Well, in order to try and appease the hibernation yearning, I had a good look in my food cupboards and began to compile a list of all the things I needed to stock up on. I then took my list off to the shops and started the mammoth task of filling the cupboards. As a rule I try and buy local as much as possible which, to be honest, is really easy for me because I just buy it at the market where I have my stall but, there are things like pasta and rice that I can't get from there that I have to go to the local supermarkets to get. I'm quite fortunate in that I live quite close to a couple of big shops and so I visit both in order to get the best bargains on offer because, lets face it, there is no point in paying more than necessary for things if you don't have to. Anyway, shopping done and stored away I then made a list of the things I wanted to make to fill up the freezer.
This morning, I was busy making more cakes and pies and casseroles ready for the freezer when I thought it might be a good idea to light a fire in the living room so that when I finished cooking, I could go and sit down in the warm and have a nice cup of tea. I lit the fire, popped the fire guard in front of it and went to check on the cakes in the oven. When I came back, the living room was full of black smoke which had blown back down the chimney and into the house. Try as I might I just couldn't clear it without opening all the doors and windows as wide as they would go but, in order to do this, I had to round up all my cats and take them to the spare bedroom because they are indoor cats and the windows have window locks which only allow them to open a certain amount.
So, after herding 7 cats upstairs and wrangling them into the bedroom, I flung open all the doors and widows and finally managed to clear the smoke in about 5 minutes. In the middle of all this, one of my neighbours banged on my door with the electrician, to have a look at their water pump and give a quote for some electrical work that needs doing. The neighbour's pump lives in a pump house in my garden where the borehole is, along with the pump that serves my house so, I pointed out where the pump lived and followed them over to make sure everything was ok. I was slightly miffed and more than a little concerned when he started poking around and tugging on random wires before commenting that the whole thing looked as if it needed replacing and that my cable was looking a bit dodgy as well. He then gave my cable a massive tug and a wiggle and asked if I'd had any trouble with the water pump shorting out. It was obvious that he was angling for more business and if he had caught me on a normal day I would have politely pointed out that I hadn't had any problems with things shorting out and that I'm of the mind that if it's not broken then there is no need to interfere but, as I was mid crisis, with a house-full of smoke and he kept on tugging on my cables I'm afraid he got a snippy reply of "well I'm sorry but I'm not having it done at the moment and could you please be careful and not damage my cable". I wouldn't mind but it wasn't even my pump and cables that he was supposed to be looking at.
He gave me a most unpleasant look, gave the cable another hard tug and put the lid back on. I have to say, I'm hoping that my neighbours don't use that particular electrician because I'm not sure that I trust him around my electrics! As for the chimney, I'm sure it's just the wind blowing down the valley the wrong way but before I light another fire, I think I'm going to get the chimney swept just be sure there aren't any blockages up there so ....... I guess I will be freezing for a while until I can get it sorted.
This morning, I was busy making more cakes and pies and casseroles ready for the freezer when I thought it might be a good idea to light a fire in the living room so that when I finished cooking, I could go and sit down in the warm and have a nice cup of tea. I lit the fire, popped the fire guard in front of it and went to check on the cakes in the oven. When I came back, the living room was full of black smoke which had blown back down the chimney and into the house. Try as I might I just couldn't clear it without opening all the doors and windows as wide as they would go but, in order to do this, I had to round up all my cats and take them to the spare bedroom because they are indoor cats and the windows have window locks which only allow them to open a certain amount.
So, after herding 7 cats upstairs and wrangling them into the bedroom, I flung open all the doors and widows and finally managed to clear the smoke in about 5 minutes. In the middle of all this, one of my neighbours banged on my door with the electrician, to have a look at their water pump and give a quote for some electrical work that needs doing. The neighbour's pump lives in a pump house in my garden where the borehole is, along with the pump that serves my house so, I pointed out where the pump lived and followed them over to make sure everything was ok. I was slightly miffed and more than a little concerned when he started poking around and tugging on random wires before commenting that the whole thing looked as if it needed replacing and that my cable was looking a bit dodgy as well. He then gave my cable a massive tug and a wiggle and asked if I'd had any trouble with the water pump shorting out. It was obvious that he was angling for more business and if he had caught me on a normal day I would have politely pointed out that I hadn't had any problems with things shorting out and that I'm of the mind that if it's not broken then there is no need to interfere but, as I was mid crisis, with a house-full of smoke and he kept on tugging on my cables I'm afraid he got a snippy reply of "well I'm sorry but I'm not having it done at the moment and could you please be careful and not damage my cable". I wouldn't mind but it wasn't even my pump and cables that he was supposed to be looking at.
He gave me a most unpleasant look, gave the cable another hard tug and put the lid back on. I have to say, I'm hoping that my neighbours don't use that particular electrician because I'm not sure that I trust him around my electrics! As for the chimney, I'm sure it's just the wind blowing down the valley the wrong way but before I light another fire, I think I'm going to get the chimney swept just be sure there aren't any blockages up there so ....... I guess I will be freezing for a while until I can get it sorted.
Oh dear, Kay, I don't think I would trust him either and what a panic you must have been in with the smoking chimney. I remember as a child when our chimney would catch fire. There would be a stampede to fetch the shovel and a metal bucket to scoop up the hot soot which would fall in great lumps onto the hearth! I would definitely get yours swept in case there's a bird's nest or something up there. Take care, Angie x
ReplyDeleteHi Angie, I'm fairly sure that it was just the wind. I live in the bottom of a valley and when the wind blows the wrong way it pushes the smoke back down the chimney rather than sucking it up and away. The fire was fine yesterday and at the weekend, so like I said I'm guessing the wind was blowing the wrong way. I will definitely get it swept though just to be sure :-)
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