Waiting For The Man In Black.

That time of year already...

It's nice and professional how our chimney sweep organizes his visits. We get a postcard with four dates on it. Service dates, sweeping times and for some, fortunate times. There are those that belong to the chimney sweep believers...touch him and set your luck on a good course for the next year.

No, I wouldn't dare although a few times Bob has had to give me the ' yikes, you are so embarrassing ' stare, when I tried to touch the sooty man's lucky sleeve with a fingertip. Soot everywhere and how can it not be when he has to squeeze into and onto the tiniest of attics to do his job. Mirror and torch dangle off his belt along with a well used scrubbing wire brush.

Our sweep is a sporty man in his thirties who's dressed as if he belongs to a S.W.A.T. team and usually has black soot smears on his cheeks in a soldierly fashion because our's is often the last chimney he'll inspect for the day.

Rather stupidly yours truly has done a spot of cleaning and tidying up before he arrives knowing full and well that he'll leave a trail of soot wherever he treads.

This morning it was jolly cold and a great reminder that summer is on its last legs and autumn is chomping at the bit. A time to start dressing warmly and to dust off our ovens. Which is also the reason for seeing the man in black today as he will make sure that when the first fire is lit, the puffs of smoke go in a celestial direction and stay there.

Biggi