Oh dear.......

Last Wednesday we enjoyed the fiddle concert, in fact all week we attended several concerts and heard some great music.  However, Wednesday wasn't all good.

We took the bus to town because the bus service during the music festival is excellent, and there is a bus stop directly across the road from us.  Spent time at the concert, had lunch, wandered around, chatted to friends, listened to more music, bought ice creams, then because it was hot we decided to catch the 2 P.M. bus home.  Just before leaving home we had turned on the cooler, and during the ride home we were looking forward to walking into a cool house......

......but alas, it was not to be.......

......the hot water tap under the kitchen sink had become disconnected, and hot steamy water was pouring through the kitchen and onto carpets.  The smell has been quite nasty.  We contacted our insurance company who sent a remediation company to take up the damaged carpet and see what damage there was.  They have been and gone today, and the damage is so much worse than we had realised; all the carpets in the family room, bedroom hallway and in our formal living/dining room will have to be replaced.  The bottoms of two bookcases in the living room are soaked, fortunately the contents seem to be all right.  Kick boards have mould behind them, the kitchen has signs of water damage on kick boards, and some of the floor tiles are now loose.  We don't know what damage has been done to the kitchen cupboards, so we don't know if the entire kitchen will have to be replaced too.

We also came home to a blackout because the water had shorted the dishwasher power point under the kitchen sink.  The plumber came, the electrician came, we mopped and mopped and mopped and laid towels on the carpet, but obviously it wasn't enough to deal with all the water.

The remediation folk have left two noisy industrial fans blowing to help dry out any residual moisture.  They are very efficient, but did I mention that they are very noisy?

Right now we are feeling slightly shell shocked.

Moving onto other stuff.......

Not one stitch has been taken on my row by row because we have been out listening to music so much, but now that the festival is over it will be picked up again.  My painful hip means that sitting is easier than standing or walking, so the hand applique will be a good project.  Today the hip had an X-ray and an ultrasound, tomorrow it is having a cortisone injection.  Won't that be fun?

Next week the uke group resumes after their holiday break, and it's very doubtful if I will be with them.  For quite a while now I haven't been learning anything as the class has sunk to the level of the most inexperienced players and Young Michael the teacher isn't good at standing up to a group of older women.  The music school also offers private lessons about which I shall inquire, but as I can't afford fees for both private lessons and class lessons the decision to drop the class lessons is easy to make.  I'll be happy to join them when they have a gig, if they still want me.

One lovely thing happened today!  Our visiting fiddler and I had several chats about music and I mentioned a Quebecois waltz he didn't know but that I really like, Valse Frontenac.  He left here with a copy of the music and promised to record it for me......which he has, it arrived in my inbox this morning.  He plays both guitar and fiddle on the recording and also said he will play with it, perhaps add more instruments.

Geez, those fans are noisy.

Not sure that the earth is smiling for us right now.

"A home.
After marriage one of the first requirements for happiness is a home.  It will best be found in a house or even a cottage apart from the immediate association of relatives or friends, acquaintances or strangers, and here husband and wife may begin in reality that new life of which they have had fond dreams, and upon their own actions must depend their future welfare."

Once the carpet is replaced and any other necessary work carried out, our home will feel like home again.  It will, of course, mean emptying all cupboards and bookshelves......

Those fans are really noisy.

Enjoy your days!