CASA OLIMPIA.

Wednesday/Thursday 1st/2nd April 2009.

Wednesday 1st.

As we came down the sun was out but still with a little breeze;still no call from England so we settled back into our routine.On Monday and Tuesday after all the excitement of the wedding of the year in Australia and especially seeing and speaking to Jack and Lyn,I went across to Estepona to the bank and called into the English butchers on the way back and picked up Calves Liver and Fresh Chicken Breasts for dinner on Monday and Tuesday;during the afternoon we noticed a small drip from the hot water boiler in the kitchen and had to put a mop bucket under it as it is in the larder next to and above the fridge freezer.In the evening it got steadily worse and we had to keep an eye on it during the night!

Thursday 2nd.

We got up early to let the dogs out and found that the drip was getting faster so I rang Mano in Manilva and asked for his help! Meanwhile Chris phoned to say that he was feeling a lot better and that they are making the bookings to get back to Lisbon and then drive back down here, so I brought him up to date with the boiler news. When Mano arrived Anna came with him and it was nice to see them and catch up with all the news. As we thought, it needed a new boiler,Mano and I were checking around the villa for stop taps when we heard an explosion from the kitchen! The boiler had blown up and scared the living day lights out of Brenda,who ended up putting the large plastic waste bin under the flood;After a quick call to Chris to find out where the water intake valves were,they are outside the front of the villa on a wall in a side lane! We came back to fine Brenda like a drowned rat and her and Anna mopping up at a frantic pace!We decided to go down to Tarifa to find a plumber and a builders merchants for a new boiler,at the same time I had to find a bank that would exchange Pounds for Euros as the emergency fund was in Pound Stirling! After exchanging the money we tried two plumbers with no luck and could not find a Plumbing Centre anywhere.Plan B- Mano went back across to Estepona and picked up Juan,his building partner who is also a plumber and called into the merchants and picked up an identical boiler,which they then brought to the villa and fitted with no problem!! All done and dusted over a few hours,what service and a big thank you to Mano and Juan!