It’s been a mild winter so far.
In our little corner of the Pacific Northwest, the most dramatic weather so far was a “Pineapple Express” (warmish) windstorm on Christmas night. It knocked the power out all over the county, and around here, gusts might have reached 50 mph.
All I can say I’m glad it wasn’t a Northeaster, because frigid winds at 50 would have broken our area firs like toothpicks.
However, a major cold front is expected next week—down into the single digits, which is c-c-cold for around here.
We never get that kind of cold without strong Northeast winds barreling down from the Canadian prairies. And that means a strong likelihood for a power outage. Or several of them. Snow is forecast too.
So with the probability of being snowed in, without electricity for two or three days, tells my husband John and me that preparation needs to happen!
He’s a fan of “prepper” websites and Pinterest pins, and there’s some really innovative gadgets out there, like a bicycle-powered mini-sawmill. John actually bought us a collapsible wood-burning mini-stove for cooking out in the field. It’s cool, but I’ll stick with indoor camp cooking…with our full-sized woodstove!
Anyway, to get ready for just the usual weather-related power outages, here’s what we do:
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| Rechargeable lantern, flashlight, and solar recharger |
*Have our battery-powered lanterns close at hand, and make sure they’re fully charged.
*Same goes for our rechargeable flashlights—the one in the photo also doubles as a mini-lantern. I use it instead of a headlamp, since headlamps run through batteries like crazy.
*Put our solar recharger station into our south window to fully charge.
*Speaking of charging, we make sure our iPads and laptops’ charge is topped up.
*Chop extra firewood, fill both our firewood containers—plus bring two extra loads into the house for backup.
*Start the generator to ensure that it’s in working order, and check the gas supply and oil.
*Gas up the gas cans for the generator.
*Check our food stores. We normally keep lots of extra food on hand for the winter months—actually, since the pandemic, we keep our fridge and pantry well-stocked generally. But when a storm is on the way, we make a trip to town for staples like extra eggs, milk, and bread.
*In case we do lose power, two chores I’ve just incorporated into our prep routine is 1) get the laundry done and 2) run the dishwasher—even though it wasn’t 100% full. It’s nice not to face a mountain of dirty laundry and dishes when the power is restored.
In some respects, we’re better prepared these days. In the past, water was always a problem for power outages—and keeping our water system from freezing up. But now we’ve got a backup solar battery system for our well, we can keep pump house warm with the electric heater, and the water flowing.
In a small way, however, we’re less prepared. We let go of our very expensive landline a couple of years ago, and got on “VoiP”—internet phone service via our satellite. In our landline days, we had an old rotary phone, and we actually could use the phone line, with no electricity needed.
Not any more. Without internet—which of course takes electricity—we’re cut off from the world.
Not that we mind all that much! As inconvenient as losing power is, and being in pioneer mode, it does give us a chance to just be. Read and rest. Though we can’t take a break from chopping firewood…
You’ll find winter wisdom and homesteady garden tips in my January newsletter, “Early Winter Garden & Un-Resolutions”!
