Search Results for ‘(“C’
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Search Results
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Topic: Easter
Saturday night I did a chicken on the outdoor grill (it was 82 degrees outside) using a Lodge pan and a PoulTree (Link is to their subreddit.)
Easier to use than the rotisserie and probably easier to clean up afterwards, too.
I need to make banana nut muffins but probably not today the oven is in use for supper, unless I do it in the evening (which is often when I bake.)
Topic: Electrical Outage, Part II
After rejoicing in the return of our electricity, for a little more than 24 hours, our area experienced severe weather that evening. For the first time since I have lived here, I heard tornado sirens that were not being tested. Power went out at 7:45 p.m. I got the terrified dog downstairs into the bathroom shower stall with me, while my husband watched the weather.. Fortunately, I had charged my weather radio, and we were able to hear from NOAA (an important and valuable resource whose funding and personnel should NOT be gutted) that the storm was heading toward Bourbon and Argos, IN, both of which took significant damage.
We immediately covered up the refrigerator and freezer again, once it was clear that the storm was to the side of us. We were hoping it was a general outage. The next morning, we heard the generators at the sewage plant operating, so we knew at least part of the town had lost electricity, but when the generators were no longer needed, it was clear that we were not just a part of the general outage, we were part of yet another specific outage. The top of a Siberian elm, at the opposite end of the road from the last tree incident, had come down and broken a couple of power poles, so we knew it would be at least a day. That evening, we again moved the house refrigerator contents to coolers in the shed.
We regained power after we went to bed on Thursday night, when all of a sudden, some lights came on at around 10:30 p.m. So, this time, we were without power for almost 27 hours. I got up and uncovered the refrigerator. The food survived. However, I'm going to go ahead and bake the cracker dough today, and I will prioritize using up any meat that was in the freezer.
Around 4 p.m. on Sunday, storms rolled in with high winds and some hail. It briefly stopped, and it was still, then the winds slammed again, and our electricity went out and stayed out for 49 hours and 40 minutes. Up the road, a large maple lost a huge branch. It took out three power poles--and those were newer ones--on the far side of the two-lane road, while the rest of it was suspended in the phone and media lines on the other side of the road. When our electricity goes out, we also lose the water, because we are on well water with an electric pump. It also means that the grinders for the sewer system do not work. We warmed up soup on the wood stove for dinner and went to bed, hoping for the best, but when the electricity was not on by the next morning, Scott walked up the road and saw the tree; he came back and told me power would not be coming back quickly. I grabbed some twin-mattress pads and put them over the front of the refrigerator and freezer, then tucked sheets around the sides where the refrigerator fits into the cabinetry. I put large containers with bags of flour up against it. For the one in our annex, which runs colder anyway, we lowered the Annex temperature to the low 40s.
It was difficult to get information as to when it might be repaired. The utility company had a general recorded message, as there were so many outages. We drove back roads into town to use the library internet and discovered that their website also had no time listed for recovery. I understand, as this was a major weather event.
To my surprise, the town did not even mention it on the local new list, even though the road was closed due to the danger. I also got snapped at when I asked on that Google list if anyone knew the timeline for repair. Fortunately, one good person, who was able to get information from her neighbor who talked to the first workers who showed up, did let us know that it would be a day or two, so we were able to plan. That evening, we emptied the house refrigerator contents into the four coolers of various sizes. We ate some of the contents for dinner (pulling out paper plates), then Scott put them in the shed across the road, since the outside temperature was going down to the mid-20s overnight. He was going to leave them outside our door, but I reminded him of the clever racoons, so, the shed it was. We used the wood stove to stay warm in the house.
It was lovely at 6 p.m. yesterday when the hum of appliances started up again. The contents of the other refrigerator and its freezer, like the contents of the house refrigerator and freezer survived the outage.
