Warm.

The day has been cloudy and warm. There was a 70% chance of heavy showers right at the time Peter was out rowing on the river but although dark clouds appeared the rain held off. It was such a lovely evening that a couple of young lads were out playing football on our extra mown piece of the communal grass until 10.15 by which time it was completely dark.

Our builder friend came round to fit a star key lock  to the inner porch door. The outer front door locks but needs a key to open from the inside as well as the outside. When we leave the key in the lock on the inside of the locked door the door can't be opened by key from the outside. We end up leaving the key in but not locking it but that means that anyone can simply walk into the house. This is a very safe area with low crime levels but we do have to be less relaxed than we were at Dingles where we didn't lock the house for at least 15 years. So it is reassuring to be able to prevent someone walking into the house unannounced by having a simple lock on the inner porch door. I would have been happy with a bolt but in terms of resale then a lock is better. While Wayne was working on the door a spider jumped out and landed on his chest. He was able to grab a glass to put over the spider which he then photographed with his phone. Looking at the photo we all agreed that it was a false widow spider which is aggressive and has a venomous bite and the spider was duly squished. (It was similar to the stock photo below.)

My job of the day was to clean all the moss and slime from the end of the second conservatory roof panel which was just as bad as the first one. It was a bit easier to do as I could stand on the garden wall which put me higher than when  standing on a chair. 

The other thing I did today was to use a flea fogger in my study. Yes, we have fleas or rather the cats do, something that is inevitable in the summer with cats that go outside. Peter never gets bitten but I get bitten by every small creature that bites; midges, mosquitos, horse flies and cat fleas. I use the flea drops on the cats regularly even switching between the two chemicals that are commonly used and also spray carpets and anywhere else the cats sit. With all that the fleas are still around biting me on the ankles so I bought a whole room 'fogger' for my study where I and the cats spend a lot of time. You press the top of the can and make a quick exit, leave the room closed for 3 hours and then aired out for at least an hour. All electrical equipment has to be turned off as well so it's not suitable for all rooms. I put the sitting room throws and cushions and any cat beds in my room as well and even the reusable cloth bag from the hoover in case any of those pesky fleas were lurking inside the hoover. Hopefully that will lower the population and I'll keep on with the drops and sprays.