Power cuts were quite the rage in the 70s. Proposed pay caps resulted in the miners working to rule and coal reserves ran low. The Government was forced to reduce electricity consumption; hence the cuts. I have vague memories of being pleased at the time, it being impossible to do homework or piano practice in the dark!
Usually the only power outages we've had recently have been when the oven throws a wobbly and the fuse blows. Until this week that is. At 5:15 on Tuesday the electricity board had some sort of problem local to us and we were forced to spend an evening without power. It's amazing how reliant we are on the old electrons continuing to flow. Luckily, we have a gas hob so I was able to cook dinner but, without television, radio and it being too dark to read, we were in danger of having to make conversation! R's mobile was charged, so we rang the help line to find out what was happening. They informed us that the fault was temporary and would be rectified by 8:30pm. Dinner was consumed and we went for another walk - not only to pass the time, but to have a nosy into people's houses to see how big an area had been affected. 8:30 came and went and the automated message was now saying 2:30am. That would be 9 hours and I began to wonder how long the freezer would take to start defrosting.
Candles were lit and the board games unearthed. Backgammon and Rummikub kept us entertained until we gave up and had an early night. Power was restored by just gone midnight - I know this because a neighbour's alarm went off!
Talking of Backgammon, R had a backgammon related injury yesterday (Yes, we've got the taste for it now!). On winning, he jumped up, pulled his sweatshirt over his head and started to do a victory lap like a footballer. A combination of numb feet from sitting on the floor and the absence of light resulted in him falling over, head first into the sofa. Luckily, only his pride was hurt, otherwise it might have resulted in a rather embarrassing trip to A&E!
I've uploaded all the photos from my camera for this month. There aren't that many, few are interesting and none of them show the torrential rain of the past few days. The weather is certainly making up for the dry April. I've been trying to do some gardening but I'm in and out like a fiddler's elbow. We tried to make a quick dash round the block for some exercise yesterday .... the coats and shoes are still drying.
For what it's worth, here they are:
Rhubarb and Ginger jam. Actually, I'm calling it compote as it tastes nice but is barely set.
My Mistletoe Cactus. I made the pot by hand during the last lockdown so, like Owl's spelling, it wobbles a bit. The cutting I got for about £3 on Ebay. A visit to B&Q last week revealed fully grown, bushy varieties for a fiver. I was a little miffed but am consoling myself with the fact that I was supporting a small business rather than a big chain!
