I deserved at least a moderate hangover, but somehow avoided one. I’d been to The Red Lion in Burnsall for dinner with friends. It was delicious – and since it was the first food I’d eaten all day, I expected the wine to go right to my head. I was lucky.
Starting the day stacking logs felt like a really therapeutic and ‘wholesome’ activity and the log man made the job much easier than normal, winching the delivery over the fence on a mini crane then wheeling it right over to the garden on a sack cart, saving my usual 20 trips with a wheelbarrow. Feels good to have the log store full.
Especially because – it was bitingly cold today. The wind was so bitter that my fingers refused to cooperate and even though it stayed dry, I didn’t (couldn’t) light the chiminea, so the trickle of brave souls who came for hot drinks didn’t even benefit from a brief encounter with an open fire. Then the loos broke. A pipe started to leak uncontrollably and despite the valiant efforts of a couple of friends, a plumber is required but not available until next week.
So today would have felt really desperate if it hadn’t been for the visit from the Environmental Heath Officer. We make a joke on the ‘About Us’ notice that we’ve ‘never knowingly poisoned anyone’ – but it’s actually very serious and important and the same rules apply, whether you are the Savoy, or Riverbank Coffee Hut.
So despite the cold and the water leak and the complete lack of customers, a food hygiene rating of five kept me moving forwards and totally saved the day.