Washing up liquid

Service is everything. We ordered some wood for the fire in the 'dining room' - we prefer wood to coal for numerous reasons - including the fact that the fire doesn't draw well, especially when the fire dies down, and this sets off the carbon monoxide detector. Apart from the fact that this is ear-splitting, one does worry. Anyway - it's easier to get a wood fire to either spark up, or die completely than it is with any other fuel.

So we ordered a bulk supply with specific and emphasised delivery instructions, which were ignored.

This meant that much of yesterday was spent with a wheelbarrow shifting the wood the three or four hundred metres to where we wanted it.

Of the many greatest inventions the world has ever seen, the wheelbarrow must be up there with the best. It's a superb machine. The amount of work it enables you to do is staggering. Of great labour saving inventions it's up there with washing up liquid. No really - I mean it.