Tuesday 16th May

The day got off to a very wet start as we had sprung a leak in the garage. After dropping Lucy off, I got home to hear a very strange hissing noise as I stepped through the front door. I hadn't heard it when we went out, so immediately thought maybe the community cleaner were hosing down the cobbles outside the garage door, and continued on my way upstairs. Being naturally curious (or just damn nosy!)I poked my head out of the kitchen window to see exactly what was going on. As it was, it appeared that nothing was going on outside, so I deduced that the noise must be coming from inside the garage. I legged it back down the stairs to see what it was, and found water spewing out of a join from the mains to the resevoir tank. Quick as you like I darted across and flicked off the red lever I assumed to be the stopcock, and phoned handy man Hop. He was more than delighted to skive off work for an hour, in the name of a domestic emmergency, and made a leaky repair job which although an improvement on the fountain it replaced, needed more expert attention, hence Chris and Ian's visit later on, complete with Ian's shy litle boy, Conner. Apparently Hop had been overzealous in his attention to one of the pipes and bent it, hence the leak, and the need for a replacement tomorrow.
Made chicken and turkey burgers from scratch for tea with fresh mince and herby breadcrumbs with healthy oven chips and salad which Lucy gobbled up. I can't believe how much she can eat sometimes, and I think I'm lucky she likes veggies and salad. She also loves ketchup, and took a video of her tucking in, which I sent to KT. (I had to dodge out of the way of ketchup laden fingers, though!) She still had room for "nicies" though!
After Lucy went to bed, had some beers, and Hop showed me this site he has found called 360Share Pro, which helps you to search for obscure records lurking in other peoples collections, which you can download and put on your mp3. Took a while to get going and sometimes you have to wait a while for the search and download, but found some corkers! Anyone remember Donna Summer with Musical Youth? or that old favourite Will Powers, Kissing with Confidence? There seems to be no end to it, and it kept me amused until about 11.30. On the computer Hop now has a contrast to the dodgy hard punk he favours. He was quite specific about saying I needed to buy my own Mp3 player though, and I was amazed by his unusually diplomatic comment as he trotted off to bed (having had enough of The Belle Stars)"music is a VERY personal choice"! Anyone for Sandy Denny and the Strawbs?