Power Outage, Loving My Solar And Preparing For Lambs

Not much farm stuff going on this week. Several credit cards and other things have come due this week. Things that normally are spread between two weeks have landed in the same week. So the bank account is going to be tight again. And, of course, that means all projects go on hold.

We got a lot of wind and rain Friday night from TS Michael and our electricity went out. A lot of people lost power in our county. Michael went right over us so we got slapped with those heavier winds real good. But we didn't panic. Well, the kids and I didn't panic. My husband though was a bit unnerved. He's used to his creature comforts.

But the kids and I had candles ready. I'd already filled up a bunch of bottles with water and bought a camping grill from when Florence was a threat. We had things to eat. And, of course, we had the solar panels to power our electronic devices.

It was pouring rain and windy almost all of Friday. But the power didn't go out until 6pm. Major wind gusts. We were watching out of a window at the trees next to our house and I was pretty sure some of those trees were going to come down. But none of them did so that was good. The only thing we really got was some twigs on the electric fence wire. We've had more damage with less wind before so we got lucky this time.

But after the power went out, we got out the candles and played some card games by candle light. And these candles last a really long time. A pint mason jar, fill it with some vegetable shortening (like Crisco) and a stick candle in the middle. The only problem I've found with these is that the wax and vegetable shortening doesn't have anywhere to go when it melts so it can smother the flame. When I see the flame getting dim, I just power the extra wax and stuff into another mason jar.

Some people heat up the shortening before they put it in the jar to make it liquid and then it solidifies into a more uniform.... form. I don't know if that would help with the smothering problem or not but I'll try that the next time I make these.

Anyway, the solar battery was kind of low during the night because I hadn't been watching the power levels so we weren't able to charge any devices until the morning. But then I brought an extension cord in from the inverter and in a matter of hours, everything was back up to full. I also reattached the other 4 solar panels since I'd taken them off when I mounted the others up on the u-posts. (I really need to get those other 4 mounted as well.) So we are now back up to 800 watts. But we still only used a max of about 250 watts. So we've got room to spare. Looking forward to seeing how much farther I can push it.

That's even with me vacuuming while plugged into the solar panels. Yes, you heard that right. I vacuumed our den and kitchen with the power of the sun. You guys have no idea how much this tickles me. Now, this is a small vacuum and probably doesn't draw that much power. Some inverters will be sluggish when they first get that extra power drain and then pick up as they adjust to the demand. But my inverter didn't even flinch. I hope to power more things in the coming months.

But the electricity came back on about noonish the next day. The storm had also finally brought some cooler weather. Cool enough to fire up the fireplace. So I really need to get that firewood storage area done. I'm thinking of keeping it by the back of the house but maybe putting some kind of termite pesticide around it. 

I don't usually use pesticides if I can avoid them at all. But I'd like to get a load of firewood next week and I don't know if I can get the other area prepared in time. I'll have to actually build a wood shed and that's extra money. So we may just have to risk it up against the house for now.

(Hmm, I just looked up how to deal with firewood and a terminix website came up. It said one of the best ways was to keep the wood off of the ground. So this may actually work since I was working on that anyway.)

Besides, any wood right now needs to go towards the new sheep shelter. These girls are possibly due next month and I need to get at least three stalls built. I'll probably only have some wood slats and a tarp as the roof for now until I can get the whole thing built and a better roof put on.

I did move the sheep fence a bit yesterday so they could get some fresh munch. The grass seems to have just stopped growing out of the blue. Even before the storm brought the cooler weather. So I'm now having to buy hay to make up for the diminished browse. 

I also bought the sheep a bag of alfalfa pellets. I'm going to have to find a different brand though because these pellets are huge and I'm afraid the sheep will choke on them. For now I'll have to try to crunch them up to make them easier to eat. But the girls need the extra nutrition because if this is the last month of their pregnancies, the babies do the most growing now. 

I wish I'd seen them mate at least once so I'd have a better idea on a due date. But I also wasn't going to hang around outside like some psycho waiting for my sheep to do the naughty. So I'm just going by the date of when I first put them together. Males of any species usually don't waste much time if there's a female in heat. I did see him giving the girls attention months ago, but no actual mounting. But he's not giving them that same type of attention now so I can only assume the job is done.

Anyway, time to get the kids up so they can get ready for school. Then time to start my own day. Take care all and have a good day.