Homestead Woes: The Failing Refrigerator

Sigh. This has been a crazy week. We, in the Mid-Atlantic, have been subject to unprecedented flooding. Roads have been shut down, homes washed away, life put on hold. Fortunately, our little homestead is on a hill but, that didn't save us from the dreaded wet basement. I have spent many hours the past two days bailing our basement out by hand. And even though it wasn't fun, I feel fortunate that I had a basement to bail and I know it will dry out in the end. Some of our friends fared much worse.

But, troubles come in threes, right? Yesterday husband's car developed clutch issues (master cylinder) and my spare refrigerator went kerplunk. It actually sounded like that when I tried to adjust the temp.

Keeping my fingers crossed I let it run all night hoping I was wrong. Ok, I was in denial. Yes, it is just a "spare" refrigerator, but it is packed full! When I grocery shop, I look for major sales on items that we use frequently. Then I buy enormous quantities and throw it in the spare fridge or freezer. We also buy a quarter of a beef steer each year, and process our own chickens. My kitchen fridge, spare fridge, and chest freezer are all three full, due to some planning and thrifty shopping.

I rearranged some of the goods, getting the frozen stuff jammed into one of the two other freezers. But most of the stuff in the fridge wouldn't fit anywhere else so, it's in a cooler. And now I have a challenge for the month: to prepare our meals only using what we already have stored. I think we'll be eating a lot of oatmeal, rice, and fruit smoothies!