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!

Rushing Around like the Proverbial… (by sarah)

Friday a package containing two isolator switches so that the electrician can put in a special bit so that we can change over the office to generator easily but it did not arrive - Al had ordered it on next day delivery so was suprised and half way through Saturday morning discovered that the order hadn't gone through properlly and as the electician had said he wanted it for Sunday we then had a big flap about trying to find one we could get too a)before the various trade countors closed and b)the one in stock sold - we didn't manage it so we bought a half measure in the form of junction boxes at B&Q alonf with our new outside lamp (which was one of the more expensive ones around £30 as we decided going with metal instead of plastic would hopefully mean it would last longer).

Then back to the Mill before setting out for first Stroud to a shop that turned out to be closed and then to London and Essex to pick up the Dishwasher and washing machine. Nipping in to see Mum whilst we where there - she really does have sunburnt looking patches on her :/

We then begain driving back and it would have all been fine where it not for a big accident on the A147 which had things cut off when we where only like half and hour from hime resulting in us getting in at the annoyingly late time of 11:30 - it was a nasty hectic day is all I will say.

New Step (by sarah)

Obviously we had to have the bottom step replaced - unfortunatly I wasnt there to get a photo of the old one being pulled out etc... but here is our shiny new step though I'm not entirely sure why they've made it wil so many screws visible on the top surface - I know they are counter sank but it still ruins the idea of having a middle carpet thing on the stairs with the sides exposed. I've never seen a step made like this. Still its sturdy and it means we are a step closer to being back in our home 🙂 Sorry I just had to get a joke in there somewhere!