Inside?...or outside?...answers on a postcard please

Oh no! I hate to say it, but I suspect these are all inside Karen? :(((((( Oh no! Thank goodness you are home in time to stem this flow! I do hope the rain stops soon.....poor you! I love your attitude to the whole thing though...just taking it in your stride and doing what you can. Good for you, you're a trooper!

Oh my goodness! Poor you!!!!!! I think I would have just cried! Hope you cant get it fixed soon xxxx

Oh dear, good luck with that, cannot be of much help I am afraid.

Oh, Karen and Pixi - it's only a couple of tiles, in reality...

- just have to get it fixed (although no-one can go up there until it's not wet!)...

...See! I shouldn't have left it! :/ xx

I know Dd2 - thank you. :)

Things are good here, tho' - I've been in worse places...

At least I got home before it was too late!

Clicked like coz I like your feature brickwall :))
Oh dear!! Hope it all dries up soon for you!

Oops, what does one say to that, I agree with Karen, I like your attitude, you keep smiling, as you said you`ve been in worse places and this will get sorted, you are home and thats what counts...

I like it too, Scottish! Hope it's not indelibly stained...

Can't get anyone round 'til it stops raining tho'...because nobody will go up on a slippery roof!

Still rather be here than there, though! :)))

Ah, Lincs! It's good to be home...can't say more...it's only a wee leak...:)

...and if any of you GoYers are having a wee midlife crisis - I recommend a short break in Nigeria...makes you appreciate everything you've got! lol! x

You're right...It's a good thing you came home! Imagine that in a few weeks time, what with the sausage and furry mouse.....SMELLY!
I remember when you put your African 'New bathroom' pics on I felt so sorry for you but you were so optimistic, now you are back in your lovely home and will soon get this sorted. Btw I really hate rain with a passion now, sick of it, had enough, enough!!

URGH! I remember all of that, Annie... x

...NEVER going there again...I'm actually not that patient - no, honestly! Not really!

You sound so glad to be home, despite all the problems. Short saying: "East, West, Home's best." :o)

Exactly right, Nariz :))

Wow. Poor you. Still take it a step at a time as they say, it will soon get sorted I'm sure. I think you have the right attitude.

I agree Cinders. I think perhaps I 'should' go to Nigeria for a wee while! :))......but I'm not brave enough!

I'd like to say it was 'character building', Karen...but, I couldn't really recommend it, lol!

It will all get sorted out, Cinders...just not sure which foot to put forward right now...the rain's relentless...

Karen, I know what you're up against. We once drove all the way from Dundee to Sarlat for a camping holiday with the children...in July...the rain was so heavy and relentless that all the low lying camp sites had to be evacuated. Two of the rivers burst their banks and our hillside campsite turned into a stream. I have loads of pics of the children in cagoules and wellies with their hoods up as we squelched around the Dordogne looking for somewhere dry to hang out!

Oh dear Karen.........what I first read was flood Pain!.....maybe I was right the first time......you have been through worse I know so as Eric Robson. (gqt) says 'onwards and upwards'.....hope you get dry weather soon x

Thanks, Pam :)

Oh, Karen...that must've been really awful - I can truly sympathise...wet camping has a particular fragrance - once experienced, never forgotten...lol

However, the weather forecast says that it won't rain on my house for the next hour...after that - it doesn't stop until May 5th (that's as far as the forecast goes)! :/

Good luck, Karen, in making your home high and dry :o)

I too remember a very wet holiday in the Dordogne but at least we were in my ex mum in laws caravan. Would love to go back there when the sun shines. Maybe it's better that you don't know the forecast, at least there is hope then ;O))

Thank you TT :)

The Dordogne is very lovely - when it's not raining (or January...once went to the gorges for a long weekend and ended up in Sarlat, because everywhere else was closed)!!

You're right, Annie...not much point in checking the forecast again for a while...and after that I think I'll just live in hope ;)

sorry about the wet karen and hope it gets sorted out soon, dont want rotting rafters :o((
how long have you lived there karen?
keep cheerfull :o))

Thanks San :)

The builder from along the road has just been and done a 'quick fix'...one hole was just a slipped tile! The other is a bit more serious but...no longer leaking - thank goodness.

I've been in France for nine years, San - but only moved into this house about eighteen months ago, whilst renovating it at the same time...

Pleased you got your leak sorted tempoary.

Glad you got it fixed! hope there isnt too much damage :))x

Thanks Clarice and Pixi :)))

- there's a bit of damage to the ceiling - but, luckily I know a good plasterer who'll mend it (and, hopefully, paint it - it goes up way too high for me)...

I'm hoping that the stone will 'scrub'...

...which just leaves the stairs and the floor... :/

It must be worrying to have this happen. I hope you'll be able to have something dome about it soon. And I hope the weather improves for you aswell.

Thanks Hywel, I think that lots of us could do with a little break from the rain now :)

Karen...things can only get better!!

Oh, Scottish! That's what I thought...until I discovered the Japanese knotweed in my neighbour's garden...

Take a look at the photos...I must have been very, very bad in a previous life... :(

I feel for you Karen, we have a high ceiling in the stairwell too. It takes a whole roll of paper at one part and the thought of OH going up to paint our ceiling has me terrified. We had leaks on the flat roof area above the stairs and the slater fixed it. It dried out and another bit leaked. The slaters can't convince us that the roof is not needing to be stripped back and redone. The thought of getting the whole area decorated to find it happening again is preventing us doing anything to it. We did not bother with the insurance the first time it happened and now we will have to foot the bill ourselves as we have left it too late to claim. Time we moved to a bungalow I think. I love your attitude of keep on smiling but there is no option is there.

One thing just leads to another, doesn't it, Sg...I don't know if we can make an insurance claim or not.

I must admit that I do feel a bit swamped at the moment...so I'm going to wait for O/H to come over in a couple of weeks time and leave that to him :)

Specially for you K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-ai9HuR60

It'll no put up the page, hen!

I would think if you have buildings insurance you probably could. We made the mistake of leaving it for over three months and while we waited to make sure the ceiling was dry it happened again. The first bit was over the landing so it would have been easy enough for OH to sort out but the second time it was over the stair well at the most inaccessable area. Because the first lot of damage was still there it looked as if we never do any maintenance and insurance companies can be a bit sniffy if they think you are trying to get more than you are entitled to. It is making the whole place look a bit forlorn so I think its back to the drawing board and time to either move or redo the whole house. We have been here for 40 years so either option sounds good. We have been looking but have not seen anything that takes our fancy. Its a thought to move and leave friends etc to move somewhere else but we are now at an age when a lot of our socialising seems to be done around churches and crematoriums. We are fortunate still to be healthy enough to go out and meet new people. Time will sort it. Whats for you won't go past you, as my old auntie was so fond of saying.

Oh, dear...that's quite a quandary, Sg. We were a bit like that with our old house - it needed so much doing to it and it was so big. We kept putting it on the market, then we'd decide to do some work and then we'd take it off the market again. But, it was just too hard to live in and the maintenance was too much for me on my own (my O/H has always worked away from home), which is why we're here now.

But, your auntie was right - and I'm sure you'll make the right decision when the time comes. In my case it was a broken ankle and too many stairs that forced the issue...

I'm not going that far Karen. I hope your ankle doesn't trouble you any more. My son has been up regularly recently and we asked him what he and his wife would do if they lived here and he quite surprised us with his answers and we are now thinking seriously about whether moving is a good idea. He was so quick to point out what could be done to get around our age related worries. OH quite likes the idea of a stair lift chair although its not time yet. I definitely liked the idea that we need a home help to allow me to garden and not worry about housework. Its all in the melting pot at the moment.

I know - it was a bit extreme, Sg...and I definitely don't recommend it! lol!

I'm with you - a cleaning lady is definitely a good idea...I'm getting one next week.

You lucky lady to find someone to do cleaning nowadays. Maybe we should move to France LOL. Je parle francais comme une vache Espagnol but I'm sure we would pick it up. Sweet dreams but just that.

No end of cleaning ladies here, Sg...lots of British ex-pat housewives do it for their pocket-money. Mine is lovely, I had her before I went away.

Its very tempting.

She's been today, Sg...cleaned up all that water damage...and helped bag up all the garden rubbish. It did take five hours...but, I was on the back foot.

Got me right back up to date...two hours a week from now on.

What a treasure. My daughter had a friend who worked in a hotel. When it closed for refurbishing the staff were 'let go'. My daughter told me her friend was our new cleaner. I loved having her here but when a nearby B&B heard how pleased I was with her they offered her a job too. Eventually they were able to give her a full time job so I was left to get on with it. At that time I was quite happy to do it but as I grow older I'm less and less keen on housework and more interested in gardening. I think I have forgotten the meaning of back up to date. It must be all the time I spend on here lol.

I have to admit that I get no pleasure out of doing house-work...changing things, yes - but hoovering, no. I used to farm out the ironing too...but I felt really guilty about it, since I am a 'lady of leisure' lol. But, I like being in a nice, clean, tidy house...so, she's perfect for me. The ironing, on the other hand, is another story...

I got one of these big flat bed irons. Shirts which are supposed to be non iron always need ironing in my opinion but this thing does such a good job its not always necessary to do them after every wash. It does a much better job on bedding which needs to be ironed - guest room stuff. I hang my washing out so it comes in ready to iron or a few hours on the pulley and then it can be put away. Its surprising how much less ironing I do nowadays.

There was a time, a while ago now, that I didn't even own an ironing board! lol

Those were the days... ;))

Indeed