Aunty Bees Belated Thanks for Christmas Wishes , a Power Cut has decided to help my Family Prove they have acquired Dunkirk spirit.

[Blearyeyed]

Just leaving a quick message to anybody that sent me a lovely message or eCards yesterday while I have a break from the Power Cut that hit us at Midday Christmas Day.

I'm sorry if I am unavailable to help or chat in the next couple of days as well ,,as the work to fix it is still not complete after the " New " Transformer blew on our back field.

Some power has been transferred to us now for the night but it will be off for works again in the morning , so Christmas Lunch may not happen until New Year.

The turkey was only half cooked so has now fed the ' Bin of Doom' .

Yet , there is even a positive side to a Christmas " Crisis" like this these days. You can tell that you have had a Chronic Illness like PMR / GCA for a while , and your Family have become adapted to the needs of your Health , when a disaster at Christmas lunch is just calmly brushed aside with a bit of Dunkirk Style spirit.

In days of Old we would have been screaming , angry , hysterical and basically acting like Christmas was ruined and the World was caving in .

Yesterday , we just gave a resigned sigh when given the news that the job was not a quick one , remembered the Emergency Soup on the gas hob and the cold meats and cheese , set up a buffet table , and moved on as though nothing had happened at all. Everything has become Small Stuff not to Sweat Over it seems now we are all used to putting our Wellbeing over Material things.

I will say Scottish Power were incredibly helpful though , and even offered to refund us the money if we wanted to go out and find a proper lunch out . As our local pub was also affected though , we opted out of that and just took the sincere apologies and £100 compensation for our lost feast instead.

Hoping we can manage some sort of sit down roast before Eric goes back to London , but just happy to enjoy each others company no matter what condition we are all in.

Hope you all had a smoother Christmas Day than me and that Normal Service will resume very soon for those that had a Day like mine . Belated Merry Christmas everyone !

Big hugs and mistletoe kisses , Aunty Bee xxx

[Hidden]

Oh Dear Bea, well you overcame adversity & still had a good day.

Thank Goodness for the large stock of food already in the house to enable the buffet.

You showed True Spirit & didn’t allow it to defeat you.......

I do hope you get back on full power soon.

Until then, thinking of you.

Your Friend

MrsN 😘

[Blearyeyed in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Mummy Nails ,

As I said in the greater scheme of things with our conditions these things stop being something to faze us.

We are so used to having to adapt our plans if some symptom or other pops up everyday already , it actually makes a nice difference that had to be made for reasons other than Bad Health.

Proves the Emergency pan of Santa Soup and the rice pudding is always worth making in our House .

Big hugs and No Boxing Today ! 😘😘😍

[SheffieldJane]

Well done to you and yours for rising above all this and still having a good time. My chef (OH) would have laid an egg, literally. These are the memories we cherish, the smooth Christmas’s just go by in a blur.

We got an email telling us what to do and who to ring, from Northern Power. So I knew something was afoot. Everybody is trained to deal with and transform adversity in your house. Hurrah for you all! X

[Blearyeyed in reply to SheffieldJane]

Yes , we are more used to having a Christmas Curse that involves a trip to A and E so this made a nice difference really.

We have just swapped dinners. The OHs sister also ended up in a pickle down in Norfolk , as her MIL was bringing the Turkey precooked and broke down along the motorway , so they didn't get their dinner until 8 pm either .

Half of the village still had power but my Friend took her ten minutes of power cut to heart and decided to copy us and cancelled her big dinner for nibbles instead just in case , so at least she had a perfect excuse not too cook.

We will see what happens today , it's all part of the Fun , hope you had a lovely day and got a deserved pampering xxx

[scats]

You poor things, what a mess. With luck you will be able to replace some of the food half price in the sales, and have an even better feast!

[Blearyeyed in reply to scats]

Yes , there's always Santa Soup and Rice Pud!

The OH got a bunch of new board games so everybody was amused and at least it's not Cold , that would have made the big difference really.

I just put on my new crochet socks from Grandma and read a couple of silly books , I feel for those people whom rely on Electric to make their Christmas though , at least with grown and undemanding Children those days are well and truly gone.

Eric was very happy as she had only managed to peel 3 Sprouts in 15 minutes and so she could put the pile away again.

I hope you and yours are feeling ok and just relaxing , big hugs xxx

[scats in reply to Blearyeyed]

I know I'm odd but I always used to like a powercut, cooking on the gas ring with one saucepan and sitting in front of an open fire, toasting buns, I enjoyed the challange. When we moved here and had a confused mother to keep an eye on the dangers became more apparent, it was no longer fun.

Sounds like you all coped well. At least it will be a christmas to remenber.

[Blearyeyed in reply to scats]

Yes, we could enjoy it rather than having a Christmas cursed by something that sent us all to bed.

It might have been a different matter if it had been as cold as it was last week.

It's one reason I would never get rid of my gas hob though.

The amount of power cuts we have hear it's a necessity .

[scats in reply to Blearyeyed]

It was the same when we lived in Wales. Overhead wires and high winds, it's just asking for trouble. Glad you're all OK.

[Blearyeyed in reply to scats]

Funny thing was the weather was calm and fine yesterday , so we didn't see it coming.

The Power had gone out for ten minutes at the main hub , but when it came back on it blew the transformer that they had only just replaced in the back field.

They are just setting up to start work again now , in the rain , so I feel sorry for those poor Emergency Work Staff really.

[scats in reply to Blearyeyed]

It's not an easy job, up a pole all weathers, day and night.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Blearyeyed]

At least it is only rain! Ours was feet of snow, and ongoing falling trees and landslips ... But for the 2 bits of the village that lost power for a week, the replacements are going underground ...

[Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro]

I know , we seem to have come off quite luckily so far this year , despite the gales , even in comparison to the rest of the UK. Touch wood ( I'm touching my head!) , this will continue for the rest of Winter. Hope you enjoyed your pizza ! xxx

[jinasc]

Oops, just think you saved some calories😉

Did you have heat? 🔥

Bet you had some laughs 😊

Hugs and xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Blearyeyed in reply to jinasc]

😂😂😂😂😂 I did not save calories , the rice pudding was reheated on the hob and I think I've eaten my body weight in mince pies , sausage rolls , cheese , marshmallows and chocolate!

We have a couple of gas heaters for emergencies as this happens all the time but it has been so mild that we hardly had to use them. We are permenantly wrapped up in thermals and Christmas jumpers at this time of year anyway 😋

We are pretty much a no TV , game box zone and always have been so despite the various infections , antibiotics and change in catering it was pretty much the usual Mad Fun had by All.

They seemed to have enjoyed it as my lazy daughters are only just getting out of bed , and the OH has been playing with his new Rubik's Sudoku cube in the dining room , I am enjoying an hour with my new Art Nouveau colouring book. Nice and quiet , power off again in an hour but it shouldn't be all afternoon , how goes it with you ?

[jinasc in reply to Blearyeyed]

Lovely day, except Joan was totally confused about the presents. I did manage to get her to speak to 2 people who called, rest of them no way.

Today Joan is sitting in front of the TV watching her favourite all afternoon. I, of course, will join her - yes it is footie day...... getting her to her afternoon nap is a no-no today.

So after lunch it will be eat chocolates time without me nagging. xxx

[Blearyeyed in reply to jinasc]

Don't worry you will lose all the calories shouting at the screen !😋😂😂😂

Plus , pretty sure that all Christmas and Birthday Chocolate is guaranteed guilt and calorie free!!😋

Glad Joan got to socialise , was she confused about getting presents because she wasn't sure it was Christmas , or was it because you got her something unusual?

My alleged friend got me an Encyclopedia of Spying one year , and another one a Cat shaped Shaving Mug , it does make you wonder what your chums really think you get up to when you get gifts like that , hugs xxxx

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Wonder if you can finish a half cooked turkey in a hay box??????

[Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, you can as long as the bird has started bubbling .

Unfortunately , the next door neighbours ( whom keep a horse in the back garden) were away at their Daughters , and we didn't think it was right to steal the food from Dobbin to keep it going .

Funny that you bring that up as we were considering it .

Have you ever slow cooked in a Hay Box ?

We tried it a few times out camping , it really works , amazing what ingenuity came from the survival spirit of the War.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Blearyeyed]

I haven't but have had meat cooked in one in a restaurant here.

[Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro]

We have done that hay burning thing to cook mussels collected on the beach that Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall did one year , lay them out with hay and herbs , the mussels steam and flavour under the burning hay. Best mussels we ever had !

[Yellowbluebell]

We were defrosting our Turkey in the downstairs shower room at eldests as its nice and cool but at 10pm on christmas eve i went into the room only to find her blasted cat had been shut in there with the turkey!! As this thing brings in all sorts of wildlife of varying sizes i am quite confident if he had been left in there for any length of time there would have been no turkey and a violently vomiting cat! Only in the yellowbluebell house can this happen!! I luckily interupted him before he could get his claws too far in. Disaster averted!!

[Blearyeyed in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Next year you should send him out to hunt down the Christmas dinner for you he's so good at it , then you could go for one of those seven bird roasts and reward said Psychopathic Moggy with the giblets!

We have just had a delivery from Morrisons of a free turkey courtesy of the power company.

Did you know that , that Supermarket also give away all their unsold Turkeys and Meats in left in store on Christmas Eve to local shelters and charities? That was so nice to hear.

Hope you survived the Big Day xxxx😘😘😍

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Blearyeyed]

Its great that they give stuff away. Local bakeries here give left over bread and pastries to local homeless charities.

The ninja cat is a pain in the butt and dumped a dead robin at the eldests feet last Christmas and then he went and sat by his food bowl awaiting treats. Luckily they have moved as the cat had been eying up the two peacock that lived in the next door but on. Can you roast oeacucks?

[Blearyeyed in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Yes, it's a very posh dish , I remember the big feast scene in Porterhouse Blue and they had them , they also had swans , but you can't eat them without getting permission from the Queen , as she legally owns all of them .

She can keep them , look lovely but they are snappy little devils , I have a scar on my ankle from being chased down by a swan when I was five at the zoo , it was like the scene in ' The Birds' with the kids being attacked in a school.

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Blearyeyed]

Could only happen to you!!

[Grammy80]

Such a wonderful message....you have all embraced what really matters. The best to all!!!

[Pixix]

Did wonder if you were OK! Remember the time we were at Mums & her oven broke in Christmas Eve! We were frying slices of turkey on Christmas Day, fortunately the bobs were working! It was one of the funniest Christmases I remember, though...it’s the ‘spirit’ that counts! S xx

[Blearyeyed in reply to Pixix]

Yes, it really is all the years of training coping with quick changes in plans because of illness that made us not turn a hair at the idea of it happening.

We finally had a Christmas Dinner Boxing Day evening , courtesy of a free turkey from the power company delivered by Morrisons , that we could cook before the power went off again for works during the afternoon ,,and finish the roasties for an lovely evening dinner when power was back on.

They really have made a big effort to make amends too ,as they have now increased our compensation to £200 and are delivering a hamper of goodies from Morrisons on Monday as a way to help us celebrate New Year. So I can't complain.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Blearyeyed]

Surely it merits at LEAST a Fortnum & Mason offering

[Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro]

If only !!!

They will deliver anywhere after all , even Wales !!!😋😂😂😂😘

[Pixix]

Good for them! We had power cuts here on Christmas Day two years ago...but all in the next door village! I don’t think they got compensation, but seem to remember it was a tree falling on the line that caused it! S x

[Blearyeyed in reply to Pixix]

Yes , I think it's because it wasn't caused by enviroment but was a fault caused through the power system itself ,,and them not clearly tightening up the new transformer enough so that when there was the shirt power outtage which came back on it caused the Blow Out of equipment .