We light the oil lamps and put several on the kitchen table and chat and read while listening to the radio. When the kids were young they loved those nights- playing board games or cards by candle light. We have a generator that we can use if the power is going to be out for really long periods- but we only use that to keep the refrigerator cold. In the last 10 years we've only lost power for a a couple of hours at most.

Candles and flashlights.

Ummm...guess :)

Love to play cards by battery power lamps. Doesn't happen very often hear but I actually like it for a short period of time.

We have a generator. It's small, but would power 1-2 lightweight appliances. DH is planning on picking up a larger one when we make the final move to the country.

My laptop has a battery.

Otherwise, we'd probably: sit on the porch, enjoying the night without light pollution, chat with the neighbors. Or I might read by flashlight.

We have lost power so many times since we moved here 6 years ago we have an actual box of supplies ready to go at all times. We have battery lanterns and some great old board games for when this happens. We can play cards too. It is actually a fun diversion if it does not last too long and it's not the middle of winter!

Trish

We sit out in the screened Florida room and watch and listen to nature's happenings - with our industrial flashlights.

Once in a while it's nice to have no power for a short time.
Most of all just to listen to the quiet!
Our power goes out very rarely tho, and when it does it is not ever for very long.

I had candles in the main living area so could get around. Which reminds me that I have to get more since we have been going through them with a couple of power outages last winter. We used flash lights to get to the bathroom and bedroom. But of course the recharagable one was dead and the battery operated radio also. I am usually good about keep them working to have during emergencies, but this caught me off guard. Fixed that situation this morning.

Thought about cards but couldn't find any. What else can you do in the dark with kids to pass the time? I never really thought about it till last night. I don't know what I did in the past. Maybe it didn't last as long so didn't have this problem.
Clare

We have our flashlights handy and just relax. It's not so bad in the summer but in the winter it gets freezing without power. I hate it then.

Read by oil lamp. If the house is too hot, then sit outside and visit with the furbabies until am tired enough to go in and go right to sleep.

We got some of the flashlight headlights, put those on and read or I can even stitch if working on something small like an ornament (haven't tried anything big, don't want to frog if I goof!)

I can't remember the last time our power went out. It's been several years since that happened. But if Jammer is here we light candles and talk or play cards. If he's gone I light candles and play on my laptop. It will last several hours on it's battery.

We use to have a oil lamp. Wonder what happened to it, probably gave it away. I should get some of those flashlight headlights. I could use those just walking around in the dark here. We are way out in the country with no street lights and when it is dark with no moon, it is very dark. I always keep my dog, who is black, on a short leash at night when I take her out to do her thing before bedtime. I would loose her if she got away because I wouldn't be able to see her.
Clare

Have a portable tv with batteries. Use it mainly to just be in touch or feel like I'm in touch with the world.

When storms roll thru, I generally have it out, just in case and my trusty oil lamps. Have one large and two small.

Glenda will your portable TV still work with the digital switch over?

Flashlights and my battery operated tape recorder and I play some tapes .
I have a couple of small battery operated fans that I put on to circulate the air.

Last time the power went out I watched TV on my battery TV, however since the digital conversion it now is rendered useless for TV watching. I also used the notebook to go online (using the battery), I'd go charge it in the vehicle when the battery got low. Used crank flashlights so no batterys were consumed there and I used a battery radio to monitor the weather. Now however I have DSL so I wouldn't be able to get online but I do have a free dialup account as a backup so I can still get on the internet for some entertainment, communication or weather monitoring.

I also slept. Called (yes I have a non-electricity reliant phone available, to see when to expect it to come back on and report it if it wasn't known to them. However they pretty much always know right where there's outages and do a pretty good job of estimating when it'll be back on when it's not a huge outage.

I have oil lamps, flashlights and candles and do have a generator, rather large that we would run if the power was off for some time. I probably would just go to bed, or read.

Sue

We have several battery operated lanterns, oil lamps, and flashlights. We have a propane cookstove for emergencies. I put my coffee in a thermos bottle right away. Hubby will read, I will craft with our lanterns going. Use the flashlights to go into other rooms. We watch out the windows for the electric company trucks to be out checking. If power is not restored by bedtime, we just go to bed.

Light the candles and oil lamp and dress warm!
We have a crank radio to listen to. Also have a good stock of batteries if we'd want to use the CD player. But we might get hungry!
I LOL @ Monica, my first thought was I'd guess there were lots of babies born 9 months after a long power outage!

Oil lamps, candles, wind-up LED flashlights. I usually read during blackouts, or if close to bedtime, just head off early. I used to use my camping lantern, but the propane hissing drove me nuts.

If power is out for an extended amount of time, I hook into the generator at the well house across the road. I use it just to chill-down the fridge, check email, and charge cell phones and iPods, maybe check the TV news. Other neighbors complained, but they now know I get this privilege because my house provides the soft water necessary for the well system to operate properly.

Back when DH was around, sometimes we'd "get busy", LOL.

Clare- you could use one of these to listen to the radio in case you're out of batteries. It's a hand crank radio but you can listen to it for a good 15 minutes or longer on a very short crank of the handle. We got ours at LLBean years ago but I'm sure you can find it cheaper now. It also has a fashlight, a siren and some adapters so you can recharge your cell phone (not all, but some phones)

Here is a link that might be useful: Emergency radio

good36, my portable still worked. Had a power outage not too long ago and used it.

We don't lose power here for more than a couple of minutes. I would sit outside and visit with my neighbors. In the summer it would be hot in the house. In the winter I could stay warm with blankets.
I have a propane stove and lantern and a couple of oil lamps besides the flashlights and candles. DS and I could play cards or board games. We could also build a camp fire in the backyard and enjoy that.

I think, I would be like you and just go to bed. In 2007 when we lost electric, during the ice storm, we played board games (husband, daughter and I)

We also did more reading than usual, by our nifty headlight flashlights.

Moni

We had a scheduled outage just last Friday. It was supposed to be from 7am until 4pm but never happened.

We were leaving the next morning for an out of town wedding so at 10pm I put some glosser on my hair that requires a bonnet hair dryer and DH hopped into the shower about the same time. No sooner did the shower start and my hair dryer went that we were thrown into darkness.

I thought my hair dryer tripped the breaker (because I was pretty sure it wasn't the shower LOL) so I headed out to reset it. Once outside I realized the entire neighborhood was very dark and very quiet and then realized this must be the "scheduled outage", must have been re-scheduled.

The light from my laptop, now running on battery, lit up the room for a little while and an emergency light we have in the kitchen kicked in. But there I sat with expensive glosser on my hair and no dryer.

When DH finished up his shower and got out, I asked him what are we going to do now (I still needed to pack) ... he got 'that look' in his eye, and well, I packed the next morning. ;-)

The emergency power failure light we have is very nice. They are like large night lights and come on at dark. If power is cut, they stay powered up for a while or you can manually turn it off and use only as needed either as a flashlight or nightlight in the wall. See link below for more info.

Jodi-

Here is a link that might be useful: Power Fail Light

We lay in bed and use a flashlight to make shadow puppets on the ceiling.

I usually decide rather quickly that I might as well do something I have been putting off with all the time on my hands, like laundry or load and run the dishwasher. Then I realize that all those things are off too!!!

Last time it went off for hours at night, DH went to bed at his usual early hour, and I lit candles to knit and read. Worked out well.

We have had those headlight flashlights for many years. Started with the old kind we used on the fleets [boats on the Ms. River] that were those giant 9 nine volt batteries that you wore in a carrier on your belt. LOL.. Then we got the 3 AAA kind for camping. Clare your son might like one of those to use lots of times. I use mine every night to read in bed because I don't want to wake up Christy since she has to work and I can sit reading half the night. I have one of those battery chargers for alkaline batteries and always have extra batteries ready.

I usually read but when it happened during times when I had kids staying I'd give them the headlights and let them do art projects or put one or two of my many kerosene lamps on the table and let them paint or do something extra fun. Sometimes I'll get out things like bread dough clay and make some little figures. It's a lot better when it's not too hot or too cold. Smiles. Sitting outside and looking at the stars also works for us.

Glenda- you have a portable still? Are you making moonshine?

just kidding- for some reason I read your last post wrong-
"My portable still worked" and I had visions of you distilling alcohol on your balcony in the darkness.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am definitely getting a couple of those headlight flashlights. I see them advertised all the time in the Harbor Freight catalogs. DH will grumble but too bad, I'm getting one. I was bored out of my head sitting around in the dark for 3 hours. At least with those I could read. I am also getting a crank radio and crank flashlight.
Clare

Since we have lived here, its too many times we have lost power and we have gone through hours, days and the evening is the worst when its so dark so early in the winter.

I finally got fed up and candles burned too fast and was way too dangerous.

Finally I went out and bought a huge lantern type flashlight and could sit and read from it.

I can't go to bed early or will be up all night then. Its hard as your body wants to shut down in the dark.

Then my dad finally got us a generator and last winter when the power went out; finally had lights, heat and could heat up in microwave hot food and drinks. Our appliances fridges and freezers worked and kept all stuff good. What a huge difference it made. Could watch tv too, even go on the computer but never did.

And best of all besides heat and light was we got water, could flush toilets and wash and it was great having that.

Try living with out water, its not fun at all.

I feel guilty knowing that neighbours are in the dark and cold and we have water, lights and heat on.

Like Kathleen 44 said you can run a lot with a good generator. One thing I have done in the past, if I know a bad storm is coming, I will fill my washing machine and my bathtub with cold water. You can always use it to flush the toilet with. If you don't need it you can always use it by washing a load of clothes. When you are rather used to long power outages you learn to do what needs to be done ahead of time. Anyone else have any other hints?

Sue

I get my candles out and do ritual. If it's not raining outside then I would go and sit out on our deck and look at the stars.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

wish i had the commercial sized back up generator i should have bought in 2004 lol. we are in the orlando burbs and have gone as long as 24 days w/o power (aug 13 04). we go often enough that Progress Energy has a speed dial on my cell phone. we have a generator, just not one big enough to run the huge A/C unit, clothes dryer, fridge etc...all at one time. i own pretty much every accessory for going w/o power except for a new digital portable TV, have looked at them but for $200 for a 4" screen i can go w/o and use the internet. our other portable TV does not work now, of course. the state has already said that even in the event of a hurricane they will not be broadcasting in analog, so w/o a digital TV you will get nothing here.

in 2004-05 we had an awesome thread going on the FL gardening forum on gardenweb that was 52 pages printed. i printed it but am at work right now. no one knows more about long-term power outages than floridians :-(

one thing we do before hurricanes is cook ALOT of food in the stand-up freezer and i bake ALOT. baked goods are neccessary for bribing linesmen and help lol. good coffee also helps. we have 2 huge chain saws w/ 2 spare chains for each. in 04 we could not even get out of our subdivision because of all the trees down on the road in/out, everyone in the neighborhood had to chainsaw thru that. i always have plenty of plastic silverware, paperplates, plastic cups etc...on hand, along w/ foil pans. during hurricane season i do not let laundry pile up. a nice accessory to keep for short outages (1 day) is a power inverter and keep a spare car battery always charged. you can run several lamps, fans and 2 laptops on that lol.

and atleast here in FL when it's all over and done w/ be prepared for significant increases ea yr to your power bill to cover repairs & upgrades in the state LOL last yr was 17% increase, this yr 25%, next is 30%....while expecting service to go down. until 3 hurricanes in 04 we'd never lost power, since then it's common and in 5 yrs the bill has doubled while useage has gone down to save $$. ~ liz

Clare,

We got our headlight flashlights at a WalMart type store and they cost around $10 or $12, not to bad really. We also keep 1 in our cars in case of need at night.

Ellie

Go to bed and worry about whether I'll wake up in time for work in the morning! It actually doesn't get pitch black here at night (in summer) until 11 pm so going to bed isn't a problem. In the winter, I'd light some candles and we'd probably sit and talk or play games.