I grow more envious of my MIL and my mum as time goes on.
MIL first. She has a large outhouse which has a chest freezer in it. She has a solid fuel stove in the kitchen, which she burns logs and coal in (mostly logs from her own trees) and keeps a large kettle on top all winter round for hot water. In an emergency, if the "emergency" gas cooker in the outhouse fails, she can cook or at least heat things on that stove. And a large, open sided shed where she can hang her laundry to dry under cover but not in the house (causing damp) - if the electricity is off, she washes clothes in a large old bath (the ones you'd sit in, all squished up) out there too. And the logs are kept there nice and dry and accessible..
Wow -- I'm envious of this too!
I had another thought on this topic. A year or so ago, I came up with the idea of stocking an outdoor ice chest whenever I sense a power outage coming. Winds pick up and out comes the ice chest. I transfer the sandwich fixings, the condiments, some milk and pop and whatever other things I think we'll be needing. I then add a bit of ice and put it out on the porch right next to the door where it is nice and winter-cold. This way we are raiding the ice chest and not the fridge when we are hungry, and we do not need to open the refrigerator unless absolutely necessary. Everything in in refrigerator then lasts longer (and hopefully til the power comes back on).
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