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Post by texican on Jun 30, 2022 23:44:50 GMT -6
We bought a Berkey Light which lasted about fifteen years. We now have a Crown Berkey with stand which was purchased in 2020 for about $400.
The filter life is dependent on how clean your water is. We use four filters which is sufficient, but need to be changed since we used the two old filters out of the plastic
The filters have gotten expensive at $166 for two, but shop around for better pricing than at Berkey. The Crown Berkey with stand now sales for about $570.
Well worth the expense.
Texican....
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 1, 2022 4:23:19 GMT -6
Chapter 72
Hank cleaned up the outdoor kitchen and removed the window panels on their outdoor entertainment area. He had replaced the roof with translucent panels with a winter cover. He was glad he hadn’t pulled the panels the week before because they had a big hail storm that would have destroyed the panels. The translucent panels were far enough apart he was going to take the covers off and replaced them with two hinged shutter-like covers for each panel that could be closed and locked if they had another bad storm. The entertainment area, built around the fire pit, was a project of constant updates as Hank improved his foxhole.
Hank removed the furniture and pressure washed the floor and the Genstone, vacuumed out the pit and gave everything a good wipe-down. After he had finished the pressure washing, Diane and Maddie came out to help him. Xena was right there with Maddie, herding her like a sheepdog, keeping her out of trouble.
“Let’s have a Spring Equinox party Saturday.” Diane said.
“Fine with me. How are we doing on meat?”
“We’ve got leftover steaks in beef and elk. We need to rotate it out anyway.” Diane replied.
“Okay, just point me at whatever you want me to do.”
“I’ll call Jaelyn and Kacie and we can do the planning.”
Hank dried the water droplets off the grill grate and propped it up to finish air drying. Diane checked the cabinets and restocked the paper plates, cups and flatware. She check all the cabinets and they were dust-free. Hank had put seals on the doors that would keep dust out. She went to the storage room and brought back a pack of paper napkins.
“The next time we’re in Joplin or Springfield, I want to stop by Party City and get some more serving trays and bowls.”
“Isn’t there a Party City in Branson?”
“Yes, but there are so many tourists roaming around, not watching where they are going. I get nervous driving around.”
“Yeah, it takes about as long to go to Springfield anyway.”
Hank took a drink out of his Klean Kanteen and Maddie toddled over, holding her arms up to get a drink too. Hank gently tilted the mouth of the bottle up for her to take a drink to keep her from spilling it all down her front and on him.
“How are Kacie and all doing?” Hank asked.
“She called me this morning. She’d gotten my meatloaf recipe from me and made it last night. Now it is the kids favorite meal.”
“Well, yours is always good.”
“Good, because I ground up some elk scraps and I’m going to make a meatloaf out of it.”
“That sounds good!”
Hank sprayed the grill grate down with oil spray, wiped it down and placed it back in the grill top.
“Do you have any more of those warble phones?” Diane asked.
“Hank chuckled at her name for them. “Yeah, why?”
“Could you put one out here? We spend a lot of time out here in the warmer months. Maddie likes to nap out here.”
“Yeah sure. I’ll need to waterproof the splice but I can do it.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s Gene coming along with the eagle?” Kacie asked.
Jaelyn put the scissors down. “It is looking good! He’s taking his time though. He’s going for the realism.”
“That’s what’s selling. I put a picture of his last carving on his website but linked it to eBay to auction it off. I think he’s going to get a better price.”
“I don’t think he even cares about the money, but it will be interesting to see what it will bring. He’s thinking of having you auction off the eagle he’s carving and give the proceeds to St. Jude’s.
“Well, by the time he gets the eagle done, we’ll know if auctioning is the way to go.”
“I like the way you put the red ‘SOLD’ across the pictures to show people they were selling. Why not show how long it was up on the site before it sold? It might make people buy them quicker.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”
Jaelyn looked at her watch.
“I’ll take these boxes into town before I go home.”
Kacie helped load the packages and waved bye to Jaelyn.
Hank finished trimming the log and hooked up the log carrier. He hauled the log back to his “log yard” and dropped it off. The bottom of the tree trunk had rotted and the wind had snapped it off but he should get a few dozen board feet off of it with his Alaskan mill. Going back to the site, he picked up the second log and dropped it off. Hooking up the trailer, he went back to his logging site and trimmed up the rest of the tree and branches into firewood length pieces. There were two more trees he needed to clean up but they could wait. He had things in the greenhouse that needed doing. There was a band of thunderstorms coming and he need to batten down the hatches and open up the larger overflow valve on the water tank.
On Saturday afternoon the rain did come, torrential rains, along with a couple of tornadoes. Hank was helping Diane prepare for their Equinox party when the weather alert radio went off. Hank listened for a few seconds and ran a pot of water in the sink.
Hank threw the pot of water in the firebox of the cook stove, grabbed the handset of the SPT and called Gene’s and Earl’s to warn them about the tornado. Diane grabbed Maddie, called the dogs and headed to the shelter, Hank coming in behind them. After locking down the blast door, Hank uncovered the litter box and got the dogs bowls of water while Diane got Maddie playing with some toys. Hank flipped the switch on his video monitor and picked up the handset to call Gene’s shelter.
“Everything okay there?” Hank asked.
“Yeah, we’re secure. Which way was it moving?”
“The report said it was southwest of Cassville and headed in a northeast. I don’t know the exact location.”
“Have you talked to Earl?”
“No, not yet. He’s next.”
“Okay, I’ll get off then.”
“No, stay on the line, I can call him with you still on.”
Hank flipped a switch on the box to turn the line into a party line then called Earl’s shelter and the phone was immediately answered.
“Earl, last I heard, the tornado was southwest of Cassville, headed northeast. I’m looking at my camera monitor now and the wind is blowing, maybe twenty miles an hour, but I don’t see any debris.”
“Have you heard from Gene and Jaelyn.”
“We’re good.” Gene said.
“Guys, the toggle switch on the bottom right of the box turns the line into a party line. If you need to call, call on the party line so everyone stays informed. I need to hook up my scanner antenna and see what is going on.”
“Okay. Let us know when it’s safe.” Earl said.
Hank hung up and quickly took the antenna coax off the grounding receptacle and connected it to the back of the scanner. He had previously programmed in the frequencies for the area emergency services and NOAA storm warning frequencies. The tornado, possibly an EF-3 had barely missed Cassville and was heading toward the Jenkins area. Hank continued to listen and when the tornado was reported to be southeast of Wheelerville, Hank went upstairs to check things out. When he saw everything was all clear, they brought the dogs and Maddie back upstairs. Hank called the other two shelters and told them it was all clear.
“Guys, I’m going to grab some gear and head up 39 to see if anyone needs help.”
“We’ll go too,” both men replied.
“Okay, grab some blankets, tarps, wrecking bars, headlamps and water. I’m bringing pretty much the same and my field medical pack. I’ll see you in about ten minutes.”
Earl had the emergency lights flashing on his patrol car as he pulled out in front of Gene and Hank, heading to Jenkins.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 1, 2022 6:48:35 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by solo on Jul 1, 2022 7:23:06 GMT -6
We bought a Berkey Light which lasted about fifteen years. We now have a Crown Berkey with stand which was purchased in 2020 for about $400. The filter life is dependent on how clean your water is. We use four filters which is sufficient, but need to be changed since we used the two old filters out of the plastic The filters have gotten expensive at $166 for two, but shop around for better pricing than at Berkey. The Crown Berkey with stand now sales for about $570. Well worth the expense. Texican.... We went with a whole house system with a built in water softener. On top of that, for our drinking water and icemaker, we have an inline reverse osmosis system. This is as much to remove the "Treatment" from our water supply as it is to make sure the normal water supply contaminents are not a factor. Unfortunately I live in a place where well water is not an option and are stuck with city water. For emergencies, that looks like hurricanes around here, we have Sawyer and Grayl products (Double useful for backcountry trips).
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Post by texican on Jul 1, 2022 14:55:36 GMT -6
Unfortunately I live in a place where well water is not an option and are stuck with city water.
Solo,
Hopefully you have a plan for emergency water such as rain barrels under downspouts or a nearby body of water.
Texican....
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ydderf2
Member
"I'm from the government and here to help" hahahaha
Posts: 321
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Post by ydderf2 on Jul 1, 2022 20:16:24 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 2, 2022 5:52:29 GMT -6
Chapter 73
The first damaged structure they encountered was in the Clio area. At first glance, it looked like total destruction, then Hank realized that it was mostly junk around the house. A fallen tree did take off the corner of the house and the man’s pickup truck was laying on its side but they managed to winch it back over with Hanks winch. Hank had his chain saw and the cut the tree away and helped the man tarp over the broken corner of the roof. The tornado had taken out the repeater in this area for the Sheriff’s Department so Earl was doing his report via cell phone. They finished up there and headed on in to the Jenkins area but found no other damage except for busted wire fences and downed trees. They went on following the clear path of the tornado and it died out on the other side of Wheelerville without damaging anything else but fences and trees. Someone was going to make some firewood money in the future.
When they got back home, the women had gathered at the Tyson’s and had the grill going. Although their party was delayed a few hours, they went ahead with it. The men took over burning the meat while the women were putting together everything else.
“Hank, where did you get your scanner?” Gene asked.
“I ordered it online. I think I’ll get another one to have upstairs with my weather radio.
“Yeah, I think I’ll do the same.” Gene said.
“Me to,” echoed Earl.
“How are you two set up for radios in your shelters?” Hank asked.
“I’ve got a CB and an ICOM IC-251.” Gene said. “It was recommended by the shelter people.”
“Yeah, we’ve got the same.” Earl said.
“That’s good. Did they put in the antennas too?”
“Yes, but the antennas aren’t connected.”
“You don’t want them to be until you’re sure there’s no EMP.”
“Well, looks like we will just need the scanners.” Gene said. “Do you have any more of those Sound Powered Telephones?”
Yeah I have one left.”
“Could I get it to put out back in the studio?”
“Sure. I have the address and was going to buy a couple more for backup. Do you need another one Earl?”
“Yeah I could use a couple to put in Kacie’s work area and the house.”
“I’ll see you get them. Diane, the meat is ready!”
Punta Estrella, Mexico is a small town on Federal Highway 5 around 200 kilometers southwest of Mexicali, Mexico. The three warehouses built 800 meters off the highway were used as a way station for the Sinaloa cartel trucks hauling cocaine and fentanyl to distribution points where it was smuggled across the border into the United States. The trucks would pull inside the warehouses, the drivers could get their scheduled rest time while others there would service the trucks. Huge tanker trucks came in each week to refuel the storage tanks, actually swapping off the tank trailers parked inside the warehouses before a new convoy arrived. They had been under observation for several weeks, both with human observers and satellite imagery. Unless they were unlucky, they would make the big hit tonight.
The three MQ-1B Predators, armed with modified AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, took off from an airstrip northwest of Phoenix in the night and made their way to the south to the Gulf of California, maintaining a route 30 miles off the eastern coast of Baja California. The missiles had been manufactured with composite materials, non-standard electronics and had no serial numbers. When the missiles exploded, they would completely vaporize the missiles, enhancing the explosive effect. The fuel tankers had been replaced that day so they knew there would be a delivery convoy of drugs that night.
The six trucks pulled into the warehouse complex that night at 0146, with two trucks pulling into each warehouse. At 0200 the high altitude Predators released their missiles, each aircraft assigned to a warehouse. The flames and smoke from the explosions went several hundred feet into the air. Three MQ-1B Predators returned to their base in Arizona.
Gene went over places on the eagle and lightly sanded areas with 800 grit sandpaper attached to a short rubber wand. He pulled off the magnifying goggles and rubbed his eyes. Getting up off the stool, he went over to the refrigerator and got a glass of cold water. He went back over to the carving and slowly walked around it, his eyes scanning for surface anomalies. Gene picked up the color photo and looked at it closely. The carving was two and a half feet tall with the wings spread only about a third of their length. The full wingspread of six feet would have been too much and would have exposed the wings to damage. He drained the glass and set it on the counter. Getting out the staining sealer, he lightly brushed it on the eagle and wiped it down with a lint-free cloth. This would allow for an even stain. He washed and dried his glass and put it back in the cupboard next to the refrigerator. Locking up the shop, Gene headed to the house to prep for dinner.
Hank and Max did a ride-through and found three oak trees blown down, root ball and all. The soil had been so saturated on the slope the trees were easy to blow over. Hank saw there was only about eight inches of soil where the roots had grown and they couldn’t go very deep because of the limestone layer. Hank went back and got his chain saw and axe to cut the trees up into logs. These were nice trees and he would be able to get some nice boards out of them.
After carrying the logs back to his log yard, Hank went into the house.
“Honey, I need some new stones for my chainsaw sharpener. I’m headed over to Branson West Hardware. Do you need anything or do you want to go too?”
“No, I’ll stay here. I’ve got a beef stew on and have bread rising, but you’ll be going by the Walmart and I believe there is a certain little someone who loves seedless red grapes.”
Hank grinned. “Okay, I’ll be back in about an hour.”
Hank cruised up 76 and about 25 minutes later turned south onto Highway 13. He glanced over as he passed the Walmart Supercenter. He’d pick up the grapes on his way home. He was a little irritated he had to make the trip here for the sharpening stones. He tried to keep things on hand so he didn’t have to travel all the way over here.
When he got to the hardware store, his idea was to buy three sets of stones and three spare chains for each of his chainsaws. As he was about to open the door and go in he saw something in the storage lot that stopped him in his tracks. An LT40 Hydraulic Portable Sawmill. If it had been food, he would have been salivating. He walked to it and walked around. His current setup allowed for cutting only a few boards at a time and it wasted a lot of wood but produced a lot of sawdust. It was tiresome cutting anything over 8’ and it took a while to set up for the next cut. If he was in the wilds of the great northwest, far from anywhere, the Alaska mill would be perfect. But this was on a trailer chassis, could be set up and leveled quickly and you could pre-program the board thicknesses and change them at the push of a button. Hank was in love. He walked into the hardware store and asked one of the clerks the spec sheet for the LT40. Moving out of the way of the rest of the customers, Hank read through the literature and made his decision. He bought spare stones and blades for the chainsaws but also the LT40, extra hydraulic oil and two spare blades. Instead of spending a little under a hundred dollars he ended up spending quite a bit more. A clerk helped him hook the trailer up to his truck and Hank pulled out on Highway 13, heading for the Walmart. He had to park in the rear of the parking lot, straddling several empty parking spaces because of the length of the rig. Walking quickly into the produce area, he got Maddie her grapes and four pineapples. Diane liked fresh pineapples. Hurrying out of the Walmart, he set the fruit in the passenger seat and headed home, keeping a careful watch on his new acquisition through his rear-view mirrors.
When he returned to Piney Creek, Hank took the fruit in the house. Diane looked the fruit in the bags then up at Hank.
“What did you buy?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve got a guilty look on your face and you brought me fresh pineapple.”
“Well, I got the grinding stones and the spare blades but they had a portable bandsaw mill and…”
“I don’t care. I love you! Thank you for the pineapple. Maddie! Grapes!”
Maddie and Xena came out of the Great Room and into the kitchen. Hank set Maddie in her high chair and gave Xena a dental bone. That brought Max in and he got a bone too. Diane set a bowl with ten grapes in it in front of Maddie and she began fisting the grapes into her mouth.
“Now, tell me about your new toy.” Diane said.
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Post by bluefox2 on Jul 2, 2022 7:21:24 GMT -6
I have always wished I had property to set up one of those portable sawmills.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 2, 2022 8:24:38 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by udwe on Jul 2, 2022 20:37:19 GMT -6
Great!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 3, 2022 17:47:53 GMT -6
Chapter 74
“When I cut boards with the Alaska mill, I’m losing 5/8 of an inch just in the cut. It makes a lot of sawdust and not as many boards. The bandsaw blade is around 3/16” thick so I’ll get more boards out of a log.”
“Why do you need lumber?”
“I don’t, but I couldn’t burn it all for firewood. I could never do that, there’s just too much. I’m going to offer Gene and Earl firewood if they’ll help me gather and split it. The better stuff I’ll cut into boards. The lumber will cost us just labor. Maybe Gene could use some of it for his carvings. Hickory is $3.75 a board foot, Red Oak is $3.90 and White Oak is $7.00 rough cut. The scraps can be turned into firewood and we’ll have plenty of boards for any projects. There’s plenty of firewood to be harvested that’s seasoned to be used this coming winter.”
“All this harvesting will have the deer and elk stirred up.”
“Yeah, but they are getting accustomed to me and the tractor being around. They like those mineral blocks too much to wander off very far.”
Hank went down to cut another tree up and saw his fears of beavers moving in were well founded. It looked like a pair had moved in and were starting to “improve” the small dam he had built. He went on and cut the tree up and hauled the logs back. Putting his tools and equipment up, he and went to the house.
“I’ve got a couple of beaver taking over the spring pond. They’ll have that whole area covered and dead trees before trapping season is here.”
“I can get you a nuisance permit. The Department of Conservation doesn’t like them killing trees any more than you do. I can get borrow the traps too.” Diane said.
“Do that. I can stay with Maddie tomorrow and work in the greenhouse.”
“Oh my God! The bid has gone crazy!” Jaelyn said.
“And we’ve got it up for four more days.” Kacie replied. “Watch what happens the last couple of days. You think you have seen crazy….”
Kacie had taken several dozen pictures of the eagle until she had just the right ones that showed the detail and majesty of the statue. Instead of the usual one or two pictures, she had posted six to the website along with the dimensions, the materials and an edited video of the stages to its completion. Down at the bottom of the page in bold lettering was the notice that the proceeds would be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Jaelyn wasn’t sure if that had made any difference to the bidding or the notoriety of the artist did, but it couldn’t hurt. The driveway alarm sounded and both women’s eyes went to the monitor.
“UPS. You expecting anything?” Jaelyn asked.
“Yes, three 5-gallon buckets of brown sugar. I’ll bring them in here and break them down later.” Kacie replied.
Jaelyn stood by with her hand next to the PPK while Kacie opened the door . The driver carried the pails in and set them just inside the door. When the driver left, Kacie released the self-locking, self-shutting door and went back over to the counter.
What are you going to use that much sugar for?”
“I use it mostly in baking. Over time I will use it all. It was reasonably priced and I don’t need to go into town to buy a pound or two. I’ll re-package it into one pound Mylar bags and store it right back in the buckets.”
“I need the address of where you bought it.” Jaelyn said.
I bought it right out of Louisiana from Cargill ‘s. Their brown sugar is non-GMO. Why don’t you do an order of maple sugar and we can swap as needed.”
“Sounds good.”
Gene took a break, looked at the website and was pleased at the bidding on the eagle. It looked like he would get more for it than he did the mountain lion. He had been given permission to show the full-sized carving of the lion on his website and interest in his carvings were building every day. He was currently working on something a little different, a carving of one of Roger’s Rangers during the period of the French and Indian War he titled Wobi Madaondo – ‘the White Devil.’ The 14” statue was tedious to carve, especially the fringes on the uniform tunics. He would make the colors of the uniform a shade between sage and a forest green. The statue had the bedroll draped across their body, flintlock musket with buttplate by his heel, tomahawk and pistol tucked in the tunic sash. He knew not everyone carried pistols but it added to the fierceness of the depiction. Also, the hair was probably longer than he showed but the heck with it. Gene figured it would gain attention from some of the members of the Ranger Association. Placing the magnifying goggles back on, he picked up the micro knife and continued carving.
The next morning, Diane left to rub elbows and get the nuisance permit and traps. Hank held Maddie’s hand and they walked down to the greenhouse. He gave her a mini garden trowel and a small potato and she busied herself with burying the potato in a tub of soil. Xena was making such a fuss outside Hank had to let her in. Xena went over and laid down next to her buddy while Hank adjusted and turned on the drip water system. When his attention turned back to Maddie, she had scooped most of the dirt out of the tub and was burying Xena’s hindquarters. Xena just lay there, one eye on Maddie. Hank chuckled and took a picture with his phone and picked Maddie up. Xena stood up and shook the dirt off and Hank walked them back to the house. He would clean up the mess later. Maddie had tired herself out so Hank gave her some juice and put her down for a nap.
When Diane got back, she had the permit and four #5 foothold traps. After Maddie woke up from her nap, they put on their waders, Maddie in the backpack carrier and went down to the pond to set the traps. Hank tore the branches apart that the beaver had set in place so the water flowed over four places. He opened up the jaws of the traps and Diane set the dog. Pounding the anchor rods in, they set the traps at the openings Hank had torn out. They headed back to the house, stopping by the root cellar to get some potatoes to cut up for planting.
Gene laid down the micro knife the took the goggles off. He got up, stretched and got an ice-cold bottle of Mountain Dew out of the refrigerator. He needed the caffeine. He walked around a little then went outside to the gazebo. A light breeze was blowing and felt refreshing. Gene walked around the yard and the grass was coming up well. It would soon need mowing. He walked around stretching, working the stiffness out. The slow, meticulous carving tended to stiffen you up with the small movements. Finally, feeling better, he threw the bottle into the compost bin and went back inside, his mind switching to some of the exploits of Roger’s Rangers. Gene felt empathy for the fighters of that era. He too had grown up running through the woods as a boy, later using his skills to hunt for food and later in life, using those same skill to hunt the so called “enemies” of America. Of course, he hadn’t had to deal with marauding French supported Indians terrorizing and murdering the earlier settlers. The fierce Abenaki, the Canadian and allied Indian partisans were ruthless. Once a whole Ranger company surrendered after assurances were given for their security, only to be ruthlessly slaughtered, chopped to death by the enemy. After that, the gloves were off and thee Rangers gave more than they received until they had driven the warring Indians and the French out of colonial America.
Gene sighed. It was a shame to know how it once was and how it was now. Liberal politicians and limp-wristed generals had turned the present military into a shadow of former self. The history of the military was like a Sine wave. It seem the low points were always when a liberal administration was in power. Milquetoast officers were the nadir of Gene’s service and had driven him from the thing he loved after he realized that there wouldn’t be any change for decades, if ever. Gene had found this place and was determined to make his stand here. He may end up with blood in his mouth and a bullet through his heart, but he would die free of the incompetent leaders in the country today. Gene donned the goggles and continued working on the bullet boxes and the powder horn.
The next day, Hank went down to check the traps. Two of the traps had beaver in them. They hadn’t gotten one limb in place to staunch the flow of water through the gaps. Both had drowned and it was a little struggle to get the 40 pound wet beavers onto the bank. He was glad he had come down in the Gator. Max sniffed to two bodies and went to find something better to do. Hank reset the traps and placed them back into position. He’d leave them for a couple more days to make sure there weren’t any more of the critters around. Loading the beavers into the back of the Gator, he called Max and they headed for the house.
Diane sharpened a skinning knife and cut around the base of the tail, right at the hairline, twisting the tail off. She cut the legs off at the leg joints then made an incision up the center of the beaver hide to the chin, being careful not to cut the intestines. Then she started working the hide back, cutting it away from the fat and meat, trying not to leave much behind on the hide so as not to have so much work to do when she fleshed it out. When she had both beaver skinned, she took the pelts down to the shop and began fleshing them out. Hank followed with the portable playpen and Maddie.
“I need you to make me a couple of beaver boards 1/3 larger than the pelts. I’ll need to finish fleshing then salt the flesh side of the pelts.” Diane said.
Hank measured the stretched out pelt and went to work. When she had completed the first fleshing, they tacked and stretched the hides out on the boards using 6p nails. She did some more fleshing then put on a pair of leather gloves. Heavily pouring the non-iodized table salt onto the hide, she worked it in to every exposed area.
“I need to let this sit for 24 hours, then scrape it down again and re-salt it. This will pull out all the grease and moisture and help dry up the pelt to get it ready for the actual tanning process.
“Okay, you’re the boss.”
They then pulled the nails out and folded the pelt over, salt on salt, then folded the pelts over, keeping the salt from spilling out, placed them in a 5-gallon bucked and fastened the lid down.
The next day they repeated the process. It only took about 30 minutes with both of them working. On the third day, they scraped all the salt and grease off and made a mixture of a little over ½ pound of non-iodized salt to a gallon of boiling water in the plastic drum to dissolve the salt then let the water cool down to ambient temperature. They submerged the hides into the 35 gallon plastic drum, worked the air bubbles out them then weighted them down with a clean rock to keep them completely submerged. They would have to stay submerged 8 – 10 hours.
The next day (day 4), they took the pelts out of the salt bath, rinsed them in clean water and hung them up to partially dry. They set up their beaver boards, laid, stretched and tacked the pelts to the boards. They warmed up the hide tanning formula they got from Bass Pro and applied the formula liberally using rubber gloves, rubbing it deeply into the leather. They had to leave the formula on 14 to 16 hours.
“Where did you learn to do all this tanning and leatherwork?” Hank asked.
“There was an old trapper, Burl Gibson, over near Saddlebrooke, who was an encyclopedia of information on trapping and tanning. I learned a lot from him up until a week before he died. I’d gone to some training up in Columbia and when i came back, he was gone. They said it looked like he had died in his sleep. His knowledge will be sorely missed.”
They let the pelts sit for two days with the tanning solution on. They started working the pelts with a pelt scraper to soften and thin the leather and giving it a suede finish but found a few places that some flesh had been left on and had to reapply some tanning solution on the areas.
A couple of days later the pelts were done and they pulled the nails. Flipping the pelts over, they brushed and combed the fur out. Over the next few days, Diane continued to break in the leather then asked Hank to go find her the straightest willow sapling he could find. She was going to take one of the pelts and display it on the stair wall and save the other pelt to make hats and gloves. Hank found a thin sapling and steamed it in a four inch metal pipe sitting in a drum of boiling water. Diane helped him bend it into a hoop that gave a three inch space between the oval pelt and the hoop. While Hank held the shape, Diane secured the shape of the hoop with deer sinew and let it dry. Diane laced the pelt within the hoop with more sinew and hung it on the stair wall as a conversation piece.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 3, 2022 18:01:04 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by udwe on Jul 3, 2022 19:26:25 GMT -6
Cool! That's a great addition!
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ydderf2
Member
"I'm from the government and here to help" hahahaha
Posts: 321
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Post by ydderf2 on Jul 4, 2022 16:24:44 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 5, 2022 1:21:37 GMT -6
Chapter 75
Gene finished the Ranger and wrote his last notes on it in his woodcarving project log. He placed the carving in a box to carry down to Kacie’s. He was quitting for the day and needed to run over some ideas for his next project. Locking up, he went to the house, poured a beer in an insulated mug and went back out to the gazebo, pergola…. whatever thing you called it. To him it was just a shaded place to relax. He had stolen Hank and Diane’s idea with the firepit and grilling area. He didn’t have an outdoor kitchen, Just the stone grilling area with a chimney A bronze hood that Kacie found in her oodles of treasures extended over the grilling grate to direct the smoke up the chimney. The masons did an excellent job installing and sealing it. He sat down in the porch swing and swung slowly, trying to come up with an idea for his next project. He’d like to do something again in the history line. World War II was kinda out. He didn’t know how much interest it would gin up. Most of the veterans were in their early to late nineties. Maybe Viet Nam era vets are the ones he should be targeting and later the vets of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Clay Harris looked between the county plat map and Google Earth on his tablet a couple of times before he got out of his Jeep and started walking up the overgrown road. It didn’t look like anyone had been down this way in a long time. The elevation dropped slightly as he walked further from the main road About 600 feet in, he came across the old house, or at least what was left of it. He wouldn’t even think of stepping up on the porch. The stairs had rotted away and the porch floorboards where rotted through in several places. He broke through the bushes and found a fallen down building, possibly a garage, and then saw the old tin roofing of a barn. He stood in a slightly cleared area and turned slowly around. This could work.
Earl was coming down 76 on a routine patrol. He was headed home and could call in to log out. As he came around a small curve he saw a Jeep parked off the road on an old trail. Pulling over, he pulled up behind the Jeep and ran a check on the Illinois plates. They came back clean so he got out of the SUV. Looking inside the vehicle through the glass, he saw what looked like a plat map and a computer tablet. Earl checked the door handle and door wasn’t locked, but he decided not to check the inside for now. He looked at the footprints and saw there was only one person
”Maybe they had a call of nature.” Earl thought.
At that time a guy can out into the open and walked toward the Jeep.
“Something wrong officer?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing. I got curious seeing out of state plates on an expensive Jeep model parked next to the woods in the middle of nowhere.” Earl said.
Clay looked around. “The middle of nowhere. Yeah, I guess it is. Isn’t it great?”
Earl grinned. “Yeah it is. I like it out here. I live about four miles down the road.”
“Well, if you were wondering what I was doing out here, I inherited this property back over there. I had never seen it. It was willed to me by my great aunt. My situation in life had changed and I wanted to get somewhere that was the exact opposite of Chicago.”
Earl made a face. “Chicago? I don’t blame you for getting out of there!”
“Well. I didn’t actually live in Chicago, I lived in Joliet and took the train in. But it was getting just as bad in Joliet. Crime has a way of creeping in when the politicians don’t give a damn about anything but staying in power. I’d like to build a house here and not listen to any noise but the birds tweeting or the deer grunting.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place, but be warned, you might also hear the scream of a mountain lion or the growl of a bear too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. They usually don’t bother anyone. Unless you leave a lot of kitchen garbage around, the bears will leave you alone and the cats steer clear of humans anyway.”
“Well, I appreciate you concern and the information. I’m staying over at the Fair Haven RV camp for now. I’ve got a small travel trailer. I need to get the old homestead cleared and see what kind of permits I need. Is there anyone I could see to get one stop shopping or at least guide me to where I need to go?”
“Gerald Hollings, lawyer over in Cassville. He can keep you on the straight and narrow.”
“I appreciate the contact. By the way, my name is Clay Harris.”
“Earl Atkinson. Welcome to Piney Creek.” Earl replied, shaking the pro-offered hand.
Well Deputy Atkinson, is there a place to get a decent meal around here? Camp cooking is getting a little tiresome.”
“There’s a diner on past the RV park where 76 and 13 intersect. If you turn south on 13 the closer you get to Branson, the better the restaurants. But that diner is pretty darn good. Branson restaurants cater to the tourists and the prices will be higher.”
“Well, I’ll give it a shot. Thanks.”
Clay watched Earl turn around and go on down the highway, then turned north and headed back to the RV park.
Diane and Hank were picking sweet peas in the greenhouse while Maddie was walking around between the beds with Xena. She pulled the water hose on the reel and managed to turn the spigot on. Hank had just used the hose a few minutes earlier and of course the cold well water came gushing out, shooting Maddie in the face. Maddie dropped the hose and ran to Diane with her arms raised and her mouth opened in shock.
“Baby, I told you not to mess with that.” Diane said, drying Maddie’s face off with a bandana.
Hank went over to turn the water off and roll the hose back on the reel.
Hank chuckled. “She’ll learn.”
When they finished picking the pea pods, they went back to the firepit and shelled the peas. They had enough to can nine pints. Diane saved one pint back to go with their pork chops and mashed potatoes the next night.
Gene was frying salmon patties when Jaelyn came home from work.
“The bidding closed at 4:00 PM on the eagle. Your eagle was bought by a man in Montana. Guess what he paid for it? $11, 850.00!” Jaelyn burst out before Gene could answer.
“Wow! That’s pretty good. Well, when you receive a verification of payment I’ll send a check to St. Jude’s. I finished the Ranger today. Have Kacie put it up for bidding too. I’m still trying to decide what my next project will be.” Gene said.
“I don’t think it really matters anymore. People are buying a Gene Cannon original. You could probably carve a baboon’s butt and they would snatch it up.”
“Hmmm. Why don’t you put on a bikini and let me carve you. I could do a life-size model.”
“In your dreams you pervert!”
The next morning Clay headed to Cassville to find the office of Gerald Hollings. He was going to the courthouse but saw a policeman and asked him for directions. Holling’s office was close to the courthouse. The receptionist asked if he had an appointment and when he said he didn’t, she told him to have a seat and she’d see if Mr. Hollings had some free time.
Clay knew she was bullshitting him, A good receptionist would have an appointment calendar. However, she came back and said Mr. Hollings would see him. Clay introduced himself and told him what he needed.
“Well, Jim Chance is a client of mine and he can drill your well. Ace plumbing does septic tanks. The Parker brothers do land clearing and as for a log home your best bet is to talk to Hank Tyson, who lives about a half mile down from you. You can’t miss the driveway, it has a keyed security gate.”
“Yes, I saw it on the way in this morning.”
Mr. Hollings gave Clay a list of contact numbers and Clay headed back out of town. The Tysons looked to have built back from the road and that would be his first stop. Maybe they could give him some pointers on building in the woods.
When Clay pulled up to the gate he pressed the call button and a lady answered.
“Ma’am, my name is Clay Harris. Mr. Hollings recommend you and your husband for information on building a log home.”
“Yes Mr, Harris, Gerald called and said you might stop by. Come on up.”
When Clay pull up to the house a man came out on the porch. Clay got out of the Jeep and two dogs came out of the woods and ran to the steps and faced him, or more correctly, braced him. He could see a ridge of hair sticking up on each dog’s back. Clay froze.
Hank walked out to Clay and shook his hand.
“I’m Hank Tyson.”
“Clay Harris.”
“Come one in Clay, the dogs won’t bother you now that we’ve shaken hands.”
Clay glanced at the dogs and they did seem more relaxed. They went into the house and Hank introduced Clay to Diane.
“Would you like some sweet tea”
“Yes, thank you ma’am.”
“Please, call me Diane. So you’re going to be our neighbor?”
“Well, I hope so if I can get a house built.”
“I see you have Illinois plates. What made you want to move down here?” Hank asked.
“Hank, for the last six years I’ve lived in Joliet and worked in Chicago. I was one of the lucky ones and made an excellent living. But the crime gets worse every year and I realized the people were plastic. They eat out every night, buy expensive furniture and art and try to outdo the next guy. I almost fell into the same ruts. I ended up selling everything, sold my stock portfolios except for some real moneymakers that add substantial funds to my checking account every month, bought the Jeep and a small travel trailer and headed southwest. My great aunt left me ten and a half acres down the road, The old home place is falling down and I want to build a log home and chill out. I’ve lived in cities too long and I know zilch of setting something like this up.”
“Well, before I give you any advice, why don’t you take me down there so I can see what you have to work with.”
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Post by gipsy on Jul 5, 2022 7:08:07 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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ydderf2
Member
"I'm from the government and here to help" hahahaha
Posts: 321
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Post by ydderf2 on Jul 5, 2022 12:01:21 GMT -6
Is a small Cliff called a cliffie?
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Post by gipsy on Jul 5, 2022 14:31:05 GMT -6
It is a cliffett, don't you know like a cutlett
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 5, 2022 21:56:30 GMT -6
Chapter 76
Gene looked through the pictures and began sketching. He decided to go with one of those beefy Special Operations soldiers with cut off shirt sleeves, goggles in their head, carbine in his hand and looking for a fight. That should bring out the men who had fought over there and the ever-prevalent wannabees, reliving past and imagined glories. Slowly adding pieces of equipment and redrawing some lines, it would take him most of the day, and maybe longer, to get the feeling and look of his vision.
Clay drove them down to the property. As they walked up old drive, Hank noticed the trees that had grown up in the road.
“You might as well get a dozer in here to clear the drive the first thing. Parker Brothers will do it and remove the debris.”
They walked up to the hold house and Hank walked around looking.
“What do you plan to build here other than a house?” Hank asked.
“For now, probably just a shed/workshop and a detached garage. I’d like to clear enough space for a garden too.” Clay replied.
Hank grinned. “Good luck with that. That animals will eat more of it than you will. Well for that much space, if I were you, I’d cut the trees down myself to save for firewood.”
“Remember, I’m a citified kind of guy. I haven’t the slightest idea of how to do that.”
“I’ll help you. For now, we can just cut the logs and stack them out of the way. They’ll need to season for about a year before you should burn them anyway. Let’s go back to my house and talk.”
They went back to Hank’s and Clay got a tour of the property.
“We started with just raised beds but we would have had to put a high, animal-proof fence around the garden. Raccoons can easily climb a fence so we opted for a greenhouse. We can now grow things year round with the wood furnace keeping the greenhouse warm.”
“I like this setup. What I really want to do is mirror what you have here, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind one bit. I’ll make a list of the equipment suppliers and the local business where I got some things. Tractor Supply is my most frequent go-to.”
“Well, I’ll be learning as I go along so I hope you don’t mind me asking what would to you be a stupid questions.”
“There are no stupid questions, only ignorant ones.” Hank said. “One of the things you need to do once you get moved in is to stock your pantry well. We’ve had a couple of winters when we couldn’t get into town for a few days and maybe more. You want to have enough food and supplies on hand to hold you over.”
“What are you using for power or are the electrical lines underground?”
“Solar and wind mostly to charge a battery bank. I can hook a generator up to charge the batteries if needed, but I haven’t had to yet.”
Hank showed Clay the battery house, the wind generator and solar array.
“I can’t understand why the big producers don’t go to something like this.” Clay said.
“Well for one thing, 79% of the power produced here is nuclear, coal or natural gas.”
“Setting up a system like this is expensive. Imagine if you replaced the 79% with so-called ‘Green Energy,’ The price of electricity would be more than most people could afford. Then there is the storage problem. Solar and wind power charges a series of batteries. In the daytime, PVs charge the batteries as power is used. At night the wind charges the batteries and brings them back up to capacity. If we had cloudy, windless days, we could charge them with the generator. Technically, the big power conglomerates just don’t have the storage capacity to maintain an efficient power grid in the United States. Anything bigger than a house or maybe a small factory will be subject to power outages or brownout, even during normal operations. A severe weather event can throw everything out of whack.”
Clay nodded. “I’ll need to get the information on who did your work for you.”
Hank grinned. “Let’s go inside and you can make some notes.”
Gene looked at the large block of basswood he had meticulously trimmed and glued together. He was setting in his mind where he would start his cuts. The statue was already there, he just needed to remove the waste wood. The statue he had decided to carve was of a helmetless soldier with a communications headset on, kneeling with his modified rifle and watching the horizon. Gene’s mind went elsewhere as his hands moved on their own.
“Yes, an estate sale.” I want to be there when the sale starts at 9:00 in the morning. I’ve hooked up the trailer and I’ll pick you up at 8:00.” Kacie said.
Jaelyn turned and continued preparing dinner.
Gene came in about 30 minutes later, walked up behind Jaelyn and hugged her from behind.”
“Busy today?”
“Not really.” Jaelyn replied. “We’re going to an estate sale in the morning. Kacie is picking me up at 8:00.”
“Is she trying to fill the place back up again?”
“No, not really. She just looks for things that she know people will pay good money for. She splits her profits three ways; Trust Funds for each of the kids and preps.”
“Well, looks like she has her priorities down.”
“How’s the statue coming?”
“Just removing waste wood right now, but it’s coming together.”
“Gene set the table settings and Jaelyn soon had the meal on the table.”
Hank and Clay sat through the afternoon talking with Clay taking notes periodically.
Clay stretched and put his pen down.
“Well, I’ve got a lot to do and a lot to think about. I’ll arrange with the Parkers to get the road cleared, get some gravel down and we can start cutting trees. Oh, the log home builder. Who did you use?”
“Mark Cason, Ozark Log Homes. Their number is (417) 337-8695. They have an office over in West Branson on passed the Walmart. They treated us right. You need to talk to them first and get the dimensions of the buildings. That way you can figure out how many trees you’ll need to cut out and where you want the clearing done.”
“You mentioned a storm shelter. You have a lot of tornados around here?”
“Enough, One came close last month.”
“What size should I get?”
“Well, that depends on you. If your place got hit, would you want to be able to live on the property while it was cleaned up and rebuilt to keep looters away? You can get all sizes, even some that are like an underground apartment. Hang on a second and I’ll get you some website addresses of distributers and builders and some on disaster preparedness. That is the second thing you need to do. Decide on the type and size shelter you want, again to decide the space that needs to be cleared.”
“I’ll do it Hank. Diane said.”
“This all sounds like you’re trying to turn me into one of those Doomsday Survivors.”
“We like to think we are just being prepared. When the SHTF, it’s just going to be family and friends. As you’ve probably noticed, we’re about 18 miles from a town of any size and basically own our own. We prepare to either do without or stock up on enough to last us for a long time. You might get some ideas by visiting some of the disaster preparedness sites.”
“Here you go Clay.” Diane said, laying down the printed sheet in from of him.
“You’ll want to read through those sites and even do your own searches on subjects that peak your interest. It is a constant endeavor to be prepared. It isn’t all about just beans and bullets.”
Diane invited Clay for dinner and they had some delicious elk steaks with mashed potatoes, corn and green beans. When Clay went back to the RV park that night, he had a lot on his mind.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 5, 2022 22:08:54 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 6, 2022 22:00:13 GMT -6
Chapter 77
A couple of years back, Jo had decided to add to the training her grandfather had given her. As soon as she was 18, she signed up for the American Gunsmithing Institute’s Enhanced Master Gunsmithing Video Course. She had breezed through it because a good bit was just a refresher from what her Grandpa had taught her. But she wanted to get actual hands-on on training. Jo did her research and found the best place for that was the Colorado School of Trades. She talked to her Trust Fund Manager and because it was a school the Trust would pay the $35,000 tuition and give her living expenses. So she had the 1972 Winnebago checked out to make sure it would make the trip and headed for Lakewood, Colorado towing a forest green 1976 Jeep CJ5. Anyone could see that this was a damn nice Jeep. It had a six inch lift with oversized tires, big winch bumper and brush guard with an 18,000 pound winch up front, big bumper out back with a rack above the spare tire. Two steel fuel cans were mounted on it along with a 7,000 pound Hi-Lift jack. It also had a rack on the roof with a second spare tire, an ax and a shovel. The windows were all tinted as much as the law would allow. Jo had rebuilt it herself and had a special paint job done. She had done some extra work under the hood too, replacing the engine with a Cummins 4BT, giving the exhaust a deep throaty growl to it. All the gauges were manual, the only electronics being a GPS.
Jo took her time getting out to Colorado and spent nights in the interstate rest areas. When she arrived, she found an RV park about ten miles from the school and spent the next 14 months working for her equivalent of an Associate’s degree in gunsmithing. Not only did she complete the main course but also several armorer’s courses that visiting arms companies held at the school. Each of the extra courses cost her, but she willingly paid for them. She had been worried that they may not teach her anything new, but she gained in-depth knowledge of the different companies weapons. On the last day, when they did their “Gunsmith’s Walk,” she walked with pride. She dreamed of re-opening her grandfather’s gunsmith shop, but she wanted to expand on it. She had talked to a couple of girls who attended the school to come in with her on the business. They could live with her at her grandfather’s old house that had four bedrooms. Because of the misogyny in the gunsmith world, they thought they might have better chance getting job they loved in an all-girl operation.
Jim and Clark Parker, along with one of their employees driving a dump truck, came out and cleared the road up to the home place as soon as the surveyors verified the property lines and staked the corners. Jim drove the dozer and Clark picked up the debris with a Bobcat and placed it in the dump truck then smoothed out the road with it. Clay had trucks of limestone gravel waiting to build the roadbed. It didn’t take that long to rebuild the 600 foot roadbed and it was finished by late afternoon. The different sized graved packed so tight Clay didn’t think a weed could grow on it for a long, long time. When the dozer came down the road to be loaded onto the lowboy, it hardly made a mark on the packed road.
“Clay, give is a call when you want to do the rest of the clearing and we’ll get on it.” Jim said.
I will Jim. I’ll stop by in the morning and pay you for this portion. As soon as we get the logs cut out I’ll give you a call.”
“Okay Clay, I’ll see you later.”
Clay drove his Jeep up to the house place and as he got out, heard another vehicle and an old Jeep 5/4 drove up. It was Hank.
“Where in the world did you get that?” Clay asked.
“It came with the property. I cut a bunch of stakes and have plastic surveyor’s marking tape with me.” Hank said.
“Well let’s get to it.” Clay said. “These trees will have to go.” Clay said, tying orange plastic ribbon to tree limbs.
They marked trees and measured the dimensions of the house, out buildings and the outline of the area to be cleared. As Clay was driving a stake to mark the perimeter of what looked to have been a large garden once, he spotted something in the briar patch next to the garden.
‘Hey Hank! Come over here a minute!”
Hank walked over. “What is it?”
“There’s a door or something in that briar patch.”
“Mark it so the bulldozer doesn’t run over it. We don’t want it getting stuck in a hole.”
As it was getting dark they finished and threw the tools and leftover stakes in the back of Hank’s M715.
“Clay, I like to be as safe as I can when it comes to cutting trees. The first thing I want to do in the morning is to go to Tractor Supply and get you outfitted with safety gear. If you want, you can get a couple of saws while we’re there.” “Sounds good to me Hank. I’m not in favor of taking chances either.”
“Come over to the house around 8:00 and we’ll take the M715 in. I need to run it some so the seals don’t start leaking.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jo pulled into the Oasis Travel center in Colby Kansas to fuel up and get something to eat. The Winnebago only got 12 miles to the gallon pulling the Jeep and it was getting thirsty. She was lucky Kansas was relatively flat. She filled the tank and drove across the road to the City Limits Grill. Jo ordered the Porterhouse Porkchop with Wild Rice, Chef’s Salad and iced tea. She sat there thinking as she stirred the tea with her straw. Her first thought was why tea in restaurants, poured into a glass full of ice, was always warm at the bottom of the glass. She finally had the tea stirred sufficiently to make sure her first sip was cold. Thinking of her grandfather’s gun shop, visions of him working at the bench filled her mind. The shop would probably need a good cleaning after being closed up for 14 months. She wondered if Maggie and her sister still cleaned houses. The tools and fixtures were still in their places in the shop as they were on the day her grandfather died. Jo had straighten up and cleaned before she left and the steel doors and shutters would have kept things secured so everything should be okay, she hoped. Her food came and she ate heartily.
Hank parked in front of Tractor Supply and helped Clay pick out his safety gear. Clay also got two Husqvarna chainsaws, on with a 14 inch bar and the other with a 20 inch bar. Spare chains, chain sharpener, gas can and 2 cycle oil were the next things to go into the cart. Clay paid for the purchases and they went back to Piney Creek. Hank handed Clay a couple of timber jacks and followed him down with the tractor and log cart. They donned their safety gear and Hank walked Clay through the operation of the chainsaws, then he himself cut the first tree. Clay took the smaller saw and trimmed the limbs under Hank’s supervision. Hank then had Clay cut the log in half and they moved the logs out of the area to be cleared. They ended up cutting down nine trees. The rest of the saplings could be cleared with the bulldozer.
“What about the stumps?” Clay asked. “Will they be able to remove those with the bulldozer?”
“Oh yes. They have a stump ripper that will drag stumps right out of the ground. Piece of cake. If you want to, I can store your equipment up at my place until you have something built here.” Hank said.
“I’d appreciate it,” Clay said. “The builders have a garage and a shop building on the yard and as soon as we’ve got the land cleared, they’ll come in and get the foundations done for them. The house is going to take a little longer. The shelter will be the next thing to go in so they can build the basement wall around the entrance to the shelter. The well driller will come as soon as I call him so I’ll give him a call as soon as the clearing is done.”
“Well, I guess the next thing is to get the clearing done then.” Hank said.
“I’ll give the Parker brothers a call before I head back.”
Jaelyn could start to see the outline of the soldier. She had been taking a picture every day of what Gene had accomplished. Of course he had the video but she wanted to try to do a fading picture show also to see how it turned out. “It’s looking good.” Jaelyn said.
Gene looked up, pulling the goggles to the top of his head.
“Hi! You’re just in time. Sit down here.” Gene said, getting off the stool.
Positioning her, Gene loosely tied an olive and black shemagh around her neck and precisely move the cloth folds and then he picked up his sketchpad. He drew in the shemagh on the sketch.
“Thanks, I couldn’t the positioning in my mind.”
“What is this thing?” Jaelyn asked, fingering the scarf.
“It’s a shemagh, (pronounced “shh-mog“). It is commonly worn in desert regions. Our Special Ops solders picked up wearing them. That’s mine from the ‘Stan. You can tie them to protect your face from blowing sand and dust, which of course is commonplace in places like Afghanistan and Northern Africa. You can also use it as a towel, torn-off strips can be used as tinder for a fire, as a small blanket or it can be used as a sling for someone who’s injured their arm. It can be used for many things.”
“Interesting.” Jaelyn said, grinning.
“Yeah…..riiiight.”
“Are you about finished for the day?” Jaelyn asked.
“Yeah, I guess so. What’s up?”
“I want barbecue for dinner.”
“I will clean up and we shall dine this evening at the BBQ Station, M’Lady.”
Jo made another fuel stop in Junction City, Kansas. She was beginning to hit a few grades and you could almost see the fuel gauge needle move as the engine sucked the fuel down. She used the restroom in the truck stop and got a Mountain Dew. She was over half way home but she would overnight in the Topeka area and make the rest of the trip tomorrow. The excitement for her future built as she drew closer to Cassville, Missouri.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 7, 2022 8:51:00 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by bluefox2 on Jul 7, 2022 16:57:33 GMT -6
I see a match up of Clay and Jo coming. And to the author. Close your shades and move the computer and I will stop reading over your shoulder.
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ydderf2
Member
"I'm from the government and here to help" hahahaha
Posts: 321
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Post by ydderf2 on Jul 7, 2022 17:08:22 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jul 7, 2022 18:39:40 GMT -6
I see a match up of Clay and Jo coming. And to the author. Close your shades and move the computer and I will stop reading over your shoulder. I checked my Magic 8 Ball and it responded with "Outlook not so good."
Sorry....
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