Little House on the Prairie Redux

Have you missed me?

Go on, you can admit it. You've been wondering where the heck I've gotten to and why the bloody heck haven't I updated this silly old blog.

Well, the reason my friends is ever so easy to explain. It's hard to use a computer when you've got no electricity. And it's even harder to use the Internet when you've got no phone.

We had a fabulous snowstorm on Sunday that covered the village (and all the dog poop) in a blanket of white. The flakes fell fast and fat, and the 5 of us sat at lunch and marveled at the beauty.

Then the power went out.

Bubba-Love had a meltdown about not being able to watch Ratatouille. And Cars. And Shrek.

This was going to get ugly.

That night, we all tucked up close to the wood stoves, boiled hot water for tea and hot chocolate, and Hubster and I screamed at the kids not to keep dancing around all the candles that were lit to give us a bit of light.

It's not just moths that are attracted to flame, it's anyone under 3 feet tall wearing slippy socks.

Luckily for us, we kept the house relatively warm and in one piece and thus we survived our first night without central heating or a hot bath. It sounds worse than it was, if I'm honest. Bundled up with sweaters, tucked under the duvet in a little cocoon, it's snug and warm. The kids looked like little Michelin Men in their beds but dressed like that, they really couldn't kick off their covers now could they?

Monday passed with Hubster and Hippy-Love Françise heading to town in the 4x4 for supplies, the kids drawing loads of pictures and playing with toys they had forgotten they had.

Hubster had a flash of brilliance while in town and picked up everything we needed to make fondue on the wood stove for dinner, so under candlelight on our second night, we laughed and giggled over stringy cheese, dressed in our best fleece and socks.

Luckily for us, we finally got the power back on Tuesday. (As I write, I think there are still several thousand homes in our departement who have not yet had theirs restored.) Three huge blue generators were propped up around the village and within a hour of their arrival, we were back to normal. Back to using the washing machine, the dishwasher, the computer, the TV.

How quickly we left Miss Ingalls and her world behind.

Truth be told, the only thing I think I really missed was not having hot water. Other than that, with the woodstoves and the candles, it wasn't really all that bad.

I liked playing shadow games with Mini-Husband and The Princess. It was good to sit and read with Bubba-Love. It was nice to stop the normal whirling and just be. Just sitting with Hubster, snuggling under a blanket. (Anyone else predicting a baby boom in the Puy-de-Dome in nine months time?)

The one lasting effect I've noticed is that the church bells seems to have been knocked for six. I'm not sure if the power cut did something to the electric timer for the hourly and half-hourly chime, but since Sunday at one, I haven't heard one single "ding" or "dong."

You know what that means, don't you? Typhon's career as a choir dog seems to be temporarily on hold.

A divine act of intervention, perhaps? Or maybe just a small oversight by the electric company?

Who cares! Let's hope that power cut lasts!