Our walkie talkies came into their own today as John had arranged to help our neighbour Ollie try and do something with his flat roof once we had a couple of dry days. It meant that whilst he was at their house we were still in contact - pretty nifty heh?
Poor Ollie and Trish have had a nightmare during this period of sustained heavy rain in that it has found its way into their house where the kitchen (with its flat roof) joins onto the lounge/diner. When I called in yesterday to tell Ollie that John would be round in the morning he showed me the extent of the water damage. We have been incredibly fortunate that we have escaped fairly unscathed with just that one time when water came in through the bedroom window because the window drain couldn't cope. Having said that it is still working its way out of the plaster so every time I think I have it sorted we get another bubble or what looks like salt seeping out of the paint. As John keeps saying we just need a couple of dry days...
We have had two separate problems with the rain - one where the pool threatens to overflow and the other where the water-butt constantly overflows. Yesterday John was in the middle of draining water out of the pool when the men came to look at the proposed conservatory. As a result rather more water was drained from the pool than we wanted so I had a bit of a light bulb moment this morning and decided it would be a good idea to drain the water butt into the pool. This involves a rather Heath Robinson affair with the hose and me sucking furiously at the other end to get the syphon working (no rude comments from anyone please!).
Chivers is fascinated by anything new and also loves water so this was like heaven for him - I just know that one day he is going to end up in the pool so I hope to goodness he can swim and swim fast because at the moment the water is FREEZING!!!
I thought that our resident tree frog had expired in the water butt because I could see what looked like a petrified frog floating around in the water and then I could see it sucked up against the overflow pipe that John had installed. I was relieved to find on closer inspection that it was in fact a bit of expanding foam and not the Freddy the Frog!
This picture is for my sister Kaye, who I hope is reading the blog, she brought me over some everlasting sweet pea seeds from her garden and I am pleased to say that some of them have survived enough to be planted out and will become, I hope, our little bit England right here in our garden. On a day like today when the sun is shining I am hopeful that the garden will survive all that has been thrown at it!
I was so glad that the sun was shining as forecast today because I was beginning to panic about when I might ever get some washing done and dried. It was getting to the point where our knicker numbers were getting critical - we were almost at the point where we going to have to throw them at the wall and see if they stuck (not really!!!). Washing done, on the line and then dry - knicker crisis averted.
Chivers is generally within earshot and comes easily to call or the rustle of a plastic bag at the very least. Minnie, however, is becoming a little madam and everything is on her terms only so I was very surprised today when she did appear over the fence when I called her - I had heard a cat crying and thought it was her but it turned out to be the feral 'Fluffy' that lives up at Sean and Sharon's.
My main job for the day was to try and remove all the old 'No More Nails' from the tongue and groove we took off of the toilet walls. Where it stuck it stuck like shit to a blanket which is why it is so surprising that the planks refused to remain on the walls. We are persevering with the idea though and we will be putting the planks back up but onto battening this time and we are putting a layer of insulation between the wall and the planks. I have suggested to John that as the insulation we bought was reasonably priced we should insulate the ceiling in the same way as we did in the lounge and bedrooms. That toilet gets unbelievably cold as it gets very little sun and the drain from the roof passes down through the wall like a big cold radiator (if that makes sense).
I had got about two-thirds of the way through cleaning the planks when John returned from Ollie's having done all that he could do for them and their roof. He was quite pleased with what he had managed to achieve but had left Ollie to finish off the job as it required more sealing than Ollie had sealant for.
We decided to tidy up and have a shower before going down to Polis to do our grocery shopping - we still tend to do our major shop on a Saturday but as there is bugger all else open we just do our shop and then come home without being tempted to spend money unnecessarily!!! The sunshine today meant that the solar panels provided us with lovely hot water - it is worth waiting for the sun to do its stuff before having a shower although I do find it odd not to jump out of bed and into the shower.
We treated ourselves to a pitta at Yaya's before doing the shop - it is never mega busy in the supermarkets so it is actually quite a pleasant experience. I am much more aware of the cost of food - particularly food which is out of season - for example I think I paid about 20 cents a kilo for cucumbers in the summer and now the 'B' grade (inferior) ones are €1.50 a kilo.
Shopping done and packed away and stifado on the hob we are now settling down to watch TV. The bright sunshine of today has given way to a very very cold and clear night - a frost tonight I would expect.
John is doing the 'well we didn't want to get caught up with the FA Cup - we need to concentrate on the league' speech as the Mighty Blades have had a good old cuffing from Birmingham so don't gloat Bill!! We will be supporting Leicester in the cup from now on!
C'mon you Foxes
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