I hold my hands up in the air and admit
that I’m not a domestic goddess. I can cook, and I can bake, but I’m not a natural home-maker – somehow, when I walk through the front
door, I become a bit of a wrecking ball. One shoe ends up on the sofa. One in
the hall. The bag is dumped, and it slumps, despondent, spilling its contents
across the entire floor. Every morning is a mad rummage, as I up-end drawers looking
for an intact pair of tights. I spill every cup of tea I make.
I’m hopeless, essentially. BUT, I have done some chores that
are very responsible, home-owner-type chores since I moved in. I do feel particularly adult
today, so I thought I’d tell you all about them.
Clearing the U-Bend & Dishwasher
I’m fortunate to say I’ve never had to do this before. It’s
probably needed doing in past houses but I’ve chucked some bleach down it and
hoped for the best. T unscrewed the pipes, and we found a moist black clot lurking
in the u-bend. It was the size of a hamster.
Yuck.
The dishwasher (inherited from the owner) was an even worse
task. The stench of mildew was overpowering and it took me almost two hours to
get the gunk off. I used wooden skewers (although toothpicks would work) first
to work most of the deposits free. Then I scrubbed all the parts with an old
toothbrush and some special cleaner I bought from Sainsbury’s.
However, it’s working perfectly now and the smell has gone
entirely!
Fixing a toilet
The insides of a toilet have always been a mystery to me. In
my tenant mind-set, that white box at the back contained a magical land full of
tiny people and a waterfall. Sadly, I now know there is just a big plug, a dangly
chain, and a weird tube. Not interesting at all.
The toilet wouldn’t stop running, even though the plug was in place. What was
wrong? Well, there just wasn’t enough water in there! A pint glass from the
sink, and the problem was solved. It was incredibly simple.
Weeding the garden
In all honesty, my Grandma did most of this job. She’s very green-fingered and her garden is a thing of beauty. She came over on Tuesday and had it out with my front garden, which I am so grateful for. The rest of the weeds have been mercilessly sprayed and I plan to pull them out as soon as possible…
Cutting back overgrown trees
Our back garden is tiny little paved rectangle which shouldn’t take too much love to look inviting and keep neat. It was an overgrown mess, however; cue T and I standing on the garden bench and hacking over-hanging tree branches. Now that job’s done, the garden looks bigger and brighter.
