Apparently there were a few accidents on the road – i didn’t come across any of them, but there was one long queue of traffic that I passed in the right hand lane.  And there were several lots of roadworks too – still, I arrived with Weeza and Gus soon after 10 o’clock.  Weeza made coffee and I was going to amuse Gus for a while so that she could get on, but first she went outside the little-used back door (there’s also a front door and a side door) to fetch some firewood.  And she couldn’t shut it again.  She tried hard, but it seemed to have swelled in the damp weather.

However, some effort and examination later, it turned out to be more than that.  The last owner hadn’t handed in the keys, so they had needed to break in and have new locks fitted, and the new door fittings were standing proud of the wood, so stopping it from closing.  Weeza took it all apart, we tried this and that – she couldn’t find the chisel so we went off to the nearby small town to the ironmonger’s.  When we returned, it took the chisel, the plane, the screwdriver, sandpaper and much effort, but at last the job was done, she slammed the door shut triumphantly and shot the bolt and we hugged.  Gus wasn’t quite sure why, but he enthusiastically joined in the three-way hugs and we congratulated ourselves on two hours of successful effort for several minutes.  And then we had lunch.

We did do the job as intended, though.  Instead of taking the baby out, I helped Weeza by putting masking tape above the skirting board and on the floor below, while Gus pottered around playing and being extremely good.  Then I took him into the kitchen, where we sat on the sofa and he ate an icecream while Weeza painted.   He was a darling, completely happy and well-behaved throughout.  While I was putting on the masking tape, he became intrigued by my back and pulled up my jumper to stroke it, squeezing the flesh (yes, I felt quite self-conscious) and examining a mole intently.  It was very amusing and rather sweet.

Zerlina had a tennis lesson after school and was being brought back, so we didn’t go out again.  Phil has been on a business trip to Scandinavia (Sweden, I think) and was due home around 10 pm.  So it was just the three of us.

And then I came home and cooked dinner.  Another dinner, another pudding containing apples.  I think the chickens might end up with some of those stewed windfalls, I’m a bit tired on variations on the same thing.  Plain baked apples once they’re finished, perhaps.