Saturday January 24th, 2009

I wrote the first part of the following Saturday morning just before we lost all power. It was out for just about 12 hours but I will still post this as soon as the internet connection returns. It is trying to boot now.

I am composing this off line in the hope that later we will get a connection long enough to post. We are still being bombarded by incredible winds and have been since around 03.30 this morning (now 11.00.) We slept on the convertible sofa in the house as the campervan is on the side of the property hit by these winds. (NW to Westerly gusting 150kph). So far we have been lucky, we think, although we haven’t been around that side of the house yet, as it is difficult to stand. The barometric pressure has been around 950/951 for the last 12 hours and has only risen by 1 point this morning, so the winds may continue.

We have a very disgruntled cat that is using his litter tray but doesn’t like it. Dog took one look outside (on a leash) and reversed in the direction of the wood burner and has not moved since.

Houses in France have external shutters as the norm and it is at times like this when they come into their own. It makes it dark inside but protects the glass. We are getting intermittent electricity and internet so we are boiling kettle to fill a thermos , writing etc whenever poss.

Thank goodness for the battery pack on laptops, as I am typing this in alternating light and darkness.