THE LAUGHARNE DIARIES: Life's a Gas

 April 24

Life’s a Gas    T.Rex              Released 1971

"But it really doesn't matter at all,

    No it really doesn't matter at all,

    Life's a gas.

 

Because of a streetlight outside the bedroom window little sleep. Rosie restless too and moves from bed to bed. Ordering blinds became a new priority as importantly was getting hot water and some heating.

 

Interestingly we are on calor gas and the previous people had left not a drop in the two forty-seven litre bottles outside in the back yard. Back yard? Did I mean patio? No back yard is more the thing.  We rang the estate agent who rang the previous owner, George, who rang Woody.  There was a knock on the door, it was Woody. Woody had come to help. He was a plumber of some forty year’s experience. He quickly understood the real problem. The gas bottles were empty. He also showed Sian how to switch on the boiler and me how to change a calor gas bottle. However we needed gas.

 

Woody suggested Tooby & Williams. Tooby Williams is in St Clears a small town just down the road is a vast emporium of hardware, garden ware and anything you need to run a farm or small holding. Ample parking. Sadly, they did not have any calor gas at the moment. I rang Woody. Woody said I should go to Hafren Pet Supplies. “It’s right out of Tooby’s car park and right again, keep going and it’s on the left opposite the Co-Op”. I could not find it. And gave left out of Tooby’s and left again and kept going and found it.

 

They were very helpful and could sell me a nineteen-litre bottle of calor. Just bring your empty round the back and swap it for a new one.  Ah, well I did not bring an empty. Well we’ll have to have an empty.

OK, I’ll go back home and get an empty. It was a bit of an effort to get a 47L gas bottle in the back of the car. It broke its bonds halfway there and so it was left hand steading the bottle and right hand on the steering the wheel. 

 

Fortunately St Clears, population 2,995, is only 15 minutes away in the car. St Clears AFC association football club play in the Pembrokeshire League and the highlight of the farming year hereabouts is the St Clears YFC annual show which is held in May.

 

Made the swap, tapped to pay and one of the boys help me in with my new, full, 19L bottle.

Got back home and connected it up, Sian sorted the boiler and voila, hot water. Phew.

 

We discover where we live: Sian had ordered two items from Amazon to meet us at the house on our arrival yesterday. They did not turn up. She went up and down the street knocking on doors in case of misdirection. She went to the Post Office. No luck there either.

Today we saw three chaps in the street having a good old chat Glynn, John and tree feller Andrew (?). On a hunch Sian said where to do think mail might go for The Showroom No1. Clifton Street she gestured towards our house. “That’s not no. 1 Clifton Street,” said Andrew. “That’s no.1 Clifton Street.” And he indicated a blue house about three minutes’ walk away. They enjoyed the joke. I collected our Amazon parcels from no.1 and met and apologised to Barry and Sandra.