Sunday, February 6, 2011

Switching off

Basil

Due to a hefty five minute storm last night and a few trees falling on power lines around our suburb, our electricity went off a little after midnight. Although there were promises from ACTEW that it would be back at 10 am ... 2 pm ... it eventually didn't get put on until after 4 pm.

I wasn't going to complain about not having power for 15 hours. My parents were without it for more than 2 days thanks to Yasi, and my girlfriend's parents still have no power, no landline, no mobiles, and a shed wrapped around their house. But I had plans today which included cooking, stewing, sewing, washing and ironing, so what was one to do? I got inventive, that's what.

Cutting out

I cut out a dress and a skirt so they were ready to sew when the power was switched back on.

Cutting out

We went out for coffee and cake in the morning, and then chips and beer and pear cider in the afternoon.

Chips and pear cider

I went fabric shopping for not one, but two quilts. TWO! Out of control!

Fabric selections for two Kaffe Fassett quilts

Fabric selections for two Kaffe Fassett quilts

And I managed to do a little gardening.

Lettuce

I harvested the last of my potatoes!

Potatoes

And I have to say that having no electricity forced a certain kind of ingenuity in how we spent our Sunday. We are not a pair who tend to be comfortable doing nothing, but by not having a sewing machine, computer, stove, microwave, washing machine and music, we were still able to have a really lovely and productive Sunday. It was, dare I say it, relaxing. Except for the fact I really missed my morning coffee and we were worried about food in our fridge turning, it wasn't such a bad thing to have happen to us. I think switch-off Sundays (figuratively speaking) might be a frequent thing in our house from now on.

Except for the coffee. There must be coffee.

7 comments:

  1. Two cups. Sunday would not be the same without two cups. Otherwise I reckon Switch-Off Sunday is an idea with LEGS.

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  2. I reckon you could definitely make switch off sunday a regular thing...starting after coffee! great idea!

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  3. That sounds soooo lovely, but I too, definitely cannot live without coffee.
    It's amazing how much complaining we do while forgetting about all those people affected by storms/floods/and cyclones. I don't know how I'd cope if faced by the same situtation.
    I'm intrigued by the black fabric with the white doiley print!

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  4. Switch off Sundays. What a great idea. Post coffee of course. Did you think that investing in a treadle sewing machine might be a good idea?? I think I saw one on Freecycle just recently!

    Gorgeous fabrics. You'll just have to keep on blogging, so we can see progress...

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  5. Oooo! Lots of lovely Amy Butler and Kaffe Fasset. Looking forward to seeing them in progress.

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  6. I love alliterative-themed days! Sometimes its nice to be forced away from all the 'noise' of life isn't it...

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  7. We would light the camp stove, or even build a fire (subject to restrictions of course) for the morning coffee. Can. Not. Function without it. Otherwise the switched off Sunday sounds fabulous. Especially fabric shopping... Oh and there would be always knitting and hand sewing.

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