Wow! That’s so much more dramatic than saying we are in for a bit of weather. I’m just sitting here watching it move it.
There’s fuel for the woodstove piled up on the porch, good food in the kitchen, and the house batteries are charged up. Better yet, I don’t have to be anywhere until Sunday and even that’s optional.
When you live in a rural area with harsh winters being prepared is just part of the gig. Of coursed, back in the day there wasn’t a Weather Channel around to give the storm a fancy name.
We could end up with another foot of snow. That’s not particularly uncommon for March in these parts. For that matter snow storms in April or even May are always possible. One year a local ski area ran a Mother’s Day skiing special.
Even though there’s a good sized storm coming in I’m thinking that spring isn’t far off. So you know what I’m going to be doing once the snow melts and good weather gets here? Preparing for next winter.
Many winters my lovely wife and I just skipped out on the worse of winter. There’s something to be said for being a Snowbird and heading south.
The Snowbird routine would be different for us next winter than in winters past. The price of fuel is a big one. We could decide to go camping with a fairly minimal rig. I’ve done it before. Start with our Nissan Versa Note with a 5 speed manual transmission that gets 39 mpg.. We put a 105 watt solar panel on its roof racks to power a small solar electric system. That runs our small 12 volt compressor fridge and the electronics. The car is plenty big enough for all our tenting gear and even the inflatable 14 foot double kayak.
Another option is spend the winter on our small sailboat. It’s tight, but we move with the wind and a very efficient Honda outboard.
While southern travel sounds tempting right now it only makes sense to also get the house ready for another winter. I’ve some plans that would drastically reduce our heating costs. Probably should do that anyway -just in case travel is a bad idea next winter. More about that to come.
-Sixbears
Looks like we're going to get hit with a butt ton of rain today, with 50+ winds.
ReplyDeleteOh well, as per Florida usual it will be over in just a few hours.
Not too concerned about the threat of nuclear war. Given our proximity to the space center. I figure it will be over in a quick flash.
I worry more about an EMP scenario and my unprepared neighbors. There would be some tough decisions to be made.
You ain't wrong, sure woulda been nice to have at least a small reprieve between events.
In preparation for the upcoming eventuality, a couple weeks ago went out an bought like $500 bucks worth of gas at $3.59.
Also about the same in liqueur, even tho we rarely drink lol. If anything , probably got a lifetime supply of the stuff either way eh.
Got a good crop of sweet potatoes stored and already grown to good size. Storing them here in Florida is easy, ya just leave em in the ground till needed. They just go dormant in the winter and continue to get larger when it warms up over 70°.
Sweet potatoes are very difficult to grow here. I've grown regular potatoes in everything from hay bales to piles of dead leaves. Easiest thing in the world -except for Sunchokes. Those things seem to thrive on poor soil and neglect, both of which I can provide.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are squared away. You practically have a little fort where you are. Close the gates and let the neighbors sort it out.