Water Water Everywhere

Everything in my place is wearing out, that includes me incidentally, won't subject you to the gory details.  On a less gory note, managed to resurrect my vacuum yesterday.  Following 'burny' smell, and after checking usual filter, did a little more digging (through the dust) and unearthed a 'secret compartment' and discovered a whole host of dust in there, maybe why it hasn't been picking up recently?  After cleaning out 'secret compartment' it picked up a treat.

On Friday, I stripped my bed and stuck a wash load in, when then cycle finished, the bedding was dripping wet.  Two spin cycles later, it was still as wet and after my success with the vacuum, I set about reading the instruction manual for the washing machine.  Undid the lint catcher thingummy and it was fine, apart from the now blackened twenty pence piece I found in there.  Next, I had to check the pipes at the back of the machine, machine was off at the wall and so I undid one of the pipes, water immediately came out. 

At first I thought it was just water in the pipe, but then it gushed, stone cold water pumping out of this pipe.  I head for the stopcock  but it won't turn, I try WD40 and rubber gloves for extra grip, it won't turn.  I'm not known for my upper body strength so I knock for the two male neighbours that I know... no answer. 

After 45 minutes of cold water gushing from this pipe and my water meter counter going into overdrive, I manage to get hold of Bee, just back from church.

In about fifteen minutes, Bee's at mine and unable to to turn the stopcock also, she manages to turn it off at the wall, something I did try but coudn't manage.

I am soaked, clothes, hair, everything.  The fingers on my right hand, thumb, fleshy part under the thumb, are all red and swollen from attempting to turn the stopcock with all of my mite.  My left arm, 4" up from my wrist then upwards to my elbow is swollen and bruised and hot from it being scraped against the shelf while I tried to turn off the stopcock.  The kitchen is strewn with saturated towels.

If I'm a singleton then fine, if I have to be self sufficient, self reliant... fine, but I really hate being defeated by things like a stupid stopcock.

God knows how much all of that lost water will cost me, it'll probably take me a year to pay it off, but you learn from your mistakes right?

Note to self... find someone to loosen stopcock before next water disaster.

The Long, Short Week

We had a holiday on Monday but this four day week, as is the case with "short" weeks, seemed relentless, mostly due to the cold and bug I had which had taken up residence in my body, starting Monday night... just in time for work.  Thought I was having an adverse reaction to eating close to my body weight in chocolate, but I think it was a bug.

Still, it's now Saturday and I'm over the worst of it, not felt great today but I think that may be hay fever?  I haven't exercised in over a week but can't seem to motivate myself at the moment.

So the great de-clutter continues, and I can't believe how much stuff I have discarded, you would be proud of me Col.  One caveat is that it is very easy to make decisions about my own stuff, literally, a second or two, the items, letters, mementos I have inherited is trickier and takes.... years sometimes, and the fact that it's already ten years plus, doesn't make it any easier.

I love this time of year, the weather isn't great, I think it's about 13 today and wet and windy, and while I'm not particularly warm, it's warm enough so that the heat doesn't come on and I can open my patio door and let fresh air in for the first time in probably six or seven months.  It's now 21:30 and my patio door is still open, despite the rain, after the winter, this place needs a good airing.

Sunday and we have some sunshine, not particularly warm sunshine, don't think my towels on the line will dry but at least they're having a blow.  I'm still sneezing frequently so I'm still thinking hay fever.

I'm sorting and organising and generally loitering while I await Bee's arrival.  I've had a little scrambled egg and so far, it's stayed put.

So it's two weeks since I started to write this particular entry, it's another holiday weekend here and I still feel awful.  Managed to get a Dr's appointment but it's three weeks away.  My latest thinking is some kind of sudden onset food intolerance, I feel terrible.

We're already into May and in my part of the world at least, it's still not particularly warm, it's fairly dry but cold, May is usually quite warm as I remember, I could really do with some warmth.