The trickle of water coming out of our faucets progressed to a small stream yesterday afternoon. Then, after dinner, the water in the kitchen sink seemed stronger. Suddenly, the pipes seemed to cough as the air in the pipe was pushed out. It was a mildly violet process as dirty, particulate-filled brown water spewed out of the faucet for a good 45 seconds. When the coughing fit ended, it seemed like all systems were go. Whatever had frozen and blocked our water pipe had come free.
We visited every faucet and toilet, letting the air out until the water ran clear.
I am confident we will have enough water to take a shower in the morning. Then I’ll hike up the mountain to check the cistern’s overflow. If water is coming out of it, we’ll know the cistern is full and we’ll be back to all systems normal. I suspect it will take two days for the cistern to fill up, so I may end up back up there the next day, just to be sure. I know my wife is looking forward to running the dishwasher and we will both be happy to put away the paper plates.
I’ll wait until a dry, mud-free day and hike the entire length of the water system to make sure there are not any unexpected wet spots that could represent a leak. As things stand tonight (and I usually write these posts late in the evening and post them after midnight) our water woes seem to be behind us.
Restocking
In the afternoon, I am heading out to a hurricane recovery center that is still giving away cases of water. They also have pallets up for grabs. I hope to get four to six pallets and replenish at least two cases of water. The water will go into the garage for our next water emergency and the pallets will be used to keep firewood off the ground or will be incorporated into my landslide protection plan.
After being confined to the homestead for much of the past several weeks by weather and bad roads, we are restocking some much-needed items. For example, I picked up eight bags of chicken feed and a bag of scratch. We now have fifteen 50-pound bags of layer pellets on hand, which should be enough to get us through the winter and into spring where the chickens can have more success free ranging than they do in the snow. We also got 48 cans of cat food and did some grocery shopping.
The egg production remains down. We had been getting anywhere from 3 to 10 eggs per day but earlier this week, they 19 hens laid only one egg. Talk about a bummer! As a result of these low numbers, we are lucky if we can sell 2 or 3 dozen eggs per week. On the plus side, however, I have a new retailer carrying my honey. That makes three retail outlets plus my direct sales.
Firewood Delivery – Finally!
With the warmer weather, my firewood delivery guy was finally able to make it up the mountain without sliding into a ditch. He dumped a beautiful pile of red oak out of his trailer. Most of what we have been cutting and splitting is tulip poplar, a soft, fast-burning hardwood. The oak will be a welcome addition, especially when we want to burn overnight. We will use the poplar to get the fire started or when we want to bump up the temperature with a fast flame. The oak will be used when we want a longer burn time with lasting coals.
I feel better knowing that I have enough wood now to get us into April. I’ll wait a couple of weeks and order another delivery. It’s going to take six or seven to get us ready for next winter.
North Carolina and California Still Suffering
I was happy to see Donald Trump visit the Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina and the fire victims in California. Having lived through Helene and still suffering from the after-effects, I can empathize with other disaster victims.
One statistic from the news coverage stood out for me: In North Carolina, more than 150,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. In Los Angeles, 15,000 structures had been destroyed by the fire.
Hard to believe, but ten times as many homes were damaged in the hurricane as in the fire. Hopefully, that puts the damage done by Helene in perspective.
I know homes were destroyed in Tennessee and Virginia, too. I expect Helene also did some damage to homes in Florida where it came ashore, and in Georgia and South Carolina, as it headed up here. Plus, the data from California says “structures.” I’m guessing that counts businesses, barns, guest houses, and out buildings. I have no data for business losses in this area, but you only have to drive through some towns to see them.
Likewise, I have heard of no bridges and roads wiped out by the firea. I am not trying to downplay the damage in Los Angeles, which is certainly tragic and devastating, only trying to call attention to the extent of the problem that remains in the North Carolina and Tennessee four months after the storm brought flooding, landslides, and wind damage.
Where is FEMA?
One point Trump and the victims who spoke with him made is that FEMA has been useless in North Carolina. That jibes with our first-hand experience. We have heard of a few people who have gotten money from FEMA, but we know only one or two. The vast majority of victims have received nothing. Even those that got money got only a small portion of their expenses covered.
I don’t have is enough money to buy a new truck or a new home, and in many cases, that’s what disaster victims need. Both here and in California, people lost almost everything and in many cases insurance will not cover all the damage. We still face challenges getting our repairs done, such as a shortage of supplies and limited availability of contractors. I can only imagine how bad it will be in Los Angeles.
Prepping covers many things, from food to guns, from first aid to bushcrafting, but it rarely addresses the need to start from scratch. To be the ultimate prepper, you need the emotional stamina to live in a tent or camper after your house is destroyed, to carry on with a smile on your face after losing all but the clothes on your back, and the determination required to start over and rebuild your life.
Adds a whole new dimension to being prepared, doesn’t it?
Fighting Fires and Protecting Your Home
I continue to read articles about a few homeowners who fought the fire and saved their house, or who used fire-resistant building materials and experienced only minimal damage. While we have a metal roof, the house is wood. We have the landscaping aspects covered with no trees or bushy shrubs near the house.
Just like I realized a landslide was a potential hazard, I know a forest fire is a potential hazard. I ignored the landslide threat, figuring one was unlikely. That turned out not to be the case. Now I wonder if I should prepare to fight a forest fire, especially because the many fallen trees from Helene provide plenty of fuel for a wildfire.
I have considered getting a gasoline-powered trash pump from Harbor Freight and a couple hundred feet of hose. One problem is the 2-inch pump provides 158 gallons per minute, which may be more than the stream can provide. I probably need a pond or a pool from which to draw water, and that’s a non-starter.
