OK, so it’s been a while since the last posting. I’ve not been well, bronchial pneumonia you know, or possibly some sort of Asian flue or maybe just a heavy cold and serious cough. What ever it was struck me down as soon as we arrived home from Barcelona, it may of course have been due to the drop in temperature from a nice 20 degrees to something like 6 degrees when we landed. One night out with Kev and the crowd down the Cornerhouse in Beverley and then off to bed for four days, with another couple of days recovery before I felt ready to face the world.


But all’s well again now, that is all except for the catastrophe of our water heating system. When we arrive home my sister Margaret and her husband Howie, the flood victims from Hull who are staying with us whilst their house is restored, mention that the hot water is not what it should be. Having just arrived home and being rather weary and hungry I take no notice and carry on eating the hot, home made sausage rolls that Margaret has made ready for our return.


I do mention to Christine that maybe she should get the recipe and oven settings for the sausage rolls but as usual she pays no attention. I also point out that in the eighteen months or so since we have had this all singing and dancing range cooker only Margaret has managed to produce sausage rolls and scones. Maybe I didn’t put this very tactfully and Christine mutters something, probably unprintable about Margaret and goes off to study her Farrow and Ball paint colour chart, it seems we are back to decorating, her bathroom needs a ‘freshen up’ she says.


But that’s not the point of this posting, back to the hot water. As usual later that evening Christine goes off for her nightly bath and a few minutes later I am left in no doubt that there is a problem with the hot water. Two inches, if that, of warm water in the bottom of the bath with the tap now running cold seems to be a problem. “How can I get a bath in that” is a question that I obviously find difficult to answer “What’s wrong with the boiler” is a question that supposes I have taken a crash course as a heating engineer whilst we have been away in Barcelona. “I need more hot water than that” suggests that maybe I put the kettle on and put pans of water on all six rings of the range cooker, I knew it would come in useful at some time.


The outcome of course is a call the next morning to the heating engineers who come out and tell us we need some spare parts and whatever and it will take a few days to get it fixed.





This leaves us with a situation were we have enough hot water to have showers but not enough to fill the bath, and there lies the problem. The shower room is mine, Christine has never used the shower since its installation, always preferring the bath so for eighteen months or so this has therefore been my domain. Now I have never had a problem sharing so naturally the next evening Christine uses the shower and every thing is OK.


Well it is until the next morning when I go for my shower and here we get to the catastrophe caused by the lack of hot water, the poster of Kylie, the one in the boots has gone, it no longer has a place in middle of the wall outside the shower. I ask Christine what’s happened to the poster only to be told that if she couldn’t have a bath she certainly wasn’t going to have a shower with Kylie looking at her. Somehow I had never had that problem with her on the wall.


Mind you after a day out shopping with Margaret, Christine comes home with lots of bags of all descriptions and amongst them I notice a poster of George Clooney. This may of course be a Christmas present for her friend Vivien or someone, but if she thinks that’s going on the wall, well we will see.............!