Gawd, still hyperventilating from the plumber's bill, but an extra hour's work plus a new pump soon adds up. Hopefully I now have a fully functioning hot water system. If not it will be cheaper to buy a new all electric one that to have that guy back! Oh well, hot water reliably delivered via Mr Sun will hopefully claw back the costs given the increases in electricity prices.

I had hoped to have a casserole on by now, but that was not dealt with due to the ongoing presence of a plumber who talks as he works (and runs around like a headless hen to reduce time costs, to be fair), but that did not happen, so instead of leaving bank cleaning till tomorrow I will go in and collect something for dinner en route.

And spend tomorrow revelling in a functional hot water system and cooking casseroles.

 Despite the relatively mild weather of late, the fire has been lit every evening at least. The dog and the cat have taken to relaxing in front of it (when Seb is not comfortably curled up on my bed). He has found he needs a pillow for comfort and Smidgen is apparently happy to oblige. Billy, on the other hand, tends to attach himself limpet like to my lap and give them both the evil eye.

 This is the new Jumbo Flyer I bought - it came with four bobbins so plenty of spools to fill. The remnants of the previous owner's spinning have been discarded as I could not work out what she was trying to achieve.

 Here is the infamous vest - such a pity it does not fit. Oh well.

And this is sock one of two - the other is on the needles with a cuff and about six rows of knitting done. It is a simple six stitch repeat - K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, K2togTBL, and repeat. Alternate rows are knit. But all the YO and K2tog one way or another really slows down progress. I expect I will persist until I have more yarn spun so I can try making another vest - one that actually fits.

Today in the History Room saw two pairs of visitors plus my hypochondriac jolly chap who keeps me updated with his diary dates and health issues as he researches madly while failing to make a donation. I planned to mention it today but his wife turned up with four books for us to sell (four dollars worth in total) so it seemed churlish - I will speak up next time.

Steph came in and we discussed the need to tidy up some of the displays - she will come in next Tuesday and we will have a go at one bay, thinning out, making it more coherent, considering interpretive signage etc.

The vest is finished (well, I have concluded I will need to blanket stitch the edges of the steeks to avoid bitty edges), and is at least two sizes too big for me. Bother. I have a male friend who already expressed interest, but he only knows his size in mens sizing and I only know sizes in women's sizing so it is all too confusing - he will call in next time he is passing and may buy it.

Meanwhile I went a little silly with spinning stuff and ordered a second hand jumbo flyer which arrived on Tuesday and has been installed on the Traditional Wheel in the History Room. I think I will uninstall it and put it in a box for use when I want to spin thicker or Art Yarn. I thought they had multiple whorl sizes, but apparently not. How annoying. It does however have a large orifice so ideal for when I want to push through trinkets and baubles.

On the home front some washing was achieved today, the plumber will be coming up on Friday and yes, I still have hot water, it is just supplied by the electricity, not the sun.

A rather brittle start to the day with the hoarfrost extending to almost a centimetre from the stems of the grass. And of course no water. Oh well.

So it was off to the History Room where I failed to make any proogress on the knitting as I had not brought the colours I needed. So I dug out the sock I started some time ago and made several inches of progress on that instead. One more inch to go before I start shaping the toe.

The sock was stalled because I had lost the fourth double pointed needle. I found it the other day while walking the dog - lying on the grass down on the oval. Apparently I had shoved it in the back pocket of my jeans one day and it had fallen out while removing poo bags. Still, at least I found it!

And home to find the valuer general had been to call to check out my new shed. I rang them to remind them that it is replacing a previous shed and will send them an email with the photo of the old shed as proof. Hopefully the rates won't go up!

The plumber emerged from his stupor this afternoon and phone me - missing me as i was out walking the dog. After further dark mutterings about costs and charges I finally got him to admit he was talking about $300.00 which seems a pretty cheap solution to a problem that has dogged me since the thing was installed. So he is now watching the weather and planning a trip that involves sunshine coinciding with my presence. It turns out the senser is in the wrong part of the tank - should be 1/4 of the way up from the bottom, but is 1/4 of the way from the top. So after further efforts on his part to avoid coming i pointed out that since that was a problem, it was possible other problems existed in the installation and having him come up could avoid this sort of thing at two yearly intervals. Finally got him to agree - I have to assume he hates the country!

It was a lovely sunny day so the woolley jumper that has been loitering in the shed for a couple of days, trying to get dry was draped over the clothesline and I decided to go for a drive. I have been longing for a pot roast for some weeks now, but the local shop has not been ordering any in and I was unsuccessful at Cove Hill. So a trip to Campbell Town was in order to the butcher there who does what you ask him to do if he has the stock in the fridge. Since I was there I called into Zeps for lunch and dined on salt and pepper squid with Thai salad in the sunshine in the park. Then off to the butcher for my roast (a fine looking beast) and a stop at Ross to check out what was on at the Wool Centre (still no decent fleeces - the same tender ones I rejected last time with increasing piles of rejected samples on top. You'd think they would have a better try!)

Then I took the turn off to York Plains and wandered home via back roads (which are in excellent condition at present) through wintry countryside. All very nice.

Home and dog walked it will be off to the bank in a short while, via a friend's place to drop off some knitting patterns.

The day did not start well as the hot water system has once again broken. The pump is not operating and so yesterday I had superheated steam entering the pipes and last night was the steady clunk clunk clunk of pipes slowly chilling. I rang the plumber (the Apricus specialist plumber) who entered into his usual moan about not wanting to come all the way to Parattah only to find he wasn't going to get paid (so insulting!) and perhaps if I had bought a pump from him it would be heat rated. So I sent him photos of the manual for the existing pump (German made, heat rated) and have not heard from him since. I will chase him up tomorrow. Turns out the pump is 6 months out of warranty, but I have read up on the Consumer Law and will be demanding a refund in full as it is not 'fit for purpose' in that it should last more than 2.5 years in ordinary use.

That sorted, I headed into the History Room and spent an entire day alone. As a result I have all but finished one arm hole of the vest and should be casting off tonight.

Our Mayor had his day in court today, finally - he has been dodging and weaving for some months now, and it turns out this is because he has been trying to talk Council into paying legal fees to dispute the charges. As it is, he pleaded guilty and was given a minor fine and a suspended license. No doubt many a user of the Midlands Highway will be watching closely to spot him driving during that time. Meanwhile we will have to watch Council like hawks to ensure he does not demand a driver and vehicle at ratepayers' expense - if he does I for one will be making complaint to the Local Government Association.

Yesterday was cold and miserable, so the less said the better really. I did manage to get in and clean the bank, drop off some garbage at the Tip and visit Jenny at her latest new home. It's an interesting building - the ground floor was once part of a long 1940s timber bungalow that was remodelled into two separate dwellings with a very small footprint but an upstairs attic space. It has been on the market for several years, and I am hoping she did not pay the asking price, but it is still a lovely place - the galley kitchen upstairs has views to the lake, and the downstairs kitchen is more compact, but it works well as one or two houses and is presently being used as one. Basically downstairs is being kept for day to day use and upstairs (which has excellent head height) for crafting and spare bedrooms. The back yard is a lot deeper than you first imagine and has been done rather well - they have excavated down to bedrock and mounded soil around the resulting hole. The mounds are planted thickly with silver birches and lavender. This is in the centre of a turning circle and flanked by outbuildings on three sides - it will be lovely in summer. It backs onto public open space, so is rather nice altogether!

Today at the History Room my morning was interrupted by my only visitors of the day, and so the rest of my time was spent finishing the neck band for the vest. Two arm openings to go and some sewing back of various bits and I will have a new garment!