On 6 Aug 2013 07:57:41 GMT, Emery Davis wrote:

Not to mention we had a vicious thunder storm while away -- lost
contents of fridge and big freezer, ...

How long was te power off, fridges aren't particulary critical for 24
hrs provided you open it as little as possible. Freezers should
manage 12 hours or longer, again don't open it. Unless you *really*
have, think ahead when the power goes can help. In the case of the
fridge take a bottle of milk out and wrap it in a wet tea towel.

... phones still out over a week later ...

France Telecom not the fastest then.

... -- and there's lots of wood down including an elm lost.

Nice bit of fire wood for next winter. B-)

Overnight min 7.1 C, unless the room warms up a bit the heating will
come on this evening. Sunny intervals so it probably will just get
warm enough to keep the heating off, plenty of warmth in the sun so
20 C outside.

--
Cheers
Dave.