Tuesday 25 September 2007

Hell's teeth

When my old chemistry lecturer used the expletive 'Hell's teeth' I am sure he had something different in mind to my recent experiences. Today I went to the dentist for the second time in a week for him to adjust the bite on a crown that he fitted back in April. To be honset it has niggled on and off ever since it was fitted but last week the problem became more than a niggle so I had no choice but to go back to him. Yesterday I had more discomfort so today it was back to him again. I always thought that dentists could work out how to alter your bite from the marks that your teeth made on those bits of paper that they ask you to bite on but apparently that only shows the pressure points. He has improved things, but I am not sure that I won't be visiting him again, in the near future.

Wednesday 19 September 2007

Back to square one

This morning the builder came to repair the wooden floor in the living room. He decided, maybe luckily, that he only needed to patch the three areas of the floor where the wooden blocks have expanded and it wouldn't be necessary to take up the whole floor. Still the disruption is the same whatever he decided to do. For the umpteenth time we have the living room furniture in the dining room, pictures stored in the hall, curtains stored in a bedroom and most importantly the carpet is in the garage. At the moment we aren't sure when we will be straight again.

Monday 17 September 2007

Whip away

It could only happen to us. We took some off cuts of the carpets, that we have had fitted, back to the store to have then whipped to make mats - whipping is the tem used when carpet edges are bound. The whipped mats should have been ready to collect by the end of July but they weren't and it has taken until now to track them down. Now, the store has them ready to collect and we are about to move the living room furniture into the dining room and once again the cottage will be upside down. So they have agreed to keep them for a bit longer.

Friday 14 September 2007

Rose arch

The second half of the trellis was put up this evening, with the rose arch joining the two halves of the trellis. It looks good but maybe we should have chosen the more expensive option. We had to make a decision in about five minutes flat when I mentioned that we might add a rose arch to bridge the two sections of trellis, at a later stage. It was the ususal workmen thing - that could cause problems and it will cost extra. So why don't we do it now? We had a quick look at the catalogue and chose the cheaper option which saved us £50. Once we have spent that £50 on roses, nobody will be able to see the details of the arch suporting them.

Tuesday 4 September 2007

Deva bargain

There was a report in The Times yesterday about a survey carried out by the Royal Bank of Scotland which has named the top 20 'bargain' addresses. I know most people read yesterday's newspaper, yesterday, but I have to read it a day late, some days, because my husband takes it to work so I don't see it until the evening, at the earliest, but yesterday I worked until 9.00 pm and didn't get home until 9.30 pm so the newspaper had to wait.

Third of the top 20 'bargain' addresses is Chester or if you prefer the Roman city of Deva. A 'bargain' address means that you can have a wealthy lifestyle on the cheap. Beverley in East Yorkshire was considered the top 'bargain' address and I have to admit that I would rather live there than in Chester, maybe because I was born and brought up in East Yorkshire and I remember admiring Beverley as an attractive market town. The criteria to be considered a 'bargain' address are posh shops and restaurants, cultural attractions, good schools, luxury car dealerships, quality hotels, sporting facilities and affordable housing. I suppose Chester has all of these. But I can honestly say that it costs us just as much to live here, just outside Chester, as it did when we lived down in Surrey, near Guildford. Chester scored highly in this survey for, amongst other things, its medieval shopping arcades which are known as The Rows. Admittedly Chester seems to be a bit of a shopping Mecca with some people but I cannot see the attraction myself. I would rather shop in Guildford any day. Shopping in The Rows is a bit like going into a rabbit warren and you need a lot of money and a lot of time. Really you need to be a bit of a diva or maybe it should be deva to appreciate these medieval shopping arcades.