I’ve only just finished sucking up the sooty Miss Haversham cobwebs from the beams in the living room.
Smoke leaves everything foul smelling and grimy.
My chimney sweep turned up today to help sort my mini crisis out.
It was his day off but he troubleshot the problem and kindly worked out that there is a kink in the lining of my chimney which has been constricted by tar.
He cleaned the chimney yet again and I’ve set up special cleaning logs to loosen the residue.
As he beavered away and I cleaned everything in sight my sister turned up and tidied up the front garden. She’s wavered her fee asking me to put it towards my speeding ticket charge which arrived today
200£
Bollocks for the ticket but big thanks to her and again big thanks to the chimney sweep who helped on his day off
I met Chic Eleanor for a walk , she started to teach me mindfulness
I'm sure you use dry wood don't you John x
ReplyDeleteKiln dried flis
DeleteGosh, where did you find that picture of me??
ReplyDeleteYou sent it me
DeleteGlad you've got the chimney sorted. The pets are good heaters for an emergency but not a long term solution.
ReplyDeleteDorothy would be happy for the role to be life long
DeleteGosh what a mess to sort out. Glad it got done. You are great.
ReplyDeleteI am great xx
DeleteWell done in getting the sooty grime and mess cleaned up and glory be for the chimney sweep to come to find the cause of the problem. How welcome for you sister to come tidy the garden, too. Good busy work and folks to talk with. A silver lining.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
You should be paying you own fines rather than asking for contributions from family
DeleteGo away
DeleteSomeone is very pissy today lol
DeleteI am not angry. I am just irritated by someone who takes and gives back nothing
DeleteLol. One more and you are deleted
DeleteAnon-you clearly have a screw loose
DeleteDown flis , down !! Lol
DeleteIt has to be 3 and out John if you don't mind me saying(nose no longer has painted on freckles) x
DeleteLol ok xxx my little guard blogger
DeleteI agree with flis...delete. Ms. nasty has no place here.
DeleteI would do comment moderation. This individual is a bubble off plumb.
DeleteOh lord
DeleteMercy! Anonymous certainly rubbed the silver lining off of my comment!
DeleteHugs anyway.
I love the way Anon comments without reading. You shouldn’t have asked your brother for a contribution Dave!...that is about the accuracy of Anon’s comments
DeleteThat's rather a trait of people who hate...they have no clue what's going on. They live to strike. They go off half cocked at the slightest provocation.
DeleteYes-They see people busily getting on with their lives doing no harm to anyone and so they then try to Disrupt because of jealously and insecurity within themselves x
Deleteanon is JEALOUS cause NO ONE likes him/her. anon probably kicks dogs in his/her spare time too. anon is a waste of DNA.
DeleteANON lacks in reading comprehension. ANON is a dick. Don't be like ANON.
DeleteSo, that's the ticket price for a speeding permit, eh?
ReplyDeleteFor two Dave ..I was done by the same camera doing the same speed on the return journey from buying dog food
Delete100 £ each and three points on my licence each
Is the kink a fault in the chimney liner? I had a guarantee with mine in my previous house when it was put in. Do you have one? If you are already burning kiln dried logs are you not going to have a recurring problem unless the chimney liner is replaced?
ReplyDeleteThe slight kink in the liner is on a natural kink in the chimney , it’s been exaggerated by tar from a bad load of non seasoned wood . I have put up chemical logs which are burning the tar off the kink
DeleteAh I see. I had a woodburner with a chimney that wasn't straight up to the sky, it had a bend before it went straight. It was always a bit of a bother.
DeleteYou can buy chemical burner logs that clear restrictions and the crap that grows around them , that’s what I’m burning now
DeleteThank goodness the sweep came on his day off. I will give him a big tip
Indeed you must.x
DeleteThe sweetness of caring people can be so huge in our lives, can't it?
ReplyDeleteI texted him last night informing him I couldn’t burn the chemical logs which might of cleared the blockage and he turned up to sort it out today
DeleteHoly moly, that's an expensive speeding ticket!
ReplyDeleteIt bloody was but it is two tickets charged 20 minutes apart
DeleteI have gotten speeding tickets in the past, now I get the finger for driving slow.
ReplyDeleteNicely put x
DeleteWe have a kinky chimney too (open fires and an old house) and find that burning those chimney cleaning logs twice a year does help a lot. Nice of your sweep to come out on his day off
ReplyDeleteHe’s a star
DeleteSisters are a blessing. I am grateful for mine!
ReplyDeleteMy two are my constants
DeleteChimney sorted and garden nicely tended. A good day.
ReplyDeleteAnd a nice walk with a friend ........lovely
DeleteMindfulness. There is debate about this in the niche health field I specialise in. One study posits that it doesn't work for men, but does for women. Another that it works if you possess emotional intelligence. Interesting stuff. A therapist I work with won't advocate it, but others do. And that it's a bit (UK) 'middle class'. Horses for courses! If it works for you John and helps deal with the everyday - try it.
ReplyDeleteI think I have emotional intelligence
DeleteYou definitely have!
DeleteLook up Jonathan Fousts talk on gratitude. It's on his FB, dated yesterday. He's great. Mindfulness can be enormously helpful. And he is funny too.
Deletewhat kindness shown by the sweep and your sister.
ReplyDeleteI’m am lucky x
Deleteis this the sweep that winnie loved?
ReplyDeleteShe adored him, but he wore overalls
DeleteI have those cobwebs as well. Good thing you have a pack. :)
ReplyDeleteYou do lead an interesting life, Gentle John.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you got the chimney worked out. Your sister is a real sweetheart. Sorry about the ticket. I never got a speeding ticket in my life until I was in my 50's and then I suddenly got a led foot and got several tickets on and off for a few years. It even raised my insurance fee. Since I've been in my 60's I have had a one.
ReplyDelete*I have not had a single ticket since I've been in my 60's
DeleteMy youngest managed to receive a speeding ticket just before he left for Mexico (which we paid for him). It was €45. If you're going to exceed the speed limit; do it in France, it's cheaper!
ReplyDeleteHi John, if you'd like to try mindfulness you can do a course for free on futurelearn.com and/or you can download the smiling mind app and try one of their programs (also free). Viv
ReplyDeleteGlad you got the chimney and smoke damage sorted. What a nice sweep to come on his day off. I think you deserve a rest now! xx
ReplyDeleteMindfulness does work if you persevere. Stick with it. x
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling. When we lived in a London flat once, the guy upstairs had his chimney swept and loads of soot came into our own flat. We spent days clearing up the mess. Good luck with getting rid of the tar.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the constriction in your chimney. Glad you found someone to work that out for you.
ReplyDeleteHow fast were you going for good ness sake?
ReplyDeleteHere's to a better day. Hugs to youxx
ReplyDeleteThe chandelier is a nice addition to your living room
ReplyDeleteYour sister charges you a fee for tidying your garden? My brother does mine for absolutely nothing, because he's my family.
ReplyDeleteIt’s her new lockdown business .....of course I will pay her
DeleteI would never just take all her hard work for granted
She treated me to this gardening hour which I thought was very kind of her
Once upon a time I used to get wine,beer,cigarettes,tia maria,sambuca,cointreau and cheese in return x
DeleteI found your comment snide
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to form a mental image of a "kink in the lining" that's "constricted by tar." But I guess it's a blockage or part-blockage and that's all I need to know, right? :)
ReplyDeleteHope the Sweep got it worked out this time, at least as much as possible!
So nice of your sister to waive her fee. It was downright spring-like here today!
Oh, I just read the comments and now I understand the kink better.
DeleteI wonder if you should moderate comments, John? It would be a bit of a pain but it would stymie the trolls.
I attract trolls like flies around honey
DeleteThey've heard your love tastes of honey John x
DeleteNightmare childhood job, filling the coal skutle when the coal house was low. Crawling about getting the coal from the back. Then a sheet of newspaper across the poker to draw the chimney. Never again
ReplyDeleteHi there, don't know if this product is available in the UK but we use a spray called Anti-Creo-Soot since we use both a woodburning furnace and a wood stove. We also clean the chimney and flue, of course, but it really helps. I was home alone for a chimney fire once and once was enough !
ReplyDelete