MOVING ON
"Maybe I ate too much......?"
FAMOUS FOR FRESH AIR AND FUN
"Japanese ladies do NOT eat bird`s leavings - unle...
RAINING RATS AND DOGS
A BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE
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WHAT I`M READING...LE PAPILLON & LE PHALENE - GRAND COEURS EN PETIT TAILLE - Jean-Marie Vanbutsele
THE LAST FILM I SAW....
" PACIFIC RIM" - great fun. Gojira meets Neon Genesis Evangelion
Saga of a woman old enough to know better who lets her life be governed by the ridiculous hobby of breeding and showing dogs, musing on life, the twenty first century, Cameron and his mini-me, and the occasional sheep.
"IN DOG YEARS, I`M DEAD"
Friday, July 16, 2010
TO THE WOODS
A fraught hectic week. The old house, first recorded for sale in 1680 for seven pounds Scots, is as readers will know, prone to peculiar plumbing disasters. Total loss of main drainage has not been the least of them. I called the trusty plumber, the one who carries his whole stock in trade in a little van and is amazingly cheap. I told him that the bath and toilet were OK, but the basin was blocked, and something had leaked all over the floor. He got out a trusty plunger and set to work....
Some time later there was no visible result. He turned to the leak near the bath and we made the happy discovery that the free running bath drain was in fact finding freedom through a convenient hole in the floor, not via the drain at all....that is most of it – the rest was saturating the floor around the bath. Fixing the drain resulted in a bath full of filthy water. Totally blocked.
Cue an outside inspection. He eyed up the sixty year old cast iron pipes and pronounced that there would be no way into those and they would have to be completely replaced, With visions of having to sell Fidget to pay for all this, I insisted that even in 1955 there were building regs, and there had to be rodding points. There were, but rusted shut. A lot of sawing later the rodding began. No, gentle reader, I am too old for that sort of body building activity. He rodded and I encouraged and ran water down from inside. And eventually I had a functioning bathroom again – and an amazingly small bill. Mind you, when I said I would have more work for him later on a really scared look came over his face and he beat a remarkably hasty retreat
As for Allegra`s proposed romantic assignation – it ended in disaster. Early in the morning before the arranged event she escaped into the wood with her uncle, Florian the Climbing Dog . I ranged calling and searching through the wood for two hours, but they were invisible and not answering. As I trailed back home in despair the rain started. Soon it was torrential – and there was a little scratching at the door. In slipped the eloped couple, very muddy and content.
Disappointment for me and the canine version of the Morning After Pill for Allegra.
Both Allegra`s romantic needs and the remaining plumbing work will remain on the to do list for now.
Watch this space.
Some time later there was no visible result. He turned to the leak near the bath and we made the happy discovery that the free running bath drain was in fact finding freedom through a convenient hole in the floor, not via the drain at all....that is most of it – the rest was saturating the floor around the bath. Fixing the drain resulted in a bath full of filthy water. Totally blocked.
Cue an outside inspection. He eyed up the sixty year old cast iron pipes and pronounced that there would be no way into those and they would have to be completely replaced, With visions of having to sell Fidget to pay for all this, I insisted that even in 1955 there were building regs, and there had to be rodding points. There were, but rusted shut. A lot of sawing later the rodding began. No, gentle reader, I am too old for that sort of body building activity. He rodded and I encouraged and ran water down from inside. And eventually I had a functioning bathroom again – and an amazingly small bill. Mind you, when I said I would have more work for him later on a really scared look came over his face and he beat a remarkably hasty retreat
As for Allegra`s proposed romantic assignation – it ended in disaster. Early in the morning before the arranged event she escaped into the wood with her uncle, Florian the Climbing Dog . I ranged calling and searching through the wood for two hours, but they were invisible and not answering. As I trailed back home in despair the rain started. Soon it was torrential – and there was a little scratching at the door. In slipped the eloped couple, very muddy and content.
Disappointment for me and the canine version of the Morning After Pill for Allegra.
Both Allegra`s romantic needs and the remaining plumbing work will remain on the to do list for now.
Watch this space.
Comments:
I like it, I like it! I can almost smell the dirty water. Yuk. Thank goodness for your obliging, cheap but maybe not cheerful, local plumber! Very interested to hear the date you mention. Have you any inkling of what the house was built for? Was it a farm/smallholding, or even maybe an alehouse?
# posted by 
: 9:18 AM
: 9:18 AM
Good job on the plumbing. Do you have to replace the wet floor? I live in a condo (basically an apartment that you get to buy), and any plumbing leaks would cause disaster for me, and a bill for fixing damage to the unit underneath me.
Now, as for Allegra and her uncle Florian. I take it the dogs haven't read the "don't to that with your relatives" instruction pamphlet? Hopefully Allegra will have another appointment with her intended in the future. Florian should be old enough to know better, but I guess that doesn't apply for romantic opportunities.
I sometimes look at your Papillon Showtime site -- could you post a list of your dogs with their official names next to their more familiar names? Forexample, I have a hard time remembering Allegra's official name when I look at your show site. Thanks!
Now, as for Allegra and her uncle Florian. I take it the dogs haven't read the "don't to that with your relatives" instruction pamphlet? Hopefully Allegra will have another appointment with her intended in the future. Florian should be old enough to know better, but I guess that doesn't apply for romantic opportunities.
I sometimes look at your Papillon Showtime site -- could you post a list of your dogs with their official names next to their more familiar names? Forexample, I have a hard time remembering Allegra's official name when I look at your show site. Thanks!
# posted by : 5:45 AM
: 5:45 AM
Yes, I`m afraid that family relationships can get a little blurred in the minds of dogs – but Allegra does indeed have another appointment with her intended.
Allegra`s real name is FRASERMAR SNOWBIRD VOLPECULA, and she is a daughter of Marcus. Solitaire is VOLPECULA SOLITAIRE, and she is the mother of Fidget, VOLPECULA EMERALD, and also a Marcus daughter. Marcus is VOLPECULA VANITY`S MIRROR. His mother is Fenella of the Jungle, TIJUANA GOLDEN VANITY FOR VOLPECULA. Merlin the Idiot is VOLPECULA STUDY IN SCARLET. And Velvet is VOLPECULA SONGTHRUSH.
As to the floor, which is an old solid oak one, it will just have to dry. I can wait.
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Allegra`s real name is FRASERMAR SNOWBIRD VOLPECULA, and she is a daughter of Marcus. Solitaire is VOLPECULA SOLITAIRE, and she is the mother of Fidget, VOLPECULA EMERALD, and also a Marcus daughter. Marcus is VOLPECULA VANITY`S MIRROR. His mother is Fenella of the Jungle, TIJUANA GOLDEN VANITY FOR VOLPECULA. Merlin the Idiot is VOLPECULA STUDY IN SCARLET. And Velvet is VOLPECULA SONGTHRUSH.
As to the floor, which is an old solid oak one, it will just have to dry. I can wait.
