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Post by bluefox2 on Nov 7, 2021 8:13:44 GMT -6
Fried liver with onions, mashed potatoes and gravy. YUM!! You're making me hungry! I would love a plate of that! So would I. I have not had a plate of Liver and Onions in many years. it is hard to find someplace that cooks it, let alone cooks it right.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 7, 2021 9:57:21 GMT -6
Chapter 48
No rain was forecasted so Gil used the backhoe attachment and dug the base and anchor holes for the wind turbine. To pour the base and the guy wire anchors it was going to take around 40, fifty pound bags of Quikrete mix, which he was having delivered. When he was through digging he took the tractor back down to the equipment shed and mounted the forks and the concrete mixer to the tractor to be ready to offload the pallets when they was delivered. He spent the rest of the afternoon shaping the rebar for the base.
The pallets of concrete mix arrived the next morning. After off-loading it all, he transported two pallets to the shelf and set them aside near the base hole and covered them with a tarp. He went down to the other pallets, tarping them because the sky was overcast. Lining the tractor near the base hole, Gil ran the water hose out. He placed the rebar and tied it all in then mixed the first batch of concrete. By the time the hole was filled, his muscles ached. He cleaned the mixer out and rolled the hose back into the tunnel. Shutting the water pump down, he locked and covered everything up, then went down and brought the rest of the pallets up, stopping by the garage and throwing on the power pole anchors onto the load. Gil parked the tractor next to the garage and went inside to take a shower.
At 5:30 the next morning, Gil was pulling on his ghillie suit and on his way to his stand. He stopped by and loaded the furnace at the greenhouse then cut a path away from the feeders and took his place in the band of underbrush next to the river. Every morning, after eating at the feeders, the turkeys headed to the river to get a drink. For several days Gil had been tracking the path they took. Reaching back into the quiver, he pulled out one of the three broadhead arrows and loosely nocked it, silently waiting.
At 6:30, like clockwork, he saw the turkeys across the field begin making their way in his direction. The Tom turkeys clearly visible, Gil waited. He selected a Tom and when it was within 20 meters, Gil slowly pulled back on the string and when at full extension, released and took the Tom down. The rest of the turkeys scattered and flew off. Walking over to the turkey, Gil only had to push the arrow a little to push the arrowhead out the other side of the body and screw the arrowhead off, removing the arrow. Screwing the broadhead back on and returning the arrow to his quiver, Gil picked up the turkey and returned to the equipment barn to clean it.
Gil would finish pouring concrete into an anchor hole then screwed in the anchor. Once he had all the anchors in, he cleaned up the equipment, stored everything away, and went back down to the house.
"Done?" Grace asked as he walked in the door.
"Yep. I just need a couple of days for everything to cure and I can get the wind turbine up."
"I went ahead and put the turkey in the freezer. It's a nice one."
"I'll brine it before we cook it. That will make it nice and juicy."
Gil spent the rest of the afternoon sketching out ideas and drawing up plans for outfitting the Chamber.
Three days later, Gil called Don to ask him if he could help put up the mast for the wind turbine,
"Sure. I can help anytime during the next two days. My men are working on a pond dam and Jerry can handle things if I'm not there."
"Good. If you can make it over in the morning after you check the worksite, I'd appreciate it."
"I'll be there."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."
Gil went back out to the workshop and checked all the ¼ inch cables and turnbuckles he had fabricated and made sure he had wrenches and a helper bar to turn the turnbuckles. He added a pair of long-nose vice grip pliers to hold the cable while tightening the cable clamps and a large roll of weather resistant rubber tape to wrap the clamps and the end of the cable with.
With everything ready, Gil begin cutting and numbering the parts to build the toilet enclosure, and like the battery platform, taped the proper hardware to each piece. Using the plans he had drawn up, he check off each piece as it was made. When he got ready to put it in, it would take no time to put the puzzle together. Lunchtime rolled around and he didn't start on the shower enclosure, waiting to start after lunch. He went in and ate a sandwich and home-made Freedom Fries with Grace.
"Mollie and I are going to can tomatoes tomorrow. We're getting the rest of the tomatoes off those wilted hybrid plants we got from the nursery and replanting with heirlooms."
"Those vines produced pretty good."
"Yes they did, but I want to go with all heirlooms from now on."
"Wait, we don't have a canner, do we?"
"Mollie is bringing hers."
"Go ahead and order one of those you don't need a gasket for from American Canners. What about jars and lids?"
"Mollie has enough for what we have to do."
"Put jars and lids on your list of things we need to stock and order them. Look into Tattler lids and rings to stock up on."
Don was there early the next morning, early enough to drink a cup of coffee with Gil and talk about what the were going to do. When they went up the ridge, Don drove Grace's Polaris because it, like the Gator, had a winch. After bolting together the mast sections, they attached the winch cables and brought the mast and wind turbine up, stopping at a point where all they had to do was rock the mast a little for the bolt holes to align with the bolts set in concrete and drop over them. After the mast was bolted down, they ran out the guy cables and attached them to the anchors. After securing the cables and clamping them, they began began to tighten the turnbuckles. When the cables were tight and the mast plumb, Gil and Don high-fived. Don began pushing the power cable through the cable race and Gil went inside to pull. Soon, they had the cable inside and Gil connected it to the charge controller. After releasing the turbine brake, the turbine began charging the batteries.
"You know Gil, Larry does electrical work. He could have everything done in no time up here."
"Don, I really don't want to do that. The only people who know about this place are you and Annie, Grace, and Bill and Mollie. My vision is to have somewhere to shelter of the SHTF. You and Annie will have a place here, as well as Bill and Mollie. The more people that know about the Chamber, the less secure it will be."
"Just what more are you planning to do here?"
"Imagine losing your home and don't have anywhere to go. That's what I'm setting up here. We'll have food for years stored here, a place to take a hot bath, good water, bathroom facilities….what it takes to be comfortable. I'm going to build 12'x12' bedroom enclosures also, so we can sleep comfortably, and privately."
"Well, at least you should let us contribute to the plan. Just tell me what lumber you need to make us a bedroom and I'll pay for it and have it delivered."
"I'll do that. Also, have Annie get with Grace and they can go over the foods we plan to stock."
"We'll do that, Now that I know what you have planned, I'll make time to be over to help as much as I can. I'll call you when I have some open time."
"Okay Don. I appreciate that."
They put everything away and locked up, then headed back down the ridge.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 7, 2021 10:00:07 GMT -6
Chapter 49
Gil spent the next day designing his lighting plan and drew up construction plans for the bedrooms. He made out a materials list and sent it by text message to Don. Looking on the internet, he found some broad beam high-intensity L.E.D. lights he could mount on the chamber walls to light the Chamber. Earthquakes seldom happened around in the Rogersville area. Usually the few they had were closer to the Cumberland Plateau and no greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale, but Gil wasn't going to take any chances. He included in his building plans bolting everything down to the floor or wall strapping.
The next morning Gil went to building supply and purchased 16 six-inch eyebolts, lead anchors for them, and enough Quikrete to do the base for the solar panel array support post. Pausing a moment, he went back in and bought a 16' step ladder, an 8' step ladder, several packs of wall-mount cable clamps, and more diamond drill bits for the hammer drill.
Back at the house, he laid everything in the trailer attached to the Gator. He had to tie the 16' ladder down or it would have fallen out on the ride up.
Gil used his compass with the built-in inclinometer to get the best place to set the PV support post. Going by the instructions that came with the PV support post, Gil dug the hole, trimming it out with a sharpshooter spade. Arranging and tying the rebar in the hole, he plumbed the post, braced it, and poured the concrete. Gil had ordered the L.E.D. wall lights shipped FEDEX two-day so the lights wouldn't be in until tomorrow. He put everything away, washed the concrete mixer out and went back to the house. Gil added more wood to the furnace then took the tractor back to the equipment barn. He saw Mollie and Grace's UTVs at the greenhouse so he walked over.
When he walked in, Mollie and Grace were transplanting starter cups in the old tomato bed.
"Hey Gil!" Mollie said.
Grace turned around and smiled. "We're planting some new tomato plants we have lettuce, onions, and peppers planted too."
"Busy bees." Gil grinned. "I'm going to load the furnace up. It's supposed to frost tonight."
"Okay thanks." Grace said. "I took the turkey out of the freezer. I figured it would take three or four days to defrost in the fridge."
"Yeah, that's about right."
Gil loaded more firewood in the furnace and checked the ash level and the water level. Checking the Preventative Maintenance Schedule on the wall, he saw everything was up to date. Gil walked back to the house, pleased that things were coming together.
Thanksgiving morning Annie and Don came over early so the women could cook together. Mollie had made the desserts the day before so Grace were doing the turkey, dressing and vegetables.
Gil and Don were upstairs, looking at Gil's guns.
Grace's phone rang.
"GRACE! BILL CAN'T GET OUT OF HIS CHAIR! HE SAYS HIS CHEST HURTS!"
"WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE MOLLIE!"
"GIL, COME ON! BILL CAN'T GET OUT OF HIS CHAIR AND SAYS HIS CHEST HURTS!"
Gil bounded down the stairs and ran to the door, followed by Grace.
"WE'LL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING HERE! Annie yelled.
If there was a speed limit on their driveway, Gil broke it. He slid to a stop at Bill and Mollie's house and ran in. Bill was slumped to the side gasping for breath.
"Grace, help me get him up. We can get him to County Memorial quicker than an ambulance can."
Grace helped Gil get Bill up then Gil picked him up like a baby. Grace moved ahead of him opening doors and ran out and opened the left-side passenger door. Gil got Bill strapped in and Mollie jumped in beside him and held his hand. As soon a Grace got in Gil threw dirt and burned rubber getting on 344 and headed for the hospital. Grace called ahead to notify the Emergency Room they were bringing in a possible heart attack victim. A team of medical people were waiting with a gurney when they arrived a few minutes later. They quickly got Bill out of the truck and onto the gurney, checking his vitals as they hurried through the door. Mollie followed the gurney as far as she could but had to wait in the waiting area. Grace sat with her and held her hand. Gil took a seat on the other side of Mollie and they waited for some news. Good news, hopefully.
An hour later a doctor came out and told Mollie they had Bill stabilized and were moving him to ICU, but she could sit with him for a few minutes.
Grace and Gil escorted Mollie to the ICU wing and sat with her in the waiting room until she was called in to see Bill.
"Mollie, we're going to run down and get some coffee." Grace said.
"Okay, I'll probably be here in the waiting room. I doubt they'll let me stay for very long."
Gil and Grace went to the vending area and got some of the worst coffee he had ever let cross his lips. They slowly walked back to the ICU waiting room. As they turned the corner in the hallway, they saw Mollie sitting in a chair in the waiting room, head bowed. When they approached, she lifted her head, tears streaming down her face.
"HE'S GONE! Mollie cried out in anguish.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 7, 2021 10:03:06 GMT -6
Chapter 50
Grace fell to her knees beside Mollie's chair and put her arms around her. "Oh Mollie, I'm so sorry!"
"Christian-Sells"
"What Mollie?"
"Christian-Sells Funeral Home. We have a pre-paid plan there."
Gil went over to the nurse's station and got the number to the funeral home and dialed it, then went to arrange payment for the emergency services. When he got back, he helped Grace take Mollie out to the truck. Grace sat in back with Mollie on the way back home. On their arrival back home, Grace led Mollie up to their guest bedroom and let her lie down.
This put a damper on events for the rest of the afternoon. Annie had finished cooking everything but no one really had much of an appetite. They ate a little, then divided the food up and Annie and Don went home. Mollie woke up a couple of hours later and came down.
"Mollie? Do you want something to eat?" Grace asked.
"I guess I should eat a little something." Mollie said.
"Grace made her a plate and warmed it up, put it on a tray and brought it to her chair in the Great Room."
"Bill and I have talked about what we'd do if this happened. Without the income from the hay, I won't be able to pay the taxes on the land. Bill told me no more than a month ago to offer to sell you the land if you would let me live in the house."
Grace looked at Gil.
"We'll talk about this in a few days. Right now I don't want you worrying about anything." Gil said.
Mollie ate about half of what Grace had brought her and went up stairs with Grace to get her a night gown."
Gil was up early and went to feed the furnaces. When he came back, Grace and Mollie were in the kitchen making breakfast. Mollie poured Gil a cup of coffee and handed it to him.
"Mollie, you don't need to be doing for me."
"Gil, I'll have my grievin' spells now and again. I know it's best for me if I'm a doin' sumtin."
Gil nodded and took a sip of his coffee.
During breakfast, Mollie asked, "Do you think that Reverend Jim would do the service?"
"I'll call him after breakfast," Grace said. "When do you want to have the funeral?"
"Sunday, at 3:00."
"Okay. I'll call Reverend Jim and the Funeral Home."
Later, Grace took Mollie back to her house and got her some clothes plus the clothes she wanted to wear to the funeral and brought her back to the house.
After the funeral Sunday, Grace and Gil brought Mollie back to their house.
Gil went out to check the furnaces and Grace and Mollie went into the kitchen to make some coffee.
"Mollie, why don't you plan on staying here for a few days.'
"It would be lonely going back to the house." Mollie said.
"Well, and I need someone around here to start acting like a Grandma also."
Mollie looked at Grace.
"I haven't told Gil yet, but I think I'm pregnant."
"Oh Lord child! I am so happy for you!"
"Well, let's keep it a secret until I go to the doctor."
"Okay, I'll stay for a while." Mollie said.
Gil came back and got on his computer and ordered two dozen plastic pallets, vented pallet wrap, steel strapping tools, a cart for them and extra strapping. He needed sound deadener insulation and some angle iron, but he thought he could get those around town. He walked into the kitchen and Mollie and Grace suddenly stopped talking so he got his coffee and left.
The L.E.D. wall lights had come in and he could start installing those but every time he went up on the shelf, he made sure the trailer was full of things that would go up in the future anyway. Grace and Mollie were up and bustling around fixing breakfast, so he took advantage of the time and filled the small dump trailer attached to the Gator with all the things that would eventually go up there anyway. Once he had as much as he could take this trip, he went up on the side porch to go through the nook doors and saw Grace through the door glass quickly cup her hand over her mouth and head for the downstairs ½ bath. Gil released the door handle and sat in one of the chairs on the porch. He hadn't asked, but he didn't think Grace was on birth control. Something from the Bible popped into his head. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away…." One life steps out, and another steps in. Gil took his pocket notebook out and made some notes. Peeking back through the door, and seeing Grace back in the kitchen, he got up and opened the door, stepping in. Hanging his hat and taking his coat off, Gil headed to the dining room through the Great Room.
Grace came in and sat his cup of coffee down at his place at the table and Gil grabbed her and ran his hands up under her loose shirt and rubbed her back.
"HEY! YOUR HANDS ARE COLD!" Grace said loudly, then began giggling.
Mollie looked from the kitchen, smiling.
"But your back is warm." Gil grinned.
"Sit down you lunk and I'll bring you your breakfast." Grace said.
"I'll eat when you and Mollie are seated."
They were back quickly with plates for everyone. Mollie had baked biscuits and Gil broke open a hot biscuit, lathered it with butter and hit the halves with a dollop of Apple Butter, spreading it around. Mollie and Grace had cooked bacon, hashbrowns and fresh sliced tomatoes, along with the hot biscuits.
"What do you have on for today?" Grace asked.
"Hanging lights and if I have time, begin putting together the shower enclosure. Are you two working in the greenhouse?"
"Later, we've got some errands to run this morning in town first."
"Well, I'll be working most of the time in the Chamber today and you won't be able to reach me by phone or radio until I get the boosters in and installed."
"Okay, if anything comes up, one of us will come up to get you."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 7, 2021 10:05:03 GMT -6
Chapter 51
Gil went into the tunnel and flipped on the light switch, illuminating a portion of the Chamber where he had installed lights. When he had all the lights installed on the wall, he cut the power to that circuit and connected the wiring. Turning the power back on, he checked the power usage meter and calculated he could complete the lighting of the Chamber with no problem. He made a note in his notebook to order 32 more lights. Gil was tired of drilling holes in the rock so he began measuring out the first bedroom he was going to build. It was unlevel in the center, but he was going to put in 2x6 floor joists so that wouldn't be a problem. He was going to bolt the pressure treated plate to the rock floor, in case of tremors and put levelers in also. That done, he began putting together the shower enclosure and dressing room. Mollie walked into the doctor's office with Grace and sat in the waiting room while Grace was in with the doctor. What seemed forever to Mollie, Grace finally came out, smiling.
"What did he say?"
"He estimates I'm around 8 weeks along. He gave me a sample pack of pre-natal vitamins and a prescription of the same. I've got an appointment in six weeks."
They went by Walgreens and got the prescription filled and went back home, all the time talking about how to fix up the extra bedroom as a nursery.
"Oh Grace, I need to move back to the house. I'm taking up your guest bedroom that you could be using for guests." Mollie said.
"I won't hear of it!"
"No, I feel bad about taking up space. I'll just go back to the house."
"Mollie, I need you around and I know you enjoy being here. Wait! I've got an idea! Why don't we just build you a little cabin down the hill. You would be near the greenhouse and us. The cabin could have a basement to store the things you want to keep for your old home."
"If I've learned anything in my 66 years, once you start keeping things stored you 'want' to keep, you just end up with space full of things you don't need and can't get to."
"Then you'll let us build you a cabin?"
"Yes, I suppose so. Have you talked it over with Gil?"
"Well, no, but he loves you too. Bill's passing hit him pretty hard. He doesn't show it outright all the time. He just goes and buries his nose in one of his projects."
"Well, you talk to him and see what he says."
Gil finished getting the shower base and drain trap attached to the flexible pipe that extended down into the drain hole. It was almost lunch so he could let the epoxy set while he grabbed a bite to eat.
Driving down the ridge, he saw Grace's Jeep was there. Going into the house, Grace was getting a container of pasta salad out of the refrigerator. She poured Gil a glass of iced tea, setting a turkey salad sandwich and the pasta salad down in front of him.
"How did the doctor visit go?" Gil asked, before taking a bite of his sandwich.
"How did you know I went to the doctor?"
"I've never seen you sick. You running to the bathroom this morning you either have a case of stomach flu or you're pregnant…hopefully the latter".
"I'm pregnant."
Gil grinned. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Oh, I had it in me many times, that's why I'm pregnant."
Gil got up and hugged her. "I am so happy you are giving us a child!"
"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Grace asked, her face buried in his shoulder.
"I don't care. I'll love them no matter what."
Mollie walked into the kitchen. Grace saw her and moved out of Gil's arms.
"Oh, Gil, I forgot to tell you. We're building Mollie a cabin down below and she's going to live here from now on. You can rent out her old house."
Gil looked at Grace and then to Mollie.
"Gil, you don't have to….." Mollie said.
"Mollie. I like the idea. You would be close by to keep Grace out of trouble and I need adult supervision at times, plus, our children will need a Grandmother figure."
Gil did not know how prophetic his words were.
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Post by bluefox2 on Nov 7, 2021 11:05:39 GMT -6
I gots a baaaad feeling about where this is leading. Please don't take Grace away from Gil
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Post by gipsy on Nov 7, 2021 15:19:28 GMT -6
Thanks for the update. Lets not invite any trouble.
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Post by udwe on Nov 7, 2021 15:35:58 GMT -6
Please don't take Grace away from Gil. Hey, but maybe it's twins or triplets!
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Post by gipsy on Nov 7, 2021 19:34:03 GMT -6
Now that would be cool
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Post by papaof2 on Nov 7, 2021 20:42:20 GMT -6
"Needing a Grandmother figure" could be as simple as having twins, triplets, or litter ;-) Or we could lose Gil...
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 8, 2021 16:30:13 GMT -6
Chapter 52
Because of the time of year and of course it was the Christmas season, StoneHill Cabins didn't have anything they could put up in a timely manner, so Gil ordered a 2-bedroom cabin that Mollie liked, after viewing some model photos. Construction couldn't start until sometime in January. Gil figured it would be a toss-up but there was a chance they could get started on time. They had relatively mild winters here. Gil continued working in the Chamber and Grace, with Mollie's help, was busy in the greenhouse. He was pushed into changing his work plan when all five family food units came in. Gil ended up placing the pallets in the middle of the floor in the Chamber. The Mini Track Loader was a godsend moving those pallets.
Gil stopped his construction on the bedroom and moved to making space to store the pallets of food. The area he picked had some uneven area and rather than having the risk of stacked pallets falling on someone, decided to level out the area. Getting a few bags of LevelQuik did the job. After the floor leveler was good and set, Gil drilled holes and bolted 4x4 posts to the walls to make shelves to stack the pallets on, one above the other. He had room to store 16 pallets this way. He really didn't want to go higher than that with that big of a load. The whole frame was well anchored and had no doubt it would hold during a teeth rattler.
After Grace and Mollie inventoried each pallet and took off items they wanted to take back to the house, they re-wrapped it with vented pallet wrap and a large sticky label with a pallet number was pasted for viewing and the pallet placed in the rack. Grace even began operating the mini loader and set the pallets up on top herself.
Gil continued building the bedroom and came to the point he needed to place the sound-proofing in the walls and ceiling. He called around and, of course, the closest place that had it was in Knoxville. One of the building supply centers on Rogersville offered to order it for him but the difference in cost was well more than the fuel it would take to go get it.
"I've got to go into Knoxville to get the sound deadener for the bedrooms. Do ya'll want to go with me?"
Grace looked at Mollie and their eyes brightened. "Yes, we'd like to go!"
Gil for a moment, almost wished he hadn't asked them, but just shrugged it off.
Gil found the sound deadener and bought enough for three rooms. Then the women gave him directions to their "first" stop. Of all the apropos names to give a store it was called "buybuy BABY." Of course, it was located in a big mall area. After they had stripped the place of ALL the baby furniture that could fit into the nursery, then piled on that were the "cutest" baby clothes, stroller, baby swing, and anything else you couldn't pry out of their fingers. Gil was glad he had brought the 20' trailer. After getting everything from the baby store loaded, Grace and Mollie just HAD to go to Kirkland's. Gil drew the line there. They could go, but he was going down to PetSmart and look around. Kirkland's always smelled like a head shop to him.
One of the local Animal Shelters was trying to get people to adopt dogs in front of the store. Gil paused to look at one cage. A Golden Retriever looked up at him and raised her paw. He had to admit she was a pretty dog.
"What's the deal with this dog?" Gil asked one of the young men there.
"A couple brought her in just this week. She is a very active and loves attention. She kept knocking the couple's small toddler down, not meaning to, of course."
"How much is she?" Gil asked.
"All dogs are $35. We usually charge a neutering fee also, but she was already neutered."
"I'll take her. Can you hold her for me while I go inside and get a collar and leash?"
"Of course. I'll get her vaccination paperwork together for you."
Gil went inside and got a good leash and collar, a harness, large bags of dog treats, a couple of balls and squeak toys, 50 pound bag of cereal-less dog food, and while in checkout, pulled one of those tags you can print out on their machine. He printed out the address tag on the machine and for the name, he printed out "Sandy."
Wheeling the shopping cart outside, He got the collar and leash out. Attaching the address tag to the collar he opened the cage door and fastened the collar around Sandy's neck.
"How do you like your new collar Sandy?"
"How did you know her name was Sandy?" The young man asked.
"I didn't. She just looks like a 'Sandy'."
When Gil attached the leash Sandy came calmly out of the cage and stood by Gil as he paid the fee and got the paperwork. Putting his hand through the leash loop, Gil pushed the cart to the truck and unloaded it into the trailer. Sandy followed right beside him as he returned the cart to the cart corral. Walking back toward the truck, she stopped at one of the areas set aside for dogs to do their business and peed. Gil walked her around the edge of the parking lot for a while and when she didn't seem to be inclined to poop, he took her back to the truck and put her in the back seat. When Gil got into the driver's seat, she moved over so her head was right next to his shoulder.
"EEEEK! Where did that dog come from?" Grace squealed as she got into the truck.
"That dog, is named 'Sandy', and since you and Mollie have things to play with until the baby comes, I got myself something to play with."
"Hey girl!" Mollie said, scratching Sandy's ear, which Sandy loved.
"Okay, where to next?"
"Can we go by Belk's and Dillard's?"
"Sure, why not." Gil said, starting the truck.
Gil waited for the women again by walking in the parking lot with Sandy. She never once tugged on the leash, but stayed right by Gil's left leg. They turned back toward the truck when Gil saw the women loading their purchases in the trailer, but they locked it up and headed toward Dillard's. He could have driven them over there, it was half way around the Mall parking lot. Gil walked Sandy back over to the truck and they got in. When Gil closed the rear door, Sandy moved quickly to the front seat, like she was supposed to be there. Gil chuckled and moved the truck over in front of Dillard's where they waited for the women to come out.
Gil was looking at his phone when Sandy barked. Looking up, he saw Grace and Mollie headed toward the truck. They put their purchases in the trailer and got into the truck. Sandy just moved over into the center of the seat, next to Gil, to let Grace get in.
"Well, I guess I know my standing in the hierarchy of this family!" Grace laughed.
Gil grinned and started the truck. Grace asked Gil to stop at the Chick-Fil-A on the corner to get sandwiches to eat on the way home. Of course she got Sandy one also, who promptly spit the pickle out and ate the rest of the sandwich.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 8, 2021 16:31:23 GMT -6
Chapter 53
It took several trips to unload the clothes and "stuff." except the baby furniture. Gil would leave it in the trailer until he cleared out the spare bedroom. Besides, he had seven months to get it done, or so he thought. The next morning, as he was taking the first sip of coffee, Grace asked, "When are you going to get the furniture out of the spare bedroom?"
"I'll do it right after breakfast, Honey." Gil replied.
Gil got the furniture moved and stored in the shipping containers and the baby furniture assembled. The only thing holding the women back was not knowing what sex the baby would be.
He took refuge in the Chamber and continued building. At night, he would browse, looking for things to make the bedroom more comfortable. He did order some L.E.D. wall sconces for the bedrooms. He would build Captain's beds with four drawers on each side and a bookcase headboard with integrated L.E.D. reading lights.
Gil changed the floor plan a bit and extended it out to 15x15 so there was room for closets and the king size Captain's Beds. He re-calculated his lumber needs and saw he had enough to finish the first one, but could catch up on the rest later. When he enlarged the footprint of the bedroom, he decided to just add the closets to one side of the room, with sliding doors. He would see what everyone else thought before he continued on with the rest. After getting the sound-proofing in, he used ¾ in plywood on the flat roof to provide more storage area. He now would start on the Captain's beds.
Gil went with Grace to her doctor's appointment. Grace was showing pretty good and would be getting an ultrasound this morning and wanted Gil with her. As Grace laid on the table, she squeezed Gil's hand as the screen showed there were two tiny babies. Tears leaked out of her eyes. "Look Gil, they are so beautiful." Grace whispered. It was getting close to Christmas and Gil had his shopping already done. He'd gotten Mollie a new winter coat, hat and gloves. Grace, however, was a bit more difficult. He had no idea what she wanted or needed. He ended up getting her a $500 gift certificate at Motherhood Maternity in Knoxville and had a custom ring made with an emerald stone center and pearls flanking the emerald, one for each child.
Christmas morning Gil, Grace and Mollie all woke up about the same time. Gil got to the kitchen first, making two pots of coffee, one high-test and one decaf. Grace now wouldn't drink anything with caffeine. She even made a separate pitcher of iced tea.
Mollie came down and pulled out a roll of cinnamon roll dough from the refrigerator and cut off slices for six rolls and placed them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Sitting them on top of the stove, she turned the oven on to pre-heat. When the oven beeped, she slid the rolls into the oven. Five minutes later, Grace came down the stairs and stopped, taking in the aroma of the baking rolls.
"I love those things. Thank you Mollie. I dreamed last night of cinnamon rolls."
Gil got up and poured her a cup of decaf.
"How are you doing this morning." Gil asked.
"I'm swelling up, craving cinnamon rolls and happier than I've ever been in my life." Grace grinned.
Sandy came in and licked Grace's hand.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Sandy!" Grace giggled.
The rolls came out of the oven and Mollie smeared the gooey cream cheese icing on them. Placing two on a plate, she set them in front of Grace. Grace took a bite out of one, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
"Mm-m-m-m, this is so delicious!"
Mollie grinned and poured herself a cup of coffee. Sandy laid down at Gil's feet and yipped. Gil got up and filled her feed bowl and got out a piece of chicken jerky and fed it to her.
'What time do you want to eat Christmas Dinner. I need to know when to put in the prime rib." Gil said.
Grace looked at Mollie. "Two?" Grace asked.
"That's fine with me." Mollie said.
The rib roast turned out perfectly. The pink juices flowed when Gil cut the slices. They had to have dessert later because everyone was so stuffed. Before any presents could be given out, everyone was napping in their chairs. At 6:00 Grace was up preparing a plate layered with mashed potatoes, a slice of toast covered with thin sliced roast beef and the whole drowned in gravy. They finally took the time to hand out gifts. When Grace saw the gift certificate, she was thrilled, but when she opened the ring box, she cried.
"Gil, it's so beautiful!"
Gil got a nice pair of warm gloves from Mollie and a two pairs of Minnetonka moccasins from Grace. He also had a chance to taste Mollie's apple pie.
Gil attached the last wall sconce and turned the lights on. He needed to put one more coat of finish on the Captain's bed and it would be ready to come up. He had built two nightstands between the times he had the finish drying. It took a week and a half to complete everything, but he would have everything in a couple of days after New Year's day.
Gil never had been one to do much celebrating on New Year's, neither had Grace. They spent the evening reading and listening to music. The day after New Year's day, Gil picked up the mattress and go the MyPillow mattress topper and pillows out of a container and made the bed, then covered it with a nice comforter Mollie had picked out. Gil took Grace and Mollie up to reveal the bedroom and they were very pleased. They began planning on what clothes Grace would bring up to store there.
Gil began building the other two beds, which went much faster and made the nightstands also. It only took him a couple of weeks. Because the construction jobs were few at that time of the year, Don was up frequently up to help with the construction of the other two bedrooms. They even built a fire pit out of stones to set the SOLO fire pit down into. Mollie and Grace and Annie were constantly taking things up there for storing in their bedrooms.
Gil continued working on the shower unit. He bought a small wood stove and took it apart. With some tedious work, and a couple of mistakes, he was able to bend ¾ inch copper tubing around the inside of the stove and made connections to a 25 gallon steel hot water tank. With the mixer valves, you could scald a pig with it, or have a nice warm shower. The water for the 300 gallon water tank was pumped from the stream via a RAM pump. The ladies came up and tested the shower and it met their needs adequately. Gil tried having the wood stove going and the fire pit at the same and the smoke never overwhelmed the chamber, but was sucked right out.
Gil began selecting trees and cutting them for firewood , snaking the logs down near the shelf He would cut the logs up, split the wood, palletize the wood and band it then tarp the pallets for next year.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 8, 2021 16:32:54 GMT -6
Chapter 54
They got snow in January, almost 8 inches. It was unusual, but the weather had been unusual also. The weather had been two degrees below the normal temperatures for this area in January. This caused the construction of Mollie's cabin to be delayed until the first part of February. Gil and Grace spent most of the time on the computer, looking for things to stock up on. Gil ordered two wood cookstoves, one for the cabin should they not have access to propane, and one for the Chamber. Mollie and Grace were designing a kitchen/dining area for the Chamber. The woodstove for their house kitchen would remain in its packaging material, safely stored in one of the shipping containers. Gil and Don finally got the blast door installed. It took days of sawing and chiseling rock to get the channel cut to put in the steel 4x4 pipe Gil had gotten. They were basically spacers to take up the open area the door didn't cover in the tunnel. Gil had cut a 4 inch wide trench, four inches deep, all the way across and into each wall. Once the first pipe was set, Gil welded the pipes together until he had the space filled. The used the MT-100 to get the door in place and Gil welded it to the side supports. The hardest part was filling the door's interior with concrete. They ended up with a well balanced door that even Mollie had no trouble swinging open.
Gil listened to Grace and Mollie when they gave him their ideas on how the kitchen area should be set up. He drew out plans including their ideas and had them give their seal of approval. He went looking for suitable cabinets but couldn't find any. Everything was cheaply made. He did pick up a 9'x4' maple butcherblock to he was going make a table out of and 30 number 1 common grade pine 2x6x8 boards. When he got back to his workshop he cut the 2x6s into 4' lengths, ran them through the planer to make them 1 1/4 inches thick, ran them through the joiner, then glued the boards into 4' wide panels using a Domino joiner. After clamping all the panels he stopped and built a fire in the small wood heater he had in the shop and burned the scraps. It made the shop a lot warmer too. With that out of the way, he began cutting and laying out the parts to make picnic table legs and seats. He would mount the butcher block on top of them. He was going to use a light blue wash, then three coats of polyurethane semi-gloss on the legs and seats. He assembled the legs but left off the seats and seat supports. After giving everything a light sanding, Gil applied the blue wash, wiped everything down, and let them dry overnight. He took a piece of scrap wood, applied the wash then wiped it down to take into the house to show the women.
Mollie was mashing potatoes and Grace was frying chicken when he walked into the house. Gil kicked off his Wellingtons by the door and carried the piece of scrap in to show the women.
"Here's what the legs and seats on the eating table will look like." Gil said.
"Oh, I like that!" Grace exclaimed.
"Can you do the cabinets the same color?" Mollie asked.
"I will, if you want."
"We want!" Grace replied.
"I'm going to wash up." Gil said.
"Dinner will be ready in twenty."
After dinner, Gil sat at the dinette table and sketched some add-ins to his project plan.
"Grace, Mollie, can you two come here a minute?"
They came over and stood by Gil's chair.
"I've done a few changes to the plans. "I'm building a wall around this way and putting in a 9'x12' pantry. We can put in hooks on the back of the wall to hold pots and pans not used often so they don't clutter the cabinets. The pots and pans you use more frequently will hang from a pot rack here."
"What about more lighting?"
"I can do that, as a matter of fact, I'm putting in posts here, here. here and here to add lights to."
"Looks good." Grace said. "By the way. I put a sheet on the fridge to list things to get on our next trip to Sam's or COSTCO."
"Okay, I'll check it out."
Gil continued reworking the plan and decided to run the water lines and drain lines cut into the rock floor. He could easily fill them in with the floor leveler he had left over.
The next day, Gil applied the first coat of polyurethane to the table legs, supports and benches. Leaving them to dry, he went back to the Chamber and began measuring and marking post positions. Using the marking chalk, he drew in the wall, the pantry and the cabinet positions. He stood there studying everything then looked around. It my end up looking like something from a B grade apocalypse movie, but it would be livable.
The next morning, Gil got up and made the coffee. After pouring a cup, he glanced at the list Grace had taped to the refrigerator. WTF!
Grace came down the stairs and poured a cup of decaf.
"Grace, what is with all the diapers?"
"Sweety, as babies grow, they grow out of their diapers. I've got six sizes there and the amounts for a year I took from a medical site. It isn't unusual for a baby to go through 3000 diapers a year. Remember Daddy, we're having TWO!"
"You've made your point, Mother of my children. Now put that coffee mug down and give me a hug."
Gil sanded and gave the table parts another coat of polyurethane and went back to the house.
"Grace, I need to run to building supply and pick up some 4x4s and floor flanges."
"Okay Babe. Mollie and I will be in the greenhouse."
Gil turned off 344 and onto 11 West. Near the Carnival Café, He saw the flashing lights of a law enforcement vehicle pulled to the side of the road behind another car. He slowed going around and caught a glance of two people struggling on the ground between the cars. Gil slammed to a stop and jumped out of his truck, running back to where the two people were struggling. A man was on top of a female Deputy beating the crap out of her. Gil kicked and caught the man under the chin, flinging him back, unconscious. Gil checked the Deputy and she was semi-conscious and moaning, her eyes quickly swelling. Gil ran to the patrol car and picked up the microphone.
"This is patrol car 043. You have a an officer down a few hundred yards south of the Carnival Café on 11 West."
"Caller, who is this?"
"My name is Gil Conner and I'm going to render assistance to the officer. We need an ambulance here ASAP!"
Gil ran back to the Deputy, ran to his truck and got out a canteen he kept in there, and went back, giving her a sip of water. He heard a siren in the distance rapidly approaching. Then another one. Another Sheriff's car skidded to a stop and the Deputy ran over. Gil quickly explained what had happened as the EMTs brought a gurney over and moved the wounded Deputy onto it.
"You need to check the guy laying over there too." Gil told the EMTs.
"Don't bother, the Deputy said. He's dead."
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Post by paulk on Nov 8, 2021 17:41:20 GMT -6
Oh no! Don't stop now!
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Post by gipsy on Nov 8, 2021 18:32:17 GMT -6
A nice update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 8, 2021 20:17:33 GMT -6
Chapter 55
"You know this man?" The Deputy asked Gil. "I've never seen nor met him before in my life." Gil replied.
The Deputy handed Gil a clipboard. "Would you write your statement describing what happened? Let me remind you if you make a false statement you can be criminally prosecuted."
"Can I first back my truck off the road?"
"Of course."
Gil backed his truck onto the edge of the road, opened the tailgate, sat down, and wrote his statement out.
A Rogersville police car pulled up and two officers got out. Gil recognized Officer Wells, the other guy he didn't. Gil finished and signed the statement form and walked over to return it.
"Gil, what happened?" Officer Wells asked.
Gil told them all (by his uniform, Gil realized it was the Police Chief who had arrived with Officer Wells.) frame by frame of what happened until local authorities arrived.
The Chief shook his head. "Damn! We have a Failure to Appear warrant out on Jenson. It is a real pain in the ass getting any type of warrant rescinded through the local AG's office."
"Gil, the man you ki….that died here has at one time or another been charged with everything, up to but not including Capital Murder. He's got a brother almost as bad."
The Police Chief grinned. "You're getting pretty good at taking the trash out, Conner."
"Chief, I'm not going about looking for it, it just seems to get stuck to my boots."
"Well, Mr. Conner, there's no charges against you so you are free to go. On behalf of the Sheriff's Department, we want to thank you for coming to the rescue of one of our officers in distress."
Gil looked at the Deputy and shrugged. "De Oppresso Liber."
The Deputy look knowingly at Gil. "You were in the Green Berets?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, we trained with the 5th at Campbell sometimes. I was with the 101st."
Gil said good bye and continued his trip to the building supply store.
It was a day and a half later when Grace came charging into the shop.
"Gil! Did you kill one of the Jenson brothers?"
"I don't know what his name was, but he's no danger to anybody now."
Frustrated, Grace stomped her foot. "Gil, his brother is just as mean!"
Gil stopped what he was doing and took Grace back into the house.
He sat Grace and Mollie down and explained what happened.
"Gil, he's gonna be layin' for you." Mollie said.
"I can take care of myself. Grace, you just keep that pistol with you. Wait here."
Gil went upstairs and came back down with a 16 gauge double-barrel shotgun.
"Mollie, I'm going to set this shotgun next to the door in the pantry. If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. Don't worry about tearing up stuff, that can be fixed."
"Do you really think he'll come after you?"
"I doubt it. He's probably a coward, but he could get to me by hurting you two. If any strangers come into this house without me, take them out."
Gil spent half his days jarring his teeth loose with the hammer drill drilling holes in the rock floor for the floor flanges and the rest of the time building the cabinet frames and cabinets. He used pocket screws to temporarily hold everything together to check fitness. Gil was down to building drawers and doors and would soon be ready to paint the cabinets with the paint wash.
Grace was coming down the stairs and saw the man slowly open the French doors to the porch, his attention trained on the kitchen. His hand went to his waist to draw a hunting knife out and Grace immediately drew her pistol, but she was too late. The man flinched just before the shotgun blast and he flew back shattering the right-hand French door.
Gil was rubbing the wash off the drawer face when he heard the blast of the shotgun. Running to the house with his Glock in his hand, he bounded up the porch steps and immediately stopped when he saw the body laying partially out the door to the nook, a large knife lying beside him.
"GRACE, MOLLIE, I'M COMING IN!"
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Post by udwe on Nov 8, 2021 20:53:26 GMT -6
Mollie did good!
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Post by cutter on Nov 8, 2021 21:05:07 GMT -6
I'm caught up. This is a good story! In your own time, but please keep it coming.
Matt
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Post by texican on Nov 8, 2021 23:34:07 GMT -6
ncsfsgm,
Mollie knew grew up on a farm/ranch and thus knew how to take out the threat.
The cavern will have three bedrooms and five adults.
May have missed it, but did not catch anything about room for the kids. Having to live in a cavern, it would be wise to have at least one room for the rug rats to be sent to for you can imagine how their high sharp voices will reflect and echo in the cavern.
Thanks for the story.
Texican....
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 8, 2021 23:48:34 GMT -6
ncsfsgm, Mollie knew grew up on a farm/ranch and thus knew how to take out the threat. The cavern will have three bedrooms and five adults. May have missed it, but did not catch anything about room for the kids. Having to live in a cavern, it would be wise to have at least one room for the rug rats to be sent to for you can imagine how their high sharp voices will reflect and echo in the cavern. Thanks for the story. Texican.... Already in the outline. Take care of immediate problems first, babies are 4 months away.
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Post by cutter on Nov 9, 2021 8:05:26 GMT -6
Did Gil and Grace ever actually check the cavern for radon? I don't recall seeing it
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 9, 2021 9:30:03 GMT -6
Did Gil and Grace ever actually check the cavern for radon? I don't recall seeing it The detectors are set for long-time monitoring. There is audible alarm if the level reaches 4.0 pCi/L
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Post by gipsy on Nov 9, 2021 9:32:40 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by paulk on Nov 9, 2021 13:20:23 GMT -6
Hurry, hurry! Next please. Sooo good.
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Post by sniper69 on Nov 9, 2021 15:11:08 GMT -6
Was it the other brother or one of his henchmen (I'm sure another chapter will reveal). ncsfsgm - thank you for sharing your excellent writings.
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