It’s that time of year again when I get a stream of emails from Christopher, or rather from a Google Calendar that he set up before he died, giving me loads of reminders of things to do around the house. So far, he’s given me a ghostly nudge to: Get the central heating serviced Shop […]
The attic has been blessedly quiet over the summer, but the change in weather over the past few weeks seems to have driven the local mice to find some shelter. At any rate, I’ve started hearing the occasional pitter-patter of tiny feet above my chair in the living room, and the other night it sounded […]
I was woken up very suddenly at 05:15 one morning last week by a klaxon going off, very loudly indeed. It wasn’t the smoke alarm, as that makes a different sort of beep, which meant it had to be the burglar alarm. Which was very odd, as I was sure I hadn’t actually set it […]
There was an unusual air of excitement and activity around British Camp this lunch-time. I read in the local paper on Friday that the Tour of Britain cycle race would be passing through, and using the steep climb up to British Camp for the “King of the Mountains”. Well, the Malvern Hills hardly count as […]
I didn’t get my accustomed lie-in on Saturday, as the carpenter was here at 09:00 sharp to fit the missing pane of glass and to take the crooked door back to his workshop for some TLC. It’s now been re-shaped and re-hung straight, repairing the list that has crept in over the past hundred or […]
The re-building of the porch isn’t finished – I’m still awaiting the replacement pane of glass which is due to be fitted tomorrow, when the door will be whisked off to the joinery to be refurbished (and hopefully re-hung without a huge gap at the bottom). However, I was worried about the new timber structure […]
I’ve been having trouble with my wooden porch for ages. A few years ago I had a major problem with a leaking roof and the builder pointed out then a load of other problems with it – he was basically angling to get me to agree to have the whole thing rebuilt. I couldn’t afford that at […]
My fridge has decided to make the most of the recent hot weather by stopping working, or working at best intermittently. Bottles of milk have been barely lasting overnight before going off, and my butter dish has resembled an oil slick. I think it’s the door seal that has failed – the compressor still seems […]
It’s that time of the year again when Rob my trusty decorator is here for his annual week as Artist in Residence. It really is a never-ending task to keep the external woodwork in a reasonable condition – each year he does a section of the exterior windows / soffits / eaves and by the […]
I heard a distinctly odd scrabbling sound this afternoon, which sounded as if it was coming from the bathroom. Odd. On further investigation, it was definitely coming from under the bath. Even odder. My first thought was that somehow a mouse had got in there. The main stop-tap is under the bath, so there’s a […]
