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Post by sandrainsydney on Dec 27, 2018 8:26:49 GMT
no electricity in a snowy climate! does everyone also have a wood fire & propane cookers for such an eventuality?
some of our recent storm-based blackouts have lasted for days in some areas, depending on the damage.
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Dec 27, 2018 19:22:44 GMT
Wow! Beautiful photos as always. I'm glad your family had power restored. It can be a strain to make do if the power cut catches one by surprise!
We lost power for several hours on the Solstice which delighted me. We always heat with wood. We also have the "old fashioned" telephone line (I think we have the only such anywhere on our road), partly because there is no dependable cell phone service out here, but also because we can make emergency calls for neighbors in an emergency, and have done so more than once.
We keep several days worth of stored water, with oil lamps and both solar and battery powered flashlights for light. In a pinch we can fire up a generator, but I prefer to do without. Unfortunately, power was restored by 7 PM. Some day we'll have enough saved to install a frost-free Bison pump on our wellhead, and I'll worry much less about our water supply at such a time.
I was out to a friend's husband's memorial service on the Solstice, and drove home through driving wind and rain. I was a few miles from home when the road was suddenly blocked by a storm-felled tree. I had left the bow saw we keep in the car at home, since we've been cutting greens and our tree for Christmas. Fortunately, the sharp little "car hatchet" was in its rightful place, so the other drivers who stopped got to watch me, hair streaming with rain, cut easily through the birch tree before one of them stepped in to drag the cut top out of the road. I was rather glad to reach our home and the warm fire in the wood stove.
Our Christmas was brown, the earlier banks and several feet of snow having disappeared in bazaar 40-50 degree F. temps of the previous week. On Christmas Eve, my husband put a string of battery-powered lights on the diesel tractor and his old (restore-someday) VW beetle near the road, while further back my string of colored solar lights went along the hugelkultur wall of upright pine logs near the chicken house. The colored lights on our Christmas tree shone through the southern windows as we sat outside in the cold in coats, hats, and mittens (me with a large mug of very hot tea!) while he played several CDs of beautiful Christmas music on his workshed CD player... a cold and very beautiful lead-up to Christmas. A lovely little mink in her ermine coat makes her twice daily rodent hunting run along and through the farm equipment, across the front porch and through the piles of wood and pots in the uncovered greenhouse just outside the south windows of the yurt.
A post-fire handmade card from both Megan and David, Sandra's ornaments, and kind wishes from rags continue to grace our Christmas.
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Post by sandrainsydney on Dec 27, 2018 22:24:08 GMT
that's a lovely, picture, maeve
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Jan 4, 2019 8:03:56 GMT
Maeve, very impressive that you were able to cut the tree blocking the road. Good that you had a warm fire waiting at home after working in the cold rain. It sounds as if you are well prepared for power outages and you know how to get pleasure from simple things. It must have been lovely sitting outside enjoying hot tea, Christmas music and lights and watching the wildlife.
Sandra, So far, power outages where my brother lives are more common than where I am. He lives on an Island with huge trees that fall or break under loads of snow or in windstorms and take out power lines as the fall. People who live there full time are likely to be well prepared. We have smaller trees and electrical wires are buried underground where falling trees can't damage them. Usually lightning hits on transformers cause our outages.
We are not as well prepared as you are, Maeve. I have a wood burning fireplace in the basement and have moved some firewood into the carport where it will be easy to reach and stays dry. If necessary we can cook on that fire. I also have a 2 burner camp stove and fuel for it. We couldn't last for an extended period, but would be okay for a few days. I gave my BBQ to my son who lives 11 km away. Hopefully he would be able to come rescue us if we were without resources for an extended time.
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Jan 4, 2019 17:13:08 GMT
Hello rags- so good to read some posts from your part of the world! We go overboard a bit with emergency preparedness perhaps, but have several elderly and "untrained" neighbors From Away (  ) who really have no clue about planning for severe weather. We've needed to give them our extra supplies and equipment more than once. We also have a camp stove- we have to remind ourselves to never use it inside the house- serious carbon monoxide danger without extreme ventilation. I've also picked up a couple dozen cans of Sterno fuel to use with buffet-type pots (fondue, warmer serving dishes, etc.) I am quite wary of generators because of the many people who foolishly set them up in a garage, or basement, or just outside the door! People die from that- and have done every year in the Northeast and beyond. I do love my Finnish knife with its tasseled leather sheath, and the good hatchet we keep in the car, and the old yellow-handled bow saw has been added to the tool bag in the car.... faithful companions that make life easier. All through school from third grade through graduate school and on into my years of teaching I carried a pocket knife and an old mint tin filled with whetstone, matches, tinder, fish hook, line and sinker, pins, needles and buttonhole thread, loud whistle, sliver of soap and bandaids. Nowadays I've added a mylar emergency blanket, large rubbish bag folded small, and first aid kits. I did not advertise my equipment, nor do I do so today.  We see rabid animal reports increasing in Maine and have the highest number of cases of tick-borne diseases, so tick repellent, tweezers, and cudgel or axe join us whenever we're out walking or working in the woods.
Warmest regards and joyful thoughts to all!
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Post by sandrainsydney on Jan 5, 2019 0:13:09 GMT
more folk need to "go overboard" on emergency planning. It's bushfire season here & fire authorities are constantly warning folks need emergency plans etc. Fire danger ratings - plan & prepareCatastrophic (no houses are designed or prepared well enough to withstand fire under those conditions). This new fire warning level only came into use this year because of the recent increase of high intensity fires in remote areas & outskirts of cities. |
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Jan 6, 2019 10:33:55 GMT
LOL! I never would have thought about a nice stranger using my tool against me. You did a good job of editing a response to him. |
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) who really have no clue about planning for severe weather. We've needed to give them our extra supplies and equipment more than once. We also have a camp stove- we have to remind ourselves to never use it inside the house- serious carbon monoxide danger without extreme ventilation. I've also picked up a couple dozen cans of Sterno fuel to use with buffet-type pots (fondue, warmer serving dishes, etc.) I am quite wary of generators because of the many people who foolishly set them up in a garage, or basement, or just outside the door! People die from that- and have done every year in the Northeast and beyond.
We see rabid animal reports increasing in Maine and have the highest number of cases of tick-borne diseases, so tick repellent, tweezers, and cudgel or axe join us whenever we're out walking or working in the woods.