Got To Test Our Preps!!!

If there's one thing that excites me it's getting to test our preps.

Yeah, there are other things but, after stockpiling all sorts of stuff one does wonder "Will I ever need it?" and "What have I forgotten?"

So last night the weather gal warned of possible power outages due to high winds and the ice/snow storm - which is still raging. So I filled the bathtub and kitchen sink with water; made a pot of coffee and poured it into a thermos, then made another pot of coffee; checked the flashlight batteries; and finally, tip-toed out to the woodshed for one more basket of wood.

We have two nightlights - one in the bath, one in the kitchen - that illuminate the general traffic pattern in our home. At 11:45 p.m. I tuck myself in bed and dream of using the old percolator, dining by candlelight or kerosene lamp, and the next day living TV and internet free.

About an hour after pulling the covers over my head, our dog starts to growl - my first warning that the power was out. Sweetie was snoring away and Ms. Preparedness here felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

I woke up about 5 a.m. and the power was still off but WE WERE PREPARED.

I checked the wood fire, pointed a flashlight at the outdoor thermometer _15 degrees - and let the critters out. The cats never left the stoop and they all came back inside wet. So there I sat drinking coffee and talking to the critters. Our dog is a strange creature. She paces the floor if the wind howls too loud, someone fire a gun near her or it's dark. Frankly, those nightlights are there so she'll go to sleep at night. Sheesh, what a watch dog!

When Sweetie woke up the first thing on his mind after the bathroom is his coffee. He was already muttering about "no coffee" as he came down the hall. I got a huge kiss and some brownie points (which I shall redeem) when he discovered I had hot coffee waiting for him.

We have a propane kitchen range so breakfast wasn't a problem. Our well tank holds about 40 gallons so I wasn't concerned about that either. And we have two generators and LOTS of gas in case the outage lasted for days.

There's a bit of meat in our frig's freezer but, transfer it to a cooler and place it outside and it would keep. Fortunately, we heat primarily with wood so the place was warm.

I turned the power cord off on the computer and TV and dug out the radio so we could listen to a weather report - which we never found. Must be 'cause it's Sunday. I didn't bother to dig out the weather radio though it would have been interesting.

At 10:15 a.m. the power returned - for 15 minutes, then off again for another 5-6 minutes. Our phone's been ringing ever since. Sweetie's brother and Mom wondering if we're okay. Why wouldn't we be? They're the ones that had horror stories! Then my Dad and one son called. Both had heard the weather here was crap and "out of curiosity" wanted to know if it hit us.

One comment from my son: "I don't figure how you guys do it when you don't have a lot of money."

My answer: "When you don't follow the masses to the financial slaughter house, you'd be surprised what you can accomplish."

Ahhhh....it's a wonderful life knowing you can take care of yourself. Wonder if any of those folks on the east coast without power for two weeks will do things differently. Just a thought.

Well, time to start a pot of soup. Later, Treesong