Going to get this up before we lose our electricity.
As everyone in the world knows, Hurricane Sandy is hitting today. We are in New Hampshire and as of right now, we are expected to get high winds and lots of rain for the next few days. When you live in an area that is heavily wooded, that means, more than not, that we’ll probably lose electricity when the water soaked trees and limbs start coming down in the wind.
We’re prepared. I spent yesterday baking and cooking things that could easily be heated on our grill. We have plenty of water, flashlights, candles, and thankfully, the temperatures are rather mild and we won’t have to worry about pipes freezing. We’ve even got a good supply of plastic containers to put under the inevitable roof leaks when the wind drives that rain hard. (the price one pays for living in a very old, oddly constructed house.) I know that I’ve previously mentioned that living in our house is kind of like living in Little House on the Prairie.
And you thought I was kidding.
We also had to make sure the chickens are safe.
They’ve got plenty of food, safe in waterproof (and raccoon proof) metal garbage cans. We’ve even got some fresh bedding under that bucket if it’s needed.
Last night we filled some buckets with water, enough for a few days. As we live right next to a river, water is something that we always have access to (for which we are eternally grateful when it comes to manually flushing toilets.)
We also inspected the coop and any chip buildup that had the potential of diverting water into the coop was raked down and away. Rain is okay, a raging stream underfoot is not. The chickens will do fine in the rain, their coop is fully enclosed with a roof and when the wind gets bad they will go inside the house and roost. We just have to hope that no trees hit the structure. Last year during the October storm, a huge limb narrowly missed our coop and instead took out a section of our fence.
Yes, we were lucky.
Lastly, I checked on our two newest editions to the flock. Two juveniles – gotten just this weekend and still making adjustments to living in a new home – and assured them that we’ll be looking out for them and that in the end, all will be well.
Because despite everything that life throws at us, at the end of the day, we still have each other with which to roost and take comfort.
Take care all, God Speed to those flock members on the East Coast. Prayers and best wishes.
On a personal note – modestypress, I know you were out this way visiting, hope you are safe in your travels.
