It all makes work for the working man to do...

Yesterday morning I finally bit the bullet and mentioned my problem with the oven to our House Manager and asked for the name of the electrician who does work here. She answered, saying that he would be here next week, but in the mean time she would give him a call.

Lo and behold he came this afternoon and neither of my guesses as to what might have been wrong was correct – it was the heating element at the back of the oven.

So off he goes and comes back about 10 minutes later and fitted the new one.

I asked if he wanted a cheque or cash another day because I did not have enough cash on me. But of course he wanted cash and drove me to the closest ATM to get it. I also got enough for my cleaning ladies and enough to keep me going in my need for cash. I returned to the ranch in time to catch the milk man and pay him.

By this time my cup of tea was cold, but I was more than content to have the job done.

Later, elder son was on the phone and he reckoned that the electrician’s charge was a duty of the landlord and so he is transferring the money to me. Great! And many thanks to elder son.

The two lemon sole fillets were delicious. I just dip them in a little flour and sauté them in butter.

Brrrr

I was up and dressed in plenty of time and looking forward to going to Church, when I looked out of the window.

And there it was, snow.

I used to love the snow, but now I am afraid of going out in skitey (slippery/slidey) weather because I am so afraid of falling.

So in punishment I did a job that must be about my most hated,

Yes, folks, defrosting the freezer.

It would not ordinarily have needed to be defrosted until the new year, but I must have left one of of the drawers sticking out a bi it so that the freezer door was not quite shut, causing it to frost up pretty badly.

Now that I am a bit less able I rather regret not buying a frost free freezer, but there you go.

I am through at the computer waiting for it to finish so that I can get the drawers (all washed and dried) back in and filled.

I have a large picnic bag lined with space insulating material which holds all the contents of my freezer, especially if I have run it down a bit.

The bad piece of news is that when I went to heat my cauliflower cheese in the oven yesterday, the thermostat would not register above about 75 degrees Celsius. I think the fan has gone. The outside door of the oven was hot at the top but cold at the bottom. Here we go again.

At least it is not urgent as I do hardly do any roasting or baking and the rest can be done on the hob or the microwave. Still, it is a bore.