Cold and damp
The snow didn't last long. We had heavy snow Friday and the whole show was over by Saturday. The snow was wet and heavy and accompanied by wind. Branches and trees fell and we lost power briefly but long enough to pull out the gas-powered generator. I was able to get it going only briefly but persevered and by the following day had things figured out. For future use, this is what I did to fix the problem.
- Fiddle for about 20 minutes trying various combinations of choke on/off and slow/quick starter pulls
- Spend 5 mins looking for a can of "Quick Start"
- Drive slowly in hellish traffic to get fresh gasoline in case the old stuff is no use
- Fill tank with fresh gas and mix with old by rocking generator back and forward
- Spend 15 minutes looking for a spark plug socket
- Take out the spark plug and turn over the engine looking for a spark
- Realize that the power is actually back on so give up and drink wine because it's Friday night
- Next day, check the oil level in case a low volume caused the engine to not start
- Open up the air intake and make sure the choke was working
- Look again (from a different angle) at the fuel tank stop cock
- Turn the fuel tank stop cock to the proper "on" position
- Generator engine starts on third pull and engine runs smoothly
After solving the mystery of the generator, I toured the garden to survey the damage done. Mostly we sustained small branch drops which were easily cleared by hand. One of the Rhododendrons I'd identified as at risk did keel over and had to be pulled back up, staked and its roots heavily mulched. The old elder tree also lost a large limb and a couple of smaller ones.
Not all is lost, however, the sole Mahonia that survived recent winters is beginning to flower.
