At last

"It will be the 12th of Jan before we can come," said the voice from the Water Authority at the other end of the telephone line. 

At this Dave erupted. "But we've already been half a week without water."

Eventually a compromise was agreed. They would come today, Thursday. This was Tuesday. 

Dave continued to come round with his bucket & kettle. Yesterday he managed to find somewhere to buy the 5 gallon water containers you see in waiting rooms & offices. Now he only came with his bucket for water to flush the loo.

So we'd just finished dinner. The Fox was just clearing up, washing bowl on the go, when the doorbell went. Dave. No bucket, just a broad smile & a whoop of joy. They'd absentmindedly switched on the tap, forgetting the lack of water, & a trickle came out. The trickle wasn't particularly healthy looking but at least it was coming through. He was now confident things would be alright. Once more he thanked us for our help - he'd brought a bottle of wine round in the morning as a sign of their appreciation.

Since then, this morning the water in our cold water tap is considerably warmer as is the day, so hopefully all is flowing well for them. Now Dave just needs to wait anxiously in case there is any sign of a burst. Hopefully the water wasn't so long frozen to have burst the pipe anywhere. Meanwhile he'll cancel the appointment with the Water Authority.

What it must be like in Northern Ireland! And to think Dave & his wife were only away for just over 24 hours, leaving their heating on in their absence!