Rug doctor

I bought my house in 2000. I probably hadn't quite finished getting divorced and I was very skint but it was a lot easier to get a mortgage in those days! 

I was so happy to have the house for me and my daughters but it was in need of some decoration and renovation, which I couldn't afford, so for the first couple of years we were here nothing was done. I used to say it was like living in student accommodation but, really, it wasn't that bad. 

Fortunately, between 2000 and 2004, I had three really well paying contracts and that enabled me to clear the substantial debts from my marriage and then, sometime in 2003, to start doing the house up. I simply don't have the skills or patience to do those kind of jobs myself but I found a great builder called Graham who managed to do everything that was asked of him. He even landscaped the garden!

Most of the carpets in the house were fitted then so they are now over fifteen years old and while they are hoovered regularly, they are looking a bit tired. I had thought about replacing them and then it occurred to me to buy a carpet cleaner, which I've never considered before. 

The 'Rug Doctor' arrived earlier this week and today I gave it its first outing. It's not a miracle worker by any means but just seeing the water that came up off the carpets was validation enough that it's a job worth doing. And once it had finished drying out, the area that I'd done looked noticeably better. 

And it was a good day for doing a job indoors; the weather was poor and Dan and I decided that we'd defer our long walk for another day. Instead, we drove over to Barbon and walked along the road to the bridge and then back along the other side. 

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-9.3 kgs
Reading: 'Underland' by Robert Macfarlane