Still No Communication

Day 67

It is Monday and entering day two with no power. We are rationing our fuel so we slept all night with no generator and therefore no heat.

Staying warm in bed is so much easier than when awake. I have flannel sheets, a blanket and a down comforter. I also slept with a sleeping bonnet which helps immensely. I stayed toasty warm all night.

The outside temperature is hovering around 38 degrees F. It has been warm enough to melt the snow off the trees, but the driveway is an icy snowy mess. We have a weather radio but the broadcast last night must have been more geared toward Asheville than the foothills because we did not have the weather they predicted.

We have had no contact with anyone since Saturday evening so we have no idea how our family up around Asheville fared as well as our families in Virginia and Tennessee. We also do not know how our people who are ill are doing. That’s the hard part.

The sun is trying to peek through the clouds. If the temperature warms up, we may try to get out and see if we can pick up WiFi or cell signal somewhere. I called last Thursday to get our fuel tank refilled, but no one came so it is getting precarious.

NOTE: Everything still out at our house. We finally got dug out and drove until we had cell signal. Uploading from the parking lot at the grocery store.

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No Communication

Day 66

Well, the storm blew through last night. It started snowing before I went to bed, but most of the snow came overnight. Heavy wet snow – the kind The Weather Channel refers to as heart attack snow.

The wind woke me up this morning. Hubby was already up. Our power flickered on and off last night but finally went off around 6:00 am. We are fortunate to have a generator and a propane furnace so the house was nice and warm. The temperature hasn’t gotten any higher than 32 degrees F — freezing.

In addition to losing power, our cell tower is down as well as our Spectrum connection which provides our internet. So, no connection to the outside world.

The snow is very wet and heavy. Tree branches were so weighted down they were touching the ground. I am afraid we lost some branches from our dogwood trees that frame the driveway.

We took some pictures before hubby went outside and left footprints in the snow. He put all the bird feeders out and we have had swarms of birds ever since. This kind of snow makes it difficult for them to find food.

Seen at the bird feeder today:

• Mourning Dove
• Blue Jay
• Cardinal
• Eastern Towhee
• Wood Thrush
• Downy Woodpecker
• Red headed Woodpecker
• Gold Finch
• House Finch
• Dark Eyed Junko
• Carolina Wren
• Nuthatch
• Tufted Titmouse
• Chickadee

[I blogged about how my grandmother used to go outside after heavy snows with an old straw broom. She swept the snow out from under the forsythia bush and put out oatmeal and bread crumbs for the birds.]

Hubby then knocked snow off all the drooping limbs that he could safely reach. We do not have a landscaped yard. Most of the trees and bushes are natural landscape but we still hate to lose any of them.

We will turn the generator off soon and save fuel. I made a thermos of coffee and put water in our individual thermoses. It will be a good time to take a nap.

The only downside to having no connectivity is that we have family and friends who are ill and at this moment, no one can reach us.

(I am writing this blog entry knowing I will not be able to post until we have power. I want to continue to blog every day — regardless.)