It Really Is All Happening

My fears for have proved unfounded because today was the first dry day for ages and the roof has come off. Apparently the plan is to replace the tiles on one face at a time starting with the lower level. I would imagine that you would start at the top and work down but then I am only a woman.

All trades were here today. The electrician was connecting up sockets in the kitchen and the plumber was doing major work in connection with the boiler whilst he waited for its arrival. When it arrived I was flabbergasted! I have never seen such a big boiler, it looks like a dodgem car to me.

I got short change from the plumber who said " you've got a big house so you need a big boiler". All I could think of was what on earth is it going to cost to run. John says it is shades of The Old Vicarage where the "coal users advice service" asked me if I was heating the church hall as well, as the capacity of boiler was so huge. When it arrived it was dumped in the road and what a palaver to move it round the back into the boiler room. Cyrille manoevred it on the manitou round the back and deposited it in the stairs passageway.

The plumber then invoked the Egyptian system of trying to roll it on logs. By this time there were six men assembled each contributing suggestions as to how it should be moved to the boiler room. John must have put forward a suggestion that met with approval as the banter that followed indicated that "les anglais may be rubbish at football but they have good ideas for moving boilers!!" The next thing I see is JP on one end and his mate Mickel on the other (Mickel is even smaller than JP) and assisted by the plumber they carried the boiler into the boiler room. Much barricking followed. This "entente cordiale" is great fun.

At the end of the day, the bare timbers were covered over with sheets of plastic. Needless to say, one of the sheets had begun to flap in the wind within 5 minutes of the workmen going home. However, no rain forecast for tonight!