Hurricane Irma Cleanup

One of the big complaints in my area have been how long it has taken for the county to gather debris from people's yards in unincorporated areas.  At first it wasn't that bothersome, but as the debris dried out it became quite a fire hazard.  We occasionally get opportunistic burglaries by people coming off the beaches at night and stopping in our neighborhood to burglarize unlocked cars.  Our fear was of someone throwing a lite match into one of the debris piles.

Our other fear was if a new hurricane hit our area that the larger branches laying in the front yard would become projectiles.

So, I and a couple of our neighbors decided to complain after a month had passed.  They made phone calls and I wrote an email.  I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease because the county showed up yesterday to collect the debris.

The county had a contract with a local company to do debris cleanup, but the company decided they could make more money further south, so they didn't fulfill their contract.  I'm sure one of the county attorneys will have a field day with that.  So, we had to wait until the county hired a company from Louisiana to clean up.

All I know is that getting ride of the debris is a relief.  And that we are blessed that we had only damage to trees.  We have our lives, home and work.  So say prayers for the people in Puerto Rico that have been left shamefully without adequate assistance, the people flooded out in Houston and the people that have lost their homes and loved ones in the California fires.

God bless,
Pam

Hurricane Irma

Yep, I'm stuck at ground zero with my family because the weather reports kept changing.  We had made reservations on the east coast through next week, but then the forecasters said it was going to hit the east.  So we decided to stay put here on the west coast and, surprise, Irma is now going to pass over my area.  There is no gas or lodging available pretty much in the whole southeast now.

My husband and daughter were on vacation, so my brother in law and nephew came over to help me put up the metal hurricane shutters. When dear husband and daughter got home we got busy cleaning up the yard of possible projectiles, and filling our six gallon containers with drinking water.

In the last few days we've purchased a portable grill, easy start charcoal, canned goods, and filled all our prescriptions.  I was surprised to find the grill and charcoal on an end cap at Walgreens and CVS. We were originally planning on digging a hole, lining it will foil, place a grill over the top and cook with firewood.  We are iffy on whether our gas grill was safe to use as we haven't used it for a while.

Besides our drinking water we have filled pots and pans with water and will fill our tub when the time comes.  I plan on taking a nice hot bath before I do that though.

And what do you do when you are most certainly going to lose your electricity?  Why you decide to can all the meat in the freezer.  Which is what I'm doing while we speak.

Station 1 has the hot lids, hot broth and clean jars.

Station 2 is the actual American brand pressure canner.

One of the meats to be canned: poached chicken.

When I'm done the canner can be used to store more water.  It was a way to provide food for my family and make sure nothing was wasted.

In my free time I'm checking out rentals on Zillow.  I've found a couple of cute houses in both Georgia and North Carolina.  I also have an open invitation to stay with my brother and sister in law in California.  Or with my best friend in Georgia.  That may be nice for a few weeks.  All we need for dear daughter's schooling is a computer, printer and reliable internet, so there are many options.

Pray for us as we are praying for others.

Blessings,
Pam