A Weekend on Lockdown

Monday, March 30, 2020



Saturday I woke up with another urge to clean, I find it baffling as normally the thought is 'I guess I should do some housework', never before have I woke up wanting to do it! I had a few tea breaks though. I phoned my Dad at 10 o'clock with a cup of tea in hand ready to join him on his tea break. He's retired but still has a cuppa at 10am everyday, a little fact that delights me and makes me smile.

Later I FaceTimed my sister-in-law and we chatted for an hour. She's now on week five of lockdown. She had laryngitis a few weeks before social distancing started, and as Coronavirus started to emerge she was advised to stay at home as she's in the high risk category. Her voice is still croaky but she remains cheerful.

Then my aunt phoned me and we chatted for nearly two hours. It's the most sociable I've been all year!

The next day I woke up to snow flurries and high winds. And a power cut. If I gotten up just five minutes earlier I'd have had the chance for at least one cuppa before the power went out, but I'd decided to stay in bed for just a little bit longer.

The wood burner was lit and the camping kettle was retrieved from the back of the kitchen cupboard. I'd never had to boil a kettle on the wood burner before, I was interested to see how long it would take.

I sat dozing on the sofa and waited for it to boil (has anyone else found themselves feeling lethargic during all of this? Some days I have no energy at all - maybe it's all that cleaning?). I tried to read but couldn't keep my eyes open.

I gave up waiting for the kettle to boil after two hours and decided to just make the damn tea! The two glasses of water I'd had over the course of the morning just weren't cutting it. The water was just about hot enough, and, my goodness, I enjoyed that cuppa!

The UK Power Networks website said the power would be back on by 11:30am. At 11am the power was back, I clicked on the kettle, plugged in my mobile phone and sent Andy a text to say the power was back on.

And then it went off again.

I sent another text to Andy and settled back on the sofa with my book. 11:30 came and went and the UK Power Networks website updated to say power would be returned to us between 3:30 - 4:30pm.

My plan for the day had been to do some work work and do the ironing, both of which required electricity. If the sun had been out I'd have happily pottered in the garden but at times the hail was almost horizontal.

My phone battery was very low and slowly counted down to switching itself off. I sat wondering what to do. I had some Ryvita and soft cheese for lunch, and realised that if the power didn't come back soon things would start to defrost! I decided not to worry, knowing that it would be short lived - hopefully.

Without power and without any form of communication I had a glimpse of the true meaning of isolation, and I felt even more grateful for all the methods of communication we have available to us - so long as we have power.

The power clicked back on at 4pm.

Did you have a good weekend?
xx

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16 comments

  1. How lovely to have long conversations and mutual cups of tea with your nearest and dearest but what a nightmare with the electricity.
    Jon's been a bit concerned about the country losing power and did a test run with a kettle on the log burner - it worked! If all else fails we can have tea! xxx

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    1. It was so nice to chat, and most of what we talked about was stuff and nonsense - just what the Doctor ordered.
      Losing power really would be the final straw, can you imagine! It did take a while for the water to get hot enough but, yes, at least there would be tea. And BBQs would be dusted off in every corner of the land. But let's not think about that too much...
      xx

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  2. A power cut, how disorienting at a time when we're all stuck at home. Glad you made the best of the weekend. We're still busy at the moment, more jobs added to the to-do list xx

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    1. I quite enjoyed the time on the sofa with a book, it was comforting to know the issue was being sorted, and would be short lived.
      I think it's always possible to find things to do, all those little things you say you'll get around to 'one day'. In a way it's satisfying to have the time.
      xx

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  3. I worked from home on a remote set up - I am assisting people with broken down boilers, no elec (like you) cars that break down and send out assistance to them, a lot of people are self isolating and we are working round that; but for me while I am working and talking to lots of people I feel like I am in the middle of a crowded room a lot of the time! I have been digging the garden and had some beautiful long walks. Glad you are ok.

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    1. Isn't it wonderful how technology can bring us all together, when we can't actually be together, it really is marvelous.
      I imagine digging feels pretty good, sadly I don't need to do any digging but I've been planting seeds in trays and doing some aggressive weeding, all of which feels good.
      Stay safe
      xx

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  4. Yikes, not the time you want the power to go out! I'm glad it was back on fairly quickly. Two hours for a cup of tea though!

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    1. I know, if I hadn't dozed so much it would've felt like an eternity! ;)
      xx

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  5. Not fun having a power cut! We have a gas cooker so at least we would have been able to make coffee or tea by boiling water in a saucepan, but I can imagine it was a bit of a nightmare not being able to do so. And yes, I've definitely been feeling lethargic as well, I keep meaning to do things but it's hard to get started! xxx

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    1. We now have a small camping stove, just in case it happens again. We don't have them very often but at least we're now prepared.
      I think some lethargy can be expected as we adjust to this new normal, it's a lot to get to grips with.
      Hope you're well Ann.
      xx

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  6. I have been secretly worrying about power cuts and then I read that you have had one! Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!! The thought of no tea fills me with utter dread!!! We have a Jet boil (a water heating system) but I'm not sure if we have any canisters currently!
    Re lethargy, yeh, I am getting that. I woke at 11 today and then spent 3 hours writing a lesson online for my Year 5's (didn't help I recorded 6 videos and then discovered they were too long for Blogger. Had to rerecord in 15 second segments!
    Oh my goodness, I must dash, I have just realised I HAVE 6 KIT KITS IN A BAG IN THE GARAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Something just reminded me! Pity I took the pack of 25 into school the previous week!

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    1. Go, go GO! Get those Kit Kats! Enjoy :)
      xx

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  7. Did I comment on this or not!??!?! I was having secret worries about power cuts and then lo and behold, I read that you had one!! Ahrgjh!!!! No tea!??!?! The thought really worries me! When I had tonsilitis in January, I didn't drink tea for a couple of weeks and I was miserable!
    We have a Jetboil for camping boiling water but I suspect no current gas cannisters!

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    1. As you can see, you did, but you got distracted by Kits Kats :oD
      I don't know what caused the power cut but it didn't last too long. We now have a camping stove so we can have tea if it happens again, without having to wait hours for the water to heat up. I did worry about food defrosting if it went on too long, but it was OK in the end. We don't need anything else to worry about.
      The lethargy is weird, sometimes I feel really energised, and then the next day I have no energy at all. I'm trying to go for a walk everyday no matter how I'm feeling, as it does seem to help.
      Well done on getting the online lessons done, what a shame you had to rerecord, how frustrating!
      xx

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  8. I'm really loving lockdown life if I'm honest, haha! OK, I do miss some of my freedom but the enforced time at home is a real blessing for me! On Sunday we basically pretended it was Christmas!! We cooked a delicious roast dinner, lit the fire, ate chocolate and drank some mulled punch leftover from Christmas (non alcoholic!) and just sat and read for the whole evening. It was lovely!

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    1. I'm glad your enjoying it, so many people are struggling (myself included at times), so it's nice to hear your making the most of it. I love the idea of a mini Christmas!
      xx

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