Mary Killen
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Q. My husband and I have bought a ‘wreck’ in the West Country that needs to be totally modernised and redecorated. A close family member is an interior designer and will expect to be given the huge project, but there is not one assignment of hers that we have liked. Mary, how can we take on someone with similar ideas to us without causing a family rift?
— Name and address withheld
A. Explain to your relative that the builders have their own interior designer who they like to work with for streamlining purposes. Since you rather like this designer’s work, you are prepared to comply, not least because it will cut costs considerably.
Q. Your highlighting the importance of signalling to carers that others are looking out for their charges (Dear Mary, 31 July) is so very apt. After 40 years as a doctor, I’ve learnt that nothing encourages and ensures excellent care so much as a steady stream of visitors, cards and phone calls. Without them, care, probably unconsciously, descends to neglect.
— Dr P.E.C., by email
A. Thank you for sharing this frontline observation.
Q. Let A.H. (Dear Mary, 31 July) buy shirts in the USA and receive them quickly in the UK without relying on friends or family. A simple, efficient service is offered by planetexpress.com. He creates a postal address in California or Oregon (no sales tax). The ordered shirts can be sent there and consolidated for shipment to the UK. The cost is certainly less than the emotional burden created by the possibly hormone-induced forgetfulness of a pregnant cousin.
— B.W., by email
A. Many thanks for this tip.
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