pumpkinstrokemarrow

Given that our new daffodills are coming up and our new snowdrops are showing through (although the new winter aconites are nowhere to be seen), thought it was time to check out Hampton Court again. Where there were indeed, in sheltered spots, daffodils, snowdrops and winter aconites. There were also lots of points showing up in the open areas. And just one young family that thought it was OK to charge around on those same open areas, points and notices (not many to be fair) notwithstanding. A cross BH tried out her teacher voice on them, sadly to no avail. Probably the sort of people who are made aggressive by being pulled up in public, rather than embarrassed. Maybe a quiet word would have worked better? Maybe they won't do it next time when they have nothing to prove? We will never know.

Round the formal garden, splendid as ever in the winter sun and on into the small banqueting house by the river,  the first time it has been open for us. Rum place, with one room panelled, one room painted (in the tromp d'oeil style of, say, the banqueting hall at Greenwich) and (unopen) kitchen underneath. Not clear if there were dumb waiters to haul the grub up to the festive feasters, but it was clear that the place would be cold in the winter. Young's 'Winter Warmer' strongly indicated.

The following day, back to chores in the form of a new line for our rotary washing line. Without bothering to check or measure anything, off to Homebase where we buy two hanks of steel cored washing line, which we thought was what we had last time. On the strength of this purchase, Sainbury's get a new round of coupons to us by the following day.

While I am struggling to open the hanks. I eventually get one open by cutting it, which turns out to leave me with one piece of one third and another piece of two thirds. Not a brilliant start but I have learned that the stuff is a swine to cut with elderly wire cutters and I have also acquired two small cuts from the shaggy wire. Next step, strip out the old line. No problem here although it turns out that we had actually installed the polypropylene (or something) cored line rather than the steel cored line. Next step, start installing the new line. I think that if I start from the outside and work in, I will have a better chance of the four arms of the rotary being at right angles when I have finished. But I fail to think that the line has to spiral, and that spiralling works much better if you start on the inside.

So now I have various knots - despite it being quite difficult to tie knots in this stuff - to undo, at which point the trusty & rusty knife comes in, bought long ago in one of those shops which described themselves as army surplus and which, in those far off days, may have actually been just that. For perhaps the second time in its life with me, I used the spike, said in my Boy Scout days to be to do with removing stones from horses' hooves, to undo knots. Very useful it was for that purpose too. There is also a fairly fearsome, old-style tin opener, guaranteed to open any tinned food or beverage known to man.

A little while later, start to install the line, this time from the inside. Get on fine until I realise that I am going to have to make at least two joins in the line, joins which do not snag or otherwise damage the wet washing, bearing in mind the difficulty of tying knots in the stuff. After much exercise of the little grey cells, I decide that the thing to do is to locate the joins on one of the four arms. Shortly after that I find that the holes in the arms are two small to take two strands of the new hard core line. Out with the trusty rat's tail file (a relic of BH's naval uncle) to enlarge the hole, a proceeding which turns out to take around five minutes a hole.

A little while later still, I have all three pieces of line installed, but finishing maybe two turns short of the finishing line. Which means we will have to return to Homebase for a third hank. Meanwhile, BH has a rather temporary rotary washing line. I will report further progress in due course.