Let us in!

Weeks go by with frightening rapidity but no great drama (thank goodness) and then out of the blue something happens just to keep us all on our toes. Fortunately our guests seem remarkably cheerful and resilient which is more than we sometimes feel when something totally unforeseen goes wrong, when the last thing we want is a problem to spoil their time here.

Today’s bolt (forgive the pun) was the Douglas’s Barn lock. To be fair, being wise after the event, we had had some warnings that all was not well with it as some of our guests may remember, but a good dose of WD40 had always seemed to do the trick so we put the awkward behaviour of the lock down to damp weather…

However, things were not so simple. Our poor guests arrived home this evening after a day out, laden with shopping, no doubt just longing for a good bath and a pleasant, relaxing and uneventful evening. That was not immediately to be.  As they struggled unsuccessfully with the lock the next door guests proved most helpful and sympathetic, John and I sympathetic but marginally less helpful; screwdrivers were brandished, wire coathangers and helpful suggestions, to no avail. The only comforting thought was that any burglar would have his work cut out should he ever try to break in. It was not easy.

Shaun our builder proved the knight in shining armour. He very nobly abandoned mowing his lawn on a Sunday evening to come to our rescue, which he did, but it took 3/4 of an hour. At one stage I was wondering whether he’d have to take the whole door off, but fortunately this did not prove necessary. All is now temporarily well – with the door still lockable  and Shaun will return to replace the locks on both barn front doors on Tuesday.

And so ends another peaceful day in the country.