We have been very busy outside in the yard and garden this week, taking advantage of the dry sunny days (long may they last). I knew we were going to be busy yesterday, so I got some home-made pizza topping/pasta sauce out of the freezer, and the obliging Panasonic breadmaker made me some pizza dough whilst we were outside. This is the result - when the family aren't here, I don't do thin-crust smartly-topped pizza, I just roll out the dough to fit whatever tray I'm using, and spread it with the tomatoey topping and grated cheddar cheese, and I can tell you now, it fills the corners!
We have had a problem with the new loo in the shower room - it became blocked and no amount of poking and extra water going down solved the problem. Action was necessary, and to check on the state of affairs outside, my good man insisted that the Clematis Montana rubens I had growing up the side of the house had to be cut right back (and then guided in the direction of the Damson tree . . .) We found a seeping joint . . . Anyway, to cut a long story short we called out Dyno-rod and a very helpful young man had it sorted in about 5 minutes flat, just be applying a plunger! Why didn't we think of that? (Well, mainly because we thought the plunger wouldn't be man enough for the job as it wasn't a very large one). £90 for 5 minutes' work, but we will know how to cure it if it ever happens again.
The Damson tree stands in a scree of gravel and this had been completely choked and hidden by a huge growth of Feverfew post-drought, accompanied by a massive amount of Milkweed - both have now been pulled out and composted.
You can't see it terribly clearly, but here is a wee nest we found tucked under the bargeboard behind the clematis, and SO safe. Not sure what bird used it, but it was quite shallow so a smallish bird.
Yesterday we began tidying the "back place" which is the lean-to storage off the kitchen. We brought over the old cupboard from the defunct chicken shed to provide storage for cans of paint, gardening things which were currently taking up floor space. A job well done.
A busy weekend ahead, as usual. Enjoy yours.
I'm glad you got the toilet sorted, but eeek, what a price! The pizza looks delish and I need to make some again when the young people return.
ReplyDeleteI've not had much time for blogging, but hopefully that can be remedied soon. Take care.xxx
Well, that was the standard fee (£75 plus VAT). If it needed unblocking mechanically, then it was £140 - and no guarantee of success either!
ReplyDeleteI expect you are busy, busy, busy over there.
Busy! Plumbers do not come cheap or any labour involved work. Sometimes wish my 4 hadnt gone to uni and got a trade. Hey ho.
ReplyDeleteI think plumbers always have work (unless they are useless at the job!) Still, we learned what to do if the problem arises again with that loo, so that's something . . .
ReplyDeleteBB we went and bought our own rods from Screwfix for about £30. The drains to our house are really old and regularly get blocked so we invested and OH now sorts it out. The drain is literally outside the bathroom window but it flows into next doors and that is usually where there is a problem. That is a lot of money for 5 minutes work. The poor Montana. I usually use the plunger as a first line of defence with washing soda and boiling water. That pizza looks lush. Have not made one for a little while so that may be on the list for tea this week. Thank you for giving me the idea. You have been busy this week. I have had the return of the lurgey and have been dosing on the homemade Elderberry Rob and also the homemade cassis. it is worst at night and am hardly sleeping at night and then nodding off in the morning and being late up and then feel grotty. Oh well it will pass eventually. Hope you are keeping well and how is the bag and the patchworks going. Take care. Pattypan xx
ReplyDeleteWe have rods Tricia, but the U-bend on this new loo is so extreme that no way will they do the job. There's only so much bend in them after all. The plunger we have would disappear DOWN the U-bend! The Dyna-rod chap's was a bit more ambitious!
DeleteHope you are over this lurgy soon - just rest up is the best plan I reckon. I will put updated photos of the bag up soon.
So was the blockage caused by the seeping joint ? and did everything have to be cut down ? Goodness what a mess.
ReplyDeleteHappy to know that it is fixed now.
Your pizza looks wonderful but cheddar cheese ? how about goat cheese ?
cheers, parsnip and badger
It was caused by the extremity of the U-bend (imagine S bend and you are nearer the mark) and back in the summer we didn't flush it every time because of the lack of water, so there was a build up of toilet tissue in the "S".
DeleteNot mad on most goat's cheese tbh, as it tastes goaty to me. Happy to have goat's milk which I use in my tea. Cheddar it had to be as I'd just realized the Mozzarella was out of date and had to be chucked.
Ouch! that's a lot of spondoolicas down the drain. Pizza looks abfab, I have a few Ciabatta loaves in the freezer and the plan is to turn them into pizza when we fancy one.
ReplyDeleteYes, ouch is the word Pam!! Pizza was SO tasty. Ciabatta as a pizza base sounds like a good idea.
DeleteNothing gets pizza crust made quickly like a bread machine. I may have to add pizza to our menu next month.
ReplyDeleteOur toilet caused a few problems over the Thanksgiving weekend. Out came the snake and a couple of bottles of drain cleaner. Wouldn't have been too big a problem but the sons were home so things had to be fixed very quickly.
God bless.
Glad you got your loo fixed quickly Jackie. We have a septic tank here so things like drain cleaner do it no good (kills all the bugs that do the hard work in the tank!) Enjoy your pizza.
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