Blackout!

Storms passed through here yesterday, and because we've lost our trust in NOAA, we didn't even see it coming! We were without power for about 13 hours. Most of that time, overnight. I am praying that the eggs in the incubator aren't going to rot with half-formed chicks in them!

In addition to the incubator, we also had goat affairs affected by the power outage. We separated the doelings from their mamas for the first time last night to see if Julie would give us any more milk. Not a wise night to try that out! Julie had a monstrous udder this morning, and I didn't have the use of the milk machine! My hands ache. The milk bucket got kicked all over the feed room. I didn't get anyone completely empty. Thankfully, Julie is still nursing Jasmine. Jill may drop in production a bit, but provided the electricity continues to hold out, I should be able to work her back up.

Dishes had to be re-washed. Clothes went out on a makeshift clothesline this morning. (The kids were excited because Caroline Ingalls uses a clothesline!) Dinner will be very late (that whole no-oven, using the crockpot thing again), and we had to offer tonight's dinner guests a rain-check. What a bummer! I took a cold shower and the kids took a luke-warm bath. David was at the school extra early to shower and shave in the locker room.

While it has been difficult, I am thankful for a gas stove, a lighter to ignite it, and the ability to heat water (for the bath), left-over coffee, and breakfast. I'm thankful for a bag of ice that kept our milk in the fridge from getting too warm. I'm thankful for that clothesline and clothespins and the sun. And running water is a huge huge blessing!

A generator now tops my wishlist of major items to purchase!

Besides all the fun of "roughing it" this morning (which also included candles in the bathrooms because they don't have windows!), we read the first chapter of Dandelion Fire together, finally! I also got the hem of Shiphrah's dress redone. Now, if only I can manage to put Shiloh down long enough to vacuum, unload and reload the dishwasher, and check those clothes on the line!