Why is nothing in my life ever
easy?
You'd think, wouldn't you, that turning off the water inlets to the old washing machine would be a simple matter of... well, turning the taps. But no, not in this house, oh no. Cold water inlet tap - no problem. Hot water - I had a vague memory of there being something tricky about it, so asked Ken to take a look at it today (nothing quite like finding out there's a problem when the pros are trying to install the new machine and it's a Sunday and even if you
could get a plumber it would cost a fortune) - and advised he have an old towel/jug handy before trying to remove the inlet pipe...
Just as well, because the tap, as we found out a little later, was completely defunct. A non-functioning tap. And lots of water came out when the inlet pipe was unscrewed.
But luckily Denis was here again today, and was able to take off the old inlet pipe (which leads off from the sink's hot water tap - have I mentioned our kitchen plumbing is a Heath Robinson nightmare? Even Denis, who's in his 70s and has been doing this sort of thing most of his working life, I gather, had never seen anything like it) and cap it off successfully (after we'd turned off the hot water and the immersion heater and drained the tank. [sob] What a waste of hot water!) I suppose at this point I should mention that the new washing machine is cold fill only, so the hot inlet won't be needed. Or so I hope...
ANYway, between us we walked the old machine out to the patio and made a start on tidying up. [sigh] What with the leaks, the splashes and the amateur saw-job of the work top above the machine, said work top has essentially rotted away underneath next to the sink, and the sink-unit side panel sags so badly you have to open the cutlery drawer to be able to open the cupboard door under it. (Now you know why I've never posted photos of the kitchen.) I suggested replacing the side panel, but it's a trickier job that it first appeared, and we might have to resort to wedging it until we can afford a new unit. But I'm going to price up work-tops tomorrow - I really want the old one replaced, if nothing else it's not safe to put heavy stuff on any more. Eh well - I'll see what they have at Focus). On the plus side, I found the two missing teaspoons, one dessert fork, and my much-missed Kitchen Devil vegetable knife that had all dropped down the back of the old machine. And a Beyblade underneath it...
Also on a happy note, Denis managed to stop the kitchen taps dripping (which they did from the cross bit at the top, but only when turned on, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds!), and has the outside loo in place, though hasn't quite finished all the plumbing yet: hopefully tomorrow. I've sewn the three straight sides of both of the hall curtains - hoping to get the track bit done tomorrow. I picked up a pine-effect curtain rod from The Range today, so with a little luck the hall will finally be finished at the weekend. The valance will take a little longer; I need to measure up and make 'flaps' for the four drawers in the divan base.
Kai thoroughly enjoyed his Chill-Out session yesterday, and
loved his extra-curricular Science Club this afternoon (playing with copper sulphate and trying to blow up the lab, I gather...). I think he'll be OK for this term. He has a half day tomorrow: it's the school's Open Evening for the 2007 intake. I think he'll enjoy the rest!
I, however, have the most awful sore throat. No idea where from, though I'd guess Kai brought it home with him. Going to take some 'prufen and try for an early night, I think. (We have
The Fast and the Furious on TV at the moment but I can't say I'm impressed: boys trying to out-testosterone each other are just tedious. And I'm not a great lover of flashy cars...)
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 10:26 pm
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