Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Update

We ended up with 6 inches of snow! We've been without power since Sunday afternoon. We were finally able to get out today so we are at the library. We were supposed to get our goats today, but that ain't happenin'! They think it may not be until tomorrow that we get power back. We finally got phone back about an hour ago. It is damn cold in our house! So Logan and I are going to be out and about today trying to find warm places to be.

I realized some holes in our preps being without power for a few days. Some small that I will take care of this week. Some bigger. Water is going to be an issue. When we lose power we lose water. We have 275 gallons in our cistern but that water isn't good to drink without filtering. In a long term power outage, water will become an issue. Heat could be another problem. We do have a fireplace but no wood. The neighbors have lots of wood we can use short term, but again long term could become an issue. Cooking is another issue. We have a propane burner, but we would eventually run out of propane in a long outage. I think a wood stove would be our best solution but I don't see Mark going for it. So, I've got some thinking and planning to do.

I'll update when we get power back. I've got some great pictures and video.

10 comments:

Zachary and Jennifer said...

I hope you get up and going soon. Its during those times you truly know how prepared you are for such situations. Stay warm!

Jennifer

Melody said...

So why is your hubby so against the fireplace or a woodstove?

I hope that you get power back soon!!

Danni said...

Wow - you all are just where we were in December. You might recall our struggle with no power over the holidays. It SUCKED!
Have you considered having a small emergency generator? This made such a difference for us - in addition to our fireplace and our cooktop and water heater (both run on propane). Good luck. Hope your power comes back soon.

JLB said...

Good luck! look forward to posts about the goats when they arrive and power's back on!

Welcome To Wilmoth Farms said...

I feel for ya! After coming out of the ice storm we had, I'm thankful for the following wood stove, gas grill, and neighbors who arent on well like we are! LOL I reccomend all three! Good luck, let us know how your doing! Thinking of you!

FarmHouse Style said...

Oh, yuck! OK, I'm not jealous any more. Hope the power is back on very soon.

If you guys are on a well, you may want to look into a hand pump. Also we have a wood heater in the basement. It is not really a stove, but in a pinch, I could cook on it. You can get a wood heater that uses your fireplace chimney. Just some ideas....

Rhonda

Gail said...

Welcome to the South. When we know storm is coming we save water in jugs for drinking and cooking. My sister, Marcy, cooked in her fireplace during our power outage.

Does make you realize how dependant we are on power. Hope you get some soon. Many people here were out two weeks after the ice storms. We lost 36,000 poles in Arkansas.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Geez. Amazing how snow affects a region not prepared or used to it. Can you imagine if places like Montana or North Dakota shut down like the Deep South?

When we lived in South Carolina, I always got a kick out of how everyone rushed to the grocery store for milk, bread and eggs...and bottled water every time a storm was mentioned.

Our power always seemed to go out with every snow storm or major storm, too.
Here in the mountains of NM, we get huge snow storms and below freezing weather, and not once has our powere went out.

Yep, you've got to talk hubby into a wood or pellet stove. It's vital. Water is a serious issue, too, unless you don't mind boiling water on your stove to carry buckets out to the animals during every storm.

gah! What an adventure! But at least you're finding out all these issues *before* you get animals, right?

Hang in there and stay warm and dry, my friend :)

~Lisa

linda m said...

Sorry to hear about your power outage. I agree with Farmgirl; you need a back up generator if nothing else. My boss has one in his house so when he looses power at least his sump pump will run. Hope you get power back soon.

Beck's Bounty said...

Woodstove would be heat AND cooking .... free heat if the firewood is gathered. perhaps you can "sell" the idea that way ?

We heat with wood exclusively, and it is wonderful -- the heat itself is like none other, and the lack of "utility expense" for heat in the wintertime.

Hope this helps.
Tammy