Powerless...

Again! Only for about 8 hours this time, thank goodness.

A disturbed night's sleep, thanks to Storm Malik raging around. Just before 7.30am came the unwelcome, but not entirely unexpected thud indicating that the power had gone off. It came back on after a few minutes, and was on and off for the next 3 hours, after which it stayed off.

No sewing then. I reminisced fondly about my old manual Singer sewing machine, that served me well for two decades until it was no longer possible to buy replacement parts. Made some progress on the curtains though, and tacked the long side seams until it was too dark to see by daylight.

Had just finished, and MrM and I were wondering - rather half-heartedly, as the wind was still very strong - whether to get out for a walk, when Fletch came bounding up the stairs. Jacqui followed close behind. 'Twas a good excuse for MrM to light the fire. We sat and chatted in its warmth, and enjoyed a very naughty mid-afternoon wee dram or two as the light faded and the candles were lit.

Walked down to the car park later with Jacqui as, supposedly, there would be a van supplying food, arranged by the electricity company. But it had been decided to put it on South Road where, apparently, there was a huge queue. So we decided on home cooking after all - thank goodness for the gas hob. Just after I'd washed up by the light of a camping lantern and a head torch, the power came back on, much to our great relief. Fingers crossed that it stays on!

Not surprising that lots more trees have come down, and for a while today two of the main roads out of Wooler were blocked by fallen trees. Apparently, a gust of 93mph was recorded at Brizlee Wood, not far away from here.