We had a very strange power outage this morning. Hubby and I
were enjoying our morning coffee when we heard a small explosion outside, and
our lights went out…sort of.
Obviously, a transformer somewhere blew causing the
explosion sound. That’s been happening pretty frequently in the last couple of
months, but we rarely see even a flicker in the lights. This morning, however,
our power went out…mostly.
This was the oddest power outage I’ve ever experienced.
Evidently, a little power was still flowing through the lines, just enough to
dimly light a couple of lamps and the hall light. It was all very strange.
There’s nothing quite like a power outage to test your
priorities. When the lights go out, what’s the first thing that pops into your
mind? Today, I thought of the laundry. It didn’t phase me that it was still
dark. We have oil lamps and candles. I also didn’t think about the refrigerator
filled with food. Most of it is produce that can handle a little bit warmer
temperature just fine, and the turkey and whole chickens in the freezer could
serve as excellent ice blocks for several days until I had time to can or smoke
what little is in the freezer. No, I wasn’t concerned about any of that. My
first thought was, “Crap, I have three loads of laundry to do today!”
Evidently, if we had a real power problem, I’m less than
excited about doing laundry by hand. And yes, I do believe we will see a
serious power outage this year, and yes, I will probably miss my washing
machine the most! The idea of cooking outside or hauling and heating water to
do dishes or to wash doesn’t seem to bother me. A lack of electronic gadgets
and gizmos barely raises an eyebrow. However, the idea of hand washing a load
of jeans terrifies me! Talk about an upper-body workout!
Thanks for stopping by! Since I believe intense solar storms
are going to do some damage to our power grid this year, I guess I better learn
how to wash clothes by hand. I have a feeling that this is one new skill that
I’m not going to enjoy learning!
Grace and peace be
yours in abundance,
Betty
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If that is a real concern you may find a solution here. http://non-electric.lehmans.com/search#w=laundry
ReplyDeleteor just google lehmans.com and search the site for laundry.
Soaking is very powerful. Dump the jeans in the tub with soap. If they're really dirty, get the kids to pretend they're stomping grapes, or soak the jeans in a kiddie pool outside to save your bathroom floor (after baths is the only time our floor gets wiped, so you can decide where you want to do the soaking!).
ReplyDeleteWhites can be boiled but you might as well soak them in an enzymatic cleaner.
I have carpel tunnel syndrome so I have to do things the easy but slow way. So I will soak things overnight, rinse several times, and hang dry. If the sun is misbehaving and cuts off your electricity, it might as well be put to use drying your clothes!
Im always concerned about my frig & freezer. My freezer is generally stuffed full so it'll hold for days but the frig is another story.. Oh well.. lets pray for no outages...
ReplyDeleteI have a generator we bought just before Sandy hit and it'll last a couple days, but it wont be effective forever..
Blessings!
Interesting that this was your first thought. I'm with you on the laundry. I've been on sites where everyone is asked what they do to be prepared. I've always thought about saying "keep your laundry caught up" but figured I was the only one worried about that. :-) Glad to know I'm not alone. It's not only the power, but what if you lose your water for any reason for a couple days? Some people are on wells, others on city water, but any type of water has the potential to go out for a few days. And I HATE not having clean clothes. Wash on sista!
ReplyDeleteDang that's no fun. Hope you guys are ok, I am coming over from a blog hop and am a new follower. Feel free to do the same!
ReplyDeletewww.iheartpears.blogspot.com
To anyone reading:
ReplyDeleteIf you had to do laundry by hand, do you have big wash tubs (one to wash in and two to rinse in)? Do you have a CLEAN toilet plunger for agitating the clothes? These are useful items. We may not always have city sewer to carry our gray water away, so outdoor clothes washing may one day be a reality.
Also consider getting a hand wringer as your wrists will get tired quickly with all the twisting and squeezing of each item of clothing. Got clothesline? Got clothespins? Got indoor drying racks for winter drying? (and indoor drying racks are great for when you need more moisture in the house because wood stoves really dry out the air. Yes, clothes dry quickly near the wood stove.
How far away is your alternative water source? If it is a well, can you get water up out of the ground without electricity? Water is heavy...do you have a wagon to haul containers of water?
I did a practice run of washing a load of laundry outside and hanging it up to dry. I picked a hot summer day for my trial run, can you blame me? I used NO electricity, only (wo)man power. My new clothes wringer needed one screw (missing from the box) so I had to replace this at the hardware store before I could even get started. Practice runs will show weaknesses that need to be corrected (while life is still comfortable and needed items are still accessible). Best to all reading this comment.