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Today - white horses and waves

Ice cream that’s been in a freezer with no power for 24 hours is like eating a vanilla-flavoured cloud from heaven.

That’s one of the lessons the farmer and I have been taught by storms. With wet, windy and wild weather upon us, here’s some more:

How to watch Coronation St during a power outage and a storm: Take wine to your solar and wind-powered neighbours’ home and drive through a raging river (this from a Coro St addict).

Have taps lower than your water tank:  Ours produced more than a healthy dribble throughout the power cut.

Make sure roof water goes into the water tank – the farmer’s repair to the spouting achieved this, terminating our water fall, however frogs will have to relocate during the next drought.

Yesterday a looking glass

Have a stash of firewood:  Another achievement by the trusty farmer.

I’m more useful than four border collie bitches even when plodding through sludge – especially when the dogs take off after the main group of bulls and ignore the stragglers.

Don’t wait for a day to wrap your freezer in blankets:  Everything survived, but it was touch and go.

You may make unlikely discoveries:  The farmer lunged inside shouting, “Taa daa!” while waving the purple chook bin lid lost months ago when it flew off his truck.

Check access roads asap:  Using his chainsaw and tractor, the farmer was tackling a massive tree that had fallen across the road near home when the saviour metre reader arrived. Had the farmer waited, the ambulance would have had to back track – somehow… if it couldn’t turn around, reversing four windy kilometres would have been tedious indeed.

Stay inside during storms because trees are heavy:  A large fallen branch impaled in the ground looked as if it had been punched in with a post rammer.

Don’t use your tractor bucket to hold down the cowshed roof:  A nearby farmer realised too late that oil will leak out of the hydraulics and cause the bucket to drop and seriously dent the roof.

Have a spare gas canister for your cooker, plus matches and candles:  By the time some people got to town they’d all been sold.

Know how to find your torch in the dark:  This lesson came compliments of the farmer’s aunt who fell over while searching.

Check on your neighbours asap:  Daniel the saviour meter reader found Rex’s aunt and carted her to hospital via the above-mentioned ambulance.  Luckily he was a St John volunteer.

And two final delights:  Go into town to make phone calls because the power and phone are sure to be out for many more days – this will cause both to click into action shortly after you arrive home.

Thank the amazing power and phone people, the Daniels out there, and everyone – including the farmer – who cleared the roads of debris and fallen trees.