Saturday afternoon while I was painting our bedroom, the electricity went out. It stayed off until about 8:30 that night. We have quite a few oil lamps, both big and small, so before sunset we lit one or two for each room.
Unfortunately, Phoebe was in the middle of browning some hamburger meat for dinner for us. BUT Carl and Benjamin were on their way to town anyway so I asked them to pick up a rotisserie chicken and we’d have salad with chicken for dinner.
We had fun playing with the camera and different settings. All the while, I was thinking about what would happen if this wasn’t just a for a few hours.
You see since we live in the country and are on well water, when we have no electricity we also have no water. Which means so baths (remember the painting) and no toilets (yuck!).
Now, I do have some emergency type plans. I have water stored, but not 1 gallon per person per day for 7 days. I also have some food canned that is specifically for an emergency and we can cook it or heat it up on our camp stove. We also have extra propane cans and oil for our oil lamps. I feel pretty good about our level of preparedness.
However, if I lived where it snowed, I would be really unprepared. Or if my family had dietary concerns, my current level of preparedness probably wouldn’t do.
When Katie Baldridge of Simple Foody asked me to review her 72 hour Gluten Free Emergency Kit ebook (affiliate link alert) I said yes. While we’re not gluten free I know a lot of people are and I really think this is an area that those with serious dietary concerns need to be extra diligent about.
This short ebook was really good (I know I always say that, but if it’s not good, I don’t share). It’s only 9 pages long but it has 3 days worth of gluten free emergency meal plans, shopping lists and tips on making this work for you.
I really liked the idea of 72 hours instead of a week because for me – living in the south- to have a natural disaster that was a week long and we stayed here, just isn’t going to happen. If a hurricane comes, we’re getting out of Dodge. But I can see instances where we might need an emergency kit for a couple of days.
For the next few days, you can get a copy of 72 Hour Gluten Free Emergency Kit ebook for only $1.99. On Nov. 4th it goes to it’s regular price of $2.99.
What do you do to prepare for emergencies?
This post is shared at Barn Hop, Mostly Handmade Monday, Natural Living Monday,
Anonymous
Sunday 10th of November 2013
Have you thought about a hand pump for your water well? Sometimes these are installed right along side your current set up. Check out a Bison (made in Maine) and a Simple Pump. You could pump water for drinking and pump water to pour in the back of the toilet for flushing.
Have your readers thought about a propane Coleman burner for canning what's in the freezer and fridge? Better than letting it all spoil. (remember to use the propane stove outside where there is ventilation). Did you know that you can "put up" butter, cheese, roast, chicken, hamburger meat, etc...the stuff that people typically lose during a power outage?
Do you have a wood stove? It's great for cooking meals and heating the house during the winter months.
One can live comfortably without electricity, even if the power is out for a few hours, a few days, or longer.
Angi Schneider
Monday 11th of November 2013
Those are some great ideas. We do have a hand pump on our list, thanks for the recommendations.
Angi Schneider
Monday 4th of November 2013
Wow, Rachel. You have really been through emergencies. I think we would check into a hotel, too. I forgot to mention that we also keep some cash in a safe in our home for instances like this. Cash is a good emergency prepardness item.
Rachel E.
Thursday 31st of October 2013
Ah, I missed this post. Preparedness is something we are truly working on. Since we have been in VA, we have had a few power outages. The worst was in summer 2012 when we lost power for 6 days. We lost all our food. We had no water. We had record humidity and heat. It was horrible. We did end up checking into a hotel.
The next outage was during a snow storm. We were prepared for that one. My husband purchased a generator and made sure it was hooked up to all the appropriate things. So, when the power went out during the winter, we had some things working. We didn't lose food. We had running water. We had a few lights and access to a few outlets.
I have been working on making sure our pantry is stocked as well. We are blessed to have a gas stove which means it works even when power is out. We simply take a lighter to the gas coming out.
Oh, another important thing to remember when it comes to being prepared - make sure you keep a good eye on the level of propane in your tank. This last winter, we ran out of propane. We hadn't been here a year and the propane company didn't have a record of usage. So, they never came out to fill it.
Oh, and all the winter fun we had? It all took place when my husband was overseas for two months.