Published Tuesday, 28 August 2012
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She has no electricity, therefore none of the electrical appliances - fridges, freezers, cookers, washing-machines, televisions etc. - that we deem essential to our existence.
She also has to walk to the well every day, regardless of the weather, otherwise she will have no water to drink or to wash or cook with. She has no heating apart from the fire and, of course, no light apart from the warm glow provided by the oil lamps which we would regard as antiques.
Nonetheless, in spite of all these apparent deprivations, there was an air of plenty about Margaret's cottage, an impression of luxury even, as you took in the aromas of freshly baked breads and cakes mingled with the tang of burning turf.
And then there was Margaret's own personality of course, warm and hospitable and bubbling over with enthusiasm and energy. And knowledge!
Margaret knows things - about the weather, about houses, about thatching, about water, about fires, about cooking, about tools and implements, about trees and birds and nature in all its aspects, - things that the rest of us know very little about because we haven't lived the kind of life that she has lived and continues to live.
She could live otherwise if she wanted to. This is one of the smartest, most resourceful people I have ever met and she's extremely well-read and well-informed. In many respects she's a very modern woman. The thing is - she likes the way she lives. She loves the challenges that it poses.
She likes being close to nature and the elements. She likes to solve problems, and prefers the rough fabric of daily living to the pampered existence of the electrified and the centrally-heated. And as a result, she's more alive than most people.
It was quite a challenge for Vinny, our cameraman, to get any kind of usable pictures without the aid of a generator and, naturally, such a device would have been alien and intrusive in the special atmosphere of Margaret's cottage.
So we improvised, we made do, we got what we needed.
We had to survive on port-flavoured fruit cake, fresh buttered scones and tea made with spring water, but it was worth it!