Spring has sprung (and much joy)
My cleaning is continuing. I have an extremely low tolerance level for cleaning (which will be no surprise to you at all) but I feel I have to report that the shredder overheated yesterday. I had to leave it for a while and come back... It gives you an idea of the volume of stuff I found that needed dealing with! Today I have to get the 'accessories' attached to the vac. Need any crevices cleaning?
Yesterday I ventured out into the summer house for the first time this year - always a day for celebration. The temperature was showing as 12C (54F) and it was most pleasant. I had the door shut but windows open. Fluffy joined me for a good while, finding the other seat a suitable place for a snooze.
I have miniature daffs in flower in the garden and the bulbs I put into tubs in the autumn are pushing through. The pansies are coming into flower in the tubs too, so they were well worth the trouble of doing. Everything is coming into bud and the birds are singing all the time. I love hearing them.
I noticed that the wild birds were not using the seed containers any more. I went to inspect them yesterday and suspect that the contents were all stale and manky having been out most of the winter. I tipped the contents and cleaned out all the feeders yesterday. Will re-stock and try again today.
But the greatest news of all concerns our leaking tank in the loft. Remember me saying we had had an ongoing problem with the jockey tank in the loft repeatedly overflowing? A man came and moved it and put in new piping and said that should cure things but it didn't? Well since before Xmas Hubby has been having to go into the loft every 2nd day to decant two buckets of water out of the jockey tank to stop it constantly overflowing. This has become rather a chore - as you can imagine. We rang the plumber again but as he didn't know what to suggest for a cure he said he'd get back to us but never did. We had resigned ourselves to the chance of needing a new boiler.
Anyhow -----> Hubby had noticed that the ball cock in the tank was not quite efficient and a little water was trickling into the tank due to this. I doubted that it would cause the amount of problem we have had but agreed that he should sort it. Last Saturday he spent £5 on a new ball cock and installed it (10 mins job). Since then the tank has not leaked.
HURRAH! HURRAH! AND THRICE HURRAH!
I cannot tell you the relief! We were imagining all kinds of mega-money solutions when a fiver and 10mins labour was all that was needed. It has got gradually worse as the ball cock has been leaking more and more.
But it once again proves (as the new plumber man told us) that the solution British Gas suggested (flushing the system out at a cost of £700) was purely a money spinner. It had no plumbing logic and would not have solved the problem.
Yesterday I ventured out into the summer house for the first time this year - always a day for celebration. The temperature was showing as 12C (54F) and it was most pleasant. I had the door shut but windows open. Fluffy joined me for a good while, finding the other seat a suitable place for a snooze.
I have miniature daffs in flower in the garden and the bulbs I put into tubs in the autumn are pushing through. The pansies are coming into flower in the tubs too, so they were well worth the trouble of doing. Everything is coming into bud and the birds are singing all the time. I love hearing them.
I noticed that the wild birds were not using the seed containers any more. I went to inspect them yesterday and suspect that the contents were all stale and manky having been out most of the winter. I tipped the contents and cleaned out all the feeders yesterday. Will re-stock and try again today.
But the greatest news of all concerns our leaking tank in the loft. Remember me saying we had had an ongoing problem with the jockey tank in the loft repeatedly overflowing? A man came and moved it and put in new piping and said that should cure things but it didn't? Well since before Xmas Hubby has been having to go into the loft every 2nd day to decant two buckets of water out of the jockey tank to stop it constantly overflowing. This has become rather a chore - as you can imagine. We rang the plumber again but as he didn't know what to suggest for a cure he said he'd get back to us but never did. We had resigned ourselves to the chance of needing a new boiler.
Anyhow -----> Hubby had noticed that the ball cock in the tank was not quite efficient and a little water was trickling into the tank due to this. I doubted that it would cause the amount of problem we have had but agreed that he should sort it. Last Saturday he spent £5 on a new ball cock and installed it (10 mins job). Since then the tank has not leaked.
HURRAH! HURRAH! AND THRICE HURRAH!
I cannot tell you the relief! We were imagining all kinds of mega-money solutions when a fiver and 10mins labour was all that was needed. It has got gradually worse as the ball cock has been leaking more and more.
But it once again proves (as the new plumber man told us) that the solution British Gas suggested (flushing the system out at a cost of £700) was purely a money spinner. It had no plumbing logic and would not have solved the problem.