Saturday, February 4, 2023

Hope

 


The amaryllis I got for Christmas is sending up two stalks with buds.  There may be another in the middle too.

In other news the Arctic cold front hit us hard here yesterday and into today.  We stayed in all day Friday as wind chill factors were low.  The high for the day was in the early hours of the morning and the temperature just kept dropping.  By dinner it was minus something and by 9:30 it was -17º.  I think it may have gotten to -21º overnight.

What was tough was losing power!  We had an inkling that it may happen early in the evening so I put my flashlight in my robe pocket and kept iPhone close by as we watched Midsomer Murders. Right at the end of the episode as we found out who did it the power went off. 

I called our utility company right away to report it.  We grabbed some extra quilts to add to the bed and headed upstairs not knowing what the night would bring.

From upstairs I heard footsteps on our gravel driveway and then a knocking at the door.  Our son in law had bundled up to come check on us.  They were out of power too but had a heat source: their woodstove. Our woodstove is still a work in progress if you recall. We told him we were okay for the night but knew we could come there in the morning if still no power aka no heat.

It was hard to fall asleep, not because I was cold but because of the wind, the extra creaks from the cold, and underlying worries.  Eventually we both did.  

At 3 am or so I was awaken by I don't know what and realized the clock was lit.  Hurrah the power was on.  Dan went down to the basement to turn on the water heater again and looked at the furnace thermostat.  It read 48º! Needless to say the furnace ran for the rest of the night to bring the house back up to 68º

It was -17º when we got up and as I write now it's 0º.  The sun is streaming in through the south facing windows and the house is comfortable again. 

That woodstove is really going to be a godsend if this happens again as we know it will.

How did you fare in the winter chill?

9 comments:

  1. We did not lose power, Marcia, and yes it was also cold in Nashua, NH, although I suspect less cold than your location still overnight temps were in the minus teens here and currently a "balmy" 7 degrees. Next week, temps are expected to climb into the mid-40s but no forecast of precipitation. Your wood stove will certainly be a welcome addition once it's up and running.It was nice that you son-in-law came to check-up on your well being and glad the power came up without an extended wait period.

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  2. Thank goodness you found out Who Dunnit before the power went off! Too bad you didn’t have your new wood stove ready to go. 48 is pretty chilly!

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  3. We have kept power, and the car has started for our fun medical jaunts.

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  4. ...I bought a pot of three amaryllis, it is now past bloom. But I have one more flower bud shoot up. I was cold here yesterday, but not as cold as in New Hampshire.

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  5. Yes, the new woodstove will be great. Some of the houses we are looking at to buy when we are both retired have wood stoves in them. Our current place doesn't even have a fireplace. Fortunately, we don't lose our power very much. So glad you are OK and are coming through the terribly cold snap OK. It's great that your power is back on. I love the amaryllis shoots! I hope the rest of the weekend goes well. See you again soon.

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  6. I'm so glad that's one thing we don't have to suffer from here in Hawaii. My daughter texted to say it was -16 degrees F yesterday in Chicago. Ouuuch! I'm relieved for you that you've got power again. Wow!

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  7. We ended up at minus 20 but didn't lose power thank goodness but oh the wind it made the night all the colder and noisier. Our woodstove stayed humming along all night I woke up at 4 am not sure why but decide to check the stove and husband was there filling it like minds.
    Mt Washington was the coldest place on earth.
    Cathy

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  8. Wow, good timing to lose power after finding out who-done-it. Lovely amarylis will be nice in a few weeks. So glad you all weathered last night ok. Amazingly cold. We're not having anything like that down here in NC.

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  9. Oh, how good that the power came back on. Those are some challenging temperatures!

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