Getting Ready for the Storm

All indications are that we are in for a bit of a blow--rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, and snow all rolled into one weather system. I left the storytelling retreat last night and drove home instead of staying over as planned because I well remember the last ice storm 10-11 years ago and I did not want a) to be stranded away from home, and b) Larry to be here dealing with it by himself. The bad weather was predicted to hit sometime during the night so it seemed wisest to shift plans and come home.

This morning we're doing more preparations. I thought we were pretty well stocked but Lordy me, who forgot to buy toilet paper?? Me. So we made a quick run to the store and bought some extra batteries too. We figured we were all set.

When we got home we started thinking about the last storm and how branches and trees crashed down all around us. That prompted us to move our vehicles to safer parking places. We also moved all the patio and porch furniture. The deck is vulnerable to the big maple that shades it but there is nothing to be done about that.

Then we decided to fill buckets and containers with water. We'd bought 5 gallons but if the electric goes off, and that seems likely if the storm is as bad as its press, then we'll need water for the pets and the chickens, water for the toilet, water for doing dishes...we needed more water. Last major storm had our power off for 9 days, after all.

So I filled plastic tote with about 12 gallons and put it beside the toilet for flushing; Larry filled all the buckets he could find for the animals and I filled empty plastic jugs, about twenty of them, for use inside the house. We save plastic jugs for cider-making in the fall, but right now they're a useful backup. We also filled a 5 gallon cooler.

My next thought was, what if the power and the gas BOTH go off? How would we cook? That's a situation I had not considered. I have plenty of candles, so I could put a candle in a pot and heat food over that--not perfect but it should work well enough for food that only needs heating up. I'm making boiled eggs right now, as it will be plenty cold enough to keep them for a good while. Scones are in the oven too, so that's breakfasts taken care of. For lunch and dinner we have canned meats, canned soups, and lots of salads and veggies that can be eaten raw. I'll be on the lookout for a backup cooking device in the future. Just in case, you know!

I'm catching up all the laundry today so that everything is clean and the hampers are empty. Who wants to run out of clean underwear?? The lamps are filled and we have plenty of kerosene on hand. And of course, we have books of all kinds to keep up entertained and projects that can still got forward without power or gas.

So I think we're set. Mother Nature may be acting up, but I hope we'll be able to ride out her temper tantrum all right. And if you don't see me posting for a few days, you'll know that we're busy playing pioneer and will have lots to tell you when we get back online. Keeping my fingers crossed that all our preparations are for nothing but a little snowfall.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.