Living the Ice Storm--Pictures

Bird Frozen In Time (it's not a real bird, folks!)

The water supply....Mom found these wonderful blue containers at the discount store about half way through the outage. I usually filled the two large buckets, plus a mulitude of smaller bottle containers each day. The one Sage is sitting in was not for drinking water! ;-)

Cooking On the Woodstove

Coffee, Soup Bubbling, Pizza warming--this was the first day--when I was still optimistic :-)

Day Whatever---Eggs, Coffee, Kinda Toast

Needed Items

Next to food, water and heat, here is what I keep in my 'survival kit'.

Starting in the middle at the bottom and working clockwise: C batteries for my really old tape recorder, a list of what batteries I need to have on hand, replacement wicks for the kerosine lantern, a battery operated lantern (This is something I didn't have on hand, but longed for), Fliplight to read by (this is also a new purchase!), battery candle light (not a strong light, but helpful to carry around and keep by the bed etc.), Kerosine lantern (used as a decorative piece when not in duty), and lamp oil (not pictured), battery operated transistor radio (a must have, otherwise the isolation is overwhelming), emergency candles (burn longer than regular candles), matches, D and 9 volt batteries, and decorative candles (to make your house smell pretty and lift your spirits). I keep most of this stuff on hand in my 'surival kit' box, but added a few things after the ice storm that I wish I had had. And I do have to admit some of this stuff is left from the Y2K stockpiling scare! ;-)

Exhausting Work

Good help is hard to find, but as you can see, here are the hardworking crew, finally resting after their grueling 12 days. Its hard business to sit on their person's lap and try and keep her warm, measure water in buckets and oversee the running of the household!