Life without electric

[Highlander]

Well, I am not sure if it was the good life,.. it was a small house, with just two bedrooms,.. I had to sleep on the landing, and in the winter not only was the inside of the single glazed windows covered in ice, there was often frost on the inside window sill...it was a cold house, with no insulation,.. not even cavity walls, the kitchen slabs were laid on bear earth and we often found ourselves sweeping up the soil that worms had pushed up over night,... I remember my dad put down a concrete floor as soon as he was able to afford it

In the summer food was always on your mind,.. [ well not so much mine ] but for instance, the can of milk was kept in a bucket of water so it didnt go off,.. if it was hot, you either sweated with the fire on, or you had no hot water,...I also remember buckets of water in the pantry to help with the temp,..and food in tin foil to re-direct the heat of the day,...and if there was no fire we didnt have bread, as the nearest shop was four miles away,...dad was often allowed to go on the tractor though,..or we had friends shop for us