Yikes, we were part of Tropical Storm Beryl!

While we are all fine, and with no damage to any of us or our property, we are with out power at this time. Currently three five days and counting...on what is almost one year, as resident here in Texas. 

It is amazing how having no electricity changes everything!

And never being a part of a Tropical Storm before, I had no idea what to expect. But the Electric Company is working around the clock to get all the families in Texas back on the grid.  Which we ALL appreciate. It is times like these, where we see the best (and the worst) in people, our outlook on what is happening, and our recovery. But as a family we hung in there, helping each other as best we could. 

I can't wait to be back on the grid, for all the things that are so important, like clean laundry, she said with a smile! And maintaining the freezers filled with food to feed our families. And visiting with all of you! 

We are blessed in that we live on high ground. However all around us is flooding with roads washing out, and trees falling from so much water. When we have a bit of power, usually at night after the freezers have had the generator all day to keep everything frozen. We switch it over to the house for some relief from the heat with a fan, and some television coverage for an update about what is happening all around us. 

But the power is restored, this quick message to bring you up to date, has been brought to you by the miracle of a gas powered generator and a very loonnnggg extension cord!

Thank you for continuing to visit us at Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household, it makes my day, every day! 

Melynda @scratchmadefood!

UPDATE: electricity was restored Friday late afternoon, and while it will be wonderful to get back to a more normal schedule, I have to say, I am so very proud of the community we live in and the kindness shown by everyone to all, in need or not. Southern hospitality is not a myth. We have been blessed. 

From my creative writing page, From the Heart...

Where to begin!? I had posted on social media that we were in the path of Tropical Storm Beryl, as we have family out of state, and that is the quickest way to stay in touch. And then all of a sudden there was a flickering of lights and poof, no electricity...and while this has happened from time to time in stormy weather, this time, it did not come back on! Now what? My house like yours eats electricity every, single, day! And some days more than others when you factor in energy for A/C. Our only saving grace is that we do live in an RV and three very important appliances (fridge, water heater and stove) can be operated by propane. 

Which put us ahead in the comfort game. But also at my house, like yours, we do not own a propane fan, or any propane lights or even a propane cell phone. Which complexly levels the rest of the playing field. Leaving us to make decisions about staying in touch or keeping up to date on the storm path and how close it might be coming our way. All around us was the grrr and buzzz of generators. All our neighbors, seasoned Texans, were prepared and had settled in to simply ride the whole thing out. We do have a small generator from our National Park Volunteering days. And as these things go, you guessed it, after sitting for so long, it would not start. Since this was our real first storm, we had no idea how this would go. 

Then Monday turned into Tuesday. 

And we knew we had to do something and get it done fast! We have two freezers (one is ours, and one belongs to the kids) in a shed that had now been without power for over 24 hours. It was fortunate for us that a repair company in the next town over was working (also without power, I might add!). We tried calling but their office phone system was not working. We took a chance and drove to their shop, with our generator. They were not only open, they were up to their eyeballs in work! After a brief conversation, they made sure that our generator got fixed and was ready to go as quickly as they could get it done. Later that day, we brought it home and during the day it kept the freezers running, and in the evening we had fans and lights. Pure heaven after 90+ degrees with high humidity each day. 

And Tuesday turned into Wednesday...

Laundry was not only stacking up, but we were changing our clothes at least twice a day due to sweating so much in the hot humid weather. I was keeping it sorted and ready to be washed just as soon as power was restored. Also keeping an eye on what clothes we had left...and to be honest I did not know we still had so many clothes! Having gone through a drastic paring down when retirement came about. Once the freezers were done with the generator for the day, we could run an extension cord to the Router for internet and I able to get some blogging done and we had TV in the evenings. While there was no hope of doing laundry, I can tell you exactly what I think was the best part of having a generator! It was being able to just push a button each morning to make coffee, before plugging in the freezers! Apparently, I have gotten used to and spoiled with an automatic coffee maker...

After our morning coffee and breakfast, we kept busy with no electricity needed chores, and played with the grandson between cooking and washing dishes. From time to time we would try to find an update on the storm damage and the needed repairs to get the infrastructure up and running for electricity throughout the state and when the repairs might be done. As soon as the grocery store in the next town over got power, we picked up some groceries. And when the gas stations got power, we gassed up...our car and the gas cans to run the generator. 

And Wednesday turned into Thursday. 

With internet available once again, I tried hard to come up with new recipes that I could blog about, and honestly when you are used to working in a well appointed kitchen, that, is not as easy as it sounds. But again we were in a far better position than most, we still enjoyed warm showers, hot meals and clean dishes.

This was not the case for so many around the state. Cooling centers in local churches were opened each day as the temperatures were in the high 90's with no A/C. These same cooling centers offered recharging of any and all cell phones, I Pads etc. Plus a hot meal for dinner. There were post after post on our small local Facebook page of folks offering to help in any way needed. It warmed my already warm heart to see such kindness in neighbors and in neighboring towns! 

And then Thursday turned into Friday...

We were all searching the updated list for when our little town was due to be back on the grid. Many had turned their front porch lights on, so if the power came on while they were at work, they would know, driving into the driveway! It pleased me while out running errands to see a few porch lights on! But no word for our little town of Chester. Someone posted that we were #theforgotten. But in the end, it turned out that Chester is so small, that it did not get a separate listing by name. 

We were grouped in with other small communities around us, and scheduled for repairs to be completed on Friday. And at about 4pm my electric photo frame got bright, and the microwave squeaked and the clock began to blink, and we were once again with power! As I said, we were more fortunate than so many others, we had no property damage and no physical damage to any of us, and for that I praise God for keeping us safe, together and able to continue on, in this life we have planned.