The swan has a mate

This shot was taken before the day was hijacked. A couple of years ago the male died as a result of eating rotting bread and the female was left on her own. She disappeared last year so we thought that's the end of swans on Mallards Lake. A short while ago a swan appeared. We didn't know if it was the same one or not but wondered if a mate would appear and today, great news, there are two of them. Really pleased to see that.

However, that was the end of the good part of the day. On our walk we called in at Doreen's house to see how work was progressing only to find nobody there. A call to the builders revealed they'd been instructed to stop work as the costs were going to be higher than first estimated owing to the area of parquet flooring that needed to be replaced.

That meant that the surveyors who were appointed to manage the repairs had to be changed as the costs were above their limits. For an agonising hour we thought that the repairs would be delayed until the new year as a new surveyor had been appointed and would have to do another survey. This meant the carpets could not be fitted on 20th nor the furniture returned the next day.

I was livid about this, especially as nobody had thought to tell us. It was only because I'd been to check that I found out. In the end I phoned the insurance company and told them what I thought. They were apologetic and at my insistence agreed to revert to the original arrangements and instruct the work to start. By 5.00pm the builders confirmed they had been instructed to restart work so all being well they will be back on site on Wednesday. Four phone calls, several hours and much frustration to get a resolution. Madness. All anyone says "I apologise", I've heard that dozens of times from all the companies involved in this fiasco.

All this has combined to make an already busy period more challenging and one of the reasons for intermittent comments for which "I apologise!"