The Overflowing Overflow

Daisyfay the Miracle Girl is at Brownie Camp - well, not camp as in camp ( it is the end of November , that would be cruel!), it's in a big converted chapel. We're due to pick her up at 11 30. She went Friday evening, it's been very quiet here! She was so excited, it was lovely to see, but I don't think there'll have been much sleeping going on - 8 girls in bunk beds in one room ...! I'm looking forward to picking her up now though.

Anyway, back to the point, as the Miracle Girl was absent we decided to venture into the attic. We reached the water tank! There is now a path! We have investigated the overflowing overflow - we are still unsure as to why it is overflowing, but have called in reinforcements - a plumber - I used to teach him - slightly worrying on the feeling rather old front - he was one of the nicest kids I've ever taught though, so may have someone else to add to the very nice man list. The root of the problem is apparently the big ball thing on the top of the water ( the ball cock - see, getting technical now!) - it is all gunked up and Paul says this is stopping it closing a valve properly, thus allowing too much water in the tank ... I'm just nodding knowledgeably ...

So Chris the very nice plumber is going to come and solve the problem, and also fix the leaky tap in the bathroom. This has inspired Paul to resilicone the bath ( after wrestling with the recalcitrant silicone gun) - and the clearing of part of the attic has led to a flurry of selling posts from me - which will hopefully result in enough cash to pay the plumber! And at least when we put things back, there will hopefully be some order in our chaos!

And I have a new bit of plan ...  after the attic foray I am thinking that we have much very good baby stuff ( and toddler stuff, and small child stuff ...) - another little miracle is nigh on impossible ( kept on hoping for a while, as you do...) so moving on and all that, I'm going to do an NCT sale in the new year and take as much as I can carry - which probably won't be all of it!!

Still looking forward ...

Recurring themes

There are two things that keep coming back to haunt me. They lurk in the background, making me feel continually guilty and disheartened. They reinforce that "you are not in control, your priorities are all skewed" feeling.

You're wondering now, aren't you? How bad can it be? What nightmare is this...?

The attic and the garden.

The garden - I know what I want it to be, the plan (!) is good - that's what makes it so frustrating!! A couple of years of builders and flooding have put me in the "Where do I start?" frame of mind. I want somewhere to sit and eat, productive fruit and veg beds, and a shed to store stuff ... I dream of potting sheds ... and greenhouses ... patios ... chickens...

The attic - empty the attic... board the attic...refill the attic ... builders ... empty the attic ... refill the attic ... and so it goes on! We need to empty it again so we can get to the overflowing overflow. But emptying it causes chaos everywhere else - then I need to tidy because people are coming - so we shove it all back again... I want an organised, minimal attic - this is also probably a pipe dream ...

I think that, in order to assert control over my life, I need to conquer the garden and the attic.

More plans ..

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                                (How good does this look? Dreaming ...!)

Finding gaps

I found a gap ... and I've had a lovely day.

There probably shouldn't have been a gap - there are a million and one things I should have been doing - I'm supposed to be sorting out stuff for selling, putting stuff on ebay, finding a path through the attic to the water tank to sort the overflowing overflow, planting food in the garden so that we can become self-sufficient ...

But instead I went with the gap ...

Me and Daisyfay got up quite early - washing on line - made chocolate brownies - realised part-way through no eggs - thank god for caravan park shop which opens at the crack of dawn! Paul did home cooked ham with fancy flavours - gorgeous smell through house.

This afternoon 007 Minor came to play. They played - perused the (many!) James Bond books we possess - I made picnic (aforementioned ham rolls and brownies, apples, crisps and drinks) - basket, book and ball and we were set. Walk down canal path - adventures in the woods involving water and trees - me collecting wild garlic - ice cream - caravan park playground - lambs - pirate dens in the reeds - nettles!!!

                                              

                                                                                         

Got home just in time for 007 Minor's mum - hope his socks washed...! :-)

BBQ - visit to horses - bed.

Lovely day - gaps are good.

Feeling dreamy ...