The last 24 hours has been rather wonderful. Blissed out at meeting the gorgeous Miss Felix, the Huddersfield Station cat, I shared my blog post about it with her* in a private message, thinking she might like to know how happy she made me. (*Now, I do know that there is a lovely human who manages Felix’s Facebook page…but just let me have my little fantasy where I had an exchange with Miss Floof herself, as I tell this story.)
Within moments, Felix wrote back…she liked it! She wanted to know if she could share it on her page! I wish she could have seen the cartwheels of joy this brought me. It’s an utter delight when someone comments on a blog post – it’s so lovely to know that people are reading and enjoying my words. But when the Floof herself writes back, the Floof you’ve loved from afar for years…well…that’s very special indeed. I couldn’t write back fast enough. Yes please!
And so blog post shared, with the loveliest of messages from Miss Felix herself, I watched in wonder as over 2,000 people clicked through into my blog to read it, and 1,400 of them went back to Felix’s post to say they liked it. The comments were so lovely: people shared in my joy. So many wanted to meet her, so many others said: Yes! I met her! Isn’t she special? She made me just as happy!
Thank you gorgeous girl, as if meeting you wasn’t enough, sharing my blog post, and best of all, you liking it, is just the biggest cherry on top.
Miss Felix also suggested that I share it with the lady who wrote her first book, currently collecting stories about meeting Felix, for her second book. And she sent me the contact details. Of course I did this too. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? To have my meeting Miss Felix immortalised in print.
In other news, specifically fridge news, I have been applying a steady drip feed of nagging Chris along the lines of “I don’t think it’s the fridge” repeated ad nauseum. It didn’t go down well. My theory being this: the people who fixed the gas issue, weren’t approved Dometic (fridge) service centres – the gas set up is from a different supplier. They replaced a gas jet – but how do we know that the jet was the right one to run the fridge effectively? Especially when backed by an email from Dometic’s head office (I wrote to them a while back) confirming my theory: they suggested it might be the jet, which if too large could cause a build up of ammonia and impair function. I called the team who replaced the gas jet last year – they couldn’t identify what type of jet they used, it could be one of three they use regularly.
Chris finally caved today. I found a nearby Dometic centre, described my concerns and wheddled our way into a same day appointment. I swore to Chris that if this new authorised guy found it wasn’t the jet, I’d hold my peace moving forward. While they worked on it, we set off to the nearby Clitheroe for a pub lunch and a quick exploration.
We happened upon a wedding and the very welcoming Vicar of the St Mary Magdalene church.
After the wedding he shared the history of the Church’s most prized display – that of Dr John Webster’s legacy, who in the 1600s was one of the first people to speak in defence of witches, persecuted through the witch trials of the time. His stance was witches “powers” had more to do with illusion and the power of suggestion, a form of mass hysteria, rather than witchcraft. That would have taken courage in that time. The usual result of any form of sympathy for an accused witch’s plight was a similar punishment for those who dared to speak. (It’s hard not picture Monty Python’s John Cleese here, pointing a finger and screaming “blasphemer!”).
Dr Webster is buried in this Church and his gravestone speaks of his deeds. A brass replica and its translation is displayed in the Church.
By 3 pm we’re called back. And guess what?
It WAS the jet, not too large, but far too small, insufficient power to run the fridge on gas, leaving it to work well on power and battery. This led to a build up of carbon in the jet, further compounding the problem. A new, correct gas jet has been installed, the pipes cleaned out. It’s working perfectly! Hallelujah. Chris is gracious in defeat, if a little quiet. I’m trying to be equally gracious in victory but all I really want to do is run a victory lap punching the air. All that remains now is to get the significant deposit back from the place that insisted we needed a new one. Talks are in progress.
Oh and the small matter of “what now”, now that we are no longer tied to electric powered sites and are free to go to Europe. Plans are about to be recast. Stay tuned….
Miss Baci Travels 