As I was escorting some animals to their maternity ward at about 5pm last night our hydro went out, plummeting myself and said pregnant sows into total – I mean absolute- darkness. Not one to panic in those kinds of situations (and yes, darling daughters, I hear your hoots and cries of ”not so, she is a total freakout when things go awry” from here!) I calmly counted to 15, waiting for our automatic generator to kick in.
Counted to 15 again.
Counted to 20…..
No power…
That wouldn’t be a biggie if it were just me. Throw in all of our animals though and it becomes an oxygen problem. I ran around opening doors and windows, then headed outside to figure out what was not going on. find some men to fix the problem. Once we figured out that
A. the generator was a no go
and
B. a check with HydroOne confirmed that the outage would last only a few hours,
and
C. the pigs would be okay for that long…
We decided to deal with it. Trouble was that we hadn’t ever, ever been out of hydro since I don’t know when- we have always had a generator for the farm. Apparently we are not disaster ready here! We have a gas stove, so MyMike made his famous onion soup while I gathered candlabras (we have about a million of them!) and lit candles. It could almost have been romantic if we both didn’t smell a bit and if we hadn’t had to continually check on the livestock! And if we still hadn’t a few hours work left in the barn once the power was back on! 
I guess that it would behoove me to put together an emergency preparedness kit! So readers, what should it include?
Just to prove that I am sewing up a storm – here is block numero uno for the baby quilt. I hope the rest of them get sewn too! I am using vintage pillowcases that I collected from thrift stores and etsy, and am doing a twisted log cabin design. 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
“if we both didn’t smell a bit”… A BIT?? From a pig barn?? You’re a HOOT!!
Well, are the wee squeeky ones born now??
Piecing baby quilt, teen scarves–we’ve got somethin’ creative in common, eh!!
Soft H1N1 elbow hug,
Rhonda in Montreal (PR)
Wow, in urban US, our power goes out regularly–usually weather related. I’m thinking:
1. Repair emergency generator (and set up a regular testing schedule).
2. Batteries and flashlights
3. Probably food not a big issue in CA, nor is refrigeration at this time of year
4. I have a UPS on the sewing machine, so I’m not caught in the middle of an embroidery design by an outtage.
City girl enjoying “farm” posts. I really didn’t realize kidney beans grew that color, I thought that was a result of some sort of processing.
Flashlights that have a hand crank — then you don’t have to worry about batteries going dead while they are in storage…..a Coleman camping lantern (propane) would give you plenty of light to go check the livestock.
Another city girl enjoying farm stories – but I’m confused….you had to open doors and windows because of an oxygen problem when the power went out? what?
Thanks for the suggestions! I will act on them for sure. The generator was fixed the next day by the way,and is now set up for a weekly “test” run.
Kathi, because they are in an enclosed area, with environmental controls,if the hydro goes out, the fans shut down and the air supply is depleted. A curse of modern farming methods yes, but trust me when I say that they are clean, and very healthy in that environment.
Well, it looks very romantic with those candles
Good to hear you are all back ‘up’ again!
I am usually very prepared with emergencies because we have lost power for days during winter storms. However, I still have no batteries, am very low on kerosene for our kerosene heater, and need to replace some lanterns. And food? I’m so low on emergency food it’s embarrassing. The kerosene heater, however, I cannot be without. Water is difficult but do-able, but heat? I gotta feel warm
!