by R Kralik
It's a huge relief for me as well. I don't know if there's enough to fight off a horde as large as the one that went through here a few days ago, but I haven't seen this much optimism on Pop's face in a long time.
I wonder why the chicken-killer-dog's owners stored all that ammo. Maybe they had stolen it. Maybe they were drug dealers. I guess we'll never know for sure.
We have the chaise and sectional in the living room. It fits perfectly. Marisa still wants the cabinets from that house. That means Jason will be working on cabinets if he gets a spare moment.
Dane plans on staying for a while. Elaine said he promised to build a cabin inside the compound when the fence is finished. He'll tear down the old Peterson house and recycle everything he can into a new cabin.
I hope she realizes that it'll probably be a year before we can finish the fence and a cabin. He hasn't said anything to her about plans after the cabin is built, but she feels certain his heart belongs to her now.
I stuck my nose where it didn't belong and told Elaine that I was concerned about her relationship with Dane's because it hasn't been long since she lost Neil. She told me that she and Neil were not close and were only living together for Jesse's sake. Neil had a girlfriend when the world fell apart. He left the girlfriend to be with his son.
I need to keep my nose out of it. I don't wanna know anything else about Neil and Elaine's relationship.
We have one more year with "Dane the Destroyer." Yay!
It's time for me to get back in the rotation for kitchen and laundry duty. I'm actually looking forward to it. I hope we can have peace around here while Mick heals.
The temperature hit sixty degrees today. It was really nice.
We sat on the back porch after supper and chatted with one another about the fence and other defenses we might be able to employ. Everyone thinks that tearing up the paved road is a good one.
Dane mentioned that he plans to build a cabin inside the compound when the fence is finished. Jeremy quickly spoke up and said he wants a bachelor cabin himself and, of course, Jesse wants one too. Elaine furrowed her brow and told Jesse he could have one when he turns eighteen and can build it himself. Mr. Hobbs also wants a bachelor cabin.
Pop and Mr. Hobbs want complete control of the garden. Everyone will help with harvests and preservation, but only Mr. Hobbs and Pop will have a say about what's planted where, when, and how. I'm all for that. I'll bet you those two men will spend every waking hour in the garden this summer.
I asked everyone to look for more blue barrels whenever they go out. We need to store at least twice the amount of water we have now, in case of drought this summer.
Jesse and Jeremy will begin barn lootin' for hay tomorrow. We need all we can get. We can store it in our barn and the tractor shed at Jason and Marisa's.
Mick said we'll use chain-link for the divisional sections inside the compound. Jason and Marisa's house will be divided off so Buttercup can have her run of the place along with Opie and Tig. The chain-link will keep them out of the garden.
I told everyone that I want the chickens to be able to free range because we won't have chicken feed forever and they'll need the variety to continue giving us eggs..
We really need a rooster. I hope Jesse and Jeremy find one while they're lootin' barns.
Pop wants all critters kept out of the garden. Mick said we'll put a chain-link fence around it, just in case one of the animals gets out of their proper location. Pop and Mr. Hobbs were both happy about that.
Mick said we can remove the plywood from the windows once we get the fence done. It's gonna get hot and humid in here this summer. I may have to sleep on the back porch. I hate summer.
It's raining and I can't wait to climb into bed and listen to the rain while I fall asleep in Mick's arms.
Bye for now.
Friday, February 28
Hisa said Mick's puncture wound looks better this morning. She'll keep him on the antibiotics for another 7 days if all goes well.
I finally had my fried-egg breakfast and it was worth the wait. I fried every egg in the house in bacon grease and none were left by the time breakfast was over. I guess I'm not the only one craving fried food.
We're from the south. "Fried" is the most beloved five-letter word in our vocabulary. Everyone ate like they were starving and it made me feel good.
Mick's dozing in and out on the chaise, watching the kids play. He's in loopy-land right now.
The only light they have is candlelight since the windows are boarded up and it's too warm for a fire. I love having that big sectional and chaise. Have I mentioned that before?
It's still raining and the barn lootin' crew can't go out. We can't store wet hay because mold and mildew can kill goats. Pop says the weather will clear by this afternoon, so they can go out then.
Pop's the weather expert in this family. He says his "bones" predict the weather better than any meteorologist he's ever heard. It's sixty-five degrees outside and that's too warm for February. Pop expects thunderstorms by tomorrow night. I hope we don't get a tornado.
Dane's out with Jason and Soo, looking for things we need to make the wooden fence happen. They took all the gas cans, so I guess they'll be lootin' diesel fuel. They didn't take a trailer which means they aren't headed to Lowe's this time around.
Nana and Carisa have lunch duty today and I'm headed out to check on the goats. I haven't seen the incredible little milk machines in a few days. I'll bet the kids are getting big.
I'm also taking my umbrella and going to Marisa's house to look at the sun chokes Jeremy mentioned.
See ya later.
2:00 PM...
I brought home a five-gallon bucket full of sun chokes and none of us knew what to do with them. We all had ideas, but there's no "sun choke experience" in this house.
We ended up peeling them, which is hard to do because they're knobby. We boiled them, mashed them, added breadcrumbs, butter, and a few spices, then baked them. They're actually pretty tasty. We used about half of what I brought back.
The men ate them and had no clue what they were eating. None of them said a word, they just gobbled those sun chokes up.
Nana and Carisa made yeast rolls and pinto beans to go with them. It was a yummy lunch and now we have a little "sun choke experience."
Elaine and Valerie are making venison stew for supper. Everyone started drooling as soon as they told us.
Pop and Mr. Hobbs are taking turns on the Kubota, tilling up our big garden spot. They plan to "rake" it after that. They want to keep the ground turned until most of the grass and weeds are dead, and rake it until most of the roots are out. They'll add the goat poop they've been saving after they rake the ground a few more times. Pop says they'll turn the ground several more times after they get the goat poop spread. We may use child labor to pull weeds between the plants in the rows.
I'm glad the garden won't be near the road where it could easily be seen. Pop's greenhouses are chock full of plants and I'm hoping we'll get an early harvest.
The only thing I like about summer is the fresh produce, especially tomatoes. The ones we get in winter taste bitter and have too much meat and not enough juice. I can't wait for a 'mater sandwich with mayo on Nana's homemade bread.
Jesse and Jeremy are out with the flatbed trailer, looking for hay. Pop was right. The rain stopped right after lunch and it's now seventy degrees outside. I'll bet we're in for some serious storms.
Mick is lying in bed, reading by candlelight. His hip started bothering him from lying on the chaise most of the morning. He says he can feel himself getting stronger. His ribs and face are almost back to their natural color.
Soo told Marisa and me that he would take us to loot houses near the chicken-killer-dog's house. We're about to head over there. We'll decide which house to loot when we get there.
I saw Mrs. Masterson, digging in her yard this afternoon. I'm guessing she's preparing a garden spot.
9:30 PM...
The veniso
n stew was delicious. Elaine added lots of veggies along with secret ingredients she wouldn't reveal.
It was a hearty stew and was served with cornbread that was special because Valerie added a can of creamed corn to the batter. She said her momma used to make it that way.
There wasn't a crumb left after we finished eating. We are so blessed to have food. The pantry is our most important possession.
Soo, Marisa, and I headed to the other side of the woods near the chicken-killer-dog's house. We decided to try one of the house trailers first.
The screen door to the trailer was closed and locked but the solid door behind it was standing wide open. We could see inside and noticed that the sliding glass doors were open in back. We headed around back and didn't have to fight with the locked door.
There was a funky smell coming from inside, and it wasn't the smell of death or HDI's. Soo told us to get our pistols out of our holsters before heading inside. He went in first and Marisa followed. I was right behind her.
We believe there was a meth-lab in the kitchen. None of us have any idea what a meth-lab is supposed to look like, but we figured that's what it was.
I wondered if they were suppliers for the chicken-killer-dog's owners. (Do you mind if I call that house the "ckd's house?" It's driving me a little crazy having to type out "chicken-killer-dogs" every time I talk about it).
The bathroom was disgusting and the toilet was full of poop. The bathtub had poop in it as well. "I luv Sal" was written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.
The refrigerator door had the words "weir gone to dissny land, la la la" with a permanent marker in the same handwriting as the message to Sal. I guess they went to Disneyland. Good riddance.
We could hear a large animal running around in the ceiling so we left and headed to a house a little ways back.
The lawn outside was clean and everything in the carport was in its place. There was a newer model Cadillac parked there.
Marisa checked the door from the carport into the house and it was unlocked. As soon as we opened the door, we could smell death. Soo told us to stay on the carport while he cleared the house.
He came back pretty fast and told us that there were two dead bodies in a bedroom.
It was an old man and an old woman. They were lying in bed together, wrapped in each other’s arms. I saw no gunshot evidence and no evidence of foul play.
There were empty boxes and medication bottles on the bedside tables. Several of the medications were familiar because they were the same meds Nana uses for her blood pressure and diabetes. I recognized another of them from a commercial on TV advertising heart medication.
The labels were dated November 6th and most of them had refills left. I believe they ran out of their medications, couldn't get more, and simply lay down on their bed to die together. God Bless them! I wish I'd met them when they were alive.
There's a large propane tank behind the house, and Soo said the gauge reads that it's about two-thirds full. There's also a gas oven.
I wanna get the oven for Marisa since Dane blew her oven to smithereens. My heart isn't in it, but I need it for my daughter. I'll send Jason back for it in the next few days.
We got enough food to fill the back of the Jeep and overflow into the back-seat. A lot of the food is home canned and it looks really good. Most of the jars have handwritten dates from last summer on the lids. I'll send a thank you up to heaven whenever we use any of it.
We also found one of those Cracker Barrel Country Smoked hams. It was hanging in the pantry.
There's a basement under the house, and I found about 200 empty canning jars and a case of lids. Jason will get those as well.
We came home and the older kids unloaded the Jeep.
Jesse and Jeremy brought home three round bales of hay on the flatbed trailer. They had stuffed any empty space they could with smaller square bales. They also loaded square bales into the bed of the Silverado.
They saw "two red cows with white faces" but couldn't catch them and didn't want to follow them into the woods. I almost laughed my rear off when they told us about the chase. We need those cows.
I plan to send Soo, Jason, Jeremy, and Jesse back for them tomorrow morning. They'll probably have to tie them to the truck and lead them back because our little goat trailer's too short for cows. I hope at least one of them is female and pregnant.
Dane, Jason, and Soo came home with every gas can we have full of diesel fuel. They're pouring it into the fuel tank of the gasoline truck, Clinic Diane's tank, and the hoist truck. They plan to go out for more tomorrow. Dane says they need the flatbed trailer because he saw several metal drums and hopes he can fill them with diesel fuel. He'll have to figure out what's in them first.
I'm still feeling icky about finding the old man and lady, so I'm heading to bed.
Bye for now.
Saturday, March 1
9:50 AM...
Mick says his calf feels a lot better today and he wants to walk around outside to "check on some things." I told him to wait for Hisa's permission and, I swear, he started pouting!
Hisa yelled at him last night because he took the tape off his nose. She couldn’t convince him put it back on. He seems fine without it.
My cow-catching crew headed out right after breakfast to try and bring home the cattle, and they aren't back yet.
Carisa and Valerie went with them. I'm very nervous about it. They took the Silverado, and no one had to ride out in the open. This is the first trip off the compound for Carisa. Those girls better come home safe and healthy!
I pray they get the cattle. If they're steers, we'll slaughter them, preserve the meat, and not worry about feeding them. If they're cows, we'll wait to find out if they're pregnant, and go from there.
Crap! I just realized that we have no fenced area for cattle. I can't believe none of us thought of it before. I guess we'll figure out something if the crew brings them home. We’ll put them in stalls until we can throw something together. Yep, that'll work. Whew!
Dane and Mr. Hobbs are out looking for metal drums and diesel fuel. Dane wanted to take one of our blue barrels, but I told him "absolutely not." We need those barrels because they're safe for storing water, and that’s more important than diesel fuel.
I told him to go back to the propane company and get the RAM so he could fill its tanks.
Hisa and Merry are on supper duty tonight. I hope we get some kind of exotic Japanese dish with lots of rice. We all need the carbs because we're still losing weight. I don't wanna be lean, mean, and laid out the couch from weakness. I need energy to practice my meanness.
The fella's are building quite a bit of muscle and it's not unpleasant watching them split wood with their shirts off. Don't tell anyone I said that.
We're getting over three gallons of goats milk each day. Elaine has been busy, studying my old-time cheese making books. She needs to get busy with it 'cause I'm almost sick of drinking milk at every meal. Maybe I could help her, but I'll need to study those books too.
Nana plans to use several family sized boxes of scalloped potatoes with chunk ham mixed in for lunch today. That'll use up some of the milk.
I can smell rain coming. You may not believe it, but lots of people can smell rain.
It's warm and humid outside. I expect thunderstorms to arrive just about the time Pop predicted.
Someone's coming up the driveway. It's either Dane or the cow-catcher crew 'cause we have no one else off the compound right now and Pop didn't sound the "danger" alarm. See ya later.
3:00 PM...
We have two cows! I have no idea if they're pregnant, but they're mighty fat.
The only thing I know about cows is that a female who's never given birth is called a "heifer," and a female that has given birth is called a "cow." I know that boys with balls are "bulls" and boys without balls are "steers." I also know that they are ruminants, like goats.
That's my cattle knowledge in one fell swoop. Oh, I also know that they have pret
ty eyelashes, moo, graze, breed, eat hay, chew cud, make milk, and make lots of fertilizer. Plus, they taste good when they come off the grill.
The cows are huge compared to our little goats! We put them in a barn stall along with a bale of hay and a bucket of water. They seem happy. Now is the time I wish I had the Internet so I could research how to care for these things.
Every person on the cow-catching crew was covered in black mud and cow manure. It was hilarious. They spent a couple of hours chasing the cows until they got them into a catch-pen near the barn. Then, they went in and wrangled them up. Everyone spent a little quality time in the mud and muck.
Carisa and Jeremy sat in the bed of the truck and held the ropes to lead them home. When they got about a half-mile from home, they spotted a cattle trailer at one of the farms on the corner of a crossroad they passed. They plan to get the cattle trailer in case we ever need to move cows or Buttercup. I have no idea why they didn't just drive over and get it when they saw it.
They weren't ashamed that they were covered in cow manure. They said it was a bonus 'cause Pop'll let 'em have an extra shower this week. Thank goodness the Silverado has leather seats. I'm just sayin'...
The younger kids named the cows "Lilac" and "Geraldine." I don't know how they came up with the names.
Dane didn't get back until lunch was ready. I knew he wouldn't miss a meal. He had two metal barrels full of diesel fuel on the flatbed trailer. He says there are eight more empty barrels behind an auto-shop near the edge of town and he wants to get every one of them filled with diesel fuel.
You should've seen the men trying to get those full barrels off the trailer. It took every single one of them. Mick was chomping at the bit to help but we all knew he couldn't.
Dane backed the trailer up to the hill and shoveled out a flat spot so the barrels can sit level. Basically, the barrels are now stored on the side of the hill where the men wiggled them off the trailer.
I sent Jesse and Jeremy back for more hay. They said there were six more round bales and a lot more square bales at their recent location. It'll take them this trip plus two more to get it all. I don't think it'll be enough to last through the summer and next winter, so there will be more barn' lootin going on this week.