Triaphilia is the superstition that incidents occur in threes! But is it true? I don't relish the thought of anymore unexpected happenings to deal with this week.
Washday blues, three loads of washing to do, the sun is out - perfect.
The almost new washing machine control panel flashes red not amber. A suggestion in the manufacturers handbook is to pull out the mains power plug. Not really understanding why, we do so, but with difficulty, hauling a fitted heavy machine out from beneath a countertop is is not easy. We leave it for a minute or two, then plug it in, push the machine back, switch on, but the flashing red light continues.
The girl on the helpline suggests exactly what we have just done, but insists that we leave the machine unplugged for at least 30 minutes or more! She says a couple of minutes aren't sufficient. If it doesn't work then we should get in touch with the technician. This all sounds extremely fanciful and rather far fetched to us, however, without much confidence we do as she says. Unbelievably the machine works - cheers - we are two happy people. If only everything could be resolved as easily as this.
If you happen to own a washing machine with one of these new fangled touch panel controls, it might be worth keeping this trick in mind for future reference.
If you happen to own a washing machine with one of these new fangled touch panel controls, it might be worth keeping this trick in mind for future reference.
Vernacular Cotswold houses such as ours have very steep pitched roofs. At the rear of our house is a gable which looms up above the conservatory. For the past week a fat pigeon has taken to sitting on the gable end and peering down at us. Suddenly the pigeon twirls around to face the opposite direction, lifts it's tail and poops all over the clean glass roof. It splatters everywhere making a terrible mess and if I don't run upstairs quickly with a watering can and try to wash it off it becomes rock hard. This has been happening on a daily basis and so far we haven't been able to decide just what to do about it. Maybe our local Sparrow Hawk will oblige,
and end our problem!
Thirdly, we suddenly have a leaking shower. Not expected as it is reasonably new, but it has started dripping down into the hallway below. Apparently a water pipe hidden inside one of the walls appears to be responsible. Rather drastically a hole will have to be cut out of the landing stairwell wall in order to access the pipework. I am dreading this happening in a few days time, especially with regard to the mess and dust and the extreme weather conditions we are currently experiencing. All of the paintings, objet d'art and furniture in and around the hall will also have to be removed. Fortunately I have some silk embroidered wall hangings on the particular wall concerned which will hopefully hide any residual marks once the job is completed.
Thirdly, we suddenly have a leaking shower. Not expected as it is reasonably new, but it has started dripping down into the hallway below. Apparently a water pipe hidden inside one of the walls appears to be responsible. Rather drastically a hole will have to be cut out of the landing stairwell wall in order to access the pipework. I am dreading this happening in a few days time, especially with regard to the mess and dust and the extreme weather conditions we are currently experiencing. All of the paintings, objet d'art and furniture in and around the hall will also have to be removed. Fortunately I have some silk embroidered wall hangings on the particular wall concerned which will hopefully hide any residual marks once the job is completed.
