Didn't like Today

Darn it to heck and back! I spent part of this morning trying to pin down Schroedinger's Boiler Service. Apparently my boiler is both serviced and unserviced and the very nice man that I spoke to had to sort it out.

A few weeks ago, when I had the carbon monoxide scare, a lovely man came out and checked the boiler, finding nothing wrong with it and giving the thing a service. The next week someone rang me to say that there was no trace of the service. I chased it up and another person in the office found a record of the service. Then this record disappeared. I am not making this up. Finally someone rang and said if I didn't get a record of the service on the system then my cover was void. They are coming out tomorrow as apparently the service was recorded as a repair. My kitchen is full of junk. I was supposed to be sorting it out today.

So I loaded up the washer - and it doesn't work. I'm putting it down to power surge on Monday along with DH's totally fried computer, bear's missing audio and the elderly dehumidifier. I could cry. I am just unable to pull myself together at the moment and this was the last straw. So I grabbed some rubbish together and went to the tip and I went on the bypass which is incredibly scary for me. Then I took the back roads towards Batley and went to Oakwell Hall, getting there around lunchtime.

It's a small country lane up to the hall, but I managed it. The house wasn't open, but apparently it's kept as a household would be set up in the 1690s, so I may call back one weekend to visit when it's open. It sounds like there is a lot about the Civil War. The gate to the yard looked like this.

And there were replicas of the Civil War arms and armour in the Gift shop window. There's lots of walks but it is very doggy and, while I love dogs and I had lots of cuddles today, I'm nervous about them. I may pick my time.

I picked up a 'new' handbag in a charity shop. It's in good shape, doesn't smell, has working zips and is larger than my current wrecked bag. Also, it was £4.50 and I'm very happy. 

I also picked up some very large pots of lavender for a decent price, though goodness knows when I'll be able to plant them as I have the boiler man tomorrow and the washing machine on Friday. I was really pleased with my bargain, until I got back to the car and realised how neatly I'd parked.

You can just see one of the pots in the trolley, and squeezing them in was an issue and I ended up putting one on the back seat because we don't pick up bear's pal on Wednesdays, so there should have been plenty of room. Except today bear's pal needed a lift, and the car full of lavender! We all managed to squeeze in. They did have a good view of my face when a farm lorry started reversing across the road without warning, but at least I didn't say anything except, 'Dude!'

Now everyone's been fed, the men have clean and ironed shirts for tomorrow and I'm just about on my knees. I think the weather is affecting me. I'm about to do the bare minimum to allow access to the boiler, which coincidentally is just above the washer, and then I'm crawling off to bed. Tomorrow I also have a lot of writing to do, so I need an early night.

Hugs to all.