Oops!

The chairs have arrived. They are simply huge - wide and tall. Very sturdy though. No question, I shall have to paint them. This will minimalise them a bit as they make the room look absolutely tiny, as Dorothy had predicted with any wooden chairs. I shall definitely keep them pro tem. I suspect they will look quite good painted white or thereabouts.

Saturday Cold and Sad

Awful cold, runny nose, sneezing, cough etc. so went to bed at about 9pm. Still feel like crap today. Man due to deliver chairs and my cleaner is going to collect the white 'Gilbert' IKEA chairs. These have been mistaken for very expensive designer chairs by non IKEA shoppers. They are smart and very sturdy, the main problem being that they are painted wood and a couple of the seats are slightly scratched, but of course can be repainted. Ocado are also due to deliver between 12 and 1pm. I do hope the new chairs are sturdy. I know they are heavy but at over 17st, strong chairs are a must.

I have lost 1lb per week since I started the Diet Chef diet, despite several departures from this. I really may take it up as a way of eating since there is less washing up, less time spent cooking and preparing, and it tastes OK. I am so lazy.

Message from Madeleine to say she had been away for several days, so I am expecting some very bad news. I wish I were there, but better for them to try and cope together. They don't know me very well, apart from Madeleine and her sisters, so I cannot intrude. I feel so helpless, but at least Madeleine knows I am here, and ready to do anything required.

Bawdy Babes

Just waiting for the cab to pick me up for today's Brick Lane pantomime lunch.

It is becoming quite sunny, though the two days without heat or hot water seem to have given me an awful cold and I am far from 100% at the moment. Could sleep all day and my nose is running like a tap. Very weak, too. Just had a cup of tea to try and revive me a bit. Will continue this post later.....

Apart from a problem with the number of taxis getting lost and going to Brick Lane instead of E16, we finally managed to get everyone to the place, which is a large church in North Woolwich Road in the middle of nowhere. The lunch was fine with good service, and the pantomime totally politically incorrect but very funny, with a couple of very good female singers. The whole thing was terribly camp in a good way and a great success.

Boiler Restored to Health

Fabulous boiler man has been. The boiler is now (cross fingers) fully operational. I had thought it wasn't behaving very well before it broke down. Seems the pump had gone. This and the circuit board have now been replaced and a couple of other little bits and pieces. The man also bled some radiators so they are now filling well. Although the boiler is 12 years old apparently it is quite likely to go on for another three to eight years with occasional attention, so I am now a happy bunny. Apparently my insurance has covered the lot, which would have cost much more than I paid this year.

Boiler Saga Continues

Rang the boiler insurance people and it seems I paid by direct debit so I was able to access the maintenance department. The house was pretty cold yesterday but damn cold by last night. The man is supposed to be coming today. Despite the fire in the living room it was so miserable last night that I went to bed wearing layers of clothing at about 8.30pm. I may well have a large fry-up for breakfast this morning to try and warm myself up. Though the kitchen is freezing because of the giant catflap which certainly lets the cold in.

I am boiling kettles for washing. I shall have to wash my hair this morning which will be rather a pain. If the boiler is unrepairable I can imagine it will take weeks to install a new boiler so I shall have to purchase some more room heating. Kooky is not being very helpful as he has decamped to the studio instead of keeping me warm on my bed at night. Such an ungrateful animal.

Boiler Breakdown

At about 11.30 in bed, I somehow sensed that all was not well. Went upstairs to find the boiler had locked out. I checked everything and the pressure was less than 1 bar though this was not registering on the indicator so I could not reset it. It might be I have a leak or something worse. The boiler felt rather hot so I rang Dom the plumber in a bit of a panic - no answer of course so I turned the boiler off and went to bed.

This would happen when snow is expected. Of course I forgot to pay the insurance. I will ring them up this morning. The boiler has been behaving a bit oddly recently, in that sometimes the hot water in the bathroom would suddenly stop running and I could hear a clunk coming from the boiler. Oh well. We shall see.

Rainy Day

My last day off. Work tomorrow.

I have decided that orchids are the only flowers to have. These plants last for ages. My birthday orchids from the beginning of December are still in flower, and the previous plant I bought for Julian the Christmas before is about to flower again. Incredible. I may well buy a pink orchid to go in my bedroom window and another white one to go in the bathroom.

I have just purchased four chairs from Ebay, which will arrive on Saturday morning. These are to replace the cheap IKEA ones I had, which, although quite stylish, have metal legs and a couple of the seats have scratched a bit, though they could easily be repainted. I did not realise they were made from wood, had thought they were some kind of tough plastic. If anyone wants some 'Gilbert' IKEA chairs, get in touch very quickly!

The new ones are wooden, probably oak with spindle legs and spindle backs. Stretchers which will hopefully keep them stable and the backs have carvings in a couple of places. Although they currently look very good, as they are a bit dark for my room I may Farrow & Ball them in some kind of putty colour, we shall see. They will certainly look good painted as they are quite ornamental, but I don't want to ruin them if they look good as they are.

I have managed to apply for my new bus pass today. I need not have worried about the photograph - the post office has a machine in there. 'You don't look 60' said the teenage counterhand. 'You say that to all the old bats' I reply. He giggled - 'Not all of them'. Made my day.

Lye Torng is extending the special soup theme by supplying a rather good prawn won ton with green cabbage giant soup, which is excellent in this vile weather. I have suggested they do a mixed meat with noodles too.

I purchased a pair of secondhand suede boots from Ebay made by Damart. They arrived today and are very warm and comfortable, though absolutely not Ugg style which I don't really like anyway. Not bad for a tenner.

Message from Dorothy - seems the mains water has now come on in the Spanish flat. Given how slowly the shower empties, I do hope that this will not cause a flood with the sudden increase in water pressure. Good news though. I may force myself to revisit Barcelona at some stage, though I really don't fancy going through those new xray body scanner things they are putting in Gatwick.