This morning, after some hesitation, I got down to clearing out the drain in the conservatory. It is the sump for all the waste water, and has blocked up several times before - the house is Victorian so there are these little hitches from time to time.
After half an hour of moving things, then getting down and dirty, the blockage gave up and water began to run - but the smell!!
I took a shower and a bath, need to wash all around the drain area where I touched anything, plus wash the floor, then do all the washing and washing up not done for the past several days whilst I psyched myself up for the deed.
Now I can put the Christmas tree out in the conservatory, on top of the cabinet which sits over the drain cover - it could not go out before now. It being a living tree it needs to be cooled off gradually before going back outside. It is a Picea glauca conica, so it only grows an inch or so a year in a pot, and it smells nice, though not as good as Norway Spruce, but they have aspirations when it comes to height.
It is still raining here. It seems to have hardly stopped for weeks - months even. Although there are clear spells they last scarcely half a day - the barometer is waving frantically up and down the scale getting a good workout.