Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

I'll Huff and I'll Puff...

We weathered the storm - just 

• the door blew off our electricity meter and Mr F had to go out in the tempest and screw it back on
• the welly boot store blew over but fortunately wasn't damaged
• there was some worrying knocking from the roof but everything seems to be in place.  I'll get the builder to look over it when he's next here
• water came gushing in through the bottom of the back door.  It was the rain being blown against it rather than flooding but a lot came in - 5 towels worth  and they were all dripping wet.

Our annex guests had a great day out and about on Saturday but were confined to quarters on Sunday of course.  I didn't want them to worry about getting home or take any risks with travelling so said they could stay an extra night free if they wanted.  As it happens there was a lull in the storm mid-afternoon and they took advantage of that to get home safely.

I think we've got off very lightly although the wind is still howling and we've had snow too.  I've cried off going to WI tonight as there is a lot of flooding here and debris all over the lanes.

Today has been productive despite the weather and I've got a fair amount done.  Lunch was Honey Baked Feta with Carrot Bulgar (not rainbow carrot as I didn't have those).  There were a lot of separate components but it was worth the effort.  I even made my own Turmeric Hummus.  Supper was a pizza from the freezer dressed up with caramelised red onion chutney and some camembert served with sweet potato wedges.

We have discovered a leak in one of our radiators.  I was doing more research into boilers losing pressure and discovered that it only takes one drop every 10 seconds for the pressure to drop to zero over 24 hours     One drop every 10 seconds adds up to about 500ml over that time frame.  Drops can easily evaporate on hot radiators and pipes leaving very little evidence of a leak.  Armed with this information I remembered seeing a small area of discolouration on the floor under the bathroom radiator and, sure enough, you could feel the limescale on the floor and on the radiator where water had been evaporating.  Mr F has fixed it we think and we're just hoping that's where the issue lies.  Only time will tell.

I did the grocery shop including some store cupboard items and still came in slightly under budget.  The only other spend today has been some kibble to put in FDawg's activity toys.

I've discovered something about the new Forum I like - draft posts appear without the formatting commands which is so much easier to read.  I've lost my old picture though I shall miss my smiley balloon.  Now I have a sun balloon instead which also makes me happy.  I wish the sun were shining now instead of the wind whistling down the chimney.

Stay safe all

Fortune x

Jessy103

Good detective work with the leak, fortune and I hope it's resolved the boiler issue!

beanielou

Good news on the leak  

PurpleFairy26

Your recipes do sound lovely @Fortune_Smiles - I’ve often borrowed them before 😉 can I ask how you made turmeric hummus? Did you simply add ground turmeric? I regularly make hummus and this would make a nice change? 

Weve had had more wind overnight, hope you are safe. 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, excellent news on the leak, fingers crossed it works! Our pressure drops every few days too, always has, and I know there is similar slight evidence of a leak in our bedroom.... Must get on the case and sort it all out... 

Sorry to hear the storm damage. We seem to have fared pretty well damage-wise considering how high and exposed we are. Door to the knackered old garage blew open and the one remaining pane of glass blew out (but since all the others were long-since broken it doesn't really matter), and various bits of debris blew about the garden, and the chickens had their feathers severely ruffled, but otherwise (fingers crossed) everything was ok... There was a tree down over the road not too far away, but it was only a small one and still possible to get past on the other side of the road.

We're covered in snow now of course, but even that isn't causing too much trouble. I'm saying all this with my fingers crossed of course! 

Fortune_Smiles

Jessy103 said:

Good detective work with the leak, fortune and I hope it's resolved the boiler issue!

beanielou said:

Good news on the leak  

Sadly it has not resolved the problem guys so detective work continues 

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

PurpleFairy26 said:

Your recipes do sound lovely @Fortune_Smiles - I’ve often borrowed them before 😉 can I ask how you made turmeric hummus? Did you simply add ground turmeric? I regularly make hummus and this would make a nice change? 

Weve had had more wind overnight, hope you are safe. 

Hi Purp    Typically, I can't now find the recipe I used.  It was just the result of a G00g1e search for Turmeric Hummus though.  I used grated fresh turmeric because I discovered it was available with my veg box delivery and I'm trying to get as much variety as I can into our diet.  Smells amazing when you grate it but does stain absolutely everything it comes into contact with.  I wore rubber gloves to avoid yellow fingers 

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Ooh, excellent news on the leak, fingers crossed it works! Our pressure drops every few days too, always has, and I know there is similar slight evidence of a leak in our bedroom.... Must get on the case and sort it all out... 

Sorry to hear the storm damage. We seem to have fared pretty well damage-wise considering how high and exposed we are. Door to the knackered old garage blew open and the one remaining pane of glass blew out (but since all the others were long-since broken it doesn't really matter), and various bits of debris blew about the garden, and the chickens had their feathers severely ruffled, but otherwise (fingers crossed) everything was ok... There was a tree down over the road not too far away, but it was only a small one and still possible to get past on the other side of the road.

We're covered in snow now of course, but even that isn't causing too much trouble. I'm saying all this with my fingers crossed of course! 

If only my boiler woes were over Cheery    Glad to hear you survived the storm relatively unscathed.  We had a little snow here too but just for a couple of hours.  Let's hope Storm Dennis is kind this weekend.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

When it's spring again...

I am feeling frustrated     Some problems just won't go away.

• despite the boiler man's visit (£72) and our fixing of the minor leak, the boiler is still losing pressure.  We have discovered a radiator valve which won't close properly but that doesn't seem to be leaking so investigations continue 
• also, the tyre pressure warning came on in the car last night.  Mr F has checked it and it is the same tyre again     I can't possibly have picked up another nail in the same tyre can I?  It's just too much of a coincidence.  So investigations continue there too 
• we made a temporary repair to the back door yesterday in an attempt to head off Storm Dennis.  Mr F went out to pick up some sealant but brought back the wrong one so we used some very old sticky stuff we had hence it being 'temporary' as I don't think it will last long.  The real problem is that the door is either a little too short or the threshold is a little too low.  The threshold seems to be rotten to so I think we'll try to get someone to come in an replace it with something a little higher.  More costs there 
• the road outside our drive is flooding and the water is running off and up against the side of the house.  I'm not sure what we can do about it as that part of the road is public.  It only happens when there is very heavy rain but that seems to be happening more often in recent years 

On the up side:

• we discovered a little more storm damage from Ciara.  A fence panel in the veg garden had blown off.  Mr F has been out with his trusty screwdriver and made some repairs 
• I've transferred money to the new savings account so it's working a little harder for us 
• we got a late booking for the Annex this weekend.  I had great fun putting together some little Valentine's touches 
• £80 of vouchers has arrived from our reward credit card.  I shall add those to the Tittervating Pot total

Mr F and I went out for a Valentine's supper last night.  We haven't spent any of February's fun money so treated ourselves.  We went to a local hotel and had a fabulous meal which included a free glass of champagne each and a rose for me    It was very good value.  I added the rose to the dozen which Mr F sent me   In fact, it does feel as though spring has arrived... at least in the house    Along with my usual, little of bunch of flowers I get from the supermarket I have a bouquet from last weekends Annex guests (a thank you for looking after them through the storm), a bunch of tulips from my neighbour (a thank you for taking her out for afternoon tea last week) and my roses.  So it's a lot more cheerful inside today than out.

Hope you are all safe and dry today.

Fortune x

VintageHistorian

Oh what a shame about not fixing the pressure And the road runoff does sound worrying. Would it be possible to dig out a small channel or similar along the side of the drive to at least funnel it away from the side of the house?

But yay for having spring in your house and for having a lovely evening out with Mr FS!