Power Out in Texas

I have a blogging friend who lives in Corpus Christi and has had to go through the power outage there. Thank goodness I heard from her today that things are getting better for them.  I had once mentioned to all of my friends that the stand-by generator that we had installed here six years ago was the best money we ever spent. It still is. BUT!!! When I read that the generators in her area froze up I had never been warned about this. I researched and found the following: 

"During the winter months, standby generators need proper maintenance and grooming in order to operate properly and efficiently. Leaves, sub-freezing temperatures, snow, and ice can all damage your standby generator if not properly maintained and can prevent your standby generator from starting and running during a winter power outage."

"Exercise Your Standby Generator - Just like letting your car run for a few minutes during winter, a standby generator needs to be exercised or run for approximately 10 minutes during long periods of inactivity during cold temperatures. Without this exercise your standby generator may not automatically turn on or operate correctly in temperatures lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. To prevent your generator from not turning on when you need it most, let it run for approximately 10 minutes, once per week. Doing so lubricates all moving parts and maintains important seals within your generator."

Generac

The folks who had their generators freeze up must have not kept them well maintained. That's really a shame. Ours is thoroughly serviced every Autumn and it automatically runs for 12 minutes every Saturday without fail. The Mister also checks the oil level and keeps snow and ice away from the inlet and outlet. 

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Red and Green

...are not just Christmas colors. Red is my favorite color and makes me feel happy and is my stimulating color. To me, green is the color of nature, growth and health. I get excited when I have projects that involve using these colors.

Our daughter shared her extra peppers with us so I went to work. I already had the broccoli and now have decided to bake a quiche with it in a month or so. The peppers don't need to be blanched before freezing - just washed and cut up. The broccoli does and it takes a bit more effort to prepare it for freezing, but the time was well spent in my mind.

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"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure." 

"Green, the color of life, renewal, nature, and energy, is associated with meanings of growth, harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment. Green is also traditionally associated with money, finances, banking, ambition, greed, jealousy, and wall street."

Source: www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Good Work Ahead

I say this because the applesauce-making project here in this old cabin is done in an old-fashioned way and is actually a pleasurable activity for this old couple. Are you getting the gist of old?  The sink in which the apples are first washed is old. The knife with which the mister quarters the apples is old. The paring knife the missus used to dig out the core is old. We are all sharp. The kettle the apples are cooked down in is very old as is the wooden spoon. The Foley food mill is old and fits perfectly over an old large Pyrex bowl. We call it the "apple bowl." The sugar container is old. The ladle is very old and the only newbies are the containers for the finished product which is later placed into a new freezer in an old carport. The apples and the cider come from an old orchard that was planted over two generations ago.

I have already topped down the most flavorful cider in my world so we can have it through the winter. It has to be topped down as it will be frozen and the container needs to be compensated for expansion. It keeps perfectly fine and is always delicious and healthy. 

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The apples we are processing this year are Cortlands. And by the way, there is more cider in my refrigerator - FOR NOW!

A Freezing Day

CCCCold! Well it is 5° above and when I looked out the window this morning I was surprised to see that the lake froze over during the night. There was a single Canada goose that seemed to be stuck a few feet out from our beachfront. He sat there looking around and then settled back down. I thought that he perhaps would soon be a victim of the resident bald eagles, wondering which would do him in first - the ice or the predators. I had my camera ready. 

Don’t you know that after about ten minutes he stood up, and walked on the ice, out of my view! He wasn’t stuck at all. 

Today I baked a dozen of tasty applesauce muffins. I had a small bit of batter left so I make a thirteenth one in a little pan. We ate that one!

If no one stops in today, they will all be popped into the freezer and enjoyed another time.

A breakfast party presentation would be fun, don’t you think?

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(I cut the recipe in half. What would I do with 24 muffins?????)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applesauce Muffins

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 10 min. Bake: 30 min.

YIELD: 24 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups applesauce
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
• Cinnamon-sugar, optional

Directions

• 1. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in applesauce. Combine the flour, baking soda and spices; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in nuts.
• 2. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar if desired. Yield: about 2 dozen.
• ................................................................................................
• 
  

Blue Skies, James, Bad Bulb

Well it started out to be a beautiful day, then went down hill this afternoon. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the ice fishermen were here.

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James was staunchly bearing the cold but loving the sun.

And then the sun went in and the light went out - in the water storage tank/pump shed. The life line to keeping the switch warm so it won't freeze is that bulb. It's a good thing we have a spare, but now it means another trip to replace it - tomorrow! We were Scouts. We are prepared.

See that red circular thing on the side? It is an automotive tail light lens. When it is dull, the bulb has died.

Not Dull Here

At about 7 PM the power went off. We knew it would be completely off after two short losses. Out came the propane lantern. Out came the flashlights. After deciding it would stay off, we knew the generator would be the only way to save the exposed water pipes from breaking.

The layout of the water supply here is as follows:  The well is deep and a good one and it is near the carport. The underground supply pipe goes to a storage tank that is in a small shed at the back of the carport. The supply pipe from the storage tank goes out and up and is attached on a beam from its source, across the open carport into the log wall of the cabin bedroom. It is then split into a second pipe that goes into the water heater in the kitchen, back out with a hot pipe which is is run to the kitchen sink and also is routed along the bedroom top wall into the bathroom with the cold water pipe. After reading this I guess I'm not doing a great job of describing the plumbing but it's my best effort.

The problem here is the possibility of a freeze up of the pipes outdoors. As a preventative, several years ago a trench was dug from the well to the storage shed. The shed was rebuilt and lined with half inch styrofoam throughout. The underground pipes were wound with heat tape before being covered over. The pipes in the storage tank shed were wound with heat tape and a 90 watt halogen flood light is aimed at the pressure switch, which turns the pump on and off. The pipes going across the open carport are wrapped first with heat tape and are covered with foam pipe insulation. There is a lever operated switch box which turns on all tape and heating elements electrically. This is flipped on in October and stays on through March.

This is the well and the shed is at the back.

Ed's Shed (water shed)

The exit pipe going across the beam.

The pipe enters the cabin through the log.

The red box is the flip switch for the heat tape and lamp.

This is the cold water pipe entering the cabin and split with a "T."

The top pipe is the hot water return pipe heading to the bathroom. 

When the power goes out the generator is put into action. It isn't automatic. There is a specific procedure to follow. This generator is plugged in to a special charger that keeps the battery up to par so the push button starter will work. Every year since 2006 when we bought it, updating the style to easy start, it has been diligently and thoroughly serviced by the in-house super mechanic. Who was to know that the battery didn't take its charge during the past year and was dead - DEAD!

It was a serious dilemma for a bit. The truck was parked heading out - it doesn't fit under the carport. The engine is in front, which meant no jump starting unless turning the truck around. Then the thought occurred…there is a battery that is used for the boat out in the larger storage shed in the yard. It is always being charged and is ready to use.

Hey! the generator was started and running smoothly. We had power. After waiting from 7 PM to 10 PM we finally went to bed in complete darkness and to the comforting hum outside.  The mister left the small TV on and muted, and when he got up in the middle of the night there was a picture so he got dressed, turned off the generator, flipped the house power back on and all was well. Today was another trip to town to replenish gasoline in the cans.

Now the next mission will be to order and replace the generator battery. We have the model and serial number and a place to order it but the problem will be installation. After checking everything out, Mr. Mechanic has discovered that the fuel tank has to be removed in order to withdraw and replace the battery! Do you believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fuel tank is full!