Raining thoughts and whether pigs have wings

Today it is coolish, and raining. Naturally I put the washing on the line this morning, when the forecast rain looked unlikely to materialise. But it did. Mind you, I am very happy that it is raining. We had a couple of days of fearsome heat, when my brow just dripped all day. It was revolting.

Our washing machine conked out at the end of the week, and our trusty repairman advised we buy a new machine, rather than get the old one repaired for the second time this year. I had a new one in use by early afternoon on Saturday, and it has already been used several times.  The laundry is tiny and narrow, so the washing machine had to be a small one, so you can go out by the laundry door, and also get to the toilet. Our local electrical appliance shop had this particular model on special, and it was recommended by Choice. Why stuff around, I thought, just do it! So I did.

The trouble with a new appliance is that you have to read the manual. This is a most dislikable task. Somehow manuals are cast in language which is unclear and impenetrable, which certainly requires re-reading a number of times, and which clouds my mind with severe doubts and uncertainties. The old machine had a a lint filter which used to be cleaned out regularly, and acted as a sort of indicator of the wear and tear being experienced by all our linen and clothes. The new one has no lint filter. The place where you put the detergent is something of a mystery, and it took a number of tries before I managed to work out how to extract the piece where you put the fabric softener.

Anyway it does seem to wash well. However, the lid is not flat, which means you cannot rest a container of detergent on it. This is a more serious matter than it may sound, as there is no flat surface anywhere in the laundry. The nice men who delivered the machine installed it for me, and managed to bang their foreheads on the clothes dryer above the machine, not once, but twice. And they took the old machine away. After that I walked up to the shop to pay for it all.

I like to buy from this shop. It is a local business, and their prices are very competitive against those of the larger retailers. After ten years in this area I know the staff, and they know us. They do nice obliging things  such as putting your electric fan together  when you have failed to attach the pieces in the privacy of your very own home. They deliver without charge when you buy a heavy new heater, and then come back and replace the globe which gives you pretend flames.  And when it came to the purchase of the new refrigerator and dishwater, we got a very good deal. And a couple of weeks ago I had to replace the blender (necessary item for pureeing the pea and ham soup Dr P enjoys so much.) It chewed up the rubber seal, which had not been put properly into position. Then soup spilled into the bowels of the machine itself. Not a good thing to happen. They are a good place to shop and we have been good customers, although now that so many of the genuine antique electrical appliances which graced our homes for so many years have been replaced, our custom will probably peter out now.

It is a quiet-ish day. I have been to see our GP to discuss Dr P's condition and associated complications, and will shortly take Dr P there for his appointment proper. I am not in a brilliant condition, having been smitten all day yesterday by a horrendous migraine, which really wiped me out and which did nothing for my levels of peace and tranquillity, etcetera.  Yesterday, when it eased, I went outside and hacked the lemon grass, which strangely enough is a very bamboo like specimen and not at all easy to chop or grate. So it has to be replaced, and I hope the new one grows quickly.

In between writing this blog, I have been poring over the photos of Spain, trying to identify them all, and looking for the ones of storks' nests to show Dr P. Good clean fun, that is, but it takes a long time.