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Family Matters:  Powering Down  |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 3:32:26 PM
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At this time of year, many of us are ever-prepared for thunderstorms that knock out our power, often for quite a long haul. We keep bottled water and candles around our old farmhouse to be prepared, but something we especially enjoy is an excuse to use our 1913 Victrola console record player -- crank 'er up, and away we go! (I like the ragtime records best. My husband goes for Schubert songs. Can this marriage be saved?)
Assuming you and yours are safe for the duration, what do you enjoy most about losing electrical power in a storm? Do you have any little rituals you secretly look forward to when the first thunderclap sounds? |
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berries
True Blue Farmgirl
475 Posts
gloria g
Florida
USA
475 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 5:01:40 PM
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Actually, we love it when our power goes out! We love the fact of no computer :>), and enjoy the time to ourselves, when we can just relax. I have our candles ready to go, light a few, and just lay back and relax, maybe even take that nap that we never get to take! Our dogs love it too, because they can lay down with us, snuggle and we just love the quiet!
Thanks for reminding me how nice that can be!
gloria g. Richards, TX
strawberry fields forever and ever! |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 6:27:24 PM
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I write and edit sitting here at my computer, but when the power goes off, I'm ready to hand write! I have a basket of nice stationery, good pens, envelopes, stamps and pen pal letters to answer. I light candles so that I can see well while I write. The basket comes out on rainy days too.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 7:44:59 PM
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We bring out my grandmother's marble board! (It's sort of like the game Trouble.) I have both that she made - a square one for 4 players and a round one for 6. The round one has the names of my dad and his brothers, my grandparents, my great-aunt and uncle and friends that used to play ith them. We also use the very same marbles and dice that my dad used when he was a young boy. It's a great way to pass the time- sending your kids back to home, munching on chips and dip...
I think we need a power outage!
Karin
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emma.birdwhistle
True Blue Farmgirl
187 Posts
Elizabeth Ann
Ontario
Canada
187 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 04:09:11 AM
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I would love to live without electricity, so I too am always secretly delighted when the power goes out, especially during the day. Everything get so quiet and peaceful, and you suddenly notice how much noise and racket you live with all the time. You get used to the general humming in the background, whether it be the refrigerator or the dehumidifier or anything else that vibrates belowstairs! I just breathe a sigh of relief when everything suddenly shuts off and I can light some candles and put on an apron and go about my business as though it's 1837.  I tend to get much more writing done during a power outage, too. There is something very soothing about it. Does anyone else wish it happened just a little more often? 
Elizabeth Ann
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. - Thoreau |
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Kelly43
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
NJ
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 04:57:08 AM
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Yes, I wish it would happen a little more often. I've always dreamed of living "off the grid". I'm sure I would find it harder than I think it is. A few years ago we lost power for 4 days after Hurricane Floyd and we had so much fun. Cooking on a camp stove, playing games, using kerosene lamps. The thing I liked best about it was that my children didn't mind one bit. It's nice to know the computer and TV are easily replaceable. I would miss all you farmgirls though!!
Kel |
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santa_gertrudis_gal
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Kim
Groesbeck
Texas
USA
198 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 09:48:43 AM
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Power out! Yikes, happened yesterday with no thunder storm in site, 8:30am. Very scary in July, for upper Texas coast. Power came back on an hour later. The houses along the coast aren't made for ventilation and we would have been miserable if there were no power for more then four hours.
Now if your talking late fall to early spring, whooo....hoo. The wonderful silence of no power is great! I just love it, the brief period of only the world around you without the noise of electricity.
Kelly, glad you live in Jersey when you lost power from Floyd. Your memories wouldn't have been so fond if you were along the Gulf Coast. Losing power after a hurricane is so very miserable. I can't even begin to explain the misery and actually have you feel it. I've never been so thankful for AC with 10 days of no power after Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Living "off the grid" is easier then you think. If you then plug into the "grid" you can sell your excess power back to the electrical company.  Find out more by researching solar power online. You might even find Jersey has additional tax breaks above the federal ones.
Solar Power and Wind Power - here we come at the ranch!
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
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Kelly43
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
NJ
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 7:55:40 PM
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Kim, Thanks for the info. Wouldn't want to be on the Gulf for a 10 day power outage, sorry you had to go through that, wouldn't wish that on anyone. Floyd was actually in the fall so it wasn't so hot. My dad has actually done a lot of work with solar energy and we had a passive solar house when we lived in Colorado. I remember it working well. There are a few farms here in NJ trying solar out too. Bet life is really heaven at the ranch with the Santa Gertrudis, I know I'd think so!
Kel |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2006 : 05:29:35 AM
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our power goes out OFTEN where we live in N.J. don't know why but it does & I hate it. It's fine once in awhile but not every storm. I can read by candle light & do other things but it's hot w/out it in a metal box (mobile home) in the summer.
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2006 : 07:23:04 AM
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Not every location is set up for selling excess power back, even though they may say they are. You have to check your state and local regs and do your research. We're designing a solar powered home and when everyone else loses electricity, we won't have that problem!
I lived in Virginia along the coast and during the summer, we got electrical storms and thunderstorms daily in the afternoons. Losing electricity became a common occurrence but it was mostly during the daylight hours, so it wasn't too much of a hardship.
We'd just find a spot to curl up and read a book with the cats.
My Homesteading Journal
http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal
http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com |
Edited by - Bluewrenn on Jul 25 2006 07:27:08 AM |
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Family Matters: Powering Down |
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Powering Down
