I'm sitting here on Saturday afternoon, in my craft room but not sewing. I'm a little paralysed by the news we've just been given. If you're not into real-life disaster stories, scroll down, there is some sewing.
A week ago we had to clean out the kitchen as we're having a new kitchen fitted. Exciting? It was. The reality is eating ready meals cooked in the microwave which is perched on a table in the living room, not being able to get to anything because there are half-built kitchen units everywhere and one un-holy mess. But that's not all.
Last week I got a call from my uncle (who happens to be a builder and so is doing the refit). Where he thought the plaster on one wall had blown (expanded outwards away from the bricks), it seems the problem might be more serious.
So this afternoon a structural engineer came round. Our house is 3 stories, it was built in 1884. Where the kitchen meets the rest of the house - dining room and entrance to the cellar - the wall is bulging. It's not attached to the 1st story (2nd story for you ladies in the US) floor. It is, in fact, falling down. This could possibly have been caused by the leaking sewage pipe we had under the house, I don't know if you recall my stories of having a burst sewage pipe, cellar and garden filled with poo?
I'll leave you to digest that, that's what I'm currently trying to do. Want to hear what else is going on in my life? My cute little bunny Harry lives with fat Tiffany. Fat Tiffany is dominant, very dominant. We recently noticed a bald patch in Tiff's fur, so off to the vet we went. Nothing. She's fine, no mites, not worms, nothing like that. The bunnies all moved to their holiday homes (i.e. my parents' back garden) last weekend so they were out of the way for the kitchen refit. My parents spend a lot of time in the garden with the buns, so they found the cause of the bald patch. It's Harry. He's literally chewing Tiff's fur off. It's called barbering and is usually done to assert dominance. Harry never has been and never will be a dominant bunny, especially with Tiff. I have no idea what to do.
In order to take my mind off it (after all, there's nothing I can do right now and the work trip to Turkey on Monday couldn't have been more badly timed...) I'll post some photos of my latest block in the And Sew On BOM hosted and designed by the lovely Kristy at Quiet Play .
April's block is called "Snip it Real Good" and snip it I did!
I did the section with the spool first. You would not believe the problems I had. Pieces in the wrong place (wooden parts of the spool on the sides!), pieces pieced in the wrong order, fabric upside down, scraps that didn't fit. I unpicked so many times, I had to start again as my paper was completely shredded. With the other 3 sections, I had just the on piece put on wrong way round. I haven't added the thread coming off the spool yet, I'm planning on doing the embroidered parts when I've pieced all the blocks together and removed the paper.
Right, gotta go, I've got a Weekender bag to finish before Monday morning and it's 4pm now... I've got half the parts cut out and tomorrow I'm going to my parents' to see those naughty bunnies...
Related posts
block 1 - Measure Twice
block 2 - disaster
block 2 - You little ripper
A week ago we had to clean out the kitchen as we're having a new kitchen fitted. Exciting? It was. The reality is eating ready meals cooked in the microwave which is perched on a table in the living room, not being able to get to anything because there are half-built kitchen units everywhere and one un-holy mess. But that's not all.
Last week I got a call from my uncle (who happens to be a builder and so is doing the refit). Where he thought the plaster on one wall had blown (expanded outwards away from the bricks), it seems the problem might be more serious.
So this afternoon a structural engineer came round. Our house is 3 stories, it was built in 1884. Where the kitchen meets the rest of the house - dining room and entrance to the cellar - the wall is bulging. It's not attached to the 1st story (2nd story for you ladies in the US) floor. It is, in fact, falling down. This could possibly have been caused by the leaking sewage pipe we had under the house, I don't know if you recall my stories of having a burst sewage pipe, cellar and garden filled with poo?
I'll leave you to digest that, that's what I'm currently trying to do. Want to hear what else is going on in my life? My cute little bunny Harry lives with fat Tiffany. Fat Tiffany is dominant, very dominant. We recently noticed a bald patch in Tiff's fur, so off to the vet we went. Nothing. She's fine, no mites, not worms, nothing like that. The bunnies all moved to their holiday homes (i.e. my parents' back garden) last weekend so they were out of the way for the kitchen refit. My parents spend a lot of time in the garden with the buns, so they found the cause of the bald patch. It's Harry. He's literally chewing Tiff's fur off. It's called barbering and is usually done to assert dominance. Harry never has been and never will be a dominant bunny, especially with Tiff. I have no idea what to do.
In order to take my mind off it (after all, there's nothing I can do right now and the work trip to Turkey on Monday couldn't have been more badly timed...) I'll post some photos of my latest block in the And Sew On BOM hosted and designed by the lovely Kristy at Quiet Play .
April's block is called "Snip it Real Good" and snip it I did!
I did the section with the spool first. You would not believe the problems I had. Pieces in the wrong place (wooden parts of the spool on the sides!), pieces pieced in the wrong order, fabric upside down, scraps that didn't fit. I unpicked so many times, I had to start again as my paper was completely shredded. With the other 3 sections, I had just the on piece put on wrong way round. I haven't added the thread coming off the spool yet, I'm planning on doing the embroidered parts when I've pieced all the blocks together and removed the paper.
Right, gotta go, I've got a Weekender bag to finish before Monday morning and it's 4pm now... I've got half the parts cut out and tomorrow I'm going to my parents' to see those naughty bunnies...
Related posts
block 1 - Measure Twice
block 2 - disaster
block 2 - You little ripper
16 comments:
Oh wow Wendy, what a mess with regards to the house, hope there's some light in there somewhere and hopefully not through a gap in the roof - oh I'm so sorry but I just couldn't help saying that! And here's another - in the words of Frank Carson "that's a cracker" - your block that is. I'm going to stop now before I sink any lower, hope the rest of your weekend goes better for you :)
Oh no, that's terrible news, exactly what you don't want to hear when you think you have a little problem!!! And poor Tiff :o)
I'm so sorry about the kitchen problems - at least it's a relative doing the work so you aren't going to be gouged by workers trying to scrape every penny out of you that they can get! I hope there's a fairly simple (and not expensive) solution to be found. Sorry too about Bossy Tiff - I guess Harry had enough of her bossy ways! Can the two of them be separated? Maybe she needs a chain maille vest!
oh my goodness that's just awful, I hope they have answers on how it can be fixed,
You patch looks great, if I tried anything like that well lets just say it wouldn't look like it should!
Oh Wendy I'm so sorry about your house! :( I hope that you guys can get it squared away as quickly as possibly. Of all the times to have to go away, but on the other hand maybe best to get out of town for a few days! Old houses....they require so much upkeep. My mom's was built around 1889 or so.
aw sweetie, what a day! If it helps, you block is divine (it doesn't help, I know)
You poor thing, so much to cope with. I'll be thinking of you.
I do hope your Uncle can help with the building problems and come up with a solution. It's a big worry! We watch Escape to the County and marvel at the ages of houses in the UK. Obviously we don't see the behind the scenes work. Love the scissors and thread block!!!
Oh, that's not the news you wanted as you go away. Hope they can come up with some viable solutions
On a happier note, your block has turned out really well
Oh dear sounds like you are having a tough time at the minute. Hope it all gets resolved quickly for the rabbits and your walls.
Your block turned out really well despite all the hassle you had with it.
Oh no! What a catalogue of disaster. I kind of know what you are going through with the house as we found a crack in our pantry that means our house is sliding sideways and we need to anchor the outside wall with straps under the upstairs floorboards to next door's shared wall. FUN! Oh and we need all our lintels replaced because when they added double glazing, they didn't put enough support in the for the outer walls when they removed the wooden frames. FUN! I am so sorry your house is in bits. It's so stressful. I hope your bunnies feel better soon and stop bickering.
Oh gosh! How stressful! I hope that it all gets sorted out (maybe by the time you're back from your work trip - wouldn't that be nice! hehe!).
Your block turned out fabulously - even with the paper piecing mishaps. And don't worry - they happen to us all (and probably more frequently than we care to admit hehehe)
Oh dear! I hope the house can be repaired without too much hassle. Also hoping it's not structural, being around doors etc. Poor Tiff, I suppose it's Harry's payback for being bullied. Your block looks lovely :).
Cheers, Robyn xo
An external wall from a house not far from me of about the same age completely collapsed not that long ago, I'm guessing it's better that they know what it is now so that maybe something can be done? Will your insurance cover it? :S Good luck with it all.
I am sorry to hear about your building problems,hopefully it will sort out the best!
As for the block - I am amazed!! I couldn't take my eyes off it - literally! It's gorgeous!
Oh, man! when I read what was going on in your May 5 I had to scroll down to see what I had missed. Man, what a dilemma you are in with your kitchen. I hope the insurance will try harder to work things out for you.
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