The Curse is Back >:( (by sarah)

SIGH

Yes you guessed it - everything is going wronge again 🙁

First of all the dishwasher broke - bang in the middle of the Foot Path inquiry - meaning there were loads of people to feed - I had volunteered to do the washing up as we have the dishwasher - but it keeps tripping the RCD (Residual Current Dectector) meaning that the not only is it not able to work but as we didnt initially realise - the power was down for a while including fridge and freezers.

We thought this was the bottom of the cursed machine filling up with water again - but two weeks on and its still tripping the RCD and is therefore dangerous 🙁 So this means we've been doing all the washing up by hand - so I hear you all say - I dont have a dishwasher grumble grumble grumble - except that it is harvest time and we have a glut - every time I turn around someone turns up with more windfalls to turn into something so sticky pots and pans and millions of extra bowls and choppign boards need to be washed.

Then we discovered on the third bowl of hot water that our 'boost' on the water heater has packed up meaning that we only have one tank of hot water to run on a day 🙁 So therefore washing up involves boiling kettles and the such like.

The day after the dishwasher broke I changed the water out of the tumble dryer and lo! The red light that tells me the water needs emptying now refuses to go out even though it is now empty 🙁 This has happened before to and was just down to some water pooling near the sensor which I mop up with a tea towl and then it may take 2 or 3 days to dry - not this time - oh no! Just as we start using the new washable nappies for Jean - the tumble dryer brakes - still not working - so thats washing hanging every where in the house making it even damper than it normally is - you know its bad when the condensation runs down the windows.

Then the left indicator on the van has started cutting out when its too wet - so looks like thats wonky cabling that needs fixing. Blower is also dead - and the most awkard one was the rear lights - not good for reversing in our parking space where there is the drop into the stream!

The kittens messed in the stable - we cleaned it up but hadnt realised there was a kitten egg just outside the door which we trod in and then walked all round downstairs before I started accusing all of smelling - this has ment a huge carpet shampoo so the furniture is all in much disaray.

Then poor Als laptop has become tempramental - going to sleep and not waking up with basically no warning. Not to mention the CPW thing and the bank having stuffed up direct debits into my account for my creadit card as my post keeps going walkys - so fines galour - I might have to strangly the next person that tells me that it may affect my creadit rating - when its there flipping fualt!!!!

The creme on the top - is that we may have found a leak in the roof - not sure yet though as its were there is staining from an old leak.

Of Wasp Nests and Mould (by sarah)

Today has been a strange day - I had to trundle off on a hunt for a socket set with Dad to try and fix the car - this took about three hours! But we have found the leak - there was a metal pipe with lots of rust holes in it. I suppose the steam that built up due to there not being enough water for cooling, would have caused the rust thinned metal to fail and voila, holes galore!

Bits crumbled of this pipe as it was removed 🙁 Dad spent ages a) locating said leak, b) extracting the part - we dont know the name for it as the Haynes manual wasnt in the car! and c) cleaning it with meths so that we could see exactly how many holes there were!

Once it was cleaned up, it was a question of aralditing the holes (Al says Araldities is the goddess of stickyness) - so off I went to find a sutable plugging material - in the end we settled for the outer containers of tee lights - many of which I have due to a load of partially burnt ones some camper once left at Thirftwood Campsite! These cases where then cut to size - the glue mixed (its a two part epoxy), Dad spent ages 'filling' the gaps with glue - then to the tricky bit of placing the metal 'plaster' over the wounds! Gaffer tape strips were then used to try and keep everything in place untill the glue dried. We are currently waiting for the glue to cure and just hoping really.

Another job that was essential yesturday was the Raising of the Bridge over the stream - there was a wasps' nest underneath the bridge which had to be got rid of - Barbara didnt want to pay the £50 fee for an expert so asked Al if he would lift the bridge - this is a scary thing to do, so we waited for night and fortunately last night was raining too, so it was optimum time to go poking at wasps' nests as the wasps would be less active and less inclined to chase us!

Me, Dad and Al kitted ourselves up in jeans, thick coats of various types (I had a leather one on), welding gloves and bricky gloves and nasty chemical handling gloves were donned, add to this various safety goggles and masks and we were set! We had Al's Nightsearcher torch which is really really powerful and lit things up nicely. Al was also wearing the nice LED head torch Rob gave me for my Birthday. Feeling like an astronaut or deep sea explorer we set out with ropes in hand - the plan? To tie the rope onto the bridge either side of the stream and heave. Me and Dad went to the far side via the steps to avoid prematurely angering the wasps. I tied a loop in the rope same as Al and we hooked them onto some planks - then Dad and Al heaved, and heaved and well heaved - the planks broke but the bridge did nae budge!

Ok so plan 2!

The ropes were passed under the bridge with much worry on the angry wasp frount, then Dad and Al heaved and heaved and heaved some more - this time the bridge is flexing but no mass movement 🙁 I was even shouting 'heave ho' to get them synched - all to no avail. At this point I asked how Babara had been planning to do this and Al said by getting in the stream and pushing from underneath (next to the wasp' nest with head about right height for stings!). We didn't fancy that, so off I went to get a spade and fork so that we could dig out the nice grass round the two ends of the bridge. This caused a bit of confusion as there are bits of wall-making sized cotswold stone (mill pond wall maybe?) around the ends. We hypothesised on whether they were put there intentionally to stop the bridge sinking or whether they were just there anyway (erm hope that makes sense!). This meant we dug up a bit more than was needed (I say we I was at this juncture just holding the torch!).

That done we tried plan 3, praying that we wouldnt have to kit girly out in wellies for a plan four - I really didnt want to be going in the stream but Dad doesnt have any wellies so it would have been me and Al!

They heaved and heaved and the bridge moved and didn't want to stand on its side as we had been instructed to leave it - instead it flopped onto its back, onto the poor plants! And there on the underbelly of the bridge was a writhing mass of angry wasps - in the shape of half a football - in the torch light they looked black and shiny and were begginning to rise - we did the gentlemanly thing and ran!

Still we actually only left one piece of rope behind which I think was pretty good! I lament not having the camera with me though, even though I know that it wouldn't have been able to capture what I saw. It was quiet frankly beuatiful, the torch light lent a green luminosity to the plants, which being in or around the stream were tall reeds or rainforestesque type plants - the rain was little silver lines paralleling down from the sky at an angle of 35 degrees and the wind was making everything dance with a natural elegance. I also really wanted a photo of the wasps nest but when I went down there this morning to take the pic I discovered (unsuprisingly given wasps nests are made of paper) that the nest had melted in the rain! There were lots of bewildered wasps flying around the bridge.

We feel this is a good this cos a) it doesnt now need poking at further to remove it and b) hopefully the wasps can go and find a nice new home (hopefully not in our garage or anything like that!).

Due to helping Dad with the car and then dealing with the wasps nest - I only got one other job done yesterday and that was cleaning out the cupboard under the sink - I thought 'crikey I didnt check under there after the last flood'. It was bad - the cupbord itself was really wet but thats cos all the water goes down the half inch gap at the back and some idiot put the cupboards in onto top of the carpet here! This meant that I was confronted by cream fluff eminating from said half inch gap 🙁 I wasnt happy cleaning that out I can tell you - I dread to think what its like under the actual ciupboard - Al wouldnt let me 'break' the cupboard to look properlly as we dont have the money to replace the units - sigh - I want lino! (well actually we want some nice tiles but they are v. expensive so we'd be happy with lino until we're rich!).

It never ends! (by alaric)

Indeed, it gets worse.

Remember we're borrowing Sarah's parent's car because ours' brakes failed?

Well, it keeps running hot - the coolant temperature gauge was getting alarmingly high when driving in town traffic. So before going out today I tried to find the bonnet release to check the water level. We don't have the car's manual, or a Haynes manual for it, so we had to search about as best we could, to no avail. We rang Sarah's parents, but just left a message on the answerphone, so we went out shopping. As long as I took routes that maximised time on dual carriageways so the speed kept up, the temperature would be fine. At that point, I was suspecting the cooling fan may be at fault.

However, the car started to make nasty grinding sounds when I dropped into neutral at traffic lights (it's an automatic). So we pulled over, and rang Sarah's parents again; this time we got through, and they explained where the bonnet release was (it was where I'd first looked for it - but a bit tucked away!). Popping that open, I found that it was quite low on transmission fluid, but it was too hot to check the water level; the tank was too opaque to see the level without opening it, which would be dangerous without waiting for the engine to cool down.

So we went off walking to find a petrol station to buy more transmission fluid, and some water in case the water level was low when we came back and opened it. The first petrol station we came to had one of those little Tescos on it, which was useless - it had aisles and aisles of food, and a few shelves of very basic car supplies; engine oil and lightbulbs.

So we journeyed on to a 'proper' petrol station which had a tiny shop, a good eighth of which was full of useful car stuff, including automatic transmission fluid. I picked that up, plus three litres of water, since Sarah was hot and thirsty.

Back to the car. Put 200ml of transmission fluid in, opened the water, and found the expansion tank totally empty.

Doh.

In goes just over a litre of water, and it was up to the MAX level. So we drive on. The car now doesn't make any nasty noises when going into neutral, and seems to be running a bit better in general.

With all these delays, we're now having to rush straight to the nursery to pick Jean up; but on the way, the temperature gauge keeps creeping up again, and when we have to go into the little 30mph roads towards the end, it approaches the red warning section and a steamy hissing whistle emerges from under the bonnet. We pull up at the nursery, picking Jean up just as the staff are starting to go home, and sit and wait while the engine cools down enough to open the water expansion tank again.

When I check, I find it empty once more. I suspect that it may have been REALLY low on water; when I filled it up before, there was lots of bubbling as air worked its way up through the system and came forth, so perhaps the litre I put in was only filling the expansion tank because of trapped air, and running the engine had cycled it around. So I fill it up again, run the engine a bit (you have to do this to check the transmission fluid level, which I do), and the water's still there. I check underneath the car to make sure it's not leaked out.

And so we drive on. But the car's not happy. The transmission is a little odd, with the car 'twitching' every now and then, or shifting down a gear for half a second every now and then. And the temperature still rises alarmingly. So we pull over into a pub near our house, and leave it cooling down while Sarah runs to the toilet (she'd been holding it in for a while now) and we have some dinner; since not having been home between shopping and picking Jean up, we've not been able to get dinner started.

So after a while I go out again, and lo and behold, the expansion tank is again empty. I top it up again, but this time I'm rewarded with a wet trickling sound, and the water level in the tank goes down before my eyes. At the same time, a puddle emerges from beneath the car.

Bugger.

Further peering down inside reveals that I can see water running down the back of the engine, although its source is hidden in shadow and obscured by engine parts. It might be a hose (easily fixed), a "core plug" that protects the engine from coolant overpressure or freezing by popping out to release the pressure (easily fixed) or a crack in the engine block (written off car). Either way, it may be hard to diagnose without lifting the engine out, since the leak seems to be on the back of the engine.

We carefully drive it home, downhill all the way keeping the revs as low as I can. Tommorrow, Sarah's parents come up in our van, ostensibly to drive home in their car and leave the van with us. But there's no way their car's going to be ready to drive all the way back to Essex unless we fix it over the weekend. And if Sarah's parents go home in our van because their car is dead - we'll have trouble getting Jean to and from nursery...

A Week of High Jinx (by sarah)

This is getting ridiculous it really is!

Last Thursday we had to leave earlyish in the morning for our hectic long weekend in London/Guilford, I went to finish cycling the machines so everything was clean before we left - ie washing machine, tumble dryer etc.... and lo! no electricity. Arrrggggg!!!!!Quick check showed that the RCD had tripped. A quick check settled my dread of fridge and freezers - things still frozen! Relief!

But not for long as we reset the RCD and it goes again!

We are by this time running out of time, a third and forth time show us through elimination that it is the dishwwasher thats doing it. Worrying about that I go to fill our bottles with water for the journey. Not wearing any shoes I noticed to my horror the now familular feeling of wet squelchy carpet under my feet - a little checking shows that the bloody thing has leaked again dispite the cowboy repair guys assaurances - this time straight onto the extension lead its plugged in on - at this point we thank the heavens for nice residual current detectors, we unplugged it - warn our house guest and rush out, knowing it will be just one more thing to deal with when we come back 🙁

The blower in the car deemed that week to stop working and as the front windows do not wind down it was hell - I had packed little plastic ice cube things that I regularly gave to Jean to suck to help keep her cool - though she was a lot cooler than me and Al. Once Ealing was found I was disembarked to sit with baby in an air conditioned Pizza Hut whilst Al went in by him self on the train.

That night saw Jean mega waily - she hadnt wanted to eat becuase of the heat so at 2 in the morning I found myself feeding her whilst Al slept (he was to drive us to Guilford the next day so it was important he got sleep).

On the way to Guilford we sat in some traffic and appeared to have people throwing stuff at the car? Thank goodness the windows dont open or it would have hit Al!

Then things were pretty much fine until Sunday morning when as Als said the brakes went iffy - if its brake fluid thats the cylinders gone if its oil then bearings? But both wheels at once!?

We were going to take the van back but my uncle said it wasnt motoway ready as the bearing still needed fixing, this ment we had to borrow mums car which though fine on the way home as mentioned in Als post even though it too has only just past its MOT 🙁 I got ill on Monday, along with my already infected insect bites!

We also opened our back log of post to find that banks were moaning we hadnt payed bills we'd never recieved and that we had been charged!

Tuesday Al was ill and I fell down a rabbit hole - oh and it turned out the small fridge hadnt been shutting properly so we lost a load of food 🙁 but pretty uneventfull really. Yesterday, Wednesday we were back on the roll of bad luck. First of all I put the kettle on and it seemed to be boiling but not switching itself off! I was peed off as it was obviously broken, then I went to do the washing and lo! It was grinding round and didnt appear to be drawing any water in - it broken too?! Then to the mystory of some lights working some not - was one of the curcuits out? But surely lighting's on a lighting curcuit? The freezers continual hum told we still had power - what I didnt reallise was that it was about half power. This was bad as I found the grill full of meat fat (from house guests who probaly didnt realise it would be such an issue - ie forgetting Al veggi!) so I had to cook the potato bread over the toaster - it took an age!

We also had to sort out the fact that Al's paycheck was wrong and we hadnt been paid everything:( Today - well where to start!

We got a letter from the a debt collector becuase the stupid phone company (mobile wont mention in fear of being sued or something) have for a third or is it a forth time? mucked up the direct debit! Several phone calls later and the rude person at the phone company told us thats not what their screen says etc... when they bank said it was their mistake!

Then to the cleaning out of the pool - it had been accidently left with just a bit of water in by house guests who didnt know the dire consequences of this action - mind you we werent expecting it to be that bad! Green and brown slime - ah nature a miraculous thing! So we set about cleaning it which has led to yet another 'incident'. The hose pipe attachment in the sink appeared to be fine but then when we came back in it had been spraying water everywhere! So once again the kitchen was soaked 🙁 - this is now the fith!!!! bloody effing flood/leakness to happen 🙁 🙁 🙁

This time the windowsill flooded and the kettle, microwave and sterilizer where soaked and are now drying, oh and the toaster!

Still it meant I got to clean the windowsill properly though I did manage to put my foot onto a cracked tile in the process (me not being able to reach unless I climb onto the window sill) which broke showing that half the window sill is over abyss! Al has now banned me from cleaning windows!

I decided that with or without kettle I was having a cup of tea - so on with the saucepan. Finally it boiled - I made the tea and took it into the lounge area were the mug fell off of the handle! 🙁 I'm afraid that at this point I swore - jumping clear of the boiling splash. At this point Al rushes into the room to say that I had left the window in the bedroom open, this was bad as it was where I had imprisoned the kittens whilst we sorted out the chaos. He could now only find one of them 🙁 However, kittens were later both discovered in my wardrobe sitting on the jumpers! It has a hole in the back of it I had completely forgetten about!