TWENTY SIXTEEN - PART THIRTY NINE

                                       TWENTY SIXTEEN -             PART THIRTY NINE

  Hello folks,

  Today is Sunday, 23rd             October,  my 87th birthday. 


 This past week has been a time of hardship as far as electricity is concerned. We are now in our 4th power failure in this one week.  They last up to 20 hours which is certainly not pleasant. 

Today is no exception, power went off at 9pm last night and has not yet come back on. When it goes off for such long periods of time the borehole pump cannot work and so we are without water as well. 

The power failures are mainly due to storms of which last night's one was especially bad. 

I cannot use the computer as the battery no longer works. I can only use it when plugged into a power point.

So no power, no tablet, No computer, no TV, no water, no cooking facilities. One blessing is that my eyes are now getting a chance to have a rest. 

Ruth wishes me a happy birthday and then disappears behind her closed door.

Family and friends phone with good wishes. Breaking the gloom.  Ruth intended cooking a nice special birthday lunch - now no power. What to do.

We "fish" out the pressure        cooker with it's leaky rubber    band. It hasn't been used for    more than eighteen months,    but I still remember that it it 
 leaks rather badly at the lid.    We also have two small one    plate gas cookers.
I get the chicken into the pot and have to sit and watch it because of the leakage. I sit on my "walker's" seat and half an hour later when I smell the burn start,  I quickly remove the pot from the stove and add some more water. The second time the pot runs dry and the chicken is perfect.

Once the chicken is done Ruth and I cook the vegetables on the two small gas plates.  Everthing has to be done in relays.

Power  only came back on at 5.30 pm  (that was twenty and a half hours without power).

Now the toilet is blocked again, and leaking water.  Danny will come and sort it out tomorrow as shops are now all closed.

With God's help we have both stayed sane.

It is already dark by the time I can go on Facebook  and am pleasantly surprised to find all my other birthday wishes from family and friends. So my day did not end so badly after all.  You guys really made my day.  Thanks.



next post  8th January 2017