An Unexpected Inspection

See? Despite my recent pictures, we DO still have some daylight here in England, between about 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. I was even able to walk around in it a bit yesterday, admiring the Christmasy windows of the shops on our high street. (The restaurant on the left has decorations up, including a tree, but they're hard to see with that awning.)

I spent most of the day cleaning, though. I did laundry, cleaned our kitchen shelves and ran everything on them through the dishwasher, and I cleaned our bedroom windows, giving them the same treatment I'd already given the windows in the dining room and living room -- the frames, the sills, everything.

It was rainy yesterday, but it was a slow drizzle and the dehumidifier filled up overnight. I'll use the water on the houseplants today.

I tried to take Olga when I went walking, but she wouldn't go more than a few steps from the front door. I suppose the precipitation put her off. You can never tell with that dog. Remember how I said she wouldn't want to walk on Friday morning, when it was a bit blustery? Well, I was completely wrong -- she wanted a long walk and I wound up being late for work. She's a mystery.

The Russians knocked on the door around lunchtime and asked to see the deteriorated wood outside. I guess since it's a repair that involves the exterior of the house, they'll have to pay for part of it, and they weren't happy with the quote from our management company. (The Russians own the upstairs flat, whereas we rent, so the cost of repairs would be split between them and our landlords.)

Even though I'd spent the whole morning cleaning and tidying, I saw every flaw as I led them through the house to the back door. They strike me as very fastidious people and I could just imagine them raising their eyebrows.

When I showed them how the deteriorated wood trim was allowing moisture to get into our living room wall, I pulled the couch back so they could see where we'd had mold spots behind it. "Oh, that's very bad for your health," Mrs. Russia said. No kidding!

Nonetheless, they want to arrange some more quotes and I'm not sure how we'll handle that, since presumably either Dave or I will have to be here to let contractors view the problem. They're having someone work on the roof in March and they wondered if they could repair the trim then, but I told them I'd like to get it fixed before that. So we'll see.

This is the downside of renting, particularly in a shared-ownership building. We are at the mercy of multiple property owners.