Twas on the Thursday afternoon, when the candidate came to call...

I've been a bit busy for the past four weeks, being both the candidate and the agent for Stowupland ward, what with having to design my own leaflets (thank heavens for Serif PagePlus X4!), deliver a lot of them (my campaign manager, Ros, is doing more than her fair share of that), and canvass as many people as I can reach/find.

However, Thursday morning saw a bit of an unwelcome break in the routine, as Ros made her way blearily downstairs to find that the carpet was strangely wet. Very wet, indeed positively sodden. As I was beckoned to lend my vast experience to solving the mystery of what had happened, there was a knock on the door, and our next door neighbour was apologising for the fact that their water softener had failed, causing a flood in our living room and downstairs hall.

Whilst the flow of water had been stopped, and a plumber called, we had the problem of water damage to solve. Needless to say, Ros was ready to go, and by 8 a.m. the insurance company were called, by 9 a.m. a carpet specialist was on standby, and by 11 a.m., he was there, condemning our carpets and authorising their replacement. So far, so good.

I'd taken the day off to help with the work that needed to be done, so we set to work, cutting up the old carpet and underlay with scissors and a Stanley knife (strangely satisfying...). The water was mostly mopped up, and we were just settling in with some insurance paperwork when up to the door came my Conservative opponent.

"Hello, Caroline!", said we, "What brings you here?". "I'm looking for 'Charlecote'", she said, so I told her that Janice probably wouldn't be in, anyway (she's never in when I call, at least...). I'd guessed that she was calling on postal voters, in the knowledge that I had called on all of them before postal ballots landed on doormats across the ward on Tuesday, and left personally addressed letters for each of the ones I hadn't spoken to.

A brief conversation ensued between Caroline and Ros, and she was gone.

At least I now know that she is canvassing for support. Admittedly, calling on people in the early afternoon on a weekday means that she's unlikely to find as many of them as she might, but she is giving it her best shot. Let's hope that it isn't good enough...