BYC Café

[Sally PB]

Morning Cafe yes he is home DH that is

I'm so glad, Penny!

 

[DobieLover]

Good morning Cafe. Coffee is ready.

It is exceedingly windy this morning and chilly enough to need a fire in the stove.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Good afternoon, Cafe! I have been getting ready to travel.
Finding the HOT weather clothes was fun. LOL!
They still fit too! It has been almost a year since they last saw sunlight... Not sure yet the extent of the stay and everything that will be involved, but tomorrow morning should bring some answers.
I did manage to have dinner and ice cream with my BFF before we both took off to various destinations. She had to buy the ice cream to get Karma off her back because she fell off a ladder and almost got seriously hurt last Dec, so things have to be looking up now.
Have to keep a Sister happy!

 

[sourland]

Good afternoon, Cafe' - fresh coffee is available.

 

[DobieLover]

Fabio and I ended up in a foot race this afternoon when I tried to corral him in the brooder room. He wasn't going to fall for that trick 2 days in a row. So he ran along the front of the coop and I tried to herd him into the run but he put on a burst of speed and darted under the chicken bush. He's obviously doing better...

I did manage to snag him about 2 hours later and got his meds in him in the brooder room. I decided to toss him on the scale to see how much weight he's lost. He was 8.1# the last time I weighed him. He weighed just 5.14# today, more than a 1/3 of his body weight lost. He has a long road to recovery.

 

[SkyAJK]

In the States, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the only way to get flood insurance. Lots of insurance brokers offer flood policies but FEMA backs all of them.

Flood damage is categorized as: affected, minor, major and destroyed. If a property has had a flood claim, no matter how much, it gets one strike. After three strikes, its out. FEMA will no longer pay claims against it unless the property is mitigated, ie: it is raised up out of the flood zone OR FEMA buys the property as green space, the house is demolished and the property can never have a habitable structure put on it again. If you raise it, you have a house sitting on top of a one story high concrete foundation with weep vents so water can flow in and back out to prevent water pressure from collapsing the foundation. The services (electric/hot water/heat) will all be up in the house, not down in the foundation.

When I bought my first home, it was in a flood Zone B. In 2004 it flooded the basement up to the middle of the first floor floor joists, taking out the electric panel, water heater, furnace, washer and dryer and everything we had down in the basement. It was categorized as major damage. In 2011, the water came up another 17" or so from the 2004 flood and flooded 1 foot into the main floor (ranch, so it got the whole house). The house was considered "destroyed" because the definition is that the house is uninhabitable and/or it will cost more than 50% the value of the house to repair it.

Dave and I repaired it for $20,000, rented it out for several years then when the market attitude towards flood properties shifted, I listed and it sold for asking price in 7 days. I took the money and ran like hell!

If the new owners get flooded and make a claim, that is the last time FEMA will pay to repair that house. It will be strike 3.

In my state in Australia, the government decides what areas they will buy from the home owners due to the continuous flooding. As far as I know, we do not have similar so same FEMA like in America, the insurance companies that is all we got.

I don't know if the buy back from the government is a good price or not. But my friend's mother area is not on the list of government to buy so she really is stuck.

There is a flood map and data for all prospective buyers to view and make decision whether to buy or not. She is wanting to sell her house now to move into a retirement home, so it is quite scary to wait if she can sell it.

I saw houses that flooded so many times and the new owners rebuild it & raises it up really high.

The weather is becoming volatile more and more. A friend of my mother stopped insured her house because it is just too expensive. She is giving up on it all. Very sad.

 

[SkyAJK]

I've been waging a battle against the English sparrows. I keep tweaking the bird screen. On one of my trips back to the run, I heard my boy crow. Three times! Music to my ears.
He hasn't crowed in over a week. I have obviously made him feel better with all the work I've been doing on him. I still have my doubts he'll make a full recovery but I'm doing everything I can for him. When I heard that first crow I literally stopped in my tracks as my hand flew to my chest and a big goofy grin swept across my face!

so good to hear that Fabio is getting better.

You have to chase Fabio is a good thing, he is strong enough to run

 

[SkyAJK]

Good Morning All,

It is windy, mighty windy over here and sunshine as well. I am glad of this weather.

Having coffee now and thinking of the many things I will do today.

Have a wonderful day.