Two interesting phone calls...

Yesterday when I came home from the zoo there was a man kneeling at my front door. Fortunately, I expected him, and so didn't panic. It was Leon, who was sanding it. He was here today, and a nice undercoat is on, covering up the holes in the several layers of flecked paint.

Leon is a real Kiwi handyman. Kiwis are very good at DIY, and can fix anything with 'a piece of number eight wire'.

I have been quite active on the home front of late. I have ordered a bulk supply of semi-dried wood for next winter, and now need to make room for it. I realised that the 'coal cupboard' in the hall was deceptively cavernous, and so I was able to fill it with eight bags of coal that were in the bike wood shed. Each bag is 25kg, and that's heavier than a big suitcase, so you can imagine how puggled I was by the end of it.

I also washed the bay window. This proved to be more difficult than first thought. My ladder does not extend, so isn't quite tall enough to lean on the centre join. I can't quite reach the top of the top windows from the sides. And the ladder doesn't quite fit in between the trees and bushes in the garden.

There was a quarter of the top corner window I just couldn't reach, and went inside to see if I could live with one muddy corner. Well, no. It had to be cleaned. Had a bit of a fight with this wee tree, but I made it. The fandangle proved its worth again by giving a streak free finish as I dangled off the top of the ladder which was precariously leaning on a corner of the window frame. At least it's not as dangerous as how I used to clean them - out on the ledge one storey up (two storeys at the back) with my father insisting on holding on to my ankles, whatever that was worth...

Interesting phone call No 1: Virgin Media rang and asked if I'd like a flash new phone. What's the catch? No catch, and in fact, they gave me the phone I have had for several years. My 'old' one will be passed to JR to join the Kindle, iPad and camera cast-offs. JR is delighted with this arrangement. Fortunately.

Interesting phone call No 2: We are going to meet our new puppy's parents on Saturday!!!