TAPS

TAPS

Aside

We have a great many taps in this house – basins in bedrooms etc, and also a great many doors – all Edwardian and all over eighty years old.  Decorating is rather like the Forth Bridge – or it would be if we did it regularly, we are more spasmodic.  Doors can be ignored on the whole but taps are more troublesome and lately they have started to drip.  No sooner do we get one fixed than another starts.  At present we have four different plumbers helping us out – it mostly happens at the weekend –
And involves trips to the attic and climbs to the lofts.

This morning was a case in point.  No sooner had I sat at the computer in my dressing room – the house is big enough so why not – than a drip started and after my feeble squeeze it turned into a gush of hot water.  Ever conscious of saving the earth thanks to Zoë’s girls (side bar) it had to be fixed.  Incidentally one of the plumbers showed me that you can tell whether the water is coming from the cistern or the mains by inserting your finger and seeing if it stops the flow.  Sadly my finger is not fat enough so I would have been useless at plugging the dyke all those years ago in the Netherlands.

Our today’s plumber fixed the problem and said there was no point in buying new taps as they cost about £100 and were even worse than the old.  No surprise there then.  I love our house – I really do, but it’s not all peaches and cream every day.

Reasons to be cheerful.
The double pink camellia is blooming as is the white see photographs (oh for the skill of Jack or the apprentice – sidebar)  Another pink one is in bud and then there is a pale pink one with a gold centre but they weren’t in the mood to pose The garden is heavy with the fragrance of wintersweet – my favourite scent.  The hellebores are out but hang their heads.
Then there is the cottage which we will visit ( DV ) in May.