Friday
Dear Elsie
Today was the day the entire street was without electricity – and so far it’s been 22 hours. We have solar, but with the weather cloudy and rainy, the batteries will be hard pressed to last another day. The sun came out in a weak scanty fashion this morning, but it was still enough to charge the batteries up to about 88%.
Varying reports came in from the residents around the faulty box. The electricity department arrived shortly after 8am and then left again. They returned an hour later.
Then they went up the pole.
We were all expecting great things but then they came down the pole and as the rain came down, the huddled into their vans and waited.
And that’s what it’s been like since lunchtime. We have just been down to ask the electricity team who have been sitting in their vehicles for hours. They said the cable is on its way and then they will need an hour or two to fix it. It won’t be done by 6pm, so maybe 7? We are needing to heat up the hot water so we can all shower and with guests in the Seaview Apartment, there are now 5 of us needing to do that.
While the street whatsapp group was buzzing with queries regarding the electric issues, another message was posted asking for residents to be alert to strangers peering in through house windows. This photo was posted from their security camera…
Then a message was posted that when approached they ran away, which sounded very suspicious. I had to go to the shops so decided to drive to the end of the street to see if I could see these potential crooks. To my amusement I found a couple probably close to my age standing on the road side in the rain. I asked them if they were waiting for someone. They said they were staying at 67 (one of the wooden cottages quite far below the road) and to get out of the rain they had sought shelter in a doorway while they waited for a friend to arrive. They are here on holiday from Johannesburg! Ha! I thought of the many many times I have gone mooching around people’s holiday houses – maybe not looking in people’s windows but certainly walking around their half-built houses. I’ve probably been in most of the new houses on the street! I told them the street WhatsApp group had mentioned them and they said someone came to shew them away. Completely harmless and a little embarrassed, their friend soon appeared and off they went for a night in Betty’s Bay. The cameras are effective that’s for sure.
Work has been very quiet, so it’s been a pleasant sort of day, with a dash of being unsettled not knowing if the electricity will come back on any time soon. Let’s hope it does.
Weekend!
Psalm 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx