If the current forecast is accurate and to be beleived then 24 hours from now I will be shoveling out from 8 to 14 inches of snow that will start falling after midnight tonight. Of course the forecast is wrong. It always is! But preperations have to be made because it could be worse even though statistically, it has a high likelyhood of being less.
So there are a few things we do in my house before any storm that will be of significance. We always have enough food for 4 or 5 days. So that wont appear in this list. But if you happen to be in the habit of being short on food then you should consider having 2 or 3 days of food on hand that you can prepare without electricity. We have a gas stove so we are fine.
So with food off the list, this is what we do:
- 2 – five gallon buckets of water are filled and placed in the bathroom. Used carefully, we can flush the toilet for a couple of days with this.
- 2 – large stock pots are filled with water and placed on the stove top. If the power goes out, we lose the furnace and therefore heat. But with a low heat under these pots I can maintain a comfortable heat in the house. The increase in humidity from the water steaming off actually makes it comfortable at a lower temperature. Water for cooking and cleaning could be pulled from these pots as needed.
- Water pitchers are filled and placed in the fridge. On average this is 3 gallons of drinkable water.
- Flash lights, lanterns, candles and matches are checked and re-located to places that you can stumble to in the dark if necessary.
- The cars are move out of their normal parking locations to a spot that is easier to plow snow past them. The cars are normally up near the house. But this is tough to plow around. So we move them off to the side for easier plowing. Unfortunately, the best spot under some trees. So in the case of storms with high wind, I move them onto the yard and away form the trees to avoid possible falling limb damage.
- Snow shovel, snow shoes, and measuring stick are placed near the door for easy access.
Most of these steps are over-kill and are rarely used or needed. But it’s the idea of the “Umbrella Theory” that states that if you carry an umbrella then it won’t rain.
So we are hunkering down for tonight and tomorrow. Do you take any special steps to prepare for a storm?
We had a snow day. It was only about 5″ of snow. But it was wet and heavy. After plowing and shoveling and delivery Deb to work, she hates driving in lousy weather, Erica and I relaxed for a bit at home. Then we went for a hike in the woods on snow shoes.
She tried trail blazing for a few dozen feet but decided it was much easier to follow me. We measured the snow base and found anywhere from 18″ to 30″ of snow, depending on where the snow had drifted. We went about a quarter-mile when Erica reported she was tired. So I tossed her on my shoulders and carried her home.
Which made me tired! But still, a nice way to end a weekend.
Erica is picking blackberries in the backyard. They are delicious! I was afraid we would not have many as the bettles had eaten most of the leaves. I got a late start on getting rid of the bugs and couldn’t keep up through all the rain we had in July and August. But it looks like we will get a few quarts in the next week or so. In all likelihood they will be eaten raw or perhaps mixed into a batch of pancakes. Erica loves fresh fruit so much I doubt we will be able to freeze any for a future use. But that’s okay, I like them too!
July 16, 2008 - I spent the day at the Maine Highland Games at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick, ME, helping out my friends presenting a timeline of soldiers of Scotland. I portrayed 7th Kings Own Scottish Borderers circa 1944.
Our very busy summer weekends are starting to slow down. Last week I spent a day out with the boys at the Maine Highland Games. This is the second year I turned out with Dave and Frank to help with the Soldiers of Scotland timeline. I had a nice time away from the family.
Deb and Erica were at the birthday party of Erica’s cousins. We all arrived home tired and worn out.
Erica and I have been fighting some sort of cold for weeks. Now we are really sick. Chest cough and sniffles. But we are suffering through.
Even sick we have not slowed down. We went to the Union Fair on Friday night and enjoyed some fair-food and rides. Neither Deb, nor Erica care much about the livestock. So I didn’t get much chance to walk around the barns.
We painted the house yesterday. Deb wanted something lighter than the slate gray it was. Now its a bit too electric blue for me. Turquoise is a good description maybe. Hopefully this morning we can start painting the trim and clean up the mess. Plus I need to mow the lawn.
The Windsor Fair starts today. I think we will head up one night this week.
We have a birthday party to attend next weekend. Then nothing planned until Fryeburg Fair the end of September.
