Cataclysm - Post 26

August 30 2012

The grist mill is working wonderfully. We have ground some of our wheat harvest into flour and bagged it for storage. We are also grinding some to use as trade. The military is interested in obtaining our supply of wheat in exchange for copper, silver and other useful commodities. We'll have a community meeting on the matter to decide how much we will part with and for how much. Our corn harvest looks to be plentiful as well. We will be gristing a portion, storing a portion and using the rest for feed and bartering. We are in preparation mode full time now. Winter months are fast approaching and time is short.

We have separated the livestock for non breeding purposes. Basically, we don't want any babies during the winter months. :) Our smokehouses have been going non-stop the last week and we are perfecting the technique. The women have been busy canning fruits, vegetables and anything they can dream up. Pickling is a big thing at the moment, although I'm not too keen on pickled pigs feet. But I'm sure if the time comes thats all we have, I'll eat it without any regard.

We have planned a community meeting for next week. Topics of discussion are winter preparations, septic waste/disposal, firewood, electrical use, etc... We need to determine our community health and status for the winter survival. Septic cleaning is of a huge concern right now. We should all build an outhouse for the freezing weather in case water freezes and such. We have also been requested to supply the Captain a "Needed List" of supplies. He told me that quarterly he will be making such a request. We should keep the supplies to what we need and he'll take care of trying to appropriate what we want, the items considered to be extras.

As for the Captain, he tells me things are calm and the patrols have not produced any evidence of unfriendlys in the area. He is still not convinced and will continue patrols. He really didn't have much information during our talks. I believe it was more small talk than anything. Kind of worries me a bit as its not like him to just have small talk.

We are still using the electricity when its available. Telephones are still useful but encrypted conversations are still necessary. News from the outside world along the grapevines isn't good. I'm tired for now so I'll save that for another entry.