It looks like my neck of the woods is in for a cold week. The forecast calls for ice pellets and freezing rain starting this afternoon and continuing through Wednesday. That means today is about survival and preparation. I don’t think the forecast is dire but it’s always possible like in the past I could lose power and need to stay put. I’ll spend the next several hours bringing in wood, collecting enough kindling for a week, filling up a few five gallon water drums, putting a new bin in the composting toilet and getting the animals plenty of water in their tanks. Then I wait, and if a storm does hit I’ll read and stay warm by the fire. I might try to catch some episodes of “Survivor” on TV and righteously chuckle to myself and think: they have no idea! That is if I have electricity.
I’ve got enough food in the freezer to last a month and the cold frames are full of lettuce, spinach, chard, arugula, and broccoli greens and they’ll be fine. I’ve got cheese in the freezer and eggs in the coup. No chance of scurvy or malnourishment for me, maybe a little OCD however.
I’ll admit I’m a little gun shy around ice storms. I’ve been through two of them on the farm, the first I was here alone and really having a hard time, unprepared as they come. Cabin fever hit within two hours and for the next seven days I was a complete basket case. I laugh at it now, have to. Last year I had a little company but not much, the difference was I was ready. We lost power for nine days. All was just fine. I cooked on the wood burning stove and read under the soft glow of oil burning laps. Oh, that reminds me I lost those in the divorce so I better replace them pronto!
I’ve come a long way since that first ice storm.
Here are some photos of the place last year. Being from Seattle it’s pretty much the biggest weather “thing” I’ve experienced, so I might sound a bit over excitable.
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