tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4878921243552243497.post6295719050993085071..comments2024-01-27T02:16:02.654-06:00Comments on Shine Like Stars: Surviving Without PowerLorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12501183092026084522noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4878921243552243497.post-90989595660390393052010-02-05T14:01:25.351-06:002010-02-05T14:01:25.351-06:00It was quite a "blast to the past" for u...It was quite a "blast to the past" for us. The girls, of course, hadn't a clue how to survive this loss of power. The first night we wove a string of battery operated Coleman lanterns around the ceiling fan in the living room. The same lights we use to brighten our tent when we go camping! It worked quite well. Joe learned how to play spoons and we learned a few more card games. It was really quite funny as Cheyenne swept the last spoon off the coffee table into her lamp and I ended up sliding across the coffee table after her trying to get it before she got her hands on it good! She got the spoon but my table was very clean after that! We used her ipod hooked up to a tiny speaker for the entertainment until it wore out.<br /><br />We were lucky to have a propane fireplace and even luckier that we had propane lol. Our home is built with ICF walls so it actually stayed warmer than most. But still, blankets were all the rage at bedtime! Mom had a gas water heater (we are all electric too) and a gas stove. So we scuttled over there to shower and sometimes sneak a hot meal. Joe finally got the welder generator hooked up but only for about 4 hours at a time. Twice a day sometimes! Long enough for the tv and computer to get turned on and heated up and turned back off. <br /><br />I did manage to stuff somethings into the crock pot and it started cooking the first generator round and then I finished it on the second one as it was almost done and we didn't have a big length of time between generator rounds that day. They kept asking what are we having? I said um, food! Joe said what is in it? I said well you said put everything in it so thats whats in it lol. I have now named it Pioneer Chicken and it was such a hit that it is now on the favorite meal list. I am going to remember the candle in the oven idea! But keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't get this bad again!<br /><br />The night before the storm, the dog decided to have her puppies in ,of course, the worst possible place. In a deep ditch in side a big round pipe sticking upright out of the bottom of the ditch! We assembly lined the little ones out of there and snugged them into the dog house with some doggie blankets. They seem happy there even now except for the little tubby one that keeps climbing out and whining every time his Mom takes off to bark at coyotes. <br /><br />Just a few small ways we survived. It was definitely an experience and the good things were bonding and sharing that we did that we never would have done as much. Plus the girls know a little more about surviving than they did!Lori Collvinsnoreply@blogger.com