Wednesday 17th May 2006

Normally, dear reader, you would have to wait until the end of the month for the next installment of the Blom diaries, but this has been a special day and deserves a web log just for itself. Don’t fret, there will be another one later with tales of our holiday in Tenerife et al.

Anyway, let me tell you about today because it has been a very BAD DAY.

People who know me know that, in general, I am a lucky person. I have good friends, life long friends, I am healthy, I am proud of my children and my grandchildren are a constant joy. I have a beautiful and loving wife and long ago realized that I have a guardian angel looking out for me. Not today. Let me tell you about my day………

1. The bath leaks. Not here, but back at the Hop Poles, our house back in England. Cousin Mike went to have a look and said that the bath has a hairline crack and needs replacing. Only trouble with that is the airing cupboard was built around the bath and would need to be dismantled. Luckily (sic) we have 24x7 plumbing insurance so I sent them round to see what was what. The plumber (another Terry) said that the bath was OK and that one of the two leaks was from the taps. He could not get to the underside of the taps due to the bath being part of the airing cupboard. There was another small puddle, but no reason could be seen for it. He said that it was a duff installation (or words to that effect and it would not be covered by insurance – oh joy. Arranged with Tessa for her daughter to take a bath tonight (with the bath panel off) to make certain that the bath leaks or not. If it leaks we will get a new one fitted (can you imagine the logistical nightmare of finding a plumber and getting a new bath fitted from over here in France!). If the bath is not cracked then I need a plumber brave enough to find the underside of the taps!

2. The lawn mower won’t fire. It works on full choke but not otherwise. I took it to bits, cleaned the carburetor, blew back the petrol feed (this made me feel sick) – still won’t work. Blocked jet perhaps? Who knows. I feel like taking it to the tip and buying a new one. Perhaps tomorrow I will fell better.

3. The shed delivery has been postponed. We have to have the new garden shed delivered and erected so that I can empty the barn ready for the builder to start on June 5th. Delay is not an option! Try telling that to the French. Have they never seen Apollo 13! Oh joy.

4. Strimmer. I lent my garden strimmer to a neighbour, John who runs the local kennels. He returned it today (along with my laser level and wheelbarrow). Unfortunately, the automatic string loading mechanism failed long ago and you need to intervene to change the string. Not possible any more as it has fused solid. We tried to get the thing apart using a vice and plumbing levers, but to no avail. Awaiting inspiration or I will have to take drastic action of the impact variety.

5. Spent an arm and a leg on special damp proofing paint for the shed base ( I forgot to put any water proof in the concrete mix). Spent this afternoon putting the said damp proof paint on the base (weather forecast said it would be a fine evening) .Five litres was just the right amount – maybe the bad day has ended. Just then I saw a thunder storm to the south (it was sunny where we were, more proof that the bad day had ended? Then the wind changed and the storm turned towards us. Hailstones the size of golf balls rained down on my newly painted shed base.

The gods are really picking on me today. I can’t even have a good drink and go to bed early as I have to speak to Mike and Tessa this evening about the leaky bath…Sorry to go on about it but !!!!!!!…..I will let you know what happened in the next thrilling installment of the Blom diaries……xxx