Friday, October 7 was our first full day in Orangeburg after evacuating from St. Helena Island. This day was spend setting up for what Hurricane Michael would possibly do. We went grocery shopping, and got more food for the chickens. We drove around from store to store getting the last minute things we would need for the days to come. Our first stop was the Tractor Supply Store where we bought food for the chickens, we selected Purina Scratch Grains. While looking around we noticed a new product on sale the Backyard Chicken Health Pack that we thought would be extremely beneficial to our birds health.
“The Backyard Chicken Health Pack delivers three key products to provide the most comprehensive poultry health approach in one innovative package capable of treating 90 gallons of water. Three individual solutions are combined in one pack to address critical areas of poultry health: 1. Healthy Flock Tabs target harmful pathogens, improve intestinal health and help poultry get more nutrients out of every pound of feed. 2. Oxy E-100 sanitizes drinking water, reducing exposure to pathogens that cause disease. 3. Zyfend A improves performance in the presence of intestinal parasites and helps to offset worm-related issues. Plus, no egg discard is required after use!”
After our first stop we made a trip to the grocery store. We thought about Walmart but so did so many other people; the parking lot was packed. We decided to try another store for our grocery needs. According to a flyer on the front door Aldi was closed due to weather conditions so tried Bi-Lo. There were lots of people in Bi-Lo too but we didn’t want to ride around much longer so we did our shopping. The bread was almost completely gone, only a few loaves remained. Thankfully, bread wasn’t on our list, we could see it because it was in the same area as produce where we were looking for fruits and vegetables. After selecting the onions, potatoes, carrots, green beans and bananas we moved along, selected a few other items and proceeded to check out. From Bi-Lo we did a bit of shopping in Big Lots, we had a theme it seemed of stores with the letters “B” and “L”.
Our final stop for the day before heading back to the house was the Orangeburg Mill for a bale of hay for the chickens. By that time the weather began to worsen; more rain and skies threatening. Once we reached the house it was time to begin supper. Sarah and I cut up the roast, one of the items we brought with us, peeled and chopped carrots and potatoes and prepped everything to make a beef and vegetable stew. We cooked rice and baked cornbread had a great pre-hurricane meal together. Later we watched the news to keep an eye on the storm updates plus there were plenty of reports about the presidential debate and the upcoming election.
We went to bed that night knowing that before morning the storm would come through.