... both inside and outside! I took my morning bath, and heard water running downstairs. When I went to investigate, I saw water rushing through the dining room ceiling! I grabbed a bucket and put it under the biggest fountain, then pulled my large Spring Seasons tapestry off the wall, as water was running down on it. I moved the table and chairs, which were soaked, then called my husband, who told me to turn off the water, in case it was from the pipes, not the drain. So I did that, then I had to swap out my big stock pot (which was full) for the next biggest one. I called a friend and she and her son came over and helped me haul the rug out onto the porch, where it is probably freezing, rather than drying. I then called our plumber, who came right over. The drain pipe had just broken, which was good, because he looked at the pipe configuration behind the tub and said, "Oh dear, I've never seen pipes like this!" Anyway, he fixed the drain pipe, so now 'all we have to do' is to fix the dining room ceiling. HA! If you are an old home owner, you know that will open a Pandora's box, of sorts. Things like this always have a domino effect. For example, I went to the basement and found that the water had leaked all the way down there, flooding my husband's box which holds his collection of woodworking planes, which I had to dry out. This photo of the dining room shows only one of the places where water gushed down. There are at least three more like it. The whole ceiling will need to be re-done. My husband told me to poke one of them to see if there was more water underneath, or if it was soft. I chose to not do that, as I didn't want the ceiling to fall on my head. I don't know if it is lathe and plaster or drywall. Most everything here is lathe and plaster, and when that comes down, I think it might hurt. Especially if the tub from above came with it.
And it snowed again. Sue, from Life Looms Large suggests we post the colors of our world each month. Well, here is our color: grey. Still. I am Quite. Tired. Of. Grey.
I began a small painting of my neighbors house, and when I realized how much grey I was painting, I had to quit. I also am having a hard time working on the small duck tapestry because much of the water is (you guessed it) grey. I think I need to get the March tapestry, with all it's bright yellows and purples, on the big loom for these days when the sky falls around me, and I need some color to cheer me up.
10 comments:
I stopped by to see your Colors of January. You would probably enjoy living in the western Carolinas during these months because we have more than gray!
I used to paint and really felt inspired by your paintings. I've tried tapestry too but have to admit that painting with yarn doesn't suit my impatient nature!
Ack! I am so sorry to read about your soggy, soggy day! I hope everything drys out just fine and the ceiling repair is as painless as possible.
We bought an old house once, during a drought. When the rains finally came it took every pot I owned to catch the water from leaks all over the house. I really can sympathize.
Is it too late to change the color of the duck water?
The sun came out for us this week and I was astonished to discover that the sky is really blue! Amazing!
Oh, OUCH! I hate to see such a gorgeous old house with a messy injury like this. ACK. We also live in an old house, and it seems like there is always SOMETHING that is falling apart or needs attention. Lucky that you were home when the leak happened. Hope you get some sunshine soon.
I'm impressed that you could share January colors after a day like yours!! I'm threading a grey warp right now, and the color is leaching my energy slowly but surely. Each morning I feel myself going to the loom sluggishly. (At least I'm still going and the end is in sight!)
Sorry about the leaks. I hate when water flows in my house in a place where it doesn't belong. It's such a discouraging feeling.
My husband grew up in an old house, and has refused to even consider one as an adult. I think he experienced a few too many of those repair projects that got more and more major as he worked on them. Hope your repairs go well!
Sue
Thurs, Jan 28, 2010 7:53am on the snowy, grey East Coast......I relate to the dining room ceiling waterfall....one not fun day for me was July 4th with house full of company and more coming for my husband's bd celebration...the dining room table (below the upstairs center bathroom)was set with red/white/blue party decorations and presents and food....my, my what a mess and not in an old house.....my husband died from cancer in the 90's and what I remember most from that incident now is that we overcame it together and drew strength from each other....your good fortune is your togetherness and solidarity--treasure it..ceilings get repaired....from Janet
K- I am sooo sorry, I know what you mean about the grey grey grey skies in Colorado!! And your ceiling, probably NOT on your to do list this week!
We lived in a old Victorian in the mining district in Durango where the houses were like five feet apart- came home from the movies to find a huge slab of ice sitting on our dining room table where it came to rest after falling off our neigbors roof and smashing through our window! Hold on- spring will certianly come to the Rockies- soon hopefully!
I was sorry to hear/see your ceiling problem. We had a similar one before we did our house renovation. The furnace above our kitchen started gushing water into the kitchen and bathroom. What a pain! Good luck getting it repaired. I guess your grey will be our grey by this weekend! MOre snow for us.
Susan
Just a pain...not to mention worrying about the water getting into your electrical system...my heart goes out to you, having lived through something similar before!
I'm glad no one was hurt and that mostly your belongings were not destroyed! I understand about old homes. It's always 4x what we think it will take - in items, in money, in time. There was one blog I saw recently where she was weaving a bucket in the sand a the beach while it was snowing outside. I think that's a grand idea! Hang in there - things will change this is not Narnia where it was always winter and never Christmas!
Grey - I know what you're feeling, for I live in Holland. Most days are grey here at the moment, although there is hope, for today we had some sun: it's still there and I even saw the first snowdrops today, where the snow had melted!
Post a Comment