I just had to include this photograph of two little helpers giving me all their assistance at an address in Belchamp Otten, I thought it was so amusing, and I hope you do too! This is Teddy and Ellie (their full names being Theodore and Elanor Roosevelt), they are long haired Dachshunds and they are very friendly and inquisitive, as you can see. Their owner tells me that although they live in a house with three women, they actually crave male attention, and if anything, they are a man’s dogs, hence their attention to me! And there’s me thinking it’s my animal magnetism! All said and done they did make both me and Claire laugh and brought smiles to our faces for the rest of the day, even though it was really rainy!

This is in addition a good example of me using a special sweeping tool of German invention, a large Viper. The Viper is essentially rods on a reel with a brush on the end of it. It is ideal for sweeping lined appliances and different size brushes can be used to deal with different diameter liners. It only down fall is that it can only bee used on straight up and down chimneys as the brush can not be turned to negotiate bends. Useful bit of kit none the less.