Hot Days, Courgette Jenga, and a Radiator Saga

 

Wow—it’s been very hot here in the UK over the last few days! So, Rick’s daily walking routine has been tweaked a bit. He now heads out very early in the morning and again late in the evening. I’m not sure he entirely approves—he does love his routines—but needs must in this heat.

Gardening chores now have to be done before coffee because it’s simply too hot after that. I try to grow as much of our own veg and salad crops as possible in summer. Last year’s courgettes were a bit of a disappointment, so I planted a few extras this time around. Well... they’ve gone into overdrive! We’re now playing a daily game of courgette Jenga. I either need some excellent courgette recipes—or a lot of friends willing to adopt some!


Meanwhile, today was the big day for our kitchen radiator upgrade. We’d decided to swap out the old one for a stylish anthracite cast iron model. The young plumber arrived bang on time, and I showed him exactly where we wanted it. I’d even carefully marked the floor. The thing weighs 36kg, so I offered to help carry it in—but apparently that wasn’t necessary. Turns out, he’s very strong. Okay then—I’ll just go potter about outside!

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until I popped in for a quick look. Yes, it was perfectly placed... just about two feet too high off the floor. That detail had somehow escaped me. After a quick second opinion from Sue (who took one look and said “Nope”), we agreed it needed to be lower. Which meant... four fresh holes in my freshly painted wall. Sigh. More filler required.

Anyway, height crisis resolved, and the radiator is now up, new pipework installed, and the system refilled. I had warned the plumber in advance that our system can be a bit... temperamental. He was confident. Until, of course, it didn’t work. After several phone calls to his boss—who’s wrestled with our setup before—and a solid hour of effort, every radiator in the house was suddenly roasting. Possibly not ideal timing, given the heatwave, but hey—at least it works!

Fingers crossed for a bit of rain tomorrow. Yes please!


Comments

  1. Sue2 July 2025 at 06:58

    Where's the photo of my fabulous new radiator?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah11 July 2025 at 19:50

    We appreciated the courgette donation

    ReplyDelete

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