Power failure

Went to switch on loaded washing machine. Nothing. Kicked the door to make sure it was properly shut and tried again. Still nothing. Oh dear, I thought; Mr G won't be pleased that his washing machine has died (he was out). Never mind, I'll have a cuppa, thought I. Kettle was dead too. So was the light. Then I noticed the wonderful, blissful silence of no buzzing fridge, no wheezing electric clock, no neighbours' sound systems or electric mowers, just deep, deep peace, full of birdsong, just as it used to be. It was balm to the ears and the soul and I drank it in, until, with a series of clicks and a blare of noise, everything suddenly came back on including the radio, which hadn't even been playing earier, and Mr G's satnav on his desk. It was as if the house's heart had been kick-started after a cardiac arrest.

But now I know what living a simpler life would be like, in a croft near the shore, burning turf and reading by the light of an oil lamp. Oh, what perfect, relaxing peace!