Batten down the hatches

Firstly, thank you very much for your messages of support yesterday, they're much appreciated.

A bad night and I almost tiptoed into the other bedroom to give JJ some rest as he was off to golf bright and early, but I didn't.  What a pity, as I might have heard the drip, drip, drip of water from the radiators (all but our bedroom).

JJ had already gone off to golf when I headed downstairs to make a cup of tea and whilst the kettle was boiling I went into the lounge to pick up my iPad, but to my horror there was water dripping from the ceiling and there was a huge bubble of water hanging in the lining paper over the French doors.

I shot upstairs and found the landing carpet soaking wet, the ironing room, my office, and the second bedroom, which is immediately above the lounge.  Towels and bowls were employed to stem the flow and I rang JJ, who had to abandon his golf and come home.

The guy fitting the boiler had emptied the radiators yesterday but hadn't tightened up the fittings used for bleeding them and as a consequence the remainder of the water was leaching out dirty water onto our barely five month old carpets.

British Gas will pick up the bill for cleaning or replacing the carpets and also minor redecoration to the lounge.

On the good news side, I've booked a short fully escorted landscape workshop with John Gravett in the Lake District in early November, having spotted that Wendles56 had already booked a place.  It's only open to Blippers and there are two places left if anyone is interested in joining us.  I'm going up by train to Penrith and then taking a bus  across to Braithwaite.  Wendles is wending her way up from Bingley to Windermere etc., 

I spotted a snail hunkered down out of the wind and decided to blip it.  The garden looks horrendous with all the fallen leaves and silver birch seeds.