This traditions revolve around finishing up all the goodies in your cupboards before a phase of fasting for the good of your soul (as well as your waistline).  Having already heard of Fat Tuesday as the translation for Mardi Gras, I was delighted to discover that Carnival is from the latin ‘carne vale’ meaning ‘goodbye meat’.

Our tradition on the stairlift farm is to pop along to the see the Great Aunts, taking a massive jug of pancake batter down to Babbling Brooks Cottage, where the Aga will be fired up and ready to go. Then the pancake making commences. Having a large extended family and many hungry mouths to feed we have developed a system for pancake delivery which makes use of both the Great Aunts tiny cottages and some very useful mobility equipment.

Desirée has her ancient and reliable frying pan superheated by the time we arrive, ready for the first ladleful of pancake batter. There is a satisfying sizzle as the mixture hits the smoking pan and although the first pancake is always slightly stodgy and lumpy everyone clamours have the first mouthful. Pancakes cook so quickly we soon have a production line going. Great Aunt Des wields the pan adeptly and tosses the cooked pancake across the room to the Superstair Boss who catches it on a warmed plate which he then passes to Great Aunt Ariadne who dusts it with sugar then passes the plate to the Executive Bean Carrier who is in charge of  sprinkling lemon juice or other toppings. Once rolled the plated pancake is deposited in a mobility hoist and manoeuvred out the window by the Mini stairlift boss into a waiting mobility scooter basket and is then delivered by the Superhero Music Girl to Acorn Cottage next door, where the stairlift farm workers are hungrily awaiting its arrival – knives and forks in hands. Generally they will draw lots as to who gets served first but once the rhythm is established pancakes are flying out of the kitchen with such speed there isn’t really time for a problem to develop. Once the extended family are fed the rest of us can eat, so Des cooks and we flip pancakes across the room to each other be caught and consumed with alacrity or possibly golden syrup, jam or condensed milk, depending on preference.

The cats St Annah and The Venerable Bede  watch and wait patiently on top of the piano in the tiny parlour, while Bruno the dog drools longingly awaiting his turn.

Finally when everyone else is sated, Desiree declares that she really hasn’t any appetite left, then tips all the remaining batter into the pan to cook with a handful of raisins, sprinkling it with sugar, lemon and a liberal dousing of apple brandy which she then sets alight. Once the flames have died down, and as she slips the scalding pancake onto a plate she tells us all its time to go home as she’s off to bed. That said, she walks wearily to her stairlift, plate in hand and ascends for her own private Mardi Gras, while the rest of us set about tidying up.

“Flippin’ pancakes…”, we hear her mutter….

The simplest and easiest stairlifts for us to farm are straight stairlifts, which run up and down and get you from the bottom of your staircase to the top in a simple straight climb.  However in some houses, life is less simple and a curved stairlift is the only way to negotiate your way around all life’s little ups and downs. Curved stairlifts are more costly than straight stairlifts because of all the work that goes into creating a curve that will exactly fit the dimensions of your staircase. And as we have learnt, all homes are as unique as their occupants and require a curved stairlift to match.

According to Wikipedia “in mathematics a curve is an object similar to a line but which is not required to be straight” and continues “that a line is a curve with null curvature” all of which seems a bit mad, makes my brain twang like an overtightened guitar string and leaves me feeling more than a little befuddled. Thank goodness it is more simple in the world of stairlifts. A straight stair lift is a straight stairlift and a curved stairlift will get you round all those bothersome little corners.

Nature is full of beautiful curves, so whether you need a stairlift rail as gently curved as a banana or something more complex like the spiral on a snail’s shell or even one of Violet-Elizabeth’s ringlets, why not throw us the challenge.

We love showing off our curves!

When a new customer had a problem finding someone to move her radiator to make space for a stairlift, she asked for our help. Not having any joy with companies advertising on the Internet, the Superstair Boss was suddenly struck with inspiration.

As I believe I have mentioned before, our customers, as well as the stairlifts they adopt from us, become part of our extended family. Who better to ask for help in times of need than family?

In no time at all the Superstair Boss had tracked down a member of our stairlift “family”, who lives only a stone’s throw from our new customer. She was a fount of knowledge and soon put us in touch with a local plumber who was happy and willing to take on the task of moving the radiator.

Which just goes to prove the old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”!

Three cheers for the 21st Century Stairlift (extended) Family!

Today on the stairlift farm it is mostly bleak and snowy… However the trusty stairlift van is ready for the off… so never fear!

We treasure each and every one of them but the time comes when a young stairlift needs to leave the farm and find a home where it can be happy and fulfilled.


Several of our young stairlifts have moved into lovely new homes this week… but there are others still waiting to be homed. 


Maybe you’ve thought about adopting a stairlift in the past but weren’t sure how to go about it, so here are a few pointers to help you with your decision making.


The best place to start is with a visit from the the Superstair Boss. He will come and look at your staircase and measure up the space, then have a cosy chat with you about all the young stairlifts and which one would fit in best with your family and home. He always brings along some family albums with lovely pictures of the stairlifts. You don’t have to decide right away. We’ll wait for you to let us know. 


Once you decide to adopt, your new stairlift can often join you within a week!
Once installed in its new home, your stairlift is pretty easy to care for and will arrive fully trained.


The most important thing your stairlift will need from you is regular exercise. A stairlift is a great companion for your journeys up and down stairs, so generally this isn’t a problem. Many people also find that visiting friends and relatives – especially young ones – are more than happy to take the stairlift for a ride or two!


Another essential is to make sure that your stairlift rail is kept clean and well cared for. Dust and debris can seriously impair your stairlift from working properly, causing it to croak and whine or even refuse to exercise, which is no fun for anyone. The easiest way to avoid this problem is to regularly use a vacuum cleaner to get into all the little nooks and crannies around the stairlift rail.


Of course if your stairlift is really feeling under the weather you can always give us a call and someone will pop over to see what’s the matter. We also advise that your stairlift has an annual check-up just to be on the safe side.


Food for thought?? I’ll leave it with you. I’m off for a Friday night stairlift discocoa session! Cheery-bye!


Click here for a Friday Stairlift Discocoa tune… Get On Up…

The North wind doth blow and we have had snow

So what should the stairlifts do now, poor things?

Just stay on the farm and keep themselves warm

and ride up and down on their rails, dear things.

Time for a hot buttered crumpet, I think!


Cheery-bye!