Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good afternoon all,

Still very blustery here but bright and dry. It’s not as bad here as I was expecting thank goodness, but it certainly has been elsewhere. I do hope those of you affected most are keeping safe and not facing lots of damage. The plants I anchored down seem ok.

Been keeping a look out for garden birds today, but they are being very sensible and hunkering down. I might have more success tomorrow when it’s supposed to be calmer.

I do hope you haven’t got a damp issue behind the bookcase @lizzie27, but best to check and get it dealt with if there is.

Going to tackle some indoor jobs once I’ve drunk my coffee.

Take care everyone.

 

Good afternoon, similar to others with the weather, but we are far from the severe areas.
The heating/ plumbing man has been, boiler service is done and the spare room rad is nice and hot now. It wasn't the thermostat valve in the end but the lock valve the other end. He just opened it up a bit with a spanner. He thinks there was probably just a bit of Muck there. As we only have that rad set low most of the time, the flow would be sluggish. He cleaned the filter and topped up the inhibitor as well. This is why I prefer to use him, he installed it and checks everything. When he wasn't available last year I had the boiler mfcr do the service, but they only check the boiler not the rest of the system.

 

We thought the wind was abating when we set off for our appointments this morning. We were wrong!
When we got home, the roof of the greenhouse was peeling itself off like a sardine can. I quickly ordered Gorilla tape from Tool station and we hurtled off to buy it. Just in time! We have effected repairs and think we have saved it. We still have the one panel to replace after Darragh though. If I can get one more growing season out of it, I'll be happy, as I can then plan what to replace it with, at leisure.
I don't want to start dismantling this and buying a new one, plus getting electrics installed before the growing season.
So, it's been a busy day. Luckily, found time to chuck the meatballs in the slow cooker for a nice hot supper.
Hope you've all been OK.
Any news from @Liriodendron or @Badly_Maintained?

 

Thank goodness you're okay @Penny_Forthem , I've been thinking of you and all the other posters in the danger area all day. Apparently thousands are without power in NI and Ireland itself which may effect @Liriodendron and @Badly_Maintained . Hope @fairygirl and her girls are ok too.

Pity about your greenhouse although it sounds like you've been able to save the roof. Gorilla tape is good so I always keep it in the house for emergencies. You can also get a clear, waterpoof tape especially for mending greenhouse glass which comes in handy sometimes.

There was horrid black mould on the wall behind the bookcase @Blue arbour so we've pulled the bookcase away and I've washed the wall down with a weak solution of bleach. Will let that dry till later tonight and will then repeat and leave for 3 days. As luck would have it, it's nearest OH's spot on the sofa so don't want to fumigate him out. Does anybody know if I can paint the area with a waterproofer inside the house please? I suspect we might always have a problem as it's on the corner of two outside walls, facing west and the damp course is nearly down to ground level so in the wrong place.

It was warmer and less windy by lunchtime so we managed to prune the apple trees, one quite hard as it was too tall to manage and the apples weren't very nice any more. One more to do.

Quite tired now!

 

Goodness me @Penny_Forthem, I hope you’ve managed to salvage your greenhouse for one more season and that the wind is easing a bit more now. It’s certainly calmed down a lot here, thank goodness. Parts of South Yorkshire had an amber warning, but we were lucky to be in the yellow warning area (I thought we were in amber, but it was downgraded for us, fortunately).

I really dislike windy weather as it’s so unpredictable. We heeded advice though, and stayed indoors as there was nowhere we needed to be. It should be a lot better tomorrow and I hope it is as we have a fund raising event in church again, this time for the local food bank. I think if the weather is poor, people will stay at home.

On the bird watch front today, I saw a magpie settled on a nearby roof and a small group of starlings flying across the garden, so I’m not recording anything today (unless it ends up being the best of the bunch over the weekend, but I won’t be able to include the starlings as they didn’t settle, just flew over). I hope tomorrow will yield better results.

 

We had black mould behind a bookcase in a previous house. It stood against an outside wall.
I had to strip the wallpaper, clean and seal, then re-paper, before repainting the paper and ensuring the bookcase was kept a couple of inches clear of the wall.
I then installed a wardrobe bar heater, vertically in the corner. I checked the area EVERY WEEK without fail, being paranoid.
No repeat of the problem.
At least, not there!!

Edited to add. Our problem had been a combination of a lack of airflow, a cold, western facing wall (like yours), and a lack of airing the room enough. Lesson learned!!

 

Hello @Fourmerkland , thanks for posting that, sounds like the same problem. Could you tell me what sealer you used please and what is a wardrobe bar heater, not heard of one of those before! Many thanks.

 

Afternoon all. Well I took advantage of the wind and got a wash load done. It did not take long for it to dry. It has definitely quietened down now but a cold night is forecast. Nice day tomorrow (fingers crossed) so may be able to get the bird survey done.
Sorry @lizzie27, I don't know too much about waterproofing paint. I noticed that there was a 'blister' on my coving the other week. It is in the corner of the room directly under the cupboard in my bedroom where I used to have my hot water tank before my combi boiler was installed. The cupboard now just houses the bag with my Christmas tree in. I suspect that there maybe a slight leak from one of the pipes under the floor of the cupboard so that is something I will have to investigate. Another nuisance to deal with! I'll have a word with handy brother.

 

@Fourmerkland. You were definitely more helpful than me!

 

My Bestie has a dehumidifier @Bluejayway and I was amazed at how much water it collected.

 

Really couldn’t manage without ours @Ladybird4 , it’s been a godsend

 

Signing out for this evening. The sky is very clear and the stars are twinkling so I am suspecting a frost might arrive this evening. Catch up with you all tomorrow.

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Evening. It wasn’t too bad here this morning, but the roads were covered in twigs and branches. I hope those in the Red areas are all ok.

My banana bread went down a storm (pun not intended) in work and my one colleague says she absolutely loves ‘school cake’, so I’ll do one of those next week. Hopefully others will take the hint and bring or bake a cake too, hehe.


Looking forward to the final of the Traitors. Enjoy the evening folks.

 

I think I need a dehumidifier for my old stone French cottage. I use tablets that turn into water in plastic boxes.