Blizzard of 2013 ...

Friday afternoon we were hit with a blizzard here in New England. 

With hurricane force winds and snow fall rates at 2-3" per hour, we ended up with over 24" of snow by Saturday afternoon. Some towns here in Connecticut received record levels of snow at over 40"! The strong wind gusts created 4' snow drifts at our back door and around the cars in the driveway and it took us 2 days to completely shovel out.

During the storm it was hard for me to relax. I always feel like I need to be doing something and it was difficult to just sit and enjoy the quiet and marvel at nature's beauty. It is truly amazing how quiet it gets when the power goes out. You don't realize the constant noises and buzzing that occur in day to day life!

We lost power Friday night at 6:30 pm. until Sunday morning around 10:30 am.

Luckily we have a wood stove that kept the house toasty warm, especially since the nighttime lows were  around 6 degrees! 

We were able to heat water for tea, cook soup, heat leftovers and make grilled cheese sandwiches on the top of the stove and even roast potatoes inside! Those were delicious potatoes!!

Potatoes roasting in the wood stove.

During the storm we talked about how we have been getting hit with an awful lot of strong storms lately, and how important it is to have more food on hand at all times. Growing up our grandparents always had canned or preserved food in their pantry. They never had to run to the store before a storm to stock up because they were always prepared. It was just the way it was, they gardened, they preserved their food and they always had more than enough on hand.

We decided to add pantry cabinets to our kitchen renovation plan, (hopefully the renovation will be happening soon) and stock up on items like dried beans, grains, lentils, rice, and nuts. We are also going to purchase a dehydrator so we can preserve some of our garden harvest as well as do canning and freezing. We want to always have a stocked pantry so we never have to worry about having enough food when the next storm hits.

~Rob~