Responsible cat owner, Step 2
Well, isn’t the weather just…bloody awful? ;) Rain, cold. Rain, rain, wind. More rain. Ironbridge is shut again due to flooding, as is one of the access roads to here. To get back now I’ve had to divert round a literal 180 degree uphill blind hairpin bend and come into the craft centre downhill.
That closed this morning while I was at work - I drove down it to work - that’s how fast the river is rising again. We went for a walk down to The Boat Inn yesterday about 2pm - the whole area around it, the road, roundabout, housing access, grass verge, even the lower steps onto the footbridge over the river were clear…a perfectly normal day.
Today, well…it looks like this!
All underwater. Much the same as last year, seen in this shot from last year - ignore the datestamp. The half moon pub (long closed) is swamped..the carpark, walls, grass banks, hedges and gates are all underwater..we couldn’t even get up the side of it safely to get any pics this year!
Here’s hoping it’s peaking, and the Severn can start settling back into its banks again soon. The roads are like rivers with all the water running out of the verges etc..we’re really soggy over here!
Needless to say, Hex has remained safe and dry indoors. We went out yesterday for a walk..he got thoroughly wet and muddy, and met his first dog. Rigid on Jems shoulder with a tail the size of my arm, he looked rather impressive! He did well though. Cars are a “don’t like them”, ditto other humans. Suits me fine.
We’re now experiencing high wind here as well..the power is a little flickery. So, what if it goes out? We have a little portable gas cooker, and candles. The cooker is good..but..candles and cats? I think not. So..I got to thinking. I’ve always rather liked the LED “solar garden lights” that spring up everywhere. I also like solar power as a rule, and electronics, and especially LEDs.
I’m looking more and more at solar battery chargers, solar recharging torches, solar storage “wireless” night security lights (if you’re reading mum, that’s what YOU need to replace that dead PIR on the house), solar radios and so on. Energy for free is good.
I’ve seen sets of 20 “garden lights” on Amazon for as little as £10. Oh, hang on..hex is blocking my view and drinking my cup of water…
…right..now he’s curled up on my lap, where was I? Oh yes. 20 lamps for a tenner. First question - “are they any good?”. I went to our local Charlies store and looked to see if they had any. Yep..1 for a fiver. Bugger that. For a couple of quid I got a solar powered childs “tulip” lamp..same thing, made cheaper with a tulip shaped plastic thing on it. It’d do.
Got home, whipped off the plastic crap and chopped the big pointy stalk off. Now I’m left with a funnel shaped light housing with a solar panel, and a battery block.
It’s a single white LED unit, using a 600mAh NI-Cd 1.2v battery and a step up circuit to run the 3-4v LED. OK. Not going to be great, but..lets see. Step 2, whip out the 600mAh cell. “8 hours light time” is promised. Hmm. Stick in a NI-MH 2500mAh rechargeable..in theory, 4 times the run time. Better. The 600mAh can go in the clock.
Now, stick the thing solar panel down so it can’t charge and let it go. Any good?
Surprisingly, yes. It can light up a room as big as our living room at a very low level. You can see things OK and not fall over them. Not a reading light, but far superior to a tealight candle (we tested both). It can light up the bathroom enough to wash, shave and sort yourself by. In the bedroom, it’s bright enough to see each other and articles of furniture/clothes etc.
It runs cold, it’s very low powered, it’s pretty indestructible and long lived, and it’s about as safe as light sources get. Cat safe emergency lighting? Oh yes. It’s run for a solid 24 hours continually, and then I shoved it back in the window at which point the LED goes out and it starts to recharge. I can’t see us ever needing it for 24 hours straight, and it wasn’t any dimmer…I think it’d be a few days to run out totally.
Definetly considering these garden lights now…one in each room/ready on the window sill for a power cut..I’m SURE I can make some into passable reading lights too. I tried the white LED with my converted LED maglite clone lens/head..and it’s not far off. Garden lights? Nah. EMERGENCY safe lights that are always charged and ready? Yes please!