Flying the flag

I spotted these England flags as I walked back from the doctors’ surgery, where I’d just delivered a note giving Smithers’ blood pressure readings over the past few weeks. 

Yesterday I discovered that the hose in our wall-mounted hose reel had perished; when I turned it on, there was a constant drip coming down from inside the case onto the path. Within minutes, the drip had become a downpour and the sprinkler stopped working. I looked online and was amazed to find that the same model was still on sale, ten years after I bought the last one. I ordered one immediately and was pleased to see that the site offered free next day delivery.

So our new hose reel arrived this morning, which was excellent timing because our lovely gardener, Steve, was here. He had the old hose in its case off the wall in a trice, replaced it with the new one – exactly the same fittings – and then replaced the guide under the tap which has four rollers to help move the hose in all directions. Then he replaced the short hose which connects to the tap and voilà! within 24 hours we were back in business. I’m very pleased, because I can’t water with the watering can until we have some rain because our water butt is empty, so until then I will need to use the hose and spray gun.