We left Ravendale House around 11pm hoping the flooring would have dried out by the morning. All we wanted now was a sit down and a cold beer. All thoughts of a hot bath had been banished some time ago because the oil wasn’t being delivered until the next day, so no hot water.

We knew the electrics/plumbing had been checked at the cottage before we moved in, and I knew the fridge was working when I switched it on around 5.15pm to make sure the beers were cold. So when we discovered that now it wasn’t working and neither were any of the sockets nor some of the lights we were at a loss. We couldn’t even make a cup of tea.

Trying to fathom a new fuse box at 11.30pm, in the dark, with a torch after the day we’d just had was the last straw. In the end we just had warm beer and went to bed, knowing we had another early start in the morning.

A 17 hour day is no joke at our age, we were both on our knees.