Kelly opened the cookbook her Grandma gave her. Kelly's Grandma always had a sense of humor, and the book title, "How To Catch A Man. A Settlers Cookbook." Shaking her head, Kelly started to read through the sections and recipes. She thought back to the events that brought her here.
Two years ago, Kelly's Grandmother had passed and left her a small remote cabin along the Florida-Georgia border. It took Kelly two years to get internet and power to the home so she could move there. She thanked god that the place already had plumbing. Shortly after her Grandma passed away, her husband decided he was unhappy and left her. Kelly decided to take the chance, and moved to the cabin and made it her new home.
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Kelly woke up and looked out the window of her home. In all her life she never thought she would be living in the woods. As she looked out the window she laid back to think about what she wanted to do for the day. As she looked over to the boxes along the wall she decided unpacking may be a factor in what she had to do. She stretched and her stomach started to growl. It was definitely breakfast time. She threw on clothes and went into the kitchen as she heard a knock at the door.
She opened the door to a park ranger standing there smiling. He took off his hat and said, "Good Morning Miss my name is Joe and we noticed you moved in yesterday. I am here to enquire if you have ever lived in the woods?"
"Hi Joe I am Kelly and please come in from the cooler air I was just about to start a fire and make some coffee," She said, "Is everything okay?"
"Sure is just in these parts with the potential to cold and possible snowfall we always advise our residents to make sure they have plenty of supplies on hand. I brought you out a welcome packet with our recommended supplies list." He said, "I know its slim chances for snow but we do get a bunch of rain which can put you at a stand still."
"Well Joe I appreciate that," I said taking the packet. "As I am so new to the area I was wondering are there a lot of families in the area?"
"There are a few families in the area and you are about a mile to three miles apart. In the packet is a map of who owns what and lives where. I updated your information when your Grandma passed." He said, "Your Grandma was an amazing woman and we do miss her."
"Thank you I agree she was an amazing woman," I said. "I do appreciate the kindness. I will look over the list and Probably head to the stores and get the cabin fully stocked up tomorrow. My Grams had a lot in the pantry and that was the one room I have not gone through to clean out so I may have a lot of the list already."
Chuckling Joe said, "Ethel was a prepper for sure. I do suggest getting not only extra water but jugs of water. If we get flooded we always suggest using bottles until a bacteria test is run after the flood."
Writing that down on paper I said, "Notated."
He looked me over and said, "Another thing you can get is life straws they are fairly cheap on amazon and I do see your Grandma had a roof top water collector. I can look if you want and make sure its hooked up. That way you can use that for the toilets and the washer she had. The washer is connected to the sewer as it is not a traditional washer."
"Oh is that what that tank is," I said. "I also never used a washer like that any tips?"
He laughed and said, "Well I guess it comes full circle. Your Grandma showed me how to use mine as I have the same model. Okay so you see this hose coming down?"
I nodded as he continued, "Well if the tank is hooked up when we flip this switch at the end of the hose any water in the tank will come out."
He flipped the switch and water went into the washer. He shut it off and said, "Okay there is water in the tank. The one up there holds 100 gallons of water. Before I leave I will give you the phone number of the guy to come check it out to make sure it does not have any leaks. As the toilet is next to the washer you would lift the lid on the tank and fill it to flush. Your Grams had a bubble put in so you use less water. Do not use this water to drink or cook with but if you needed to boil water to do dishes you can do that."
Nodding I said, "Got it. Well Joe I owe you that coffee now. Also if you have a thermos I will fill it for you."
"Thank you Kelly," He said as I grabbed a cup for each of us.
When he came in we sat at the table I asked, "Do you mind if I could pick your brain?"
"Sure," He said. "What do you want to know?"
"First I do not see a clothes line outside," I said. "How did she dry the clothes?"
He stood up and said, "Do you see the wood stove in the kitchen and how its in the corner by the bathroom wall?"
"Yes I do," I said.
"Do you see the pipe that does through the wall and then up through the roof?" He asked.
"Yes I do," I said. "Shouldn't that be through the kitchen roof?"
"Yes it should be but your Grandma put it through the wall and the roof here as heat rises," He said. "So when the fire is going it will push the smoke through the pipe with heat and heat the bathroom and see this rack here? Pull it down from the wall. She placed it over the tub and if it isn't a bad day you can open both windows for a cross breeze or the stove will heat the room warm enough to dry. Now myself personally I will shower and wash laundry at the same time and then hang it up over night."
We sat at the table again and I said, "The second thing is do you know anyone who can cut limbs on the property? I walked through the property yesterday and I saw some limbs I do not trust. Some I can get cut with the hand saw but there is a bunch of larger ones that need to be taken down and some that just need to cut. I am going to place all my wood in the attached greenhouse. I have baskets for smaller wood but I have no logs in there and I know Grandma had none left as far as I knew."
"Well how about this," Joe said. "I am off this weekend and I was planning on cutting some wood to get my stock up but if you want I can come with my chainsaw and take down some of the limbs. You supply coffee and lunch and let me keep some of the wood."
"That sounds like a plan," I said. "Today I have to unload the rest of my car and get everything set up for work next week."
"What do you do?" He asked.
"I work customer service," I said. "I am also a writer and I freelance. When I divorced my ex last month I had actually came up here and hid for a while so I know the internet is good. I should have come up sooner but life happens. I am glad I am here now."
"Well what are you planning on doing in the house then?" He asked.
"At noon my freezer is going to be delivered," I said. "Its going to go next to the door so I can use the pass through to set up my solar panels to keep it going. I have to put up the other set for the refrigerator as well."
"Will you get in trouble if you cannot work due to no electric or cable?" He asked.
"No I am a contractor," I said. "If I cannot make it in due to weather they are okay. I sign up for work but they knew I was moving. My freelance is more flexible than that. Writing I can do as long as my car battery is okay and I can charge with my inverter."
"You don't like staying still do you?" He took the papers and wrote a phone number down saying, "That is the guy for the water tank. My phone number is on the top of the paper work."
I filled his thermos and handed it back to him saying, "Well I guess I will see you on Saturday Joe."
When he left I went into the walk in pantry next to the kitchen. Putting on the light I saw that Grandma had finally started using her supplies. I looked at everything and decided it was time to reorganize it. I took all the paper products and goods and put them on the top shelves after pulling all canned goods off the top. I found boxes of candles and matches and grabbed a few baskets out of the SUV. Putting everything together I added them to the top shelf as well. Looking through the food I saw Grandma had some open packages and threw out everything open. I checked the dates on the cans and then opened the totes and found a large amount of sealed freeze dried foods. I noticed everything was thrown together and not unorganized so I grabbed a few of my empty totes left in the SUV and started to sort. It took me a few hours and I finished the pantry. I made a list of items I would need before I food shopped tomorrow and decided it would be best for flour sugar or anything I would not use right away that was a dried good that mason jars would work best on that shelving.
Then the man came to install the freezer and solar panels for the fridge and freezer. While he did his job I unpacked the rest of the SUV. Once the SUV was finished being unpacked I started unpacking all the boxes I had. When I was finished unpacking I realized I had laundry so when the installation guy left I took a shower while washing the first load of laundry. I was so happy I had laundry detergent with me. I did a load the way Joe showed me and did the rinse cycle. While that was finishing I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge and saw my limited supplies for dinner. Going into the freezer I decided to cook the bag of chicken tenders and make a small salad to go with them.
I set the tenders to cook and switch the laundry to the the spin side and went back to the kitchen. When the food was done I put it on the stove and hung up my laundry. Sitting in the kitchen I started to eat when I heard the first drops of rain fall. I looked out the window and just watched the storm roll in. I decided to start my morning early and went to lay in bed after I washed my dishes. Falling sleep with a YouTube show playing I knew I was home.
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When I woke up in the morning I smiled and saw the sun was shining. Checking to see if the solar powers were charging like I was shown I went into the bathroom and just like Joe said the laundry was dried. Folding everything I made quick work of putting it away while I made a to do list for the day. I decided to follow Joes advice and decided today would be a great shopping day while the sun was shining.
Looking at the laundry I said, "It will get caught up eventually."
I checked the temperature in my freezer and found the plastic water bottle I put in there was frozen. I made sure the fire was out since I would not be home. Going into the bedroom I went to my closet and grabbed my safe box to pull out some money. When I got divorced I came and cleaned out everything in the house. After running some things to the resale store I decided I did not need to bring much from my old house. I got everything in the house including the cars and sold everything including the extra cars, RV and the house. The sales of the cars and house went to pad my checking account. But as I sold everything in the house I kept the cash in my safe. I never realized how much stuff we had. Every month I came up with a carload and by the time I moved in there was almost nothing left to put in my SUV.
Walking out to the SUV climbed in and headed down the hill to head to the stores. As I passed the ranger station I honked at Joe who was just arriving to work. He waved me over and when I opened my window he asked, "Going to town?"
"Yes I am," I said. "I have my list here and I am ready to go. Both the pantry is ready and the fridge and freezer as well. I plan on going to Rural King first and then going around the entire plaza near it to shop."
He laughed and said, "A woman with a plan I like that. So how early is to early for Saturday?"
"I normally get up around seven in the morning so I guess it is up to you when you want to show up?" I said.
He laughed and said, "Well I will be there after seven. My plan is to get you set up with a cord or two of wood, plus I am guessing I can fill the bed of my truck as well."
"Well I will have the coffee going do you use milk or creamer?" I asked.
"Whatever you have on hand is fine," He said. "I am not picky."
We spoke for a few minutes and I left to go to Rural King. By the time I finished shopping I had loaded the SUV up with a lot of supplies and three miniature greenhouses along with dirt and seeds. I knew the perfect place to put them and start a small garden. As I headed to the Dollar tree my phone rang. Looking at the phone number I groaned. My ex husband was calling me. I debated on not answering but I picked up the call.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Did you sell the house?" He asked.
"Hello Matt," I said. "Oh no I am doing fine, Thank you for asking."
"Kelly do not play with me," He said. "Did you sell the house?"
"I sold everything Matt," I said. "Remember the prenup and the divorce decree? I even moved and no longer live in Florida. What do you want?"
"The money for the house," He spat out.
"Now why would I do that," I said. "I owned the house prior to us getting married. The prenup said if you ever cheated you get the clothes on your back and nothing else. I was kind enough to let you take stuff from the house when you moved out. Now if you will excuse me I am going to call my lawyer and let him know you are kicking up a fuss."
"Kelly," He said, "Do you really want to bring lawyers into this?"
Sighing I said, "Yes Matt I do. It has been two years since we divorced. The house sat on the market for a full year and there were signs in the yard. You must have spent all the money from your inheritance which I did not go after when I could have legally."
"I need money Kelly," He said.
"Then get a job Matt," I said. "You lived off me for far to long."
Hanging up I walked into the Dollar tree grabbing a cart, Pulling out my phone I called my lawyer Charlie. The phone rang a few times and then he picked up, "Well as I love and breathe how are you doing doll face."
"You know Charlie," I said. "If you were not Grams best friend I would never let you get away with calling me that."
He let out a hearty laughed and said, "That is why I do it Kelly my girl. I am taking it this is not a social call? We just had lunch before you left to go to the cabin."
"I wish it was Charlie," I said. "Guess who just called me?"
"I wish I didn't have to but I am assuming that Matt called you," He said.
"How did you know Charlie?" I asked.
"Oh Kelly," He said. "I hear your in a store so do not scream. He got into some trouble I was at the courthouse during his arraignment. You remember that woman he left you for?"
"Yeah," I said. "The woman who pretended to be a soccer mom? What was her name?"
"Colleen," Charlie said. "Well Miss Soccer mom was running a pot growing business on her farm and Matt was involved. The feds were tipped off and he was arrested along with her."
"That explains why he called me and yelled at me for selling the house," I said. "He said he should have gotten some money from the sale of the house and the belongings inside."
"Now do not worry any," He said. "I am going to put a notice out at the courthouse now and anything will come to me. He didn't have a leg to stand on Kelly that prenup was ironclad and so was the evidence. Hell that is why we had him sign it in front of a judge a week before the wedding."
"Thank you Charlie," I said. "Send me the bill."
"Kelly you still have a paid account from your Grandma," He said. "Never you worry, If the balance ever goes under ten thousand I will let you know. This notice though is a freebie I want to see what shit show he may be trying to start."
We said our goodbyes and I continued shopping at the Dollar tree.
Kelly- Main
Joe- Park ranger
Ethel- Grams
Matt- Ex husband
Charlie- Lawyer
