For selling fab stuff !!!

With this nasty wet weather and four people's worth of washing to do including a set of cloth nappies, I have been struggling to dry washing on the outside line. The couple of old maidens I have are literally falling to pieces and can't cope with the amount and weight of washing we now do. I have both maidens permanently full and I still have a growing washing mountain in my kitchen.

Enter Ikea and the Antonius clothes dryer.


It is massive, taller than me tall with bags of hanging space. I have been washing all evening and have hung up just under three loads already on the airer and it will definately take the next one currently in the washing machine. It is 'just under' three loads as I am hanging the very heavy jeans and pants on a seperate maiden, as I don't think the new airer would take very heavy stuff. It also folds up very neatly, remaining the same height but becoming very narrow and fairly easy to carry. Eventually it will be located under the spare bed when not in use in that room, but it is currently up in our dining room, whilst I play catch up with the laundry.

If I have beams in the right place, I hope to get this Antonius ceiling dryer for heavy jeans, bath towels etc, to hang upstairs over the landing.


I am confident that the washing mountain will soon be flattened, onward and upward towards the island of ironing

My mobile phone and I parted company several weeks ago now.

I did try ringing it and I heard the ringtone from the living room but as I can't hear directions I couldn't find it. By the time Deckchair got home the mobile (which only had a low charge at the time of being lost) had stopped ringing and was going straight to the answerphone. Despite looking everywhere for weeks it was nowhere to be found. I assumed our bright active toddler Babychair had something to do with the disappearance and I was hopeing the phone would turn up again, like a set of house keys had done some months before.

At first I wasn't bothered, to be honest it was a bit of a relief. Mobiles can be a hassle, remembering to keep them charged, carrying them around all the time and feeling obliged to answer them when they ring. I much prefer email, when you can answer in your own time.

But as days turned into weeks, I started missing the damm thing. I started finding myself saying, I'll just ring Deckchair, my mum, check the opening times for the children's music group and of course no mobile meant I would have to wait until I got back home.

On top of finally missing my mobile, there was the concern from my parents and husband at being out in the world with two young children and no way of calling for help, if say my dodgy car broke down when I was away from home, so I decided it was time to do something about it.

I rang our mobile company Virgin Mobile (Virgin Mobile Website) and spoke to a lovely lady in their customer service department. She was polite, friendly and ever so helpful, because I had an account with them for a few years and as I was willing to have a 'new to me' rather than a brand new phone and didn't need (nor want) the latest model, she found me a wonderful deal. So I end up with a 'new to me' pink mobile and my orginal number back for just over £12 !!! What a bargain. Plus she reordered a new sim card with my original mobile number on it, free of charge !!!

So Virgin Mobile is on my very short list of companies with an excellent customer service department.

Roll on the end of the week and my new(ish) phone arrival and I'll be contactable whilst out and about again