Meet Genny the generator. Normally the two of us get on fine knowing that she’s there if I need her. When seven letters and a phone message arrive from SSE to say we will have a power cut all day yesterday until 5.30pm, Genny isn’t even in the picture.
Forward 10 hours of no power and the water is no more. Yes, as much as we have our own water supply, wood boiler, and solar panels; when the power’s off, nothing runs. Water is used sparingly from the tap and several pans are filled up beforehand to prepare for it. Not only that, it would have been a belter of a day on the amount of energy generated with not a cloud all day. Which also creates our livestock problem. Electric fences are still adhered to, but there is no water supply (also connected to the bore hole). Add sunshine and you can’t wait till 5.30pm.
Clock read 6.50pm when there was a slight power boost and then stillness. Brief enough to get your hopes up and crash. Messages via mobile data initially say another hour. At the 45 min mark I took the decision to go see Genny. But we fell out. She obviously didn’t like it that it had been so long since I last went to start her up. Twice she got going, but shut up shop within seconds. After that…nothing, no peep, no cough, no nothing. Just desperate pulling on the choke. So the cows had to wait and the polytunnel was watered by buckets. Not nearly enough but enough to get by.
So, with such a lovely sunset, my back was mostly to it, head down studying the instruction flash card. We’ll maybe try and reconcile the differences a different day.
Birchwood Croft, Inverness-shire 