why I didn't get much quilting done this week

See that stream on the other side of the driveway, out past the seven inches of snow? As of Wednesday morning, that was our only running water.



Early Wednesday morning, the fan in the bedroom stopped and woke me up. Then I realized that the light we leave on in the kitchen was flickering and got up to check things out. That's when the transformer out across the highway blew... that'll wake you up fast! A couple of minutes after that, a branch came down across the feeder line to the house and the transformer at that corner went and then all of the big drama was over for the moment.

Then we moved on to the little drama of trying to keep kids happy in a cold dark house while explaining to them that they can't go out to play in the only real snow there's been all year because of the live power line hanging across the yard. And the fun of hauling water from the stream to flush the toilet with and making sure that no one opened the fridge.

I don't think the boys ever felt the cold. They definitely didn't sit still long enough for it to seep in.

Last week, Judy wrote about why she doesn't store gas or think generators are such a great idea. I do agree about not storing gas for long periods are in large amounts, but I love our brand new generator.

It won't run the whole house, but a few hours at a time of heat and running water would give us a change to wash some dishes and take showers and refill the water jugs. If we'd had it when this adventure started, we could have moved all of the groceries I bought Monday from the fridge to the freezer and left the generator running until they'd frozen.

On the way back from picking up the generator, I stopped at the grocery store to get dry ice and asked if there were special instructions for using it to keep a refridgerator cold. I know we did it a few years ago during an extended power outage, but I couldn't remember if there was some special trick to it. Everyone I could find to ask told me absolutely not to put it in my fridge. The USDA says I can. Wish I'd had access to that information when I needed it! Now I get to sort through my fridge and decide what's safe.

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 1.25 yard
Fabric Used year to Date: 25.75 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 57.75 yards
Net Added for 2012: 32 yards

This post is linked to Patchwork Times.