Fifteen years later, my life has taken a widely different path. No longer a "townie" our family lives in a very rural setting. When this year's storm warning came, we expected to be among those that would be without electricity for the duration. We were not overly concerned about it. Our home is heated with a wood stove so we expected to be warm. Though our water is now from a private well, it overflows at the outside pump, so water would be available at a moderate pace. Our cooking oven is fueled by propane which allows us to cook even without a power supply. And, the cherry on top, my new "smart" phone had a 3G connection most of the time, so we could check facebook and email to keep in contact with friends and family. We even spent a little time watching Netflix on it. I don't know the exact numbers, but tens of thousands of our neighbors were without electricity for a week or more. Neighbors less than a mile away were without for 4 days. We lost electricity for 4 hours. I am afraid I have no riveting "surviving Ice Storm 2013" stories to tell you. Only images from around the homestead to share.
Our week in images:
Jasmine's hay manger was frozen to the ground and her pallet was covered with ice. She did not seem to mind. |
Trees, heavy with ice bend with the weight. It is going to take some time for them to make a full recovery. |
Tree limbs encased in ice and covered in snow. |
Mallard conference. |
Pearl Guinea and Chocolate Guinea Fowl |
In the barn, Keren Happuch and her mother, Rachel bask in the sun and enjoy their morning's hay. |
Ebony grunts warnings at the barn chickens availing themselves of her water. They ignore her and continue their onslaught. Sometimes, a few brave souls attempt to steal her grain. |
Simon and Charles have settled any differences and reside together in the barn. |
The doe yard is untouched by goat hooves. Our goats are a little spoiled and prefer to be snug in the barn to exploring barren pasturage. |
Ever my companions, Cassy and Delilah followed me into the pasture to keep me company while I snapped some images. |
Delilah did not want to stay in the barn with the other goats. |
She was hopeful that I came bearing treats. When I had not, she followed me, good-naturedly, anyway. I love these girls. ♥ |
Judah is a handsome and friendly buck. Won't he make lovely babies someday? |
Board games in the evening. (Check out the chocolate guinea hanging out on the wooden goat behind Justin.) |
French toast, bacon and fresh pineapples for brunch and board games in the morning. And where was our recovering chocolate "house" guinea? |
Chocolate Guinea was watching the happenings from a clothes dryer rack in the kitchen. Check out those lovely polka dots! |
We also spent plenty of time snuggling Maggie's new puppies. Nearly 10 days old, their eyes are unopened still, but they sure snuggle sweetly! ♥ |
All the cats take turns on the best napping spot in the house, on top of the piano. Talon spends the most time there. |
Boogie enjoys keeping it warm for Talon whenever he is away. |
As we reflect on how blessed we are to have come through the storm in good order, our thoughts and prayers are with those who are still dealing with the aftermath of this storm while preparing for a new bout of 10-14 inches of snow expected Sunday night into Monday morning. Winter is sure making a grand entrance this year. Stay tuned to see what happens next!
Thanks for visiting today. We're really glad you did.
Sonja ♥
Stunning pics of the outdoors! I remember ice storm 1998. Our neighbor's cows got out and they were strolling down the road (I grew up on a dirt road). They kept slipping! It was like cow walk, walk, walk, oops! Back up, try again, cow.
ReplyDeleteSo glad ya'll were O.K.!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a cozy, relaxing couple of days. Love the video's
ReplyDeleteLove the pics of animals, trees, and family! Also enjoyed the snowflakes with the voices of you and Sean.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're surviving.
Becky