h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The month is drawing to a close and I've tailed off, what with all the end-of-year get-togethers, being away for a couple of days and my laptop being out of sorts.

However, I feel I am crawling slowly out of the hole. Have got the kitchen and dining room straight and will probably manage the bathroom and lounge over the weekend.

I didn't finish the story of last weekend, although it wasn't very eventful as everything went according to plan.

We had a Sunday lunch at my mother's, which my sister had organised and was cooking when we arrived. My son, his girlfriend (who had been with us all along, in the Theatre and all) and I arrived in time for sherry before Sunday lunch and my sister had done swedes - my favourite! - savoy, parsnips and roast potatoes to go with the chicken. We had a white wine (I broke my temperance vow for my mother's birthday, after all, it's only to lose weight, not a matter of conviction) and an apple crumble.



What is it with switches on things? My mother's oven has a switch without a marking on it, so you can never tell which part of the switch is pointing to where, and it can be "off" or 180 degrees C and still looks the same. Both my sister and I adjusted the switch just before we sat down to eat, checking the setting, and put the apple crumble in. After we'd finished the main course, we realised we'd set it to "cold", so the apple crumble wasn't cooked at all. Never mind, we had a chat while it cooked, and were quite full with the chicken anyway.

At work this week, I put a pan of water on to boil and made exactly the same mistake. 15 minutes later, it still wasn't boiling, and then someone noticed I'd set it at the lowest setting instead of the highest.



In the early evening, my sister, my son and his girlfriend left for her house, son now driving the car we'd hired. They went out for a drink later that evening to a pub in Ely and spent the night at my sisters.

I got to see the repeat of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special on TV on the Sunday evening! Yay!!

You need to buy the type of pen called a "Sharpie". This is narrow-tipped felt-tip pen with permanent ink. Figure out the setting on that switch once and for all, then mark it with the Sharpie.

Dear Gnomon
Of all the hundreds of helpful hints you have provided over the years, that is going to make the most difference to my life. Off to post office next door to buy a Sharpie. Many thanks

Does the ink stay permanent even in the wash? I want to mark which sheets are doubles and which king size.

Can't you embroider them?

We marked all our sheets long ago, but I can't remember if it was with a sharpie or with a "laundry marker". They may in fact be the same thing.

They aren't. Get a laundry marker. It will last the rest of your life.
(I seem to be able to tell the size of my sheets just by looking at them!!)

We have a special way of folding fitted sheets, but it's very important that you don't have to unfold them each time you want to find out what size they are.

[Amy P]

I tell the size of my sheets by the red or yellow thread along the edge.