Your day apart from gardening

[Sean Regan]

Whenever there's a "major appliance crisis" in our house, it always occurs at the worst possible time.

As it was last night. I was sitting with my feet up watching the TV when I heard this "beep beep" from the kitchen. On investigating it was the washing machine, which had stopped working, "error code E18. Drain pump filter blocked."

Normally this wouldn't be a problem, just a case of opening the little door, using the little hose to empty it, (takes for ever) and the unscrewing the filter holder and removing the blockage. Had to remember to put the little plastic stopper back in the end of the little hose!

No chance! it wouldn't turn. I knew what it was likely to be, as it had happened before, a couple of years ago and we had to "get a man in." No chance of getting anyone in before Tuesday or Wednesday if then.

In this house that would rank as high as "A National Emergency."

But I'd watched the guy do it, so I knew what to do.
It took a bit of "fettling," using two hands, one through the little door after disconnecting the pump mounting, and one through the underside after removing a couple of screws and pulling the bottom of the front panel away a bit, disconnecting the drum drain hose from the pump and poking around in the pump with a finger.

I removed two hair grips and £1.75. This was enough for me to be able to unscrew the filter and remove a ball of lint.
I put it all back and finished washing the load of towels that were in the machine.

I did notice that the long plastic strap that's the emergency door release hadn't been put back in it's holder when it was mended before and was swinging around inside the machine, so that went back in.
We're back to normal, machine working fine (it's on twice a day on most days) and no pools of water on the floor.

Must remember to check pockets of my trousers before putting them in the laundry bin! (again!)

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Inside day, fresh fallen snow outside this morning. Organizing, tossing stuff. Getting more bags ready for GoodWill. Filing papers, some work for upcoming Taxes due. Cleaning. Ordering more stuff for the new house for delivery. On and on. For now a good cup of coffee.

 

[LouisFerdinand]

I attended church. One hymn sung was As the Deer.

 

[Sean Regan]

For many years my wife has been using this little table to make her greetings cards.


There's never been much room on it as she's usually got several on the go at the same time.

I assembled the new craft table I'd ordered for her that arrived this morning.
It is adjustable for height and angle and the top can be rotated.
It has an inset panel to work on that lifts out revealing some green baize so you could use it as a card table

 

[Amateur Gardener]

I bought a cordless string trimmer. Amazon had an e-coupon sale, so it was only $59.99.

 

[Sean Regan]

I repaired the lock on the side door of the garage.
It had stopped working so I took it out of the door. These locks have a plate that keeps all the workings in, the two tiny screws that secure it had worked loose and as I pulled it out, the plate and a lot of the bits fell out. Some must have worked loose.
Fortunately I found them all. It's a five lever lock, so it was a question of getting all the levers back where they belonged in the right order, so the key would turn. Took a bit of working out but it's done. As it was a dry day and I'm up to date with the garden, I had time to clean my golf clubs, trolley, golf shoes and clean my car.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Shopping for the new house. Paperwork for taxes. washing floors. fun stuff.

 

[the lawnsman]

Shopping for the new house. Paperwork for taxes. washing floors. fun stuff.

Esther, are you downsizing garden wise?

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Esther, are you downsizing garden wise?

No. we are retaining our present home and the huge garden. The second home has a much easier garden, so easy I can take care of it in a blink of an eye---but because we are not there I have a landscaper that takes 40 mins to do everything. In the second house, which is in North Carolina, its only 1/2 acre, the front is mostly pine trees and some easy shrubs, the beds are all pine straw. the back of the house starting at deck is all pines and woodland shrubs, very dense, and then tall grasses that flank both sides of the wooden walkway that leads to the inlet. A nice dock is there. So simply just the front needs some tiding up. 40 mins worth. LOL.

 

[Sean Regan]

More DIY.

I took early retirement in 1998. "We" decided we needed a new bathroom suite. We had a "fashionable" dark brown suite fiitted twenty years before. The sink ended up in my garage.

So as I had nothing much else to do, I decided it to install it myself. Which didn't look too bad.

Ten years ago my wife found getting in and out of the bath very difficult, so we had it taken out and a walk-in shower installed, we also had new bathroom furniture. We "got a man in" to do it.

I resisted having the toilet changed, so it's been as it is for 24 years.

But lately the cistern had been playing up, so I decided this morning to change the lot.

Bad move! I couldn't get one exactly the same, had to have something similar after trying three plumber's wholesalers.

It was a right pain to install as nothing matched up and I had to do a lot of "fettling" to avoid leaks.

Anyway, job done after four hours and you'd never know the difference.

 

[Logan]

 

[Sean Regan]

Why is it that there's always enough tarmac to make speed humps, but not to fill potholes?

Most of the problems with our roads are in my opinion two things.

The first I know is a fact.
Utility companies who are forever digging up our roads, on completion of the job, make a "temporary repair" and make a payment to the local authority to cover the cost of a "proper" repair. It then gets left until the road is completely resurfaced, this can be years, so the patches can become potholes.

From memory, I believe the quality of road re-surfacing is much poorer than I remember it decades ago. I don't think they use anywhere near as much tarmac, so we often get an uneven undulating surface. That never used to happen.

 

[LouisFerdinand]

I attended church. Also I taught a Sunday School class.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I'll go with that, Sean, local authorities don't have their own departments for road maintenance anymore, it is all sub contracted out to private firms who take no pride in quality and work to minimum cost. One of our local roads had to be resurfaced again after only six months, the layer of tarmac was so thin it ripped up in mat sized pieces.
Yesterday was the first day after getting out of hospital that I really got out in the garden and did a few things. The result? Today I slept from half eleven last night until two this afternoon, then I planted a few seeds. About time for bed again now

 

[Sean Regan]

I've been watching highlights of Indian Wells Tennis on YouTube. No matches at all on Eurosport, or BT Sport, it's on a pay to view channel. No thanks.

You get about eight minutes of highlights on YouTube shortly after the completion of matches. But tonight there's a "live" game, Iga Swiatek v Angelique Kerber, so I am watching it on my TV. It's not HD but I can't complain.

Unlike here at Wimbledon, the stands are more than half empty.