Are we having fun yet? LOL
My Mother In Law would hear about bad weather coming and for years be
it thunderstorm or tornadoes or freezing weather she would make sure all
her laundry and dishes were done. Have some extra water jugs filled and
the batteries were good in the flashlight. She was born in 1921 rural
Oklahoma. Things were way different then. She was the oldest of 8 and
she became the second mother to the other 7 kids while mom was in the
fields working. Needless to say she saw a lot of stuff and I am sure she
learned her cautious ways due to those things. I too am becoming wiser
and more cautious and learning from our current happenings.
We thought we were in good shape around here. When we heard bad
weather was coming we started up the generator to make sure everything
was working and fuel filled up. Oklahoma had a class 3 emergency power
thing happen and the people in charge of the power grid was doing
rolling blackouts to conserve electric energy so a bunch more people
wouldn't be without power. Well I guess they thought we are in a good
spot to do that. We were without power for 2 hours. It was dang cold
too! Hubby went out to start the generator and it wouldn't do it. We
just bought a jump pack ( a portable battery jumper starter thing) and
he hooked it up and still couldn't get it going. He pulled out a can of
starter fluid and after a couple of times it got it going. This
generator isn't brand new but it is in good shape and for sure not a
piece of junk! It was all about how cold it was the reason it wasn't
working.
We turned off the central heat and pulled in some small
electric heaters. We were comfortable but didn't want the house to lose
any stored up heat. We had been leaving the sink doors open since they
are next to a outside walls. The only real problem we had was I had
washed a load of clothes to try and do it before things got bad.... Well
they washed all right and drained right into the garage! That drain for
some reason isn't going into the septic tank but somewhere else. It
froze up where it drains and so it went the only place it could... in
the garage!
When we heard the electric was back on we unhooked everything and
flipped the switch to the house to have electric again. The breaker
wouldn't stay on! No matter what! dang! We thought the power fluctuation
may have blown something. Son in law is also a electrician so he looked
at it. Turned all the breakers off then turned the main breaker on it
would stay on then. He flipped everything back on and it all worked
great. The breaker was good but we decided to get another extra to have
around for just in case.
Nikki's house is about 115 years old. It has been restored and
preserved well. The only damage it has had is when the earthquakes were
coming around here and messed it up royal. I think all that has been
fixed. Still it has a underneath part exposed to air even though
blocking all the holes. They left the faucets running the way your
supposed to but still things froze up even with everything blocked off
underneath. Her hubby had to get some kind of heater he used when
working on the pipelines and blow the heat under there. Finally got all
but one working I believe.
Went to the local grocery store on Monday. A day before their normal
delivery this is what the store looked like. They said it's people
stocking up before the storm.
Veggies like potatoes and onions etc. were not there.
Eggs, butter and other like things were totally gone.
You can see how everyone liked sodas
the meat section.... if you look at it... nothing is stacked up. It is
all single lined and spread out to look like more is there.
The bread isle wasn't much better.
I went back on Wednesday(after delivery day) things were filled up
much better. Still some end caps at end of isles were totally empty.
There were NO EGGS IN THE WHOLE TOWN for sale! I think I got the last
medium sized eggs limit 1 dozen there. Milk was limit 1 also.
Speaking of eggs. The people that have chickens have eggs that are
cracked and frozen. So what does that say about what the chickens are
enduring? Most people in the southern USA are not used to these temps.
They don't have protected area's for their animals to be that are warm
enough for these kinds of conditions. (Better get ready I think we are
in for a lot more in the future)
Soooo.... We are doing good. We could go to town on the roads with 4
wheel drive. Put extra warm stuff in truck for us and dog if things went
sideways. I am going to order some powdered eggs and egg whites. I was
going to do the egg whites for baking anyway. I never can remember to
use the left over yolks when I make recipes just needing whites (what a
waste). It is hard to have enough of everything around when things go
sideways. I didn't have to pull out the kerosene lamps thank goodness
but I have extra fuel and wicks if needed. I want to get some strong
solar lights to use in the house if needed sometime. I would love to
have a outdoor kitchen for fun and emergencies but look at this weather!
You think I want to be out there cooking in -13* weather with a
wind???!!! It would have to have some shelter or something with it.
Garage propane tank will only last so long on the grill. It would
probably be easier just to gin up the fireplace and cook on it. That's
almost fun other than finding someone to haul the wood in.
Everything else is doing good. Son in law is taking good care of the
critters. Here is a funny. He was burning a brush pile since there was
snow on the ground and look at what the cows did! Keeping warm by the
fire! LOL
Ranchmama
(Perfect baking weather! Make good food and keep the house warm also!)
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