No Power

UPDATE: Our power came back on around 6:30 p.m. — about 18-19 hours without heat. The inside temp was 50. The day was not idyllic. I did not like being held captive by four rambunctious boys all day along who thought their idea of fun was to build a fort in one room, and see how far they could stretch various blankets, quilts and every single sheet we own it into other rooms, with chairs from the dining room, and the kitchen piled into the living room, while they hooped it up like Indians all DAY LONG…. while munching crackers, and dropping crumbs all over the floor.

I learned this about myself. I really love my vacuum cleaner. I missed sweeping up crumbs more than you can imagine. I’m glad to have my vacuum back.

Oh, and just because I like a little challenge… I wanted to see what I could make, without power:

I tore up some pita bread into pieces. Put them in a skillet with some olive oil, a bunch of dried herbs (rosemary, paprika and tarragon) and salt.

Used my matches to light the stove and let this saute.

Meanwhile, I boiled some water and poured it over some sun dried tomatoes.

Open the refrigerator door and quickly pulled out plain yogurt and feta cheese.

Chopped up some garlic.

Mixed the yogurt, feta, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and a little salt… I felt like I was at the Ritz, for a brief while…
But, overall, I don’t want to do this day again, anytime soon

My friend just rescued me in her van, and took me to Caribou, where I am able to relax a bit, get warm, drink a chai latte and post this.

The last thing he said before he went to sleep was, “it’s going to get down to 19 degrees tonight.”
Our circa 1923 brick house is already drafty, and we suffer to the whims of weather inside. I went to each boy’s room to cover each one with an extra blanket.

Less than an hour later, the power was knocked out by a wicked storm that brought lots of rain and strong winds.

I got up to cover the boys with yet another blanket. (My Mom was a quilter.) I tried to sleep, but kept thinking about the last time, 3 years ago, when the power was out for 36 hours during a bitter cold ice storm. How long will this one last?

It’s been ten hours now, and every seat in the house is a bit chilly. You’d be surprised thought at how warm a good pair of snow pants can keep you.

I absent-mindly asked for the time, and this toy was presented.

Our Middle School has no power, the Elementary school does. Of course, our elementary kids don’t want to go and miss all the fun here… and in my old age, school is becoming less important to me. So, we’re all here together.

Of course, we can’t find the key to the side door of the garage… so we’re locked in.

We have a fire going, but we’re running out of newspaper fast – there’s a nice pile of recycled paper stacked up in the garage…

Why am I always surprised when the toilet flushes when the power is out?
And we can have hot water, but no heat? They’re both gas?

We have unloaded the game cabinet

and of course, the train.

“We can play ghost in the graveyard tonight IN OUR HOUSE!” I didn’t get this one at first – but then realized that it gets dark so early – around 5:15-5:30. So it will be dark soon… so yes, we can play ghost in the graveyard in our house.

Our finished basement, as it is below ground level will keep us warm. We have a bathroom there, sofas and plenty of places to sleep. They’re playing their I-Dog as long as the battery lasts…

I love the echo. No humming refrigerator. No furnace blowing – just their voices. I do hope we get the chance to huddle in the basement tonight. Maybe it’s time to build a fort…

Quote of the day:
“As soon as the power comes back on I can play the Wii. But as soon as the power goes back on I have to go to school.”