't fill the bunker but they had plenty stored there for all the calibers their guns needed.
The TDOT report was harsh for the cause of the bridge failure. All though the concrete pylons met standards, the steel girders and concrete used for the roadbed were substandard. Bridge inspection programs were re-written to more stringent standards and orders for the construction of the new bridge were set in motion. The new bridge was shifted fifty meters to the south through the boat ramp parking area and new pylons were sunk to bedrock and concrete poured. As a training event, elements of the 5th Special Forces came from Ft. Campbell Kentucky and blew the remains of the old bridge into small pieces. This was done in stages because one blast would have shattered windows for miles around.
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 6, 2022 18:35:07 GMT -6
Chapter 226
Grace and Mollie were on their way back from Rogersville when the snow started, and it was coming down heavily. Gil was filling the furnace when Mollie called him on the radio telling him they were going to have to slow down and might be a little late. Gil had no worries because Grace could handle snow whether in two or four wheel drive.
Gil had just finished attending to the greenhouse furnace when Grace and Mollie went by in the Jeep. He picked up the bands he'd cut from the pallet and placed them in the trash can. Looking out over the garden, the ground was already covered in fluffy snow. He zipped up his pile-lined jacket and hurried to the Gator.
"Hey Babe. How are the roads?"
"They're fine, if you drive with some sense. Some idiot passed us on 70 and started fishtailing and went into a ditch."
"Are they all right?"
"I guess so. There was a Sheriff's car coming from the opposite direction. When he saw what was happening, he turned on his lights and stopped. What's the weather forecaster calling for?"
"Anywhere from six to ten inches. We've got everything battened down, it think. You probably should check with your coven."
"Hush! We are not a coven of witches. We are a ladies' mutual support group."
"Gil grinned grabbed Grace around the waist. "Well, I find you a bewitching woman."
Glen divided the pot roast and vegetables out into two bowls. Jarrod was slicing two nice chunks of fresh, warm Artisan Dutch Oven Bread, smearing generous amounts of butter on each.
Glen grinned. "Now, eat up! Gonna get cold out tonight!"
Glen got up and took the small frying pan of cooked fatback chunks and grease, poured it over the dried dog food and set it in front of Beau. Beau took one sniff and began wolfing down his meal. When they finish, Glen reached into the freezer and took out a little cup of vanilla ice cream and set it in front of Beau. Beau took a lick and got up, licking the ice cream out of the cup, chasing it around the room.
"Where's my ice cream?" Jarrod said, a miffed look on his face, follow by a grin.
"Beau's special, you're not special." Glen said, grinning.
Jarrod helped Glen clean up and he and Beau made their way through the snow to their camp, Beau stopping momentarily to water a tree. Beau jumped through the door quickly and shook the snow off, Jarrod grinning and shaking his head. Getting Beau's towel, Jarrod briskly rubbed Beau down and wiped up the melted snow, then threw the towel into the washer. He'd do a wash tomorrow. Putting on a pair of sweatpants and he read for a while, listening to the radio. Beau did a couple of turns on his doggie bed, laid down, let out a big sigh, then went to sleep.
Gil was up before dawn, or what there was of it. Large flakes of snow were falling still. Gil turned on the Weather Channel and snow was being dumped from the lower Cumberland Plateau in Alabama all the way up the Ohio River Valley into Pennsylvania….and the system wasn't moving wasn't moving very fast.
The coffee had quit perking so he emptied the pot into the carafe and started another pot. It looked to be a long day. Billy came down and poured a glass of orange juice.
"I'll go do the furnaces this morning." Billy said.
"Good thing we put the chains on the Gators yesterday." Gil commented.
Billy made a slice of buttered toast and was smearing strawberry jam on it when Grace came in."
"Where are you going?" Grace asked Billy.
"I'm going to service the furnaces."
"Okay, I'll have oatmeal, bacon and eggs when you get back." Grace replied, looking out the window. "It looks like we already have more than ten inches of snow."
"Yeah, I guess we won't know how much we get until after it quits." Gil replied.
Billy put on his coat, trapper's hat and gloves and opened the door.
"You be careful!" Grace said, as Billy closed the door."
She got a sauce pan and added water and a dash of salt. Getting the oatmeal out, she set it aside. Lining a cookie pan with parchment paper, she laid strips of bacon on it and placed it in the oven. As the water began roiling, she added the oatmeal and began stirring it with a round spurtle.
Gil changed TV channels to a station in Kingsport that was running continuous reports on the snowstorm and went upstairs to put on his flannel-lined jeans, wool shirt, his moosehide moccasins and carried his Sorel snow boots down and sat them by the door.
Jarrod got up and pulled on his clothes. After putting the coffee on, he looked out the door window and saw all the snow, which was more than he expected. Beau got up to go out and had to hop like a rabbit to get to a cedar tree that had less snow around it. He peed, then backed under the tree to poop. Kicking up snow and dirt when he had finished, he hopped back to the door. Jarrod got the towel out of the washing machine, dried Beau off and wiped the floor. Well, his day looked like it was set. He had a couple of baskets he could finish and then it was back to watching Netflix.
There wasn't much to do that day. Gil kept a fire in the fireplace and he and Billy took turns keeping the deck cleared of snow. It wasn't until around 2100 that night the snow finally stopped after dumping sixteen inches of snow.
Gil got up before the French and Indians attacked, let Sandy out and swept the deck off. The spotlights in the back yard illuminated a beautiful scene but they were going to have their work cut out moving all that snow. Gil went back inside and put on a pot of coffee and set the ingredients out for blueberry pancakes, eggs and country ham.
Glen got up and added wood to the stove and opened the damper up. Looking out the door, snow had drifted up onto the porch. Getting dressed, he went outside and using a brush broom, swept the porch off and worked his way over to the storage shed and got a seed scoop out to clear a path out between the cabin and the outhouse. "If this keeps up, maybe I should buy a snow shovel." Glen thought.
At daylight, all the men gathered at the equipment shed and put together their snow removal equipment. They cleared around people's houses and buildings before tackling the drive to 344 and around Trace's house. When they completed all that, they cleared around the church, parsonage and the Fellowship Hall.
|
|
|
Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 6, 2022 18:37:05 GMT -6
Chapter 227
At night, the temperatures were down in the thirties but daylight brought seasonal temperatures in the fifties and the snow rapidly melted. Gil had to scramble to mark the road route and trees for harvest ahead of the loggers. They were getting close to the halfway point in the road and the soil was holding up, not turning into a muddy morass. If the weather held, they might be able to finish the road before spring plowing.
Gil and Billy were flying almost daily and arranged to rent a Cessna 172 at Hawkins County Airport for a day of familiarization flying. The 172 was the type plane Billy would be using at the Aviation School in Knoxville. Gil borrowed a set of manuals for the 172, then after finding where he could order them, bought a set for Billy to study. They spent at least one day a week flying the 172, building Billy's experience and confidence.. Billy was far enough ahead in his homeschool modules he would be able to forego studying them during the summer ten week pilot's training course.
The charities volunteers were again back weaving baskets and making splints. Every two workers were working on either hampers or hassocks. Mollie brought down a sewing machine, fabric and padding to make the hassock tops. All the splints used on the hampers and hassocks were tinted and each team made their own patterns and tint combinations.
Gil's new hovercraft came in. The container was off-loaded and the hovercraft slowly pulled out and gone over. Oil was added, battery cables were attached and fuel tanks were topped off. Non-passengers had to cover their ears as Gil started the engines. Gil, Brad and Colt, who acted as crew, had noise-cancelling communications headsets on. As they took to the river, Gil turned right and headed to the bridge construction site. They became the main attraction when they reached the bridge as everyone's attention was on the hovercraft. They made a few circles and went back down the Holston River and on toward the lake. Once they reached the boat ramp at Cherokee Marina, Gil turned around and went back home. When they reached the boat garage, Gil decided to just build a separate overhead shelter for the craft instead of adding to the garage. He got a large tarp to cover the hovercraft for now and would start working on the building plans.
The new year had brought with it the same old headaches Congress managed to incite in everyone. If the Republicans didn't bow down to everything the Democrats demanded, then the Democrats accused the Republicans of conspiring to destroy democracy, which in in a way was true. The Republicans were trying to protect the Republican form of government their forebears had designed. Nowhere in the key founding documents of was the term "Democracy" even mentioned. Not in the Constitution, and certainly not in the Declaration of Independence, which summarizes the Constitution's premises. The Democrats were hell bent on spending all the excess tax revenues, and then borrowing more, thus causing damaging inflation. Gil couldn't understand completely why they were doing this. If a family spent money like that, they would be bankrupt and probably would have to do some jail time. What bothered Gil too was that having "excess" revenue meant you were either overcharged on your taxes, or new revenue was flowing in and the individual taxpayer's rates should be cut. It was puzzling how they worked. Someone should do some housecleaning in Washington.
Brad and Trace took the logging truck over to Bear Head Point to get a load of cedar logs while Gil and Colt milled Ash billets for the crafters. They only had a few Ash logs left at the sawmill and wanted to get them moved out of the way. After they had milled and planed the billets, Colt dropped the trailer at the Fellowship Hall for them to spray and wrap.
Gil picked out several good looking cedar logs and cut them to size to make the main support poles to house the almost twenty-two foot heavy load hovercraft. As they were milled, the posts were stacked on a flatbed trailer attached to a tractor. When they had all the lumber milled they would need, Gil headed into town to pick up some more roofing panels and a couple of buckets of roofing tar to paint the bases of the support posts while Trace and Colt gathered up the tools and logging screws they'd need the next day.
The next day, as they were getting ready to start putting the roof sheathing on when Gil looked up and almost swore. He'd forgotten about birds! If they didn't cover the underside of the ceiling joists with something, birds would roost and leave massive amounts of bird droppings. Gil thought of using poplar boards then remember he had more than enough half-inch wire cloth they could use. Getting their metal shears and staple guns, they stretched the wire cloth and stapled it on. They finished the project by installing the roofing panels and ridge cap. Gil started up the Heavy Load Hovercraft (HLH) and drove it under the shelter. The soil was firm enough that the soil didn't blow away, but Gil knew that over time that would begin to do so. They would pour a concrete floor when the weather got warmer.
The loggers finished up just before the trees began budding. Once they had cleaned up and were out of the way, Don's men came in and finished the roadway, connecting it with the original northern perimeter road, which also provided Jarrod with an almost two and a half mile running path.
Gil, Colt, Trace hauled and milled enough lumber to replace what they had used from the lumber shed and took it to the lumber company to have it kiln dried. With a couple of weeks before they plowed to turn under the cover crops, the men went to making box parts for the Thanksgiving and Christmas boxes, stockpiling them in one of the shipping container. They wouldn't be in such a hurry this year. All they would have to do would be to put them together.
Grace came up with a stronger version of the hassock. It would be built of pine, the four sides if the hassock having woven panels in them that were held in with wood strips fastened with a couple of brads, The guys made six of them and stained them a light walnut, finishing them with a matte polyurethane. It would turn out these would be popular sellers also.
Glen and Jarrod only spend a portion of the day now at the Fellowship Hall. The volunteers had organized themselves and only called on Glen when they needed his guidance on some innovative design. Glen and Jarrod mostly stayed around Bear Head Point and weaved in their own time, feeling less stressed to produce.
Jarrod had his fire going in the firepit and had laid a pound of kielbasa on the cooking grate to slowly brown. Beau was out stalking those dastardly squirrels who dared to approach his domain. Jarrod looked up occasionally from his weaving, enjoying Beau frolicking.
Grace placed the yeast in the shopping cart and Mollie brought over two bunches of ripe bananas and added them. Pushing the cart around to the next aisle, they almost ran over Glenda James.
"Glenda! What a surprise!" Grace said.
"Hi Grace, Mollie! My weekly trip to pick up coffee, creamer and sugar for the office."
"Glenda! When did that happen?" Grace said, pointing to the engagement ring on Glenda's finger.
Glenda blushed. "Tate asked me last night."
"Well congratulations!" Grace said, giving Glenda a hug. You and Tate just have to come for dinner Saturday night!"
"Thank you. We'd love to come! Glenda said.
"Come on over any time after 5:00. I look forward to it."
"Grace and Mollie continued picking up a few more things. On the way home Mollie turned to look at Grace and said, "I wonder where they will live?"
"Glenda and Tate? I don't know. Probably either buy or build a house a house around here." Grace said.
"What if they moved into my house?" Mollie said.
"What! Where would you live?"
"Well, if someone close by were to do an addition to their home, I might be able to see and take care of my babies even more."
Grace giggled. "What a great Idea. Let's talk to Gil this evening."
When Gil came in that afternoon Grace and Mollie were baking. They had four loaves of bread and two of banana nut bread on racks cooling.
Gil got a drink of water and leaned against the counter.
"What's the occasion?" Gil asked.
?We just decided to do some baking." Grace said.
"What do you have in the oven now?"
"Oatmeal Raisin cookies with pecans. We ran into Glenda in Food City."
Gil stood there and looked at Grace. "And the punchline is…..?"
"She and Tate are engaged."
"Well! That's great!. When are they getting married?"
"I don't know. Tate just asked her last night. I've invited them over for dinner Saturday night."
"Okay great. It's time we celebrated about something besides melting snow."
"Gil. Mollie and I were talking and Mollie thinks it would be a good Idea for Glenda and Tate to move into her house when they got married."
Gil looked at Mollie, then at Grace. "But where would Mollie live. Mollie, you aren't leaving us, are you?"
Grace put her arm around Gil. "Gil, I was wondering if you would consider adding a kind of mother-in-law suite to the house and Mollie could live here. She would be a tremendous help, as she always is, and would be near Alan and Alana who she loves to death. It would give us a chance also to get Tate and Glenda closer to the clan. They would both be tremendous assets."
Gil hugged Grace and smiled at Mollie. "Whatever you two decide."
"Really!" Grace said. "Can you get Boyd here so we can talk plans?"
"I'll go call him right now."
|
|