The Plant Room (Love me, love my boiler)

It will come as no surprise to anyone (except perhaps Charlie) that a hundred year old solid stone farmhouse, unheated and unlived in for many a year, is a little on the chilly side. We knew that "Dave's Big Project No. 1" would be to install an central heating & hot water system from scratch. Not a problem if, like Dave, you have a laminated card certifying your attendance on "Introduction to Plumbing" from the Newbury Building School. But Bertha the boiler, who will be the source of all this heating & hot water, would need a home. Not so good then if you thought that "Introduction to Bricklaying" was one course too many. And so began the labour of love that became "the Plant Room". To the untrained eye it may look like the back end of an alpine chalet wedged onto the side of a house, and yes, the design might have come from the "back of a fag packet, how long's a piece of string, do you think it'll work" school of architecture. But Dave loves it. The shiny flue rising majestically from the rear hints at the wonder of the plumbing world that lies behind the simple wooden facade. Some men retreat to the greenhouse, others to a shed, but Dave slips out the back door and into his plant room. It is there that you'll find him, cup of tea in hand, deaf to all but Bertha's rumblings while he lovingly stokes the fire in her belly, or maybe tinkers with his blending valve, perfects his pipe lagging or simply gazes at the scene thinking "I did that". But where in all of this masculine achievement is my contribution? Well who do you think owns the pink flowered wellies in the corner?!