Today our house will be without power for about five hours. On purpose! Today is the day we have a new electrical panel installed complete with a transfer switch for routing our generator into the household circuitry. It’s not the best planning since it’s still below freezing during the daytime, but today is the day the electrician had the time.

We’ve bumped the heat up about five degrees higher than we normally keep it to get the house really warm and the wood fire is burningly brightly.

We plan to hang out in the sun room around the wood stove for the duration of our power outage. We’ll put up the card table and start a puzzle. I’ve got plenty of books for reading (thanks to my library visit) and my iPad is fully charged. For lunch we’ll probably load the dogs in the truck and eat somewhere in town or maybe we’ll venture up to the winery café.

It’s an inconvenience, but one we hope we’ll be glad we did next time the power goes out for real. Until then we’ll just do all we can to stay warm!

(photo: eBay last night cuddling with Rick’s wooly hand-knitted slippers [knit by me!])

That photo of eBay snuggled up to Ricks’ slipppers is priceless! Love the beloved old afghan, (sp?) too. So glad you caught it. That will always be a great memory, no?

Good luck on your powerless day. Glad you will be getting out and about; that will eat up some time. Hope it’s not longer than that, since I know how cold you guys are.

We had a high of 27 degress yest. First ever that low since 2004! Still in a frozen state with freezing fog hanging around at 8:52A.

eBay was so cute last night—she was begging me to take her picture! Yes, an oldie afghan, Mom’s legacy. Not looking forward to this day but I know it’s going to come in handy in the future so a little inconvenience traded for future comfort isn’t so bad. Geez, you ARE cold down there! You stay warm too!!

Maybe a LITTLE bit warmer than yesterday and the sun is shining brightly which might help a tad in keeping the sun room warm.  I know you will be happy the next time there is a power outage!

P.S.  eBay knows what’s cozy!  I wear MY slippers all the time too.

C, yes warmer for sure but a little bit and we had no troubles keeping the room warm. In fact, with the sun shining in we were shedding clothes! I forgot that you have Mom’s slippers! So glad you are still wearing them. If you want another pair just ask and you can pick out your fav colors. I love knitting them and felting them. It’s my favorite pattern ever.

When you take the dogs to lunch, what do you do with them while you’re eating? That’s always a conundrum for us—we can take the dogs and sit outside (in cold/rainy/snowy weather) or we can leave them home and go inside a restaurant. Do they stay in the car? (Not an option for those of us who are auto-less!)

Steve, yes they stay in the car. They also love to go to the grocery with me—it’s the highlight of their day. Of course, in the summer they cannot go with me as it’s too hot to leave them in the car. Our first dog Manda (who we got while living in Germany) used to wait outside shops for us (in Germany) and she was also allowed into many of the restaurants. She stayed under the table and no one was the wiser. Are there any restaurants that might allow Olga inside? Usually Europe is more dog friendly that way.

Belated happy birthday Hailey - such a handsome dog.  A treat for lunch and a steak for later - what a wonderful life you have! 
eBay looks so comfortable and Rick’s slippers look so cosy.