11 DECEMBER: mid-week special

Before and after: the old fuse-board in our house was modernised at the weekend.

​My wonderful godson Theo (my partner's son, I know it sounds a bit Fleabag but it is the case) came to stay last Thursday with his friend and work colleague Alex. Theo's mission was to replace the ancient fuse-board in our house as his Christmas present to us, and Alex came along to help. They made the long drive from Buckinghamshire after work on Thursday evening, arrived in the early hours of Friday morning, got in a few hours sleep, and started work early on Friday morning.

​My writing is about to get very untechnical now because I don't have a good vocabulary when it comes to matters electric, but he had to strip out all the old fuses (the sort with wire wrapped around them) and install a complete new board with modern trip fuses. Verbatim from Theo's Instagram: "Old dodgy wiring ripped out. New board, new trunking, cables rerouted and an isolator added so the board can be worked on safely."

I cannot believe how he worked. When did he get so skilled and strong and grown up? He put in hours. It was a big job, but his pride in contributing to the family home and determination to succeed shone through. Our house was built in 1931, commissioned as a large family home to show-case the wonders of modern electricity and was only the second house in Dunfermline to receive electricity. There are sockets and gadgets in every room which over the years have been added to. My father did a lot of rewiring (he was an architect and designer) over the years since my parents bought the house in 1971, but until Theo breezed in with his electrician skills the old wire fuses still remained. They had been restored a few times, but we all knew modern trip fuses would be a lot safer.

Naturally, we were without power for a part of the weekend which meant I couldn't post The Weekly at my usual time. I had hastened to get the Christmas decorations up before Theo and Alex arrived so we could have a celebratory festive dinner together on Saturday before they left to make the journey home on Sunday. As soon as the power came back on we were in full Christmas mode with crackers and everything.

I have to say, though, a little part of me loved the power outage on a dark Scottish day approaching the winter solstice - candles and lanterns everywhere! Alex was sitting crimping endless amounts of cable by candlelight in the dining room, while Theo worked by torchlight on the board. It was quite Dickensian.

What a team, and I can't thank them enough. I am so proud and touched that Theo wanted to contribute generously with his time and skill to our beloved family home, and what a marvellous Christmas gift. My parents would be simply brimming with pride and gratitude. It's another historical milestone in the life of the house.

Thank you, Theo, Alex and B!