Well, it appears that the evil spirit lurking in our boiler has been dispelled: the latest in the long string of boiler repair people showed up yesterday, at 5 minutes ’til 5 p.m., restored power to the boiler … and it started. Won’t quit, won’t fail, no matter what T. tried. He mumbled something about there maybe being an electrical fault somewhere, and promised to come back next week to replace something or other, and that’s that. After going without central heat for 2 months, bathing at the gym … here we are, with heat and the ability to shower. Of course, it’s not nearly as cold as it’s been, but there’s still snow on the hills ’round Glasgow.
We hardly know what to do with ourselves. Honestly, we each got in the shower this morning and … were confused. We could luxuriate in the never-ending hot water, and not have to keep pressing the button to make the water come out! (The gym’s showers, while providing endless hot water, are of the type to turn off after 30 seconds, unless you keep pressing the button. Doing this while shampooing, with your elbow, leads to a bit of an intricate dance, as the pipes – both hot and cold – are right beneath your elbow!) We got over the awkwardness quite soon, but still: this is our first shower in this flat since December 4th!
Just as T. was writing that D. was to do no more cakes (except for that Stag Night cake, in July), D. was being talked into doing yet another cake with toys on top. This one’s for the birthday of one of his coworkers’ mum. She’s turning 70. And she loves lawn bowling. So: the cake requested is a lemon cake, square, shaped like a bowling green, and to have figures on it … lawn bowling. His coworker is going to go to the same toy store from which we got the pirate toys, and is so excited it’s not even funny. This excitement is the fun part about baking, really: that people love these creations, and they’re really so easy to make … well, that’s why he agrees to do them.
D. has finished a draft chapter of his PhD thesis and has until May to revise that chapter. That takes things up to about 30,000 words so far. He’s still trying to get people to take his survey, in particular he’s looking for Canadians (only 10 have participated), people in the British Isles other than those in Scotland (although they’re welcome, too, it’s just that he’s got more Scots than English, which is sort of unbalanced as there are like 20 times more English, not to mention the Welsh or the Irish!), and people in the US other than Californians (Again: they’ve had a stronger voice than any other state.). So, please consider taking the survey: http://hobbitsabroad.com/limesurvey/index.php?sid=47694 !
Woohoo, so much good news! I’m glad the boiler is up and running, even though there’s no good reason for why it was dead, and that the draft chapter is finished! And a lawn bowling cake? How could it get any better? 🙂
Ahhhhh. Hot Water and HEAT! They can never be over rated! (and just to be a meaner, todays projected high is +10 and sunny! Totally unusual for this part of the country at this time of year. This is April weather)
D, would you like me to post the link to your survey on my blog? One of the 6 people who read it may take a few minutes to help you out.