Since December 21st, I have experienced 10 whole days without electricity = no running water. Once it was 3 days at a time, then 24 hours, or 12 hours, but never less than 4 hours in a shot, and it totals 10 days. One learns to leave the bath water in the tub (for flushing toilets), keep the kettles full, and to bring up wood from the garage on each trip you make. No – I won’t bother searching for a credit on my hydro bill.
My computer server has a backup battery, and its beeping woke me at 3 AM yesterday. My Dunany Demons are on a freeze kick; it was -36 out there! I crawled from beneath my blankets to rekindle the fires; one never knows how long the outage will last. It was off and on all day, then shut down completely while I was away picking Grump up from the Vet (he had a bleeding growth removed) so I scrambled once again to get the fires going when I arrived home.
With it so cold, people who do not have alternate heating must be going through a much harder time. We can dress in layers or cuddle up to keep ourselves warm, but pipes running through the house are another thing altogether. It’s expensive and annoying to fix when they freeze. Of course the power company does not reimburse you, nor do Insurance companies. Weather problems are deemed ‘Acts of God’.
My insomnia sure comes in handy – I need to refurbish the fires every 3 hours or so. The doggies are happy because I usually share the couches with them instead of going to bed. If it lasts too long, I bring Dora, my grandson’s cat, upstairs, to enjoy the warmth and the candlelight in our company. She and Smooch play...well, Smooch plays, and she does her best to ignore him, or will climb up somewhere and disdainfully stare down at the clumsy lout. Tonight they discovered one activity where they cooperated; Dora knocked a plant off its stand then, under her watchful eye, Smooch completed the job by spreading it all over my living room floor. The only thing they didn’t do was point at each other when I showed up, but I bet they would have if they could have!
Still....last night the moon, nearly full, reflected off the expanse of all that deep, white snow that covers my rolling hill and my mountain. I stood and admired the spectacular view from my window, and remembered why, in spite of the power nuisance, I have this love affair with winter.
Power is flashing again. I’ll post this then stoke up the fires and attempt another 3 hour snooze. Hopefully it will stay on long enough for me to get some work done tomorrow. I’m not strong enough to get the pull-cord generator started (I’m looking into buying a push button model) and I’m reluctant to bother some muscled dude unless I really, really need it. However, the HABS are playing the CAPITALS later tonight, so before I hit the sack I’ll put my neighbour’s number on speed dial......
I’m sure my team with win again...and that makes me SMILE!! Sharing it with you, as always.
Luv from the Bush in Quebec.
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