February 8, 2010

The Weaver family's camping skills have proved to be very useful for the past two days. That's how long they've been without power.

"We've been melting snow on the wood stove to wash dishes, and they've been filling the bath tubs up with snow," JoAnne Weaver said.

Not only is the family's power out, but their water, which usually comes from a well, is also off. They've been heating their home in Albemarle County with their wood stove.

They've also been relying on other things around the house, like head lamps to play Ping Pong at night or a battery-powered radio to listen to the Super Bowl.

"I sat and knitted with my head lamp and my little radio and listened to the last 10 minutes of the game, which was enjoyable for me because I'm a big football fan," JoAnne said.

Weaver's daughters, Abby and Emma, have been helping their mom collect wood deep in the backyard. They've also spent their time breezing through Harry Potter books.

"Me and my sister have been reading a lot, and I just finished the third Harry Potter book yesterday," Emma Weaver said. "Now I'm on the fourth."

JoAnne said the power outage is most likely from several down power lines in her backyard.

"They said the line hanging on the ground was a neutral line, so it wasn't live but we have about six other trees laying across those lines in the easement," she said.

They're patiently waiting for Dominion Virginia Power to make their way to Stony Point because they say they're getting tired of setting up camp at home.