***
Here's a lil video from the last few days of snow storms...
my laughs are all the kind that comes from crazy people who are snowed in alone for too long. That is not my happy laughter- it's called serious stress, hardship & isolation. I don't like the person I am right now.
On a lighter note, icicles can be really beautiful.
xoxoxox
Showing posts with label snow storm day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow storm day. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Screwed Blued and Tattoo'ed (or just snowed in again)
Terrible no good very bad SNOW STORM PREP ::::- drove truck to state road that gets plowed and hiked back up a mile to the cabin
- filled the tub with water (pot by pot cause the water pipes under my cabin froze a week ago)
- fill pots and jars with water
- cook food ahead of time
- clean house, change cat litter, feed animals
- cleaned out composting toilet (frozen urine would be just TOO frOckin' much for me at this point!!!!)
- carried in STACKS of logs into the cabin and onto the porch
- hand washed comfort clothes and hung to dry above wood stove
- move all my bedding into my loft, where it's warm & I will be sleeping when it get down to -20 degrees
- charge up my crank lantern
- fall down in snow a bunch and not cry
And this is not even the beginning of what is to come...the last storm never bothered to melt, my pipes under the house never defrosted (even though my gravity fed spring is still running just fine. It was supposed to rain today but instead of nice melty rain it snowed a few more inches. And well the icing on that snow cake is coming tonight and tomorrow thru the night.... feet of snow icing I am guessing.
What can i say? I dont like this part.... whatever this is a part of. But the feeling of accomplishing so much in one day to prepare for the worst feels damn good. I need a girl scout uniform... but one that is long sleeve and made of alpaca wool, comes with matching wool gloves, hat, scarf, coat and leggings. With logo snow boots. Thanks Universe!
*****
BTW- I hope i don't lose power, internet or phone... but I dont know what is coming, and after last year I except the worst. Will miss ya'll if I do go M.I.A!!!! SMOOCHes!
XOxoxoxoxoWednesday, November 10, 2010
Snowed
I'M BACK!Sorry about the few days of M.I.A but we had our first silly slick wet icey snow storm here in the mountains, and well, my particular spot is much like a frozen Yukon. I got more snow then any one else in the area, and despite 60 degree weather now some ice patches still remain up here at the Luck Cabin. The electricity came and went and came back again, my running water in the house went and came back... then my internet went away and didn't come back till this morning.
...
'No electricity' is not too bad in the snow for me because I have a wood stove that keeps me warm, i can cook on it and heat up water. The pipes freezing in my cabin sucks, but I have a non electric pump outside that won't freeze and holds water underground so I always have my spring water.
No internet though... UHG. I missed contact with the outside world. It's only natural, biological, historical and human. At least I have my animals....
JuJu was not a fan of the thicker, deeper snow. Neither were the chickens. Neither was I. The animals stayed in the mini barn for shelter and warmth....
COOL TRICK FOR 'HEATING' BARN STALLS::: I read in my Donkey Companion book that keeping some donkey poop in their stall mixed with the wood shaving or hay actually helps keep it warm in the winter due to the heat produced by the composting process. I knew that alot of heat is produced by composting, but I wasn't sure it would really work in this application. But I found that JuJu's stall was warmer then outside. :)
Xoxoxo
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Things I Do (think & find) While It's Snowing
See me there in the pic above... I know it's hard to tell because my alpaca wool gloves are so hairy and thick, but I am shooting my middle finger up at the snowing sky. Fu@k this winter! Me and Snow, I don't know if we can be friends anymore... they are being a little clingy since like December, coming over too much, always hanging around my house like a stalker, ruining my plans, just plain smothering me. They scare away the animals too, and that's just messed up. Basically the snow is an emotionally abusive co-dependent self absorbed freak, only good for magically fertilizing the earth with rich nutrients.I was thinking this morning as I woke up to more snow, that a great horror film (yet to be made) would be an Alfred Hitchcock style suspense thriller called "SNOW"... the plot would be simple: Snow keeps on comin' down, at first they predict 10 feet, but it dumps 100's of feet burying everything alive - people would live their last days under tunnels of white they can never dig out of.
um.... anyway... so while it is snowing I found these two things that are aestheically nice and nothing I need. Only want.
Organic Cotton PANTIE & BRA SET! yeah, it's hawtness - and normally yellow bothers me but right now yellow is looking like fun in the hot sun. :) You can click the link or the pic to see more organic cotton goodness.
Vintage OWLS! I have a thing for owls. Ever since one came and lived in my wood stove a few years ago I have been loving owls, especially the screech owl. I had named him Scratchy and when he died, i clipped his wings to keep and buried the rest of his body in front the cabin.PS- those black owls pictured are at my friend's vintage store on Etsy, called SOUGHT. Remember when I wrote about a woman named "Sandy" who wanted to F' the president... that's her. I don't think she wants to F' him anymore, but i'm not sure.
Xoxoxoxo
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Oh S(no)w, Not Again!
We are at the very beginning of the 3rd big snow storm/freeze this year! Since this is predicted to be much bigger then the one that knocked out all power and contact with civilization for a week I thought I would try to jinx the storm by saying my possible internet goodbye's now...or is that like, way too dramatic? ;)
According the news "North Carolina is gonna get smacked!"
Gawd and baby jeezus help me cause in less then an hour an inch has fallen and we have about 48 hours more to go of "heavy snow"....
but then again, it's like a scary roller coaster - it's just not really as frightening the 2nd and 3rd time around.
Toodles.
xoxo
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Epic Snow Storm
DAY 1
The news had predicted about 8 inches the day before the storm. I knew that meant much more would fall, but I had no idea I would spend the next 5 days without any phone, internet, electric or an easy way out! It came down so fast, so blury, flurry and wet that it was leaving a tall coating of snow on everything. A specific kind of pile up, that weighs down trees and power lines. But it was sooooo pretty I was super happy and excited to see such a unique snow storm.
I noticed within the first few hours that trees and bamboo were leaning, cracking, and falling down to the ground. It had a creepy crushing feeling, just to watch everything be pushed, their tops now at their roots.
When i hiked through the snow to check on the pig, we was happily eating some fluffy white to keep the entrance of his door clear. Sometime soon after the power in the house began to flicker and I rushed to prepare every flashlight, lantern, the one candle, cook food, fill pots with water, wash dishes, set up blankets, keep the wood stove fire going, crank up an electric heater...make a few calls, till everything went dark and the phone went to static in the middle of a conversation.
DAY 2
I woke up to the pure silence of no electricity. As quiet as my environment already is, this was something to adjust to - no running fridge, no internet, no IM blinging away, or typing keys, no radio (no music!), no ringing phone, no low hum of all that is electric. The ice castles that formed on every branch of every tree were something out of nature's magical imagination - like nothing I ever saw before. So sculptural and majestic, so cold and foreboding.
The snow was up to 18 inches in some spots - varying from my knee to mid thigh. Pushing through the wet snow took strength I did not realize- especially uphill! My muscles got very sore very quick! People in regions used to this much snow might think this is no big deal, but we don't usually get large amounts of snow, especially the kind that takes down so many power lines and fills up so many roads that people lost all contact with the world for days... some still don't have it. I spied an old phone line in the bamboo and it was so tangled in fallen stalks it looked like the heartbeat on a heart monitor! When I saw that, i knew it would be a while before things went back to normal.
The beauty was astounding. In the pic below, you can see the tiny brown spot under the roof of white snow - that is the house i live in!
I trudged my way all the way up into the orchard to see the stormy view....the snow was still coming down.
By the end of day 2 I decided the fridge and freezer food would need to be moved on ice - so I took an old washtub and filled it with snow. I placed it in the bathroom which was as cold as outside, but protected from animals. My idea ended up working great for storing fish, eggs, tofu and leftovers that i was cooking on the wood stove.
DAY 3
The drabness started to get to me, no sun, no way to call friends or family, the other person in the house with me was endlessly moody and stressing out --- i concentrated on cooking food on the woodstove, tending to the fire to stay warm, and began two activities : Reading books and hand writing a journal of the power outage. (Look forward to seeing it online in it's hand written form maybe tomorrow!)
This picture below is the driveway/road to the house. Bamboo had created an elaborate maze to jump under and over. No way in by vehicle and ya had to crawl out...until someone came with a chainsaw... then you just had to duck on your way out.
DAY 4
There still was no power or phone, but the sun came up and somehow that warmed my heart just enough! When I walked to the end of the road to use someone's cell phone plugged into a car charger, i knew things were gonna get better cause the FIRST SNOW PLOW came down the road and was clearing the snow and ice!!!
YAY for the snow plow man!!!!!!!!! This meant it was only a matter of time before the workers would come to Big Sandy Mush Valley and clear some of the mess... trees had been hanging off power lines and the area had been virtually untouched since the storm.
PLUS music played in the car, music was like magic to my ears. Pink Floyd no less..."we don't need no education"... so i got excited for a little while and took the dare to jump into the snow. (Did you know wet snow sticks to wool, then melts and makes your warmers wet?!!! it does!)
But this poor opossum on the road just broke my heart looking at him ( killed by the neighbor's dog most likely) pretty much sums up this week of snow hell. It's amazing what takes place when we lose our protection, whatever illusion or physical protection it is we have. Being vulnerable in a dependent modern world is no joke...I learned alot of good and hard lessons. The biggest of all lessons ***What Doesnt Bend Breaks***.
on DAY 5 during yesterday evening the power came back on!!! It turned off once after, but has been on ever since. Let's hope it stays on (in spite of the warnings from the radio it may go back off and they predicted snow on X-mas!!!) NO more snow pLEASe!
THINGS I USED TO SURVIVE:
XoXo
The news had predicted about 8 inches the day before the storm. I knew that meant much more would fall, but I had no idea I would spend the next 5 days without any phone, internet, electric or an easy way out! It came down so fast, so blury, flurry and wet that it was leaving a tall coating of snow on everything. A specific kind of pile up, that weighs down trees and power lines. But it was sooooo pretty I was super happy and excited to see such a unique snow storm.
I noticed within the first few hours that trees and bamboo were leaning, cracking, and falling down to the ground. It had a creepy crushing feeling, just to watch everything be pushed, their tops now at their roots.
When i hiked through the snow to check on the pig, we was happily eating some fluffy white to keep the entrance of his door clear. Sometime soon after the power in the house began to flicker and I rushed to prepare every flashlight, lantern, the one candle, cook food, fill pots with water, wash dishes, set up blankets, keep the wood stove fire going, crank up an electric heater...make a few calls, till everything went dark and the phone went to static in the middle of a conversation.
DAY 2
I woke up to the pure silence of no electricity. As quiet as my environment already is, this was something to adjust to - no running fridge, no internet, no IM blinging away, or typing keys, no radio (no music!), no ringing phone, no low hum of all that is electric. The ice castles that formed on every branch of every tree were something out of nature's magical imagination - like nothing I ever saw before. So sculptural and majestic, so cold and foreboding.
The snow was up to 18 inches in some spots - varying from my knee to mid thigh. Pushing through the wet snow took strength I did not realize- especially uphill! My muscles got very sore very quick! People in regions used to this much snow might think this is no big deal, but we don't usually get large amounts of snow, especially the kind that takes down so many power lines and fills up so many roads that people lost all contact with the world for days... some still don't have it. I spied an old phone line in the bamboo and it was so tangled in fallen stalks it looked like the heartbeat on a heart monitor! When I saw that, i knew it would be a while before things went back to normal.
The beauty was astounding. In the pic below, you can see the tiny brown spot under the roof of white snow - that is the house i live in!
I trudged my way all the way up into the orchard to see the stormy view....the snow was still coming down.
By the end of day 2 I decided the fridge and freezer food would need to be moved on ice - so I took an old washtub and filled it with snow. I placed it in the bathroom which was as cold as outside, but protected from animals. My idea ended up working great for storing fish, eggs, tofu and leftovers that i was cooking on the wood stove.
DAY 3
The drabness started to get to me, no sun, no way to call friends or family, the other person in the house with me was endlessly moody and stressing out --- i concentrated on cooking food on the woodstove, tending to the fire to stay warm, and began two activities : Reading books and hand writing a journal of the power outage. (Look forward to seeing it online in it's hand written form maybe tomorrow!)
This picture below is the driveway/road to the house. Bamboo had created an elaborate maze to jump under and over. No way in by vehicle and ya had to crawl out...until someone came with a chainsaw... then you just had to duck on your way out.
DAY 4
There still was no power or phone, but the sun came up and somehow that warmed my heart just enough! When I walked to the end of the road to use someone's cell phone plugged into a car charger, i knew things were gonna get better cause the FIRST SNOW PLOW came down the road and was clearing the snow and ice!!!
YAY for the snow plow man!!!!!!!!! This meant it was only a matter of time before the workers would come to Big Sandy Mush Valley and clear some of the mess... trees had been hanging off power lines and the area had been virtually untouched since the storm.
PLUS music played in the car, music was like magic to my ears. Pink Floyd no less..."we don't need no education"... so i got excited for a little while and took the dare to jump into the snow. (Did you know wet snow sticks to wool, then melts and makes your warmers wet?!!! it does!)
But this poor opossum on the road just broke my heart looking at him ( killed by the neighbor's dog most likely) pretty much sums up this week of snow hell. It's amazing what takes place when we lose our protection, whatever illusion or physical protection it is we have. Being vulnerable in a dependent modern world is no joke...I learned alot of good and hard lessons. The biggest of all lessons ***What Doesnt Bend Breaks***.
on DAY 5 during yesterday evening the power came back on!!! It turned off once after, but has been on ever since. Let's hope it stays on (in spite of the warnings from the radio it may go back off and they predicted snow on X-mas!!!) NO more snow pLEASe!THINGS I USED TO SURVIVE:
- hand cranked LED lantern + No battery flashlight
- wood + woodstove (heat and cooking)
- snow 'cooler' for food
- humanure toilet system
- water stored in pots + water stored in hot water heater
- books and writing
- help from others
XoXo
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Veggie Islands
Deep in the mountains, surrounded by sand and water... right on my kitchen counter the veggie islands formed during the bleak winter snow storm. Nope, this is not a recipe - but for sure I am playing with my food. Have ya ever noticed how alot of veggies continue to grow in the dark cold of the fridge? The tops of carrots, radishes and a celery root were growing in mine - I took a ceramic dish, added sand and water to it and stuck the growing tops in (with some other seeds i wanted to watch sprout). Growing the tops (and bottoms) of veggies is a good way to collect more organic greens and seeds for later eating & planting! My veggie island is purely experimental, to keep something growing inside for fun while the cold consumes outside in it's blanket of ice. Eventually they will need to be transferred to some soil. Have you ever tried this gardening trick?I also wanted to share my bike riding adventure this morning to collect chestnuts, but it turned into a freezing hell ride as the snow pelted my eyeballs, wind cut into my ears and the chestnut tree was completely taken for all it's nuts already! I was terribly defeated and exhausted after lugging my bike back up the road, so all I had energy left to do was create veggie island.
XoXo
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