Prepping for Sandy

I knew that we had a storm moving towards us, but last night was when I realized the size of it, and the problems that we could be facing! I'm dreading the idea of going to the store to get a few things that I'm running low on. I know from past experience that it will probably be nuts at the store.

Last year, we had Irene hit, not bad, but bad enough. We lost our power but not for too long. And w/the generator, it didn't really bother us too much.

This year, we had the derecho hit at the end of June. We lost our power again, but not for long. Others in the State were not as lucky. Many were w/out power for a week or longer.

So, I'm going to get ready the best I can. My main concern is my horses, chickens and cat since they're all out at the farm. I'm hoping that roads aren't closed and a state of emergency declared where they want you off the roads since this storm could last for quite some time and we could get quite a bit of rain. Plus, if the farm loses power, I can't water the horses-unless I bring the water in and can only do that if I don't lose power! I have 2 15 gallon water containers, so they'll be filled as well as my water tank.

Looking at what I have and what I need to do, I feel I'm in pretty good shape. I know I need to get some gas for the generator. I know I need to bake bread. I know I need to do some laundry. And, I know I need to cover up the windows to my tack shed w/plastic-otherwise they leak in a really bad rain storm. I also need to take my portable shower home since the generator doesn't do a good job of running the water pump. And, I'm thinking I should take my camp stove home since my house is all electric. Heat I'm not worried about since we have the wood stove. I can even cook on it if I need to.

So, who else is bracing for the storm, and what are you doing to get ready?

I just saw a report on Sandy. They are saying it is the worst to go through the caribbean in 10 years. Praying it passes without damage.

We might get some bands of rain from it, but most of it is going to hit the New England states. Praying that all of you stay safe. The cold front and Sandy combined is suppose to make, what the weather stations are saying, the perfect storm.

Right now, it shows the path going over NJ. There are a few things I could use in the store, but I don't know that I want to go in! My main concern is having enough gas. Maybe I should be glad hubby's working! When we lose the power, he always wants the generator running basically 24/7 and we don't need it to do so.

They're lowering the water in a reservoir to avoid flooding in one area. When we had Irene hit last year, the lake near us flooded and we had water running over the road. It damaged the dam and they had to basically drain the lake in order to fix it. A few lakes lost their dams. They were afraid that we were going to lose our dam which would have then taken out dams downstream. They evacuated some areas until the threat was past. Irene wasn't as bad as they were predicting. But, it was probably good it did the damage it did. This storm is supposed to be worse, but since the dams have been repaired, hopefully we won't lose any.

I know there are places that could get snow from this storm. But, at least in this area, hopefully people are more prepared.

Not sure where they're saying it's going now. But, for the first time since early this morning, I have a chance to sit down. Hubby's working so he's not around to help me. And, I had round bales of hay delivered for the horses today. I had to have it-I'll be out by Wednesday-and after today, I don't know when I'd be able to put it in the corner of the field where I store it. The guy came earlier than he said and I was running to get ready for him. (He was almost an hour early!) So, I didn't have time to put gas in the tractor and when I had just 1 bale left on, I ran out of gas! So, we just pushed that one off.

However, I didn't stack it as I went cuz he had to get out of there ASAP. So, I basically just unloaded it and stuck it on the ground. Then, I had to put it where it belonged. I got 3 in place and went to stick one on top-it fell off the other side. So, I had to move 2 of them to get to that one. I finally got all the bales where they belonged then went to cover them. Not an easy job when it's a bit breezy out. I knew my one big tarp had a hole in it, but I didn't realize how big it was. I'm hoping we don't really get any rain B4 morning cuz I have to take another tarp out w/me.

I was going to move my water tank under the down spout of the run in. Well, it's all riveted together and I couldn't get it apart. Providing we still have electric in the morning, I'll be topping that off. I did fill 2 15 gallon water jugs I have out there. I'll also be putting quite a bit of water in the run in in the morning.

I got the windows of my tack shed covered up w/plastic. If I don't do that and there's a heavy rain-especially w/wind-it leaks around my windows.

Raked out the hen house and put down a nice, thick layer of pine needles. I also filled up their waterer.

Cleaned up manure from in my field. I try to do it every day or so since the field is small. This helps cut down on bugs, parasites and mud.

Fertilized a small section. I need to do more, but that can wait until later. I'm in the middle of reseeding the field, and have 1 portion blocked off. However, this means I don't have easy access to the field because it's blocked in front of the gate. So next week, I'll be moving my electric fencing to where I can get in and out of the field easy, so that area is fertilized.

I have a cat that lives in my tack shed. So, I cleaned her litter box, gave her water and fed her. All this took much longer than I expected, so it was around 4:30 when I left! Stopped on the way home and filled my truck up w/gas. So, the truck is full. My bike is full and I have extra gas for it. We have gas in the generator as well as some extra. I may need to get more in the morning, but I'm broke!

I need to get moving and do stuff here B4 it gets dark, but I just had to sit down!