Wednesday 4th November 2020 Day 225
Last night in the middle of the evening, there was an electricity cut followed by a fairly instant message from UK Power networks to say five hundred houses were affected by a safety issue and therefore it was an emergency cut. I was very glad to have a torch app on my phone so I could go and find some candles but whatever had caused the fault it was back on about an hour later. Sitting there in the gloom of candle light made me very glad that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity and how long the winter evenings must have seemed when there were only tallow candles to light a room.
8.00 Wonderful, wall to wall sunshine and blue skies, just what the doctor ordered! However, when I come downstairs, I see we have also had quite a heavy frost as my
eldest told me last night would be the case and of course all my plant pots are still outside as I have been fooled by the mild weather into leaving them longer than I normally would.
8.50 I think most of the plants have been lucky so I am going to start ferrying them down to the greenhouse. Out go the tomato plants and I shall make green tomato chutney with the remaining fruit. I have heard that garden centres are to remain open during lockdown, I wonder why. Perhaps they consider the buying of winter bulbs etc to be essential.
9.30 I meet with Sarah outside the pub which was heaving with cars yesterday with people having their last meal out for a month. Tomorrow it will look like a ghost pub again until whenever the decision is finally made as to whether lockdown will be for just one month or more. We only meet one other person, a man with a black puppy cocker spaniel. Audrey is very loud and obviously communicating with the pup and wanting to play but all that happens is that we all get entangled in the puppy’s long lead so we move on.
13.00 I arrive in East Grinstead to have my hair cut and am very thankful to my hairdresser for bringing my appointment forward before tomorrow. I can’t imagine how worrying it must be for so many who just have to stop their business for a month and try to survive it. Ashdown forest is looking glorious in the cold sunshine, full of autumn colour.
Tonight I am meeting with my writing group friends for a drink before lockdown. There will as always be a lot of laughs. Such good medicine.
17.00 No definite outcome over the USA Presidency vote yet, it seems like a very complicated system and there is a lot of hot air between Biden and Trump which comes as no surprise. Hopefully this won’t go on for days although it could apparently be weeks.