Let there be light..

Yesterday from 4.20am until 7.22pm we were without electricity (this is the second time in less than two months) and it got me thinking what would we do without this source of power. It is a little like the after dinner game we used to play 'Come the Revolution' when we would discuss who would go up against a wall should 'we' take over! In this case I got to thinking who would be useful in a world without electric - no computers, no washing machines, no artificial light, no fridges or freezers, no microwaves, no fan-assisted ovens, no TV in fact a lot nos to those things that we take for granted.

OK, obviously I was going to be extremely useful, I can produce clothing from scratch! So in my mind I had set up a commune of useful people and life was idyllic, the sun was shining all the time (with a gentle wind to dry all that lovely fleece), the garden was full of plants with dyeing potential, Mr S was busy in his shed making everything we needed out of wood and then the bubble burst. No electricity would mean that the fleeces would have to drip dry and the dyeing would takes absolutely ages over a fire in a big pot, food would also require a big pot over a fire - visions of smoke filled iron-aged huts began to take over - everything smokey and grubby - uck!

No I am a girl/woman of the 21st century I like my PC, and all the labour saving devices that make it possible for me to be able spend time on my hobbies! So by about 10.15am I began to rant about the loss of power - it took until nearly midday for fault to be found, right outside our bungalow - work on digging up the pavement didn't begin until 3.30pm and power wasn't restored until after the 'Archers', well 7.22pm to be precise and that is a long time. I had half a large fleece soaking and no way of powering the spin drier, a pile of dirty clothes and no washing machine and a hubby who had realised that the final time trial in the Econ Tour of the Low Countries (it a cycle race for those not in the know) was not going to be watched in HD at 2pm.

Now don't get me wrong - I really admired all those people in the past that managed without electricity and I am happy to do what I can to reduce my carbon footprint, save water and hopefully get some solar panels (if we can convince the company that the image on Google is out of date and our roof is actually nearer 40sq metres not less than 24!) - and I will keep spinning on my Joy until I really need an electric spinning wheel (the time will probably come but I will face that when it happens) but give up my spin drier - no way, dripping smelly fleeces in the bathroom are not conducive to happy marriages - nuff said.