We have a new chicken!

We have a new chicken which we collected last week - a cockerel!  So far the girls haven't really taken much notice of him and he just sits around in the garden by himself while they go about their normal business.  He does remind me of the Iron Chicken in the Clangers . . . . . that's because he is an iron chicken (or cockerel) and not actually a real one!  He sits on his perch on a stick and nods backwards and forwards if the wind catches him or if you push him slightly (which I have to do every time I walk past him).

We went to see Ben for his birthday on Thursday/Friday which made a nice break.  On the way home we called in at Ikea in Birmingham - oh, we just love it there!  We went to look at settees - they are just so much cheaper than anywhere else.  We saw one we quite liked and it was sooo comfy (mind you, anything is after the caravan setees).  We couldn't find any leaflets about it though so we asked the operative who said 'It comes as a two seater, three seater or chair and that's the only colour it comes in' - so, I guess you don't really need a leaflet.  We thought we'd check on the internet when we got home for measurements, etc.  It isn't on their website at all!  So, I rang them to ask about it and the girl on the phone hadn't even heard of it.  The mystery sofa obviously!  Eventually she found it, confirmed the details we'd been told and also told me you can't order it online . . . . . or by phone.  You have to go into the store to order it and then they'll deliver it - aaaarrrrghhhh!  We'll have to go to Ikea AGAIN - that'll be three times in one year!  Not to worry, we spent £50 on other things we didn't go to get while we were there!

On Wednesday the plumber came to fix the latest leaks and - fingers crossed, touch wood, etc - we have been leak-free ever since.  While he was here he bent some copper pipe for us to fit the slope of the ceiling in the bathroom.  We are going to get it powder-coated (there's a firm in town that will do that for us) and use it for the shower curtain rail.  It should look quite good.  I got some curtain rings with little pegs on the bottom so I can cut a shower curtain to fit the slope and won't have to worry about how to attach the rings . . . .. they were from Ikea!  The plumber thought he might be able to make his fortune making bespoke shower rails - maybe we'll have to patent the idea.  He also had a go at tweaking the solar pump.  I know the weather hasn't been that brilliant for mid-summer, but we felt that the panels should be working better than they were.  They seemed to get the water in the tank up to about 47 degrees and then wouldn't get it any hotter.  He agreed they should do much better than that.  The pump switches on and off all the time as the temperature on the roof rises and falls.  The difference between the roof temperature and the tank temperature controls the switching on and off.  It was set to come on when the roof was 8 degrees hotter, as the heat is transferred to the tank the roof temerature falls and the pump switched off when the difference dropped to 5 degrees.  So he changed those settings to 10 and 3 degrees which means that the pump is working for longer.  We all stood in the lean-to for ages watching the display to see if it made a difference, but then the sun went in which wasn't very helpful.  Today has been a good sunny day and the tank got up to 57 degrees - much better, but we should be able to get a bit hotter.  He is coming back next week for another play.  You can also alter the flow rate which should make a difference, so fingers-crossed for a sunny day on Wednesday so he can sort it out properly.   57 degrees give plenty of hot for a nice long shower anyway.

Since we got back from Ben's we've been working on the drains which take the rainwater from half the house roof and the extension.  We've been waiting ages for some of the bits, but they were finally in yesterday, so no excuse not to get on with it.  We found an old clay drain which we thought we could use, but on closer inspection it didn't really go far enough and so the water would have been dumped too close to the house.  We then thought we could use part of it as a duct, put a plastic pipe though and then tee off it to join the other pipe that goes to a proper soakaway.  So, Bob has gradually dug all the trenches, located the old pipe and broken through it and we were all ready to go.  As we've been putting it together though we've gradually worked our way up the clay pipe, taking out a section, thinking we could use the rest, taking out another section and so on until we have no clay pipe left at all.  Well, it seemed a good idea at the time!  We had real trouble getting the right fall on the pipes so the water would flow the right way and the clay pipe was actually making things worse, so it had to go.  On the positive side though it did mean that that section was easier to dig as it had been dug before which was a real bonus.  Bob had to get through solid rock in some other bits - hard, hard work.



Our drain-spider!

 With so many pipes all connected, it took us ages to get all the levels right, but it is done now and we're jolly glad to see it covered over.  Just need a bit more gravel to finish covering it, but that's fairly staighforward to do another day.  Phew!  Back to nicer jobs tomorrow like grouting the kitchen tiles, painting, installing the shampoo/soap shelf in the shower (another Ikea buy - they are good for some things!), etc.

We now have a little spirit level to go on the new mantlepiece in the kitchen.  Bob's dad had his dad's (so Bob's grandad's) which is perfect, just needs a bit of a polish up.  Then the next day my mum and dad rang to say they'd hunted high and low in their workshop and found an old rosewood and brass spirit level which would be perfect.  Well now, spirit levels appear to be a bit like buses don't they?  Bob thinks its fantastic - in his book, you just can't have too many tools around and I'm sure there'll be another spot where we'll have to prove levelness on a regular basis.