We Were Gifted and More Repairs

Co-workers of my husband's, have gifted us with garlic (homegrown), and jalapeno peppers.  We made 3 quarts of hot salsa with both of those.  We plan to plant some of the garlic very soon also.

We were also gifted some sweet corn.  We cooked it last night and the leftover was cut off and added to crock pot Spanish Rice (also made with fresh garden goodies and my very own tomato sauce).

Repairs and repairs.  They don't seem to stop, so I want to learn how to fix them myself.

Recently, one of the head lights in my van went out.  I told my husband, but he's been busy every night with more urgent repairs, that it didn't get replaced.  One night he was driving to a nearby town, he was stopped by the police. 

The next day he bought a new headlight, and I asked for him to teach me how to change it.   He showed me how, and I helped.  Next on the list is how to repair my windshield wiper spray nozzle.  It's not spraying out on the driver's side and it's driving me nuts. 

Oh, and as for playing hookie, I did get 500 words written.  It's not a lot, but it's more than any other day lately.  I also took a short trip to buy a few more flour sack towels.  I found some on sale for $2.70 (for a pack of 3).  They are not perfect in any way, but that's why I like to embroider on them.  

Power Outage

A bad storm cut our power off last night about 11pm.  Even though I reported it, it was off until about 9:15am this morning.

We were actually more calm then ever this time.  I mean, we have been through it so many times, including 2 times during the summer.  We are becoming pros at handling it. 

We keep large plastic cat litter jugs filled with water.  Those are used to flush toilets.  We keep 2 extra jugs of water just for the dogs, and other drinking water that we had to use to water the goats and chickens.   I used our bottled drinking water to give to the barn cats this morning also.

We were very well prepared for no lights.  With camping equipment we had several lanterns and flashlights.  We also have candles and oil lamps.  We have a string of battery operated camping lights that we used in the bathroom so the kids could get ready for school.

The main issue with the power out, is that when it does go out, we can't do anything.  Really.

Without electricity our water pump can't run the water up from the well, we can't heat water for washing, cleaning or cooking.  It's just a big pain in the rump.  

It's a good thing we have a grill now.  We can cook on that, possibly heat water, and maybe even make coffee.  Since it rained, our fire ring is soaking wet, so heating coffee over it this morning wasn't a real good idea.

The worst part of the power going out, is that we don't have a generator yet.  With my freezer packed full of garden goodies and meat, we stand the chance of loosing our food storage.  I certainly can't wait to get the root cellar or the generator.  It would give us peace of mind.

I have to admit, that I was kind of excited (outside of worry about food in the freezer) about getting a day "off."  I was just getting ready to grab paper and pen to start writing a short story.  That is about the time the power came back on.  I looked at my son and said, "can we just pretend it didn't come on?" 

It is so quiet right now.  I can hear both roosters crowing, a few hens laying eggs, crickets chirping, birds, one of the cats purring, a dog's tummy rumbling (he gets petrified during storms), and cars passing the house.  

I think I will get a pot of good coffee brewing and take my notebook and pen to the front porch.  I'm playing hookie today.  Okay, so maybe after I get dinner in the crockpot.