near disaster

Nathan bought a very stylish kettle when I was in Europe. Today, it nearly caused a fire.

The kettle has a very low, almost imperceptible whistle (not sure if it is suppose to be like that or whether our's is faulty). Since I've been back, it has boiled over a few times simply because we couldn't hear the whistle.

Anyhow, I was boiling some water to make tea and went upstairs to check email. Almost an hour later, I heard a weird buckling sound and the smell of noxious fumes ... and then I remembered the kettle. It was so hot that I decided to let it cool down naturally rather than attempt to douse it with cold water.

Phew. Close call.