Tim Dowling: I fall asleep thinking about the impossibility of each of the repairs I am facing

Things fall apart ... unfortunately there is rather more to know about door handles and cat flaps than I imagined

It is the season of things coming off in your hands: drawer knobs, door latches, cupboard handles. Everywhere is disintegration and fatigue, down to the very metal. Reach out, turn it, pull it towards you, and it's yours.

On Monday evening the youngest one snaps off the brass latch handle while trying to open the front door. He shows me the piece, shorn away by the force of his grip.