After the Storm…..

Very unusually we were affected by both Storm Ellen and Storm Francis.

Storm Ellen

I knew that the forecast was for winds but I didn’t take it seriously. Surely, it will be nothing like what we used to experience in the Highlands of Scotland: blowing a gale all the time. Power cuts were common even in the summer. The moment I knew there was going to be gale force winds, I would swing into action. I would fill the thermos flasks with hot water; fill the hot water bottles; bring out the candles and kerosene lamps; prepare some food that is easy to cook over the fire.

However for Storm Ellen, I was completely unprepared. It was a Friday afternoon and the Mhinisteir was away for wedding rehearsals. I wasn’t feeling too great and so decided to have a wee lie down. I turned on the radio for company. The time was 2.58pm. The next minute, the radio fell silent. A power cut! I was convinced it will be back on in a minute as it always does in England. How wrong I was!

The Mhinisteir came back at about 6.30pm and the power was still off. According to him, a tree had fallen and that was the cause of the power cut. We decided to have some cereal and go to bed for there was nothing else to do!!!!! The power finally came back on at 8.38pm!!!!

Storm Francis

Yesterday, at about 4pm, the wind began to pick up. I wasn’t going to be complacent. I quickly whipped up a stir fry for our evening meal and kept it warm in the oven. Just after 7.30pm, the power went off. Thankfully, we had already finished our dinner. We like to have ours before 7pm. It was beginning to get dark so we couldn’t read. We had a quick bath and went to bed but thankfully the power came back on in under 2 hours but with intermittent cuts after that!