camping stove (and before you ask, no,
Belle doesn’t ‘do’ camping, it’s a relic from
The Great Storm of ‘87).
What will we eat tomorrow if we don’t get the
power back?
Christmas Day
…And we don’t. Our girl cooks scrambled eggs
on the camping stove, and we toast Christmas
in with a glass of champagne. We spend the
morning opening presents round the fire. And
talk! Belle especially enjoys not having to check
on the cooking every five minutes.
Friday 27th
Stir-crazy and sick of talking to each other,
the four of us head off to Basingstoke to the
pictures and a meal. Home to find the lights
on and the house warm. All is restored!
Because we already have plans to visit
relatives tomorrow, we decide to ditch
Nigella’s turkey rather than risk food
poisoning, and down it goes into the septic
tank to encourage the bacteria. They’ll have
a better meal than we had, but not half so
much fun.
Belle Walker
Christmas dinner is fried chipolatas that should
have snuggled up to the turkey, and on the
other burner, a delightful concoction of stir-fried
bacon, onion, sliced sprouts, and chestnuts.
Mince pies, Christmas cake and satsumas for
pudding. After a glass of wine or two, all vote it
the best Christmas dinner ever! (Belle makes a
note for next year.)
A walk up the lane reveals the cause of the
power cut: a tree down. Everyone is out there,
some to cut branches, others to give advice.
Not everyone has lost their power, and one
kind neighbour offers showers, which we
gratefully accept, trooping up the lane with
towels under our arms as we used to on school
swimming trips.
Boxing Day
Still no power. Our senior statesman is due
for lunch. We load up all the ingredients for
a roast beef dinner and hightail it over to his
house in Liss, where we discover the
delights of Aga cooking and a good time is
had by all.
Get home to hear that the power has been
on for a couple of hours… and gone off
again. Same recorded message as before:
‘the faul