Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

clhw wrote:
> How is your weather today, Bev? At 6 a.m., everything here was white 
> and it was mostly ice coming down. Now, at 8:15, it is raining, the 
> white is fading. The temperature is about 30, and is expected to warm
>  and then drop, turning all this into a sheet of ice.

Kinda the same here.  We got almost 2 inches of sleet/snow, but no real
ice or anything on the trees/power lines.  Right now, the temp is 35, so
while there has been some melt off, there's still a good bit of sleet on
the ground and I expect everything to freeze over again tonight.


> All the schools are closed; many businesses.

Same here.

> Husband is still sleeping. He also sawed, split, and stacked wood 
> like crazy almost all day yesterday. The basement wood box is full; 
> the front porch is stacked with wood; the wood stoves are putting out
>  heat.

I brought all the cured wood onto the porch.  Ron had to go into work.
The only wood we have now is stuff we just cut. :(
I suppose we could burn the freakin' canoe, as that is the reason we
didn't cut wood like we should have last Spring and Summer.


> I made sure our water system was full and we had milk, sweets, fruit 
> to eat. The power hasn't blinked but there is good potential for 
> power outage.

Amazingly, we haven't lost power, either.  But then, the trees are
clear.  Knowing we were low on gas for the generator, I filled up
everything I could find yesterday with water.  Of course, we keep about
40 gallons of drinking water stored at all times, but I went around
filling trashcans and stuff, just in case we lost power.  Luckily, even
in our presently unprepared state, we are still better off than most.

> Right now, the animals need to be fed, but the chickens who roost in 
> the pecan tree in front of the house are just now getting out of bed,
>  so no one is mobbing the front porch complaining about lousy
> service.

My chickens have stayed in the coop all day.  I have been watering them
with rainwater.  When the temps drop below 20, we shut off the barn
water at the well to avoid frozen pipes, so that means when the temps
are low, I'm hauling water.

My neighbor and friend just left.  Her boys were out of school and they
were driving her crazy, so they came up here to drive me crazy.  They
only have a few electric heaters so they were cold.  They are, for the
most part, city people.  Anyway, I played Scattergories with them for
the last three hours, so not much else is done. To add insult to injury,
I am out of coffee (first time that has happened in 20 years as I always
keep about 5-10 extra cans) so I am drinking hot tea.  I have enough hot
tea to last a couple of weeks, maybe a month, not including natural,
herbal preps..if you add that in for hot drinks, I have maybe a 3-4
month supply.  I am a coffee freak and I want my coffee, so not having
it makes me grumpy.  Maybe I should take a few more shots of that
kahlua...lol...

Bev
--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.