I HAVE a theory about evolution...In my opinion, If it wasn't for Man's fascination with fire, and I mean Man not Woman, then we'd still be wandering around the African savannah on all fours eating shoots and grubs.

The harnessing of fire meant that we could clear vast tracts of land for grazing and planting crops. It allowed us to eat a greater variety of foods as cooking made previously inedible substances palatable and extended their shelf life, if prehistoric man had such luxury.

The use of fire led to the development of metal working and the invention of more powerful and destructive weaponry, as well as the tools for technological inventions.

The vestiges of Man's early fascination with fire linger today in the garden. Whereas women do the girly jobs like picking the pretty flowers, men light bonfires. They also do barbecues.

Cooking with electricity or gas in the kitchen does not hold the same appeal. In fact few jobs indoors hold any attraction for the male of the species.

I'm quite grateful to Mr Dyson for his invention the see-through vacuum cleaner. It lends a bit of macho-dom to the task so men are relatively happy to do the hoovering as they can see the results of their hard work in the amount of dust and fluff sucked up.

I would also add that with the weight of my Dyson, you need the strength of an ox/male to carry the thing up the stairs What I would really like is for someone to come up with some clever idea to turn cleaning the bathroom and toilet from a chore to a delight and pleasure for whoever puts their hand up to do this, for me, particularly irksome task.

Perhaps the answer to that is to adopt a Danish method where the ensuite has no shower tray, just a drainage hole in the centre of the floor. Then all you'd need to do is hose everything down with the shower spray. That's something the men would love to do I'm sure.