HAPPENINGS, HICCUPS AND INTERUPTIONS!

It seems an age since I last sat down to write. During the past few weeks it really has been a case of “If it can go wrong it will” and we have been left reeling from the succession of irritating problems, peculiar happenings and unwelcome events which have pursued us of late.
Ranging from violent tempests(many) and unwelcome visitors who popped in for coffee and stayed all day,(numerous), to power failures (several)!
Even the relatively quiet days have been dogged by accidents, including sprained ankles, cuts, falls and my most recent, a badly scalded foot, acquired when the nozzle on my steamer broke free and shot a jet of scalding steam over my tender tootsies!

There were of course some welcome guests but unfortunately their visits coincided with the absence of our much loved cleaning lady, who, due to a set of peculiar mishaps was was unable to spend her usual one day a week sprucing up our home.

In her absence we had, of course done our best to keep the old place tidy but with both my wrists strapped up, my son embroiled in his latest novel and poor Pa suffering from a heavy cold and a flare up of arthritis in his shoulders we made a poor fist of it.

By the time the dear lady arrived this morning she encountered a daunting pile of ironing, and much dust, caused by the stoves. A shameful display of cobwebs decorated the old beams and she tut-tutted rather more than usual as she attacked them with a feather duster.

If there is one thing she detests it is cobwebs, she takes each one as a personal insult, and has been known, having loaded her armoury of dusters, vacuum cleaners and mops into her car on completing her days labours, and noticing as she was leaving one she has missed, to unload her kit and return to tackle the cause of the offence!

She attacked spots of candle wax on tables and rugs, blitzed the bathrooms, bedrooms and stairs, took the ironing home with her and announced that she would return in the morning to deal with the rooms downstairs, it felt as if a fresh wind had blown through the house. Bless her for the kind soul she is, if we appreciated her efforts before we certainly do now and I should hate to be without her.

I think that there has not been a day in the last six weeks when it has not rained, small soaking drizzle alternating with torrential downpours blown by the wind at a forty-five degree angle has kept me indoors and all work in the garden has been suspended as our gardeners have been too busy dealing with fallen trees to deal with our pruning and the rain has meant that mowing has been out of the question.

Feeling a little stir crazy my son and I decided that nothing would stop us from visiting the Annual Christmas Craft Fair at the village hall. This is a marvellous event as all the stalls are filled with items made by local artists and crafts men and women, and a mighty talented group they are.

Of course by the time we were ready to set out it was lashing down, perishing cold and with a wind strong enough to trash a brolly in ten seconds flat!

We fought our way up the hill like a couple of intrepid explorers, meeting on the way other benighted idiots on the same errand as ourselves, each cursing his or her stupidity at having been tempted away from a warm fireside by the promise of a Christmas bargain,though I must say that it was well worth the effort.

Each day having been fraught with problems we have now reached the point where we go to bed speculating upon what horrors the next day will produce and tonight is no exception.

The gale which has been blowing all day has developed into a storm and gusts of seventy miles an hour are once again battering the house.

About an our ago I distinctly heard the sound of a slate sliding down the roof above my bedroom. Candles have again been deployed about the house ready to be lit in the event of any further power outs. We are, in short, prepared for the worst!