The Homestead Way of Life

Just Give Me that Countryside!

Well, if anyone is still coming 'round my blog after so long, let me give you an update.

We had a humdinger of a windstorm here at the end of February.  Gusts were clocked at 120 knots!  To those who have lived through a hurricane, I salute you.  At the height of the storm, the kids and I were praying out loud.  Let me tell you, a windstorm in the middle of the redwood forest is something you don't want to know about!

We lost power, of course.  A telephone pole was cracked in  half like a match stick down the highway, so we didn't have phone service either.  We're on a well out here, so when there's no power, there's no water either.  Yeehaw!  We're living the country life now!

 My husband was out of town and couldn't reach us, which did not make him happy.  He hopped on a plane home the next morning. The Lord kept us safe, praise Him.  The power came back on fairly quickly.  But, to our surprise, still no water.  The surge of the power outage had fried our pump motor.  Good thing Guy came home.  He spent the next three days working on the pump, while we gathered water in rain buckets (thank you Lord that it was raining!).

We finally got the pump working again, but still no phones!  The phones have been intermittently off an on ever since.  I couldn't get online very much. 

But, as of yesterday, everything seems to be back to normal.  As normal as it gets here on the homestead, I guess.

God is so awesome.  I had been reading "The Hiding Place" the week this all hit, and all I kept saying through everything was, "This is nothing compared to what Corrie and Betsie went through."  I just kept feeling so blessed!  Blessed that the storm had brought my husband home from his trip early, blessed that it rained when we needed water and it quit raining the very day the pump was fixed, blessed that in the middle of the redwood forest, not one tree came down and did anyone any harm.

I don't know how people get through stuff like this without the Holy Spirit giving them perspective on it all.  I thank the Lord for His presence in my life and the way He works all things together for our good.

Untitled Comment

08:01, 2006-Mar-21 .. Posted by smmagers

Glad your back, what a storm. Here in so calif it has been raining and we have mud, but that is nothing , to what you have had. God bless, mj

Amen!

08:31, 2006-Mar-22 .. Posted by Snowberryfarm

I agree. God is so good, and he really does work everything out.

Happy Spring!

Michelle

storms, wells, power

01:05, 2006-Mar-25 .. Posted by ThistleCoveFarminVA

We moved to our farm in 1995 and it required extensive work...house, fences, barns...everything needed work. My three needs included a well, a gas cook stove and a wood heat stove; all three have paid for themselves many times over.

A small, five horsepower generator is a necessity in our winter months and served us well for a few years. When Dave's elderly mother moved in with us, Dave bought and installed a large generator that runs off propane. No matter what the weather we now have a few lights and can use the well (bathroom).

Funny as we age what wants turn into needs. Using the bathroom inside during a winter blizzard is so much nicer than hunkering down outside! <lol>

God's blessings on you, yours and the work of your hands.