This week the oven broke, which meant buying a new one at short notice because I like to bake and the kids whine if the roast isn’t there on their plates on Sunday. Then, we found a hole in the outer glazing of our conservatory roof. I spied it when chasing away the cobwebs.  Still, waiting on the cost of that, but it isn’t going to be cheap.  Money, money….. New school shoes for eldest, too.  New contact lens for me…. Money, money. It slips through the fingers like butter on a warm day.

Yesterday, we witnessed a partial solar eclipse. Husband and I played around with kitchen colanders and pin cameras, but we were ultimately let down by the cloud cover in our endeavours to view the sun without damaging our eyes. Instead, we had glimpses of crescent shapes projected onto paper. At my kids’ school, they kept them indoors for fear they would all stare at the sun and go blind – health and safety advice from the county. They watched it on TV. I think the authorities went too far – the teachers closed the blinds and curtains, so my daughters didn’t even appreciate the darkening effect, which was more pronounced indoors than outside.

While our lounge went gloomy, rather like a severe storm passing overheard, the outside remained illuminated by the sun, even behind a thin layer of cloud. At 95% eclipse, we caught one more snapshot of the crescent before the clouds thickened. However, it seems just 5% of the sun’s rays is needed to keep us lit up. Whether it’s sufficient for plants to photosynthesise, I don’t know, but it wasn’t dark or even especially dim, rather similar to a winter’s solstice.

The awesome power of the sun, even when curtailed, far outweighs anything we can match on this planet. Money is perceived to have power. It is the measure we use for success of mankind – GDP, net worth, asset values… yet, having spent a great deal of it this week, I can categorically say that the sun is still the most powerful force that influences life of this rock. Personally, happiness is a better measure of success and my husband and I had a little fun mucking around with colanders and pin holes.