Richard scuppers MINDY HAMMONDS earring cleaning efforts
SUSAN HELLARD Mindy panics as her earrings are mistakenly thrown in the washing machine
But is the shock of discovery greater than the loss? About four years ago, we foolishly thought the girls were old enough to be trusted with cream-coloured sofas in the sitting room. After all, the days of sticky fingers and mud-covered little monsters clambering all over the place were behind us. The girls agreed, but we hadn’t factored in the amount of secret snuggling our ageing menagerie was going to enjoy in front of the TV (muddy paws and all), or incidents with art projects, Chinese takeaways and the odd spilt glass of wine, juice, chocolate milk or coffee. In hindsight, two enormous, comfy sofas that could easily accommodate all of us horizontally was a very bad idea.
I realised magpie Willow had struck again
It might be a relaxing way to watch TV, but it also seems to encourage rather sloppy eating habits. During the winter months, the girls love a “blanket Sunday”, when they take a sofa each, wrap themselves in a fleecy blanket, set the fire roaring and settle in with several dogs and cats to engross themselves in the wisdom of David Attenborough as they nibble on a slow-burn breakfast spread across the coffee table. It would be mean to stop them, but the toll on the furniture is quite dramatic, and no amount of cleaning seems to restore its glory. We’ve decided to live with throws until our next sitting room overhaul but in the meantime, my weekly sofa-foraging expeditions have made some interesting discoveries – along with hair bands, crumbs and the occasional discarded sock, I’ve recently found buried treasure. A few out-of-circulation pound coins, a bracelet, a couple of rings and, most terrifying, one of my rather expensive earrings. Thankfully, I’d turned the vacuum cleaner off as soon as I caught sight of the first sparkly object, then confusion set in.
I hadn’t seen those earrings for at least six months. With a sigh, I realised magpie Willow had struck again. In her defence, Willow has several pairs of imitation earrings that look very similar to mine. And with more holes in her ears than is really necessary, her collection is quite vast, although mostly silver and this was undeniably gold. I gathered my treasure and returned it to its rightful owners, but as my diamond earring had been stuck in the fluff for an unknown length of time, I decided to seek out its other half and give the pair of them a bit of a clean. I’ve always used the same method to clean jewellery – I drop it into a small cup filled with boiling water and a splash of washing-up liquid. Then I leave it to soak for a couple of hours before giving it a thorough going-over with a baby toothbrush. So I dropped the earrings into the cup and left it by the kitchen sink. This all happened on a Friday afternoon, just before I set off on an errand. I decided my earrings needed a slightly longer soak, so I left them in the soapy water.
NC Mindy's sofa excavation was rewarded with earrings in the dishwasher
By the time I returned home, Richard was back from London and I was soon immersed in cooking supper and discussing plans for the weekend. We ate, retired to the sitting room and watched a film. Richard kindly loaded the dishwasher while I walked the dogs, so I was soon finished for the night. But as I was getting into bed I let out a gasp of horror and asked, “Richard, did you put the red cup in the dishwasher – the one by the sink?” He looked up from his book, his brow furrowed, and replied, “Erm, yes. Why?” “Oh no! I was soaking my earrings in there.”