I had lightbulb blow last week, and it was in the most awkward place in the house – right at the top of the stairs in the extension. I simply couldn’t reach it either from the stairs or from the room above – I’m too short. So it was a temptation too great to resist to make use of the fact that my sister’s boyfriend is 6’+ and could lean over the banisters to reach the light fitting. I did have the grace to feel slightly guilty that I was putting P. to work as soon as they arrived on Friday night, before he even got a chance to sit down with a cup of tea! But not so guilty that it stopped me from making full use of having a tall man in the house……
I’ve also been having major trouble over the past few months with my garage doors. They’re wooden, and I think the timber must have swollen. Furthermore, the lock had also seized, so I couldn’t unlock the door and even if I had I wouldn’t have been able to pull open the doors. I asked the gardener last week to have a look at them, and with the aid of a lot of brute force he was able to turn the key and force the doors open. He then shaved the timber to free up the sticking points so that the doors would open and close – still quite stiffly, but at least I could manage them. However, no amount of WD40 or 3in1 would unseize the lock, which was now stuck open. I don’t keep anything valuable in there, and the house itself was still secure, but I wasn’t happy at being unable to fasten the garage door. So again I made shameless use of the fact that I had guests, and P. very kindly fixed a big steel bolt to the inside of the garage door. He’s done a good job and I’m much more comfortable to have a secure garage again. (I did notice my sister’s ears prick up when he confessed that he’d almost enjoyed doing it – I suspect that there will be a long list of DIY jobs coming his way for next weekend!)
Then, later in the weekend after the two of them had left for home, our friend Graham popped in to update me on his recent grand tour of the USA and Canada. I hadn’t seen him since just after the funeral, and was keen to hear about his trip on the Rocky Mountineer train – something that Chris and I had wanted to do. Between the two of us (well, mostly him actually), we managed to get Chris’s Mac computer booted and running for the first time since he died, so that was another visit that was useful as well as enjoyable.
So I’d like to publicly thank my weekend’s visitors for being so good-humoured about being put to work sorting out some of my domestic issues. I enjoyed seeing you all, and hope you’ve not all been put off by being shamelessly made use of!
