While the guys were at the over pass I fixed dinner. I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup using the jars of chicken and chicken broth I had canned and some of the dehydrated carrots and celery I had on hand. I pulled out 2 quarts of pears and 2 half gallon jars of crackers I had dried canned. With the extra mouths we were now having to feed our food was going to run out faster. I would need to talk to the guys about maybe going hunting again. Water was another issue. They had never gotten to make the water run and we were getting dangerously low on water. Until they feel its safe to leave us to make a water run we need to get busy collect snow and using it to supplement our water.
It had been getting dark by the time the guys got back from the over pass so I waited till after dinner was over to bring up the hunting and water. There was nothing they could do about either in the dark so why worry them any sooner than I had to.
After we had all eaten I brought up the subject of the fact that we were running low on food and water. We all agreed that we would work on gathering up clean snow tomorrow, melt it, boil it and then filter it. And the guys said they would go hunting in a couple of days but first they wanted to wait and see of the last group of thugs came back.
I had been noticing that the neighbor's wife had been staying pretty close to the heater while she was here so I asked her if she was cold. She said no it was just that it had been so long since they had had any heat that she wanted to enjoy being warm as long as she could before going back to their house. I asked them how they had survived this long with out heat. Her husband told us that they had pitched an old camping tent they had in their livingroom, placed their matteress in it and used the sub zero sleeping bags to sleep in. They had taken as many blankets as they could and layer them over the tent to help keep in their body heat. Up until 3 weeks ago they had been using their little camp stove to heat up one pot meals but had run out up fuel for it and had been eating cold foods since then. I knew with her heart condition she would not last much longer if she had to go back to their house.
I looked at John and he knew what i was thinking. There was no way I would be able to live with myself if I sent them back to their house knowing full well she would die if she had to keep living under those conditions. He said it was up to me since I knew what we had. Suddenly all eyes were on me when he said that. I did the only thing I could do and still be able to live with myself. I told the group that things were going to have to get tighter but there was no way I could turn these folks back out into the cold. It would mean we would have to tighten up on the rationing and figure out where we would put the neighbors a place to sleep but we were going to have to do it.
Once I had said that everyone agreed and my neighbor's faces lit up. They were glad to have some place to stay warmer and to have some place where they could feel safer. They had been scared being on their own, just the two of them for so long. After they found out they could stay with us she volenteered the fact that they had quite a bit of her home canned foods left and lots of store bought food and dry goods that could be brought over and added to our supplies.
It was decided that Mike would drive the truck over there tomorrow and the guys and the neighbor would go with them. While he showed them where everything was they would load it in the truck and bring it over here. Two would stand guard on the truck while two would load and they would switch places when the two loading got tired. Since all the food was in the basement at their house they would be climbing up and down stairs a lot.
I had always suspected that our neighbors were into prepping some what but I never knew for sure. Tomorrow I was going to find out if they were or not.
It had been getting dark by the time the guys got back from the over pass so I waited till after dinner was over to bring up the hunting and water. There was nothing they could do about either in the dark so why worry them any sooner than I had to.
After we had all eaten I brought up the subject of the fact that we were running low on food and water. We all agreed that we would work on gathering up clean snow tomorrow, melt it, boil it and then filter it. And the guys said they would go hunting in a couple of days but first they wanted to wait and see of the last group of thugs came back.
I had been noticing that the neighbor's wife had been staying pretty close to the heater while she was here so I asked her if she was cold. She said no it was just that it had been so long since they had had any heat that she wanted to enjoy being warm as long as she could before going back to their house. I asked them how they had survived this long with out heat. Her husband told us that they had pitched an old camping tent they had in their livingroom, placed their matteress in it and used the sub zero sleeping bags to sleep in. They had taken as many blankets as they could and layer them over the tent to help keep in their body heat. Up until 3 weeks ago they had been using their little camp stove to heat up one pot meals but had run out up fuel for it and had been eating cold foods since then. I knew with her heart condition she would not last much longer if she had to go back to their house.
I looked at John and he knew what i was thinking. There was no way I would be able to live with myself if I sent them back to their house knowing full well she would die if she had to keep living under those conditions. He said it was up to me since I knew what we had. Suddenly all eyes were on me when he said that. I did the only thing I could do and still be able to live with myself. I told the group that things were going to have to get tighter but there was no way I could turn these folks back out into the cold. It would mean we would have to tighten up on the rationing and figure out where we would put the neighbors a place to sleep but we were going to have to do it.
Once I had said that everyone agreed and my neighbor's faces lit up. They were glad to have some place to stay warmer and to have some place where they could feel safer. They had been scared being on their own, just the two of them for so long. After they found out they could stay with us she volenteered the fact that they had quite a bit of her home canned foods left and lots of store bought food and dry goods that could be brought over and added to our supplies.
It was decided that Mike would drive the truck over there tomorrow and the guys and the neighbor would go with them. While he showed them where everything was they would load it in the truck and bring it over here. Two would stand guard on the truck while two would load and they would switch places when the two loading got tired. Since all the food was in the basement at their house they would be climbing up and down stairs a lot.
I had always suspected that our neighbors were into prepping some what but I never knew for sure. Tomorrow I was going to find out if they were or not.