It’s hard to get good help these days

We went and purchased a new range hood today.  Our old one had served us well, and at approximately 35 years old, it was well due to be replaced.  Buying a replacement was relatively easy and hassle free, which doesn’t always happen these days of retail shopping.  Yes, the hardware shop had them in stock, and yes again, just the right size we needed.  I had visions that they would have to order one in for us from the manufacturer.  Robin had a long forgotten gift card issued by the company, and redeemed this for part payment of our purchase.  We brought the new range hood home and my help was required to get it fitted on the wall.

A quick read through the instructions and Robin was all set.  He held it up in place and my job was to get a pencil and mark where the screw hole should go on the wall.  (Having interior timber walls throughout the house means that we don’t have to worry about finding a stud to put the screw in.)  However, he wasn’t at all impressed with the dainty little pencil mark I had made, how can he see that, he said in exasperation.  It’s hard to get good help, he commented.  So we changed places, and I held the range hood up while he took the pencil and made a decent “man sized” mark to show the placement of the screws.   Out came his handy battery operated screwdriver to do the job, and in no time at all, the new range hood was hanging securely on the wall over our relatively new stove.  And would you believe, it’s called a “Robin Hood”.  Now the kitchen cupboards need painting – should I offer to help, I wonder, or would I be better off keeping out of the way?  I’m not really much good doing messy jobs.

Our new range hood

A man’s work is never done and Robin had to go out and cut the lawns after lunch.  The grass isn’t too long, but there are plenty of dandelion heads poking through.  It will look nice and tidy when he’s finished so I made sure there was a cold beer in the fridge ready for him to relax with.  We don’t profess to be great gardeners but our grape vine is doing rather well.  It grows across the back fence and there is an abundance of fruit this year.  The bunches have to ripen and colour up so the fruit won’t be ready for another month or so. 

Our grape vine is fruiting well