The water carriers...

I had my second Covid jab booked for today and was extremely pleased to have been able to bring it forward by 11 days after originally booking it for the 13 June. The Indian variant is running rife at the moment, but this isn't translating (yet) into deaths or hospitalisations, thank goodness. There is some doubt, though, that the easing of all restrictions on the 21 June might happen.

Before we went to Moulton Park, our new twin tub washing machine arrived. We didn't have time to have a good look at it and said we'd read all the instructions when we returned.

As before, the vaccine process was very smooth and efficient, and I received my second jab right on time. The woman I spoke to said they were hoping to do about 2000 vaccinations today, which was impressive, seeing as the venue was only one of very many!

Before going home we popped into the Co-op to get something for lunch and then it was back to have a bite to eat before trying out our new washing machine!

We quickly realised that we wouldn't be able to use it in the kitchen as it needs to drain into a lower container. Putting it on the draining board meant we couldn't get to sort the washing out inside the machine unless we stood on steps, not a good idea!

Keith went into the garage to clear a space next to our tumble dryer, and we used an old plastic waste bin as the wastewater container. This meant, however, that we had to continuously carry heavy buckets of water backwards and forwards from the house to the garage.

The instructions were long and complicated and we soon simplified the process! Bascially, we had to fill the left reservoir two thirds full of hot soapy water, add the clothes and then set the timer. We set it to 15 minutes, but this can vary depending on how dirty the wash is. According to the instructions, after the wash is completed, you add the clothes to the spinner, but add extra water... why? We seemed to be forever carrying water to and fro (and emptying the bloomin' waste container), so we soon dispensed with this stage! We just spun them, then added fresh water to the left compartment, rinsed them, added more fresh water with fabric conditioner, spun them again and then hung them on the washing line. It was a bit of a faff, and to begin with, I felt despair about doing this several times a day, every day. Carrying heavy buckets of water, and then lifting them up so we could pour the water into the machine was not fun!

It soon dawned on me that there was no way I could wash our heavy super-king duvet cover as the machine really only takes about 3kg of clothes (or 8lb) and even less than that when you use the spin cycle.

I suggested to Keith that we contact Highlands to see whether we could take delivery of our new washing machine early. I emailed Anthony and within half an hour, he had replied to say this was no problem and it would be with us on Friday! Hooray!

We did manage to empty our laundry basket today, though, so I was pleased we'd done that, but by late afternoon I felt shattered. I'm not sure whether it was the jab, the heat (it was saying 29c in the car but that's always higher than it really is) or the constant backwards and forwards with water, but I felt deadbeat! Keith suggested we all go to the pub for a drink this evening and I agreed, but I still felt tired!

As it neared evening, the skies clouded over and it looked a bit stormy. We went to The White Horse and sat in the garden with two halves of Guinness (Soph and me) and two pints of San Miguel (the boys).

We spent a very pleasant and enjoyable hour talking and sipping our drinks. Just before we left, it started to rain, so we chose the right time to go!