My day off on Friday was just what was needed. While I might not have stepped outside the whole day, I gave myself some space to empty my head, and got some chores done. It wasn’t necessarily glamourous but I’ve caught up with the washing (small wins, hey?) and ordered my 2016 photo year book. Yes, 2016, but in my defence it’s been outstanding for a while, so it’s good to get it done.

It’s not been all domestic bliss though, we thought we had problems with our boiler - and we still might - a pool of water keeps occuring; we’re not sure if it’s a coincidence that it’s been on heavier rain days, or not. Our dishwasher has taken to not emptying the water completely, leaving the bottom of the machine a puddle of dirty water, and my washing machine ate one of the towels.

Indeed.

We think we’ve fixed the dishwasher though. A plastic thing (technical term) became dislodged earlier in the week with MOH’s help, when he was trying to fix it. Some googling, which it seems dishwasher symptom searching is a bit like googling your own medical symptoms and best avoided, suggested our pump drain could have gone. Being a bit old school, I looked out the leaflet that came with it almost six years ago.

That helped us work out that one of the plastic parts under the filter shouldn’t have been loose - you’re supposed to need a spoon to prise it out, we didn’t. But it was one of those daft diagrams that made no sense, so it took the two of us longer than it should have to operate on the dishwasher. It seems fixed, so fingers crossed it’s nothing more than that.

It doesn’t solve the small puddle of water under the boiler though, so we’re keeping an eye on that. Of course the boiler is just out of warranty, it would be wouldn’t it?

So the towel. It was one of those big bath sheets, and one that’s soft and generally behaves. Emptying it from the machine and folding it so it was easier to air, but wondering why it didn’t fold properly, I soon saw it’s ripped along half the length. No idea how it happened, only that I’m sure it happened in the washing machine. It’s quite old (ahem) so it’s not the end of the world, but you can bet your life I won’t find one the same or similar.

Sunday was a much nicer day here than Saturday and we even got out into the garden. My time in the garden was cut short though, thanks to a wasp, but before that I managed to get the garden lights into the greenhouse and pack away the table and chairs, which had managed to dry out. The wasp, I discovered, was in my gardening glove, and it didn’t end well for either of us.

It stung me on the base of my index finger, and my finger and palm promptly swelled. The pain, was wasp sting painful, but initially I didn’t know what had happened, until I peered into the glove. There wasn’t room for us both, and while I headed inside in search of vinegar, MOH evicted the unwanted guest.

Guess who’ll be checking what’s inside her gardening gloves going forward?

Then there was the rugby, a great game for England on Saturday to reach the Rugby World Cup Final, and a not so great game for Wales on Sunday. Our biggest decision this week is where to watch the final next Saturday. I’d be very happy watching it from the sofa, but MOH is keen to head a bit further afield.

We’ll see how it goes, but I’ve a feeling I’ll be picking up items for a cooked breakfast on the way home Friday…