Emergencies, and why we aren't as prepared as we think we are...

This weekend was a big eye opener for my family and I.  Friday night we lost power, due to the unusually high winds sending an unusually high number of trees into the power lines.  No big deal, right?  We've weathered lots of power outages before!  They never last more than a few hours, and we have lots of candles and blankets.

Saturday morning came, and we were still without power.  Hmm.  We don't own a generator.  The 6 year old keeps forgetting to NOT flush the toilet, and now we have no water.  Should we try to find a generator?  Nah, the power will surely be back on in a few hours!

Saturday night, still no power.  DON"T OPEN THE FREEZER!!!  I have hundreds of dollars worth of food in the freezer, and if it thaws out, we're in trouble.  And its getting really cold in here.  Its 36 degrees outside.

Sunday morning, still no power.  The house is very cold, and everything in the refrigerator is spoiled, including all the green beans I just harvested from the garden and hadn't had a chance to process yet.  Husband decided that we have to get a generator NOW.  Off to town we go, and had to look at 6 stores to find one.  Imagine that, we weren't the only ones who decided we should get one!  $800.00 later, we're on our way home, sure that the power will be on now that we spent all that money.  Thank God we aren't burdened by credit cards any longer and had money in savings to pay cash.

What the Hell?!  Now its SNOWING!!!

Back at home, the power still isn't on, so we get the generator running, and get the fridge, freezer and furnace plugged in by running extension cords through the kitchen window..  No well pump, as we aren't wired to switch it easily to generator power.  If it was colder out, the well lines would all be frozen by now.  We all took baby-wipe baths and snuggled in to watch a movie on the little TV that we plugged into the generator.  If we hadn't gotten the generator, the freezers would be thawing by now. 

We ran the generator all night last night.  At 5:15 the alarm went off.  Time for Rob to get ready for work.  UGH.  But then, a flash and a buzz, and on came the power!  Yahoo!!!  It was off for a total of 60 hours.  If we hadn't left early Sunday to get the generator, they would have been all sold out and we would have been out of luck.

Top 5 things I learned from this ordeal...

1. Canning my produce, and even as much meat as I can, is a very good idea.  The freezer is not a dependable food storage solution.

2. This is ALASKA.  You need backup power.  Dependable back up power.  And you need the house wired for that backup power.

3. Kids get scared when the power goes off, even if they say they are fine.

4. Have emergency funds.  Since we don't have credit cards (thank God) we would have been in a much worse situation if we had no way to buy the generator and emergency food and fuel.

5. I want a woodstove.  You can heat with it AND cook with it.

Mmmmmmm.... Coffee

I recently acquired a French Coffee Press, which I have never used before.  I like my coffee in the morning, but hate making a full pot as that is just too much caffeine for just one person.  I tried the French Press for the first time this week, and I am in LOVE!!!  The coffee comes out creamy and perfect every time, and I can heat a kettle of water first thing in the morning (excuse to make a tea kettle cozy!), and have coffee as I want/need it all morning long!  Why didn't I get one of these sooner?!  Not to mention, this makes one more non-electric appliance to replace my plug-in everything in the kitchen!  Hubby still will want his pot of coffee on the weekends, but I can live with that.  I wonder if I could get away with putting the coffee pot in the cabinet during the week, as it takes up so much room on the counter.  I'm still looking for a hand crank coffee grinder, but these are very hard to find in the thrift shops.   Now if only I had my woodstove, even the hot water would be passive.  One step at a time!

Be careful what you wish for!

We got almost 6 inches of fresh snow yesterday. Everything is all white and sparkling now, but the clouds are gone and its cold! -9F, but its so beautiful... I just love it! We lost power for about 1/2 hour this morning, but nothing to be too concerned about. Now, if I just had a wood stove, life would be perfectly cozy!

I want a wood stove...

My home is comfortable. We have a diesel heater, and a fireplace run on propane just for the bedroom. I love the fireplace, its warm and cozy. But I miss wood heat. On days like today, (50F and raining) there is nothing like the smell and heat from a wood fireplace burning brightly. I want to be able to use my dutch oven without turning on the cookstove, or heat my hot water for tea. When we add on to the house, we are adding a wood fireplace, but in the mean time, propane will have to do.