Pond update, and the bowl......

The Pond..... and it is good news, although not so good as to have the origination of the pond dispensed with, so we still do not have central heating. However, a plumber has been to 'access the situation', with the good news that the emersion water heater is alright to use, so hot water can now be had. And the pond? It is now spreading out into a very damp patch, which unfortunately is oozing itself into the vicinity of the stairs. I did put a towel on top of a plastic sheet in front of the bathroom door when the pond was in its earlier stages of sogginess, but towels on top of plastic sheets at the top of the stairs would not be advisable, I thought.   And a drip plopped down on my head when I was in the kitchen this evening. 

But, hot water! Such a blessing! I now have no excuse to leave the washing up..... and because the bathroom is like an ice box without central heating, I have taken to having a quick wash in the mornings at the kitchen sink. To be doing this with a stack of washing up piled high is difficult. It is a cottage kitchen, so is tiny, as is the sink area. Me and the dishes have no room for each other, so one has to be done before the other can  be attended to. The washing up bowl has to oblige both. I used to have several bowls back in France, but they were not brought back to the UK. I need a bowl all to myself. 

A Saturday morning trip into the outskirts of Shrewsbury, and we found B & Q, a DIY shop which Lester had been pointed to by a neighbour last weekend as having a stack of electric fires for sale, the same neighbour who had been concerned about our lack of heating, and who had brought round his Mother's electric fire for our use. Sadly it fused the electric circuit board though. I did mention to the neighbour, a man of age but with the spirit of a ten year old, if the fire had been intact when his Mother used it last, she now having moved in with the angels above. However, since he is a grand DIY person and has sheds in the back garden which house all manner of interesting paraphanalia, including a brand new big boys motor bike...... to be admired, and dreamed about, but never ridden, .........I did think that perhaps he had used the top of the fire as a perch to sit something heavy on, which would account for its buckled state and the reason why it fused our electrics, bless him. 

Anyway, the B & Q store was found, and Lester bought a couple of fires last weekend.  So I had it in my mind that the store might also have a bowl. It didn't. But we had a walk round the huge cavern of a warehouse shop, and it came into our minds that we have no need of anything to do with home decorating and DIY products, that since we are in a rented cottage we are now free of having to ' do a house up' , which is a relief after the thirteen years we spent renovating our French home. I think that The Universe decided that we needed a holiday from house renovations! 

So I am still sharing the bowl with the washing up. Not to worry. The plumber may / or may not be here tomorrow to start fixing the leak, but it does not matter because he will be here sometime in the future, preferably before the end of 2020. Keep hope alive. That is what you have to do. 

Bye for now, 

Vx