Calling the Electricity Board...

We have been having some odd things happening with our electricity and so we purchased one of those monitoring thingies so that we could try and work out what was going on.  We discovered that instead of getting 240 volts coming through our sockets we were getting 254 volts or thereabouts which wasn't good - so not good that we think it may have been responsible for the demise of my fairly new microwave which when we plugged it in drew its 1000 watts and then more and more and more until it started arcing all over the place and we had to switch it off.  It is dead - officially dead and I am beside myself because I have used a combi microwave for the best part of 35 years and I cannot, and I mean CANNOT, live without one - I use it all the time and I almost never use my oven (which is crap anyway).  We shall investigate as to whether it might be covered by the household insurance but in the meantime I shall be getting a replacement and as quickly as possible.  So in the meantime we reported the fault to the electricity board not expecting anyone to come today but they pitched up within about 30 minutes of our call and agreed that we had a problem and fortunately it wasn't in our house but was affecting our arm of the estate and so they went off to sort it saying that we need not worry and they were right - they got it sorted and now we have about 242 volts coming through the socket which is great.

It is still cold in the evenings - cold enough to warrant the wood burner being lit and we have plenty of wood which is great but the downside is that the burner is messy - every time John opens the door to adjust a log or add a log there is a puff of sooty air that escapes and so everything in the lounge gets covered in a film of smutty dust.

Until we dispense with the fire there isn't much we can do but try and keep on top of the dirt.  I keep looking at my windows and think they could go with a real good clean but the two that sit either side of the indoor stack-pipe get covered on the inside from the fire and on the outside from the fall out from the chimney.

I was mortified to see that a rather large spider has set up home on the outside of one of these windows - do they need cleaning yes well they bloody do now as interesting as it might be to watch said spider in action it is dark enough in the lounge without a web to make it worse.

On that subject we are investigating lightbulbs and lampshades for the lounge/diner/kitchen - I had noticed at John and Susan's they had only a little ambient lighting the other evening and their room still seemed bright - ours always seems like we are in a dungeon but there again it hides the dust and smut!!!

John has been kind and built Mum and Dad's cat Fred a single bed version of the dual aspect bed he has built our cats.  Charlie seems to sleep on it the most and only ever on the cushion which is currently on the right hand side - it doesn't matter if we swap it over the cats only ever sleep on that one cushion for some reason - the two were bought together and don't appear to smell any different but the clearly are.  I didn't manage to get a photograph of Fred in his bed - when I put him on it he got off as quickly as he could but subsequently Mum has phoned to say that he loves it.  He has settled down now - he would probably go outdoors given the opportunity but he doesn't sit pressed against the window desperate to get out.

It was art this morning and I am working on my new picture which is a vase of peonies and lilies.  The peony flowers are very intricate so I think this picture is going to take me quite a while plus the photograph I am working from is a bit indistinct in places.  

I am going to ask my friend Marie if she will cut me some mounts.  It will be a good excuse to go and see her and check out her new shop which is next door to Boo-tea-licious in the Old Town (opposite Next).  Mum and I did try the other week but as they had the road up we would have taken our lives into our hands trying to negotiate our way there!

The shop called Rainbow's End is right in the middle of Old Town in the area which is being regenerated and once the project is finished this should be a fabulous location as the municipality is keen to get tourists back to that part of town which has been sadly neglected and which bore the brunt of the building of the Mall and the downturn in the economy.  Fingers crossed that the businesses that have sat it out over the months and months of chaos caused by the regeneration will see their patience rewarded.

We had a shopping trip to Polis this afternoon which involved getting a new tyre for the wheelbarrow - a trip to Savvas the tyreman who lives in Droushia generally results in a delivery of some fresh eggs from the birds which he keeps on the land next to his house - I hope I am not going to be disappointed as I usually get a selection ranging from guinea-fowl to duck.  We also visited Savvas to check on the price of some engine mounts and brake pads for Kenny - Savvas's verdict was that if we wanted to stop making him a rich man we should get rid of Kenny as spare parts for the Kembara are expensive - we may have to take his advice at some point before the spares are worth more than the whole.