"You're not doing that again." Thus came the declaration from Mrs KY, after my latest trip into the loft. Our loft is different to many lofts because, although their is a stick to enable the door to be opened from ground level, it is impossible to access the ladders without first obtaining a chair to gain added elevation. This is basically down to poor design - but then who am I to argue about this?

I say that it is necessary to get a chair to gain access to the ladders. Strictly speaking, that is true. However, I managed to find another way yesterday evening as girly (Kaitlyn) was in bed and the chairs were therefore inaccessible. By pulling myself up on the door frame and the loft door, I managed to get myself onto the stair bannister, from which position I could pull down the ladders.

Quite a bizarre way of doing things, and too dangerous for Mrs KY to appreciate. The reason for doing this though is even more pathetic. Basically the water tanks are overflowing in the loft, so that water constantly drips down the overflow into the front garden. If I was still in South Africa, it would be a scandalous waste of water, but up north there is plenty to go round. The ballcock (that could be entirely the wrong word) is in the wrong position and needs adjusting to stop the flow of water. Unfortunately I have not managed to figure this out yet, so as an alternative means of DIY I have got myself a large plank and stuck it under the ballcock. If positioned correctly it works like a dream. Sometimes though, it will slip and another treacherous visit to the loft becomes necessary.

Now I know that nobody reading this would ever resort to such appaulling DIY methods, but to be quite honest, it is par for the course for me. Technical I am not. Never found it interesting at school, never took any note at home. Football in those days was far too important to learn stuff like that.

Perhaps I had better start learning....