Nasty man!

It was great to have a lie-in this morning as Sophie couldn't go to the gym (well, she can't go anywhere at the moment!). I took a test first thing and it was negative again, so that was a huge relief as I thought that by now Keith and I would have been showing symptoms.

Sophie hadn't been able to get a laptop to work on so I offered to go down to Brackmills to fetch one for her, otherwise she would have had to take today as a holiday. I drove down in gorgeous sunlight and collected it from one of the staff who backed away from me like I had the lurgy... well, I suppose I still could have but I was wearing a mask and made sure I kept my distance!

Back home, I caught up with a lot of little jobs that needed doing and sat with Sophie while she worked at the kitchen island. It was just like old times when we were in lockdown!

We were expecting the heating engineers today and they arrived just as I was making lunch - typical! That's a tip... if you want someone to arrive, start cooking or preparing food! Sophie and I moved into the conservatory when one of them came down to the kitchen to give the boiler a service. I took an instant dislike to him as he quizzed me, in a very condescending tone, about how long it had been since it had been serviced and why the carbon monoxide alarm was in the hallway as it was "no use" being there! He also said that the screws weren't fastened properly on the outer casing, as if I had deliberately sabotaged it! 

The other man was upstairs fiddling about with all the pipes and things in the airing cupboard and I think they both had great difficulty in getting the boiler going again when Mr Nasty had finished servicing it. Ha! Serves him right! They left the kitchen in a bit of a mess and charged us another £500 for the privilege. That's over £1000 we've now spent on the central heating, but when you consider it hasn't given us any trouble in 21 years, I suppose that isn't bad! Let's hope that's the end of it now!

After they'd gone, Keith and I drove over to Mawsley to pick up the lateral flow tests Sophie had ordered. I made sure I kept well away from everyone and bought Sophie a nasal spray for her nose. She is really only suffering from a blocked nose and a dry throat and still has her sense of taste and smell, which is good.

When we arrived back home I went and had a bath. The weather has definitely become colder now, which shouldn't be a surprise. It is winter after all!

After dinner this evening, Sophie and I went upstairs and watched Pride and Prejudice starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew McFadyen. We both loved the film and have decided to try and visit some of the houses used on the set!