Electricity (by alaric)

Since we had to have the house substantially rewired, due to a combination of flood damage and aging wiring, we had the electrician put in changeover switches on the ring main and the main lighting circuit:

They are the two little rotary switches beneath the consumer unit. Each circuit can choose between the mains feed from the grid, or the corresponding IEC inlet at the bottom of the picture, where we can plug the generator in to feed the house from it.

Also, somebody was amazed at my offhand reference to having military surplus lights from a submarine, so here's the photographic evidence:

They came from Bull Electrical

electricians at play! (by sarah)

When the electrician was about I took some photographs - here they are showing glourious wires dangling out of things and big tools that go wizz!

Earthquake (by sarah)

Last night at 0:57 according to my alarm clock there was an earthquake. It woke me up - at first I thought my back was spasming but there was a marked abscense of pain so I thought the cat must be cleaning herself vigourously on the bed next to me except something didn't seem quiet right with that either.

Then I realised it was the building shaking, it was like being inside a bell, ting ting ting, high pitched and full of harmonics - all the vases and trinket boxes not to mention the glass door cabernates where resonating, chinking and ringing with a sort of strange music. Perplexed I still lay in my bed scrabling for my glasses, then the light switch clicked but alas the shaking had dimished so that I could not rate it on the ....... scale. The motion had been decidedly sideways and I had heared no plane or anything plus the motion was... sustained.

However I know sufficiently large explosions can cuase tremors so I phoned AL to make sure he was ok and too try and convince him to twitter and blog the event but he wouldn't. I phoned my mum whilst doing the rounds to check that Jean etc... was ok - no one else had awoken and I begian to doubt myself especially when Mum said 'you sure you didn't have a dizzy spell.' I answered that no it couldnt have been as there was the sounds I had heared.

Al had asked if there was any other sound and this was a hard question for me to answer as due to having spent my early years almost completely deaf (untill 4 when I had an op) I 'hear' sound with motion such as thumping floor boards - the reason I loved my dads heavy metal initially and not the more melodic sweet music of my mum - I could feel the music. To me the undulation motion was a sort of noise but I don't think there was an actual audiable noise.

Alaric was suprised I was so excited but I was like - its a geological phonominon and I never thought I'd experience my first earthquake in a bed in Gloucestershire! I had sort of assumed that that honour would occure when we finially got to visit places like Japan!

On the news this morning they reported the quake to be 5 on the rictor scale and occuring at 1 in the morning - did anyone else feel this? Which fualt? What depth etc.... more info greatly appricieted!

Of Ice and Sheep (by sarah)

I am frozen at the moment - the ice just isn't going so here in the valley we have ice all day leading to slabs of ice and icicles all over the newely instated waterfall and riverlets of ice near the road.

On the plus side we finially have sheep 🙂

The field is full of wooly bar sheeps and there even appears to be some with the characteristic woolly faces meaning that we think we have the villages Cotwold Lions! The farmer who's sheep they are is the current designated looker afterer of the Cranham villages flock so we are very happy 🙂

Where is Number Three? (by sarah)

They say disastors come in threes so today has seen two - where is the third?

First off getting out of the vally was a trial as it was so icy theat even with a run up we just slid back sown agian. Al parked us went to get his folding shoval from the back of the van in order to put the salt grit on the road but whilst he was doing this a Gloucestershires Highways 4x4 with trailor proceeded to get stuck. So whilst we where heloping him time ticked away and suddenly Barbara was there behind us being late for Pilotes :/

Finally we get going and then on route the washing machine which I'd asked to be taken out before we left - floped over in the back of the van - a phenominia that shouldn't have been possible but becuse of exactly where the weight is possitioned was. I was not as they say very happy.

Ah actually there where three - my mobile phone then died when I was supposed to have several meetings and things which was not very helpful at all.