I'm so glad our village hasn't got a single street lamp. Once the sun goes down the place is totally black. When we stay at my sister's, although it's a village too, she has one of those bright orange street lamps outside her house. She has blackout curtains in her bedroom, but not in the guest room!

When we moved here, we got an electrician to re-jig the kitchen fluorescent tube on the ceiling and replace it with an ordinary connection for a 60W light bulb. We don't like those tube lights, it's like being in an office.

Our sitting room is dark as a cave in the evenings. Two 25W bulbs at each end, plus the TV screen. I expect a couple of candles would give more light, but that's how we like it.

Our little bedside lights are 10W and give just enough light to read by. But after five minutes we're nodding off, so they get switched off in no time.