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By patsi @ A Working Pantry
Wagon clipart link … https://clipart-library.com/clipart/713877.htm
Class #1
Hello everyone and welcome to the first class in our Circling
the Wagons preparedness class. Before we
dive in though, I want us to get a full understanding of what the term
‘circling the wagons’ means. After
taking a look at the definition, I think you’ll agree that there is indeed a
need for us to draw inward and ‘circle the wagons.’
In wagon train days, wagons would move along in train
formation at a slow pace one after another.
Slowly they would make their way to their destination, sometimes taking
weeks or even months. They didn’t
usually stop for long periods of time until they got to their destination
unless they perceived a threat of danger.
Then they would place the wagons in a circle as a form of protection, a
barrier between potential harm or threat and themselves, if you will. Do you see where I’m going with this?
In this class we’re uniting as a group to help each other
learn and be as prepared for uncertain times and emergency events as possible.
We are our own wagon train!
We’ve all seen the headlines; we all feel the unease and
expectation of ‘waiting for the next shoe to drop’ in the chaos of today’s
world and we’re all being affected one way or another. There’s no doubt about
it, we are living in troublesome times, throw in a disaster situation like
Hurricane Helene and it almost seems to be too much … listen up, it can’t be
too much! I know we are all so tired of
it all, worn down would be another way to describe it, but we have families
that depend on us for physical and emotional support to get them through. We can’t take our eyes off the goal! As women we play a major role in our families,
whether we have children at home or are empty nesters (those grown children
still need us and the support we can offer too, just in different ways). God truly did give women a super important
role in His plan for mankind!
So, here we are faced with the current chaos of our world,
what are we to do? We are to get
prepared to help those who mean the most to us and then to help others. But how do we do that when times are
uncertain, finances are limited, and we may have health issues that limit us
further? We just want to be able to take
care of our families where we’re at during these uncertain times, be prepared
for an unexpected disaster as best we can while not feeling overwhelmed and
being made to feel like things are so bad that there is no hope … and we don’t
know where to begin.
Does that about size up where you’re at, if so come on and
jump into this class with me … I just might be able to help because I’ve gone
through all the fear mongering, and you’ve got to do ‘this’ thing that is going
to make or break your survival in any given situation. I found myself so overwhelmed by it that at
one point I came to the conclusion that there had to be a better way, that this
fear mongering was not God’s way and so I set out to find it.
That’s what this class is about, being prepared to the best of
our abilities where we’re at with what we’re able to do and then be content
with that.
I hope this class will empower you to know that you can be
prepared for uncertain times and for unexpected disasters without the hopelessness
and fear that today’s fear mongering brings.
Are you ready to ‘circle those wagons?’ … let’s get started …
This is the day that your imaginary
world changes.
Whatever resources you have right now are what you’ll have to work with during this class. For some this imaginary situation is occurring in the summer, for others it’s in the winter and for some it’s between the two. Whatever season you’re in, that’s your background for this scenario. Whatever your weather is for each day of the ‘scenario’ is the weather you will be dealing with. Also, nothing is coming in, what you have is what you have to work with.
Remember, this class is to assess where you are in your preparedness, so you can better equip yourself to deal with your reality.
Right off the bat, we’re going to check our ‘short-term emergency’ preparedness! You know those things that will take care of your basic needs for up to a month such as water, food, etc. Don’t have ‘short-term emergency preparedness in place? Open your notebook and label that as your first entry in your notebook, we’ll come back to it later. Also, don’t forget to take any notes from the lessons and or comments as we go along that are pertinent to your situation.
Wagons circled … eyes and ears alert … let’s go …
It’s the middle of the night and something awakens you, you get awake enough to realize you don’t need to go to the bathroom, but you might as well go since you’re awake, it might save a trip later in the night. You head to the bathroom noting along the way that you need to replace your nightlight as it’s not burning. You take care of your business and carefully make your way back to bed noting that something seems off, the house is too quiet. You glance at your watch lying on the bedside table and notice that it’s 1 a.m. In your groggy condition, you chalk the quietness of your house up to just one of those things and fall promptly back to sleep.
The next thing you notice is the sun streaming through your
bedroom window and you know instantly that you have overslept! The sun never streams through your window at
6 a.m. in the morning. You jump up in
true ‘home alone, we overslept’ fashion and head for the kitchen calling for
everyone to get up and get dressed as soon as possible. If you have kids, they are late for school
and you and or your husband, if you are married, are late for wherever you
are supposed to be!
Inwardly you wonder how this happened as you start
preparations for the quickest breakfast possible. You open the refrigerator door to take out
the milk, it’s going to be a milk and cereal or milk and pop tart kind of
morning. As you pick up the milk jug,
you notice it feels warm, not cold at all and you think something must be wrong
with the refrigerator … which is not what you want to be dealing with today of
all days when the whole household has overslept!
At about the same time, someone yells from the bathroom,
‘there’s no water’ … and then it hits you … a warm refrigerator, no water and
the alarm clock that didn’t go off … there’s no power!
Your first thought is, did I pay the power bill? Then you remember that you did, so that’s not
the issue.
Your next thought is, ‘I’m sure the power will come back on
soon; someone must have had a wreck and took out a utility pole.’ After reasoning it all out in your mind, your
next thought is, ‘what am I going to feed my family for breakfast and how am I
going to get everyone bathed and out the door to where they are supposed to be
with no power or water?’
With the resources you have in your home right now, what are
you going to feed your family and how are they going to bathe? What about
brushing their teeth? Morning breath is
the worst!
For those of you who have taken my classes before you know I
don’t reveal everything about the situation at the beginning of the
scenario. This time is no different! Next week the situation worsens, but for
right now, we have to figure out what to feed the family for breakfast, how to
get them bathed, get their teeth brushed and get everyone to where they are
supposed to be … maybe!
Okay ladies, share away, how are you going to handle this
situation? Let’s circle our wagons,
share and help each other figure out solutions.
Oh, one more thing … in addition to the main post on Mondays,
it might be wise to be on alert for unexpected ‘pop-up’ posts throughout the
week that could help or hinder the situation you find yourself in … just saying
…!
Okay, over to you …
patsi @ A Working Pantry
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
You might be interested in my other blogs ...
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The first thing I will do...I will have to take a deep breath, because once I realize what might be happening I will get sick to my stomach... then I will pull myself together and it will be a warm milk and cereal morning.. then I will start checking what i need to use first in my fridge... bath's can be done with baby wipes, if our hair is oily or dirty I will toss some baby powder in our hair,brush it and put it up in a pony tail... since we live close to our GD's school I will just keep her home..if our power is out the schools probably is also.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I added two of your ideas to my notebook ... bathing with baby wipes and baby powder in hair. Both are excellent short-term solutions! If you live close to your granddaughter's school, you are very wise to assume that they have not power either! Sounds like for the moment; you are in good shape!
DeleteI’m brushing my teeth with the bottled water I have stored downstairs. We will be eating granola bars for breakfast and applesauce. Sue in Mn
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'm brushing my teeth with bottled water too. The granola bars and applesauce are a good healthy breakfast and it's important that we do the best we can to take care of ourselves during times of distress!
DeleteI have a 55 gallon water container in our walkout basement, but it needs to be drained and refreshed. I’m no doubt lamenting the fact that it’s not done. I have some gallon containers as well, so we have something to drink. I hadn’t thought of warming the milk. Great idea. We are currently waiting on a solar generator. Hope this happens after it arrives!
DeleteAnonymous, that's a really good point about draining and refreshing stored water. I'm going to make a note in my notebook to schedule a quarterly date to do that.
DeleteYou could filter the 55 gallon water if you have a berkey or sililar filtration system.
DeleteI hadn’t thought of filtering the water. I’m going to look into that. Thank you. Mel in Co.
DeleteTeeth from the water bottle l refill each night, cereal & milk, wet ones for quick wash, transfer fridge food that can be saved to caravan fridge.
ReplyDeleteCheck solar working.
Anonymous, that's a good habit to get into, refilling a water bottle for next day's use. We keep drinking water in the refrigerator and refill it as needed. I'm going to make a note in my notebook to make it a habit to refill every night even if it's not empty.
DeleteWe would use our stored water for brushing teeth and cleaning. Food would be cereal and warm milk or granola bars with canned fruit. I would be thinking is it going to be long term and I need to be getting generator for freezers Anonymous
DeleteI just bought granola bars because I had wished we had them during our seven days power outage after Helene. So granola bars and apples from the fridge's. We are retired so no worry about Getting anywhere. Time to get the generator out and get it going to keep the freezer frozen. There are 3 to 4 tanks of propane but I am wishing we had been more prompt about refilling the two empty ones for the generator We have six packs of Water bottles in the garage and at least 15 gallon size bottles on hand. I put a gallon in the bathroom and use it to brush teeth and wet a washcloth for some bathing. I bring an extension cord plugged into the generator inside to power the coffee maker. After making my coffee plug it into the fridge. Hubby brings a 5 gallon gas can of Water into the bathroom for toilet flushing. We get out the rechargeable fan and plug it into the generator to charge if need be. Time to locate flashlights in case we need them later. Also check the charge on the jump starter and charge off the generator if needed so we can charge phones. Sit down and enjoy my coffee while I think things through.
ReplyDeleteLana, I love the way you are already mentally thinking ahead to what if this lasts longer than a few hours! That 's very smart ... just in case!!! I see several things in your comment that I'm going to make note in my notebook to check on in our preparedness: propane, rechargeable fan batteries, flashlight batteries.
DeleteI love my rechargeable fan. I use it outside while I work in the garden on hot days.
DeleteI would use up any leftovers from the fridge for brekky that could be heated on a camp gas cooker to prevent wastage. We have a large rainwater tank so would be ok for water that we could filter to drink as well as wash
ReplyDeleteSharlene, that's a good idea to use up fridge contents asap! I would love to have a rainwater tank, it's on our to-do list for the future.
DeleteOne more thing. We learned during Helene that our fridge stayed cold for twelve hours at night while we had the generator off. We put it in the garage at night because generators were being stolen. So our fridge would still be cold .
ReplyDeleteLana, that is a great tip!
DeleteI would get out the generator and plug in the freezers and refrigerator.. Let the freezers run 2 hours twice a day and move the refrigerated contents into a cooler with ice packs and all the ice in the bin.
ReplyDelete* Get out the battery weather radio and listen for news of outage
* Brush teeth with bottled water
* Take a sponge bath with baby wipes
* Breakfast: i have home canned breakfast fixings- sausage, potatoes. onions in broth. Drain the broth, fry up the potatoes, onions, and sausage, then add 2 eggs and scramble together. I can mix a roux with the broth to make a gravy to pour over the top or serve over bread. I have a gas stove or propane grill to cook on and iron skillet.
* Lunch- a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrot sticks
* Supper- home canned beef stew, vegetable soup, chili, white chicken chili, or chicken soup- just heat up on the stove or grill.
* Use paper plates so I don't have to wash dishes. Filter 1 gallon rain barrel water, wash skillets and utensils. wipe surfaces. then flush toilet with the water.
* Set oil lamps around and battery operated night lights to use when it gets dark.
* We are getting into the 80⁰s during the day and 50⁰s at night so very nice weather to not have air conditioning or heat.
Holly, I love the way you can whip up meals with little effort and are prepared with light should this event last into the night. The tip about moving refrigerated foods to cooler with ice packs and ice is a really good one!
DeleteI fill the kettle each night before going to bed. There is also a 2L filtered water jug in the fridge and a 15L filtered water system, like a Berki, on the veranda. Teeth cleaning is taken care of. Wipes would be used for bathing. Dry shampoo is always in the cupboard here. Bi Carb soda sprinkled on a brush also works well for dealing with dirty hair. We have a gas(LPG) burner in the outdoor kitchen. Coffee and tea could be made quickly. The chooks are laying well so scrambled eggs with sliced and buttered bread for brekkie. The generator would beset up to keep the fridge and freezer going.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, your 'Bi Carb soda sprinkled on a brush' tip is going into my notebook.
DeleteThe milk wouldn't have warmed up in the fridge overnight so would be quite useable anyway - so it'd be breakfast as usual for us. Water which was already in the kettle filled from the previous night would be heated on the portable gas stove so coffee or tea as usual too. Teeth cleaned with a bit of water from there. This is Queensland, Australia. Top and tail for freshening up (we shower at night anyway) and we'd be on our way if we had to work - which we don't as we're retired.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, that's a good tip about the refrigerator. Sounds like you're in good shape ... for a while!
DeleteI will brush my teeth with bottled water and have a home canned fruit, bread and peanut butter. I’ll put the bread on a paper dish and the fruit in a paper dish. I don’t know when the water will be on again and I don’t want dirty dishes stacked up. Phyllis McD.
ReplyDeletePhyllis, I'm with you on not letting dirty dishes stack up!
DeleteI try and use the milk up with cereal for breakfast. I do keep a small amount of bottled water to hand, so we would be able to clean our teeth. We all tend to shower in the evening, so we would be ok on that front for the time being. I always have dry shampoo to hand, so I could use that if necessary (husband bald, son with buzz cut, so they would be ok!) I would assume that the power would be on sometime soon, so I probably wouldn't be looking to empty the fridge of perishables. I definitely wouldn't be opening the door of the freezer.
ReplyDeleteTracy, keeping the freezer door closed is important, good reminder!
DeleteWe'll be using body wipes for a quick freshen up. I bought several packages when I thought I'd be a gym girlie lol. Bottled water for cleaning teeth. I have baked goods that I'll use fo breakfast. I don't keep much in my fridge but I do currently have a piece of meat thawing so Hubs can get that going on the grill.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, firing up the grill to cook the meat is wise.
DeleteOh, I forgot to add that once Hubs gets the grill going he'll start a pot of coffee!
ReplyDeleteGinger- I forgot to add my name
Ginger, coffee is important, isn't it! For me, it's tea!
Deletesince it is 33 degrees here and i won't be able to use the space heater this morning we will start a small fire in the woodstove and make coffee and maybe oatmeal or eggs on it. using water from stored gallon bottles in basement. we have a handcrank solar radio, so maybe check it to see if any info is there. then call power co.on cell phone to check about power. bonnie
ReplyDeleteBonnie, checking with the power company is a really good idea, that is one of the first things we would do!
DeleteWe are retired, so no worries about having to clean up to be somewhere. We keep a three-gallon container of water in the fridge at all times so tooth brushing is easy. We don’t eat much breakfast, but coffee is essential so we would get that going. We have a portable butane burner we could use, or our camping coffee pot on the BBQ. I would check the temp in our freezers first thing. They should be okay for awhile depending on how long the outage lasts. I would get out our emergency radio to see if I could figure out what was happening. It is autumn where we live and it’s getting colder outside. We do have a gas fireplace that we would run. I’d need to start thinking about keeping warm if the outage continues. Typically, we are the first area to get power back, so I’d be feeling pretty confident that it wouldn’t last long. We’ll see!
ReplyDeleteLisa, freezers should be okay for at least 48 hours if not opened, maybe a little longer depending on where the freezer is located and what's in it. Sounds like you're doing good so far!
DeleteFortunately for us we have a whole house generator so that isn't a problem unless we lose all supplies of natural gas and that would be a big problem.
ReplyDeleteBecause I have a gas stove I would turn the warm milk into hot cocoa made the old-fashioned way and make my toast in the oven like my mom did. I always keep bottled water so I would use that for teeth brushing and a little washing up. Since the garage door opener wouldn’t be working we would need to use the handle release and open it manually to get the door up.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, hot cocoa made the old-fashioned way is very good!
DeleteI usually am awakened because the house is quiet. My husband sleeps with both white noise and fan running so the quiet alone would be enough to wake me. I'd immediately check my phone (which I plug in nightly) for time and then call the report outage number for the electric company and log our outage.
ReplyDeleteThe big issue for us, if this were a sudden and unexpected outage, would be our well would be off. I do keep a small supply of water on hand, but like another reader, I need to refresh that. In the past I had a much larger stash of water.
If when I rise the next morning, the power is still out, the first thing I'd likely do would be to check the fridge and move what I could to the freezer to keep cold. I'd shut the freezer and refuse to open it again. We do have a compressor and could hook the freezer up to that.
Then I'd get busy and make coffee. We have a propane gas stove, a propane grill and a propane heater so we can make coffee. I always have ground coffee on hand as well as a stainless steel stove top coffee pot. I learned in long power outages in the past (weather related) that I needed a way to cook and a way to make coffee! We actually keep a water jug beside the coffee maker so that would be sufficient and would be fresh.
I could cook something (we have a good supply of food on hand and I routinely make bread), for our breakfast and likely would start a pot of soup (using fresh items from the fridge that I can't freeze and canned items) which can remain on a slow simmer on the stovetop. We also keep a decent supply of canned meat on hand. So we'd be covered for a few meals.
Even the 'stale' water would be fine for brushing teeth, washing faces and what my granny called a 'polka dot' bath.
Terri, all sound wisdom and I love your granny's 'polka dot' bath idea!
DeleteTerri, I thought about making soup the first day out with Helene but then I wasn't sure about what to do with the hot leftovers. I didn't want to add hot food to either the fridge or freezer while they were running on the generator. I was glad later that I did not do it. Any thoughts?
DeleteI'm using the water I keep by my bed at night...two water bottle..to brush my teeth, take my meds, ect.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to open my fridge at all until the power is off for a good 10 hrs. It's not hot here now & I've learned if I keep it closed it will keep for a day just fine. So the power is a wait & see for now.
Breakfast will be fresh fruit, PB & graham cracker & some walnuts for me
Husband will have a can of sardines. He is type 1 diabetic so I keep a large stash of canned meats for him. Thankfully, he likes them. He may eat a few walnuts as well.
I won't pull out the generator for the fridge/freezer unless I need to. Let's wait & see how long the power stays off first. I'll go on my phone & check my local sources to try to get an idea of what's going on....call my power company to make sure the outage is reported, ect. If it looks serious, I may run to town to get anything I might think I need: top off gas, propane canisters for the camp stove, ect. I have these things on hand but I'd grab more before everyone else figures out it could go on awhile.
If my phone isn't working I'd probably just stay home. My husband would go in to work & I'd send a list with him if he gets to town & things are crazy.
Anonymous, sounds like you have this under control ... so far!
DeleteI just realized I commented as anonymous. I also wanted to ask how & where we share pictures?
ReplyDeleteAs many of the above commentators, I'm fairly well set with food, water, cleaning wipes, paper products, several heat sources (propane campstove, propane grill, woodstove-also lots of matches/lighters and about 20 cords of wood) for cooking and heat if the electricity doesn't come on for awhile. Two large thermoses for keeping water hot through the day. Also lots of blankets, quilts, sleeping bags, and indoor/outdoor clothes. I always charge my cell phone before bed and can check with power co. and utilize battery radio, flashlights, small battery lamps, and some solar yard lights for overnight. We do have a gasoline generator and extra gas for the freezers and fridge, as well as coolers if we need to transfer contents outside in cold. I don't plan to open them as long as possible, and I use a small magnetic whiteboard on the front to keep list of what leftovers and perishable foods I need to use first so I don't have to rummage around in there, too. We also have extra meds and keep the cars gassed up. I would like to in crease my water stores, but I do have a water filter pitcher ad aquatabs , too.
ReplyDeleteJill, I like the whiteboard idea, the less time we have the refrigerator door open, the better!
DeleteSingle person household + one small pup, retired, living in a suburban Chicago townhome community. First, pup would probably be barking to wake me up, and then I'd notice the time. I typically have a large glass of water on my bedside, and some of that would be used when I brushed my teeth and I'd wet a cloth with some of what's remaining to wipe my face. Hair would go up in a pony tail. Out the door to walk the pup, and I'd be looking to see if other early risers have lights on, and whether or not the street lights are on. That would tell me if it's just my unit, my building, or if it's a more wide-spread outage. I'm also signed up on a "Code Red" alert notification system for critical issues impacting my area, so I'd be checking for alerts, as well. I'd likely call the power company and report my outage, just to be on the safe side.
ReplyDeleteAs for breakfast, I typically have leftover coffee in the carafe, and if I did, I'd put it in a saucepan and heat it on the gas stove (if it would start with a lighter, since electronic ignition likely would not be working) or put it on the outside grill, which has a battery operated igniter. If there was no coffee made, I'd heat some water and grab a tea bag. I usually purchase milk in quarts, so I'd want to use that up, and would likely grab some yogurt from the refrig, mash up a banana from the counter and put milk, yogurt, and fruit in a jar and make a morning "shake" in lieu of a smoothie. If I wasn't confident in the milk lasting much longer, I'd mix up some pancakes or biscuits and get them cooking on the grill for future use with sandwiches, instead of bread.
It is Fall here and overnight temps are starting to get down near freezing. So after making the bed, I'd make sure all of the blinds throughout the house are opened, letting in the sun's warmth and light. I'd also pull out my solar battery and set it out to charge, so I could keep my cell phone fully charged, since it would be my primary source of news.
My car stays in the garage overnight, so it would be locked in and inaccessible. The door is too heavy for me to use the emergency release and lift it open. But I would make sure my bicycle was easily accessible for use; in a pinch, I could wheel it through the house and out the front door. I'd move my foldable wagon near the front door, too. But, I'm still hoping it's a short outage. I keep bottled water in the garage, so I'll bring 6 or so 12 oz. bottles upstairs and make sure pup has a full bowl.
For now, the refrig and freezer would stay closed. Once I have a better sense of how long we'll be without power, I will make a decision about going for ice. I have a grocery store about a mile from me and a convenience store about 3/4 mile in the opposite direction -- both walkable (my icemaker is on the fritz right now, so I'm relying on bagged ice). If power's not on by mid-afternoon, I'll grab the wagon and pup and I will take a nice afternoon walk.
Lori, sounds like you have a plan in place. Good idea to have a bicycle at your disposal.
DeleteThank u for doing this class!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, you're welcome!
DeleteSince we are retired there is no place we have to be on a regular basis. We have a 20KW propane powered backup generator that is wired to supply power to any electrical outlet in the house. That being said we are very careful about what we have plugged in and use at any given time when the generator is running. We have two 120-gallon propane tanks that we keep at least 50%+ filled at all times since we usually one of the last to have our power restored when there is an outage. Electrical priorities are the refrigerator, freezers, the well and the hot water heater. I also keep a good supply of bottled water on hand that I rotate and resupply on a regular schedule as well as a supply of paper plates. Cooking wouldn't be too much of an issue at this time but we do have a charcoal grill, a good supply of charcoal on hand and cast iron cookware if needed. We have a wood stove and ~6 cords of firewood cut and stacked at the beginning of each fall season so we aren't dependent on our ductless HVAC units for heat.
ReplyDeleteSuzinWA, so far you are well prepared!
DeleteWe have a whole house generator so business as usual as long as the propane lasts. In the meantime,
ReplyDeleteGet out the camp stove and get it ready, same with kerosene lamps and larger candles, weather radio working . We d eat up what sin thr frig first just to be on the safe side
Anonymous, I'd be doing the same with food in the refrigerator!
DeleteI use a battery powered alarm clock so no sleeping in.
ReplyDeleteI have stored water for washing/cleaning separate from my drinking water. Whenever I use bottled water I immediately refill with tap water and label it for cleaning and then I store this on the opposite side of my small pantry from the newer supply. (I empty and refill these every 6 months and it would be perfectly safe to drink if needed). So - I would have a quick wash and brush my teeth and use some dry shampoo if needed to get ready.
I also keep a Brita filter jug plus another jug of water in the fridge so I would use that for drinking/cooking first.
My fridge keeps things cold for at least 12 hours so I would use up opened milk - yogurt - anything perishable for breakfast. I might also move some milk/cream to the freezer to ensure that it is completely full (just the top of my fridge) - it should keep for 48 hours. I have paper plates/bowls so might use them and I keep one glass for water on the go all day. I would miss my morning cup of tea and could heat water if needed but probably wouldn't bother for this morning as I'd want to use up milk.
I would wait to flush until really needed as you can usually get 1 or 2 flushes before the cistern goes dry.
I have a battery powered and wind up radio so I'd get that out and check to see how much of an issue this really was.
I go into the office 3 mornings a week so would have to walk down the 4 flights of stairs. Since I have to take garbage and recycling to the dumpsters that are out back of my apt. and that means going down another 2 flights of stairs I would check out that situation to coordinate everything in one trip.
Margie, it's good that you are thinking ahead to coordinate your trips out. That will save time and energy ... which are important.
DeleteI would first need to sit down and breathe. Then I would put our gas hotplate on for the coffee, use the milk in cereal and drinks. I would get the sanitiser out for hands. Water bottles are filled at night so that would only keep us going for a few hours. I would put the radio out and listen to updates and charge our mobiles in the car with the car charger. I would go through the freezer and fridge and see what needs to be used up first for meals. Love, Bridget
ReplyDeleteBridget, I'm glad you brought up 'sitting down to breathe.' It's important to center ourselves first before proceeding.
DeleteBreakfast would be no problem. We dutch eat a lot of bread (even at breakfast), so a cheese or jelly sandwich: no problem. We also can have a yoghurt/fruit/granola breakfast. Even though opening the fridge often is not preferable. I can make coffee and tea boiling water on our gasstove, that is ,we can, because ours does work also without the electronic ignition. Some only will work (give gas) with electricity on. Last month power was off only for a few hours and I wanted to make coffee but I had no grounded one. With no power I can not use my mini grounder. I then remembered we still had some coffeepods from a holliday left, where they just had a pods coffeemaker. I took the grounded coffee out of these pots. Allways still have paper filters and a holder (just in case) and voila: coffee. We are on city water so water is no problem, even though I have bottled water in the attic. I wondered ,for a small sanitizing bath, one could use the water from the dryer? Mine has a big waterreservoir. I would check my mobile (with data cause no wifi) how long the power will be out. Every utilities company states on a or their website how long the power is out, where the problems are and how long it will take to restore it. Depending on what they say I must take further actions. Holland is not a very prepper awareness country cause we never (till now.....) have had long power outages. So very few people have generators here, we have not. That would become my problem. For the freezers, the lights, warm water and heating. We have a central heating system that needs gas and electricity. It heats the house and provides warm water.
ReplyDeleteWendy, that was smart thinking about the coffee pods! Stay tuned for future posts ... it's time to put on your thinking cap!
DeleteI have seen many of you say you will wait and see if you need to go get gas for your generator. Go right away before lines are a four hour wait like they were here after Helene. Also if you have QT gas stations they were the first to open back up and must have been running their pumps on generators.
ReplyDeleteLana, I couldn't agree with you more, don't wait!
DeleteFirst - check to make sure everyone in the house is up and ok. If possible, quick call/text to my parents to verify their status & if we need to respond to get them - they are about 4 houses north of our property. Then, grab the stored bottled water for brushing teeth, boiling some of it to do washcloth style face washing. We have a propane stove - so it will be oatmeal with diced apples for breakfast. We do have some protein bars in the pantry for emergencies as well. Pull out the mini generator - it will charge phones & laptops. We also have lanterns to pull when needed. Calls to the power company unless one of our neighbors has already. Start to pull resources together with my folks & neighbors. Then it will be figuring out the refrigerator & freezer situations - leave them shut & race to get ice.... or? ....
ReplyDeleteI use a Cpap machine so I would wake up right after the power goes out. I would wake Hubby up to go turn on the house generator. Then we would both go back to sleep. In the morning the only thing different would be I would look to see why we don't have power. I would report it to our electric company and then jump on Facebook or Next door and see what everyone is saying. Is it a car accident?
ReplyDelete-Marybeth from NY