The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. With the generator, I was as stressed as I had been. There was some extra work involved in doing the chores, but nothing that couldn't be handled. I continued trying to clear away the broken branches, but we got 2 feet of snow last weekend so there is still alot out there now buried under snow.
I got fairly good at cooking basic on the wood stove. One morning, I made bacon and eggs. with my cast iron skillet. I heated up soups for evening meals. The last morning without power I used up some shallots, gruyere cheese and eggs by making on omelet with my cast iron skillet. So, I really didn't do badly as far as that goes. I'm not sure how much gas for generator would have been used if I had used the cooktop or the oven for cooking. I preferred to make do and conserve.
Lessons learned--be prepared. I need to get an evacuation plan in order. I have 4 horses and just a two-horse trailer. What would I do if I had to evacuate?! Another one of those "it will never happen to me" things, that I now realize COULD happen. Just because I don't live in CA where wild fires and mud slides are common or in the southeast where there are much more devastating hurricanes, doesn't mean something dire couldn't happen here.
Also, I need to get a supply of sturdy rope. I was lucky that only a few top boards on the equine fencing were broken. If I had lost complete sections of fencing, the horses could have been wandering around the neighborhood. Actually, I'm pretty sure the boys would hang around--they know those dangerous dirt bikes are out there. But, the girls definately have the "oh, let's go visiting" personality. On Saturday morning there were 3 cows wandering around on the main road at the end of my street. No one knew where they came from. It sends shivers down my spine thinking that that could have been the horses.
I also need supplies for mending the electric fence. Not as important as the wooden fence, as that's mostly to keep certain equines from eating the boards, but still, that needs to be repaired and if I lose parts of the wooden fence, a few strands of the electric wire will help to safely contain the horses. I need the wire, the connectors, etc. I just have to figure out where to get all these things.
And, keep as much food on hand as I can for humans and animals. The grain storage is a problem here as I can only keep 2 weeks worth at a time. I am considering getting more bags and just piling them up, but I worry about the rodents getting in them if they're not in barrels. I used to have squirrels living in the barn, before I got the horses. Now that I have the horses here and I spend a fair amount of time in and out of the barn, I don't notice the squirrels that much. I did have a raccoon in there one summer--he killed the last of my chickens. :-( I just worry about attracting nuisance animals. I think I will devise a way to be able to store more horse grain and try not to ever get below 2 week's worth of grain. I never get that low on hay. I start to worry about getting more hay in when I get down to about a month's worth.
And, of course, first aid supplies. I was very fortunate that none of the horses were injured by falling limbs. I'm making sure I have a supply of sheet cotton, betadine, standing wraps, etc. The horses were all good about the sounds of all the chain saws, but I think I'm going to get some calming herbs. Especially since I suspect this spring there's going to be alot of brush pile burning and Jeeves does NOT like fires. I'm not sure how the girls will be about that. But, better to be prepared with some calming herbs rather than risk colic from anxiety.
Last--emergency contacts. Make sure people know who lives close by who can take care of the animals so that in case something happens to me, others can be called to step in. I've got a list of emergency contacts in the barn, which I will be updating. I'm going to tell my neighbors about this list, so that if they see that something has happened to me, they can contact someone to take care of the animals.
If anyone can think of anything else, please let me know.
9 comments:
what a nightmare! but it sounds like you're making the most of a tough situation. and i'm impressed - you are quite the wood stove gourmet! i'd be living on stale crackers right about now... it's sad how useless i am with stuff like that :-(
i know what you mean about having a plan in case of an emergency. i don't have much of one either :-( i don't have a generator (though the previous owner did, so it would be easy to hook up,) i've got 7 horses and a 2-horse trailer, i can store about a week's worth of grain at a time (though i have hay to last until spring) and i don't know anyone who could fully take care of my horses if something ever happened to me... that alone is enough to keep me up at night. i have round-pen panels, t-posts and electric tape fencing that i can use to repair damaged fence, but i still worry about my horses getting loose too - i have herded neighbors' sheep and cattle back into their pastures and that terrifies me, especially since i have a barn full of explorers who always head for the nearest exit...
so, you have inspired me to do some good hard thinking and develop a plan, write up detailed instructions, etc. just in case... if you come up with some good ideas, let us know!
Ann, if you opt to use the Horse Gard tape for electric fencing, you can get everything you need right off their website. They even have kits.
Re: the hay/grain issue... when we went to feeding from round bales this fall my amount of hay on hand changed. We are currently buying one round bale every 7-10 days, depending if we get the extra large ones or not, and it's been bothering me that we never have extra here the way we always did when we had square bales. What I'd love to do is get one in reserve, so we always have an extra round bale as back-up.
When we stopped feeding processed feed, my issues with that were much less. A bag of beet pulp pellets lasts a month here, and similarly, the whole oats, whole flax, rice bran, etc.
We have a 2-horse trailer and 6 equines (two are, of course, the mini donkeys) and one thing high on my list of wants is a 3-horse trailer in addition to what we have. I used to want a 5-horse giganto one but have decided it would be over kill. Although it would be nice to have in an ideal world, for most of the hauling we do it's much better to have the two smaller ones.
I don't think I could add anything to your already good list for emergencies.
At least you know you won't starve if you know how to cook on a wood stove, I'm impressed that you could cook so much hearty delicious food. The biggest fear of mine is the horses getting loose too. And I've definitely got to get a generator and another trailer as I only have a two horse also.
You've given us all a few things to think about.
Oh my goodness...I haven't stopped by here for awhile and just caught up. I'm relieved that you and your horses are safe. Sounds like you've come out of this storm wiser and ready for the next one.
This is going to sound awful, but when I moved to the middle of nowhere and knew that I had to be prepared for any vet emergency that might come my way, I got a gun, in case I ever had to end one of my animals' suffering. It's such a horrible thing to think about but something that has to be considered in an emergency nonetheless.
I'ld hardly say I was cooking good meals, but I do like to eat, so, I do what I need to do. Plus, I had to use up what I could from the freezer. Had I been thinking clearer, I probably could have pan fried some pork chops before they got too thawed out.
Linda--I was talking to a friend last night about investigating something like that. As gruesome as it sounds, one does have to be prepared. I would much rather kill one of my animals than watch it slowly suffer. There are several hunters on my street, so I could probably get one of them to help me out, but I should probably be prepared to do something myself.
It's horrible to think about these things, but I think it would be much worse to watch an animal I love suffer.
just passing by when i caught the gruesome end of this discussion and i have to admit i have thought about the same thing. what would i do if...? i actually found a diagram in a book on horse anatomy that shows the point of humane destruction on the horse's skull, as i've heard horror stories about people taking matters into their own hands and, um, not finishing the job... (i'll spare you the gory details.) i can't imagine anything worse than that. if i can find the diagram, maybe i'll scan it and post it. not a pleasant thing to think about, but if you have to do it, you have to do it right...
jme -- yes, I've heard similar stories. Which is why I'm going to talk to my vet about the best way to do something like this, should it ever become necessary. I pray none of us are ever in this position, but, this storm and power outage has made me realize I need to be ready for anything. somewhere.
There's a must-have book that I keep in my equine first-aid kit called "How to be your own veterinarian (sometimes)." The diagram and instructions for euthanizing a horse are at the end of the book.
Good lord, what an ordeal you've been through. The closest thing I have to an emergency plan is a case of water bottles and some electric lanterns -- you're making me rethink things. Of course, I don't have enormous equine creatures depending on me...
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