A new what-I-did-today thread

Nellie I understand your sadness.
For any fans of Rory, the feral cat [who has managed to settle in very nicely, thank you] I've uploaded today's photo.

aagh nellimoser that is sad, we both had budgies my twin and I when kids and one died other lived for years!!

so sorry you that that to cope with today

My dear friend visited today with her GS, it is more than two months since her DS died and she is still not able to return to work. She says DGS has been the saving of her and without the joy he brings she would have been so much worse. It was nice to have a little boy in the house again and to be able to get the garage and airport out and watch him absorbed with loading the plane. Well done Fisher Price these toys have been in use since 1974.

Panic. Woke up this morning to a freezing cold house! Inspected the boiler. No water pressure, topped up water, boiler started working.
Returned this evening, checked boiler!

PRESSURE AT TOP OF RED INDICATOR!

I have a contract with Corgi so I rang them. Woman at the other end said, after a long wait to get through, you'll have to bleed a radiator. I tried to explain that I was disabled and couldn't turn a bleed key!'well you'll have to get someone to do it for your,' was the reply.
All the men round me seem to be away or disabled themselves.
Eventually I thought of an old friend who, bless him, came round and bled the bloody thing!

What do I pay my money to Corgi for?

Sorry pedants, should be for what do I pay Corgi?

jeni I am no heating engineer but what you describe suggests to me there is rather more of a problem than bleeding a radiator would solve.
I would demand they come out to look.
Keep warm there somehow.

Actually seems to solved it. What I think happened was that topped up cold water into a cold system. When the water heated up again it expanded, thus increasing the pressure.
But I was NOT HAPPY with Corgi!

I always take a degree of pleasure in referring to the implement required as the "bleeding key". Childish I know, but fun

Wish I knew what I did with the bleeding key. Every time, I have to go down to the diy shop and get another one. Somewhere in my house I must have a collection of the things. But where? It's only a little house!

Oh, and now the predicted snow has started and my heating needs to be in tip-top condition.

Still waiting for it here. I'm still waiting for my heating to bring the temp up!
Bastards charged me about £7000 for it and it doesn't cope! (Not Corgi a local firm about 7 years ago)

Bloody hell, jeni! £7,000? For a boiler?

Harrigran after just two months it's often too hard for a bereaved parent to return to work. It took my DS and DDiL five whole months before they could. But having her little GS in her life will still be a joy.

£7,000? How big is your house?

They had to remove the old one (downstairs) cap the old flue, install in what was my airing cupboard and do some very tricky repiping to connect it. It's the largest domestic boiler vailiant supply so they told me!
Frankly I think I was done, but it was soon after my husband died and my old boile (also inefficient) had been condemned as unsafe. The CO fumes were giving me headaches and it had to be replaced.!
The old piping is embedded in concrete and inaccessible. It's also impossible to repipe because of all the doors.
This house is quite large, about 57'X 20' 4 bedroomed with large windows in every room . As well as the landing and hallway. I do have double glazing and 11" insulation.

Good Grief Jeni! A more efficient boiler for our modern well insulated detached 4 bed house was about £3k two years ago. Just a new Gas condenser boiler and hot water tank.
We use a British gas service and repair contract, they do seem to have been pretty good at turning out when needed.

Touch wood as the snow is falling snow on snow.

Oh Jeni, wish I were nearer (conditional)!
I do love bleeding radiators! However, I once got over-enthusiastic and carried on unscrewing until I managed to unscrew the whole bally thing and a vital piece dropped to the floor.
Out shot a jet of water, no stopping it, got thro vast numbers of towels. Then the OG arrived drawn, no doubt by the foul language frantic cries. He located the missing part which I then had to attach to the 'bleeding key' to force it back into position against the force of the water, much screwing (in the right sense) later, the water stopped ..... Phew!

Mines not modern. Probably built about 1812 as stables then became a farm then terraced houses( 2 of the original, and a third built on the end) I'm the middle one. It's sandstone which is porous and loses heat when wet although the walls are very thick.the old git next door refuses to heat his house so I probably lose heat to them as the dividing wall is minimal. No cavity so can't insulate there.

Forgot to say, ceilings are about11' downstairs and have numerous flat roofed mansard type roofs

ariadne soop celebgran Thanks for the condolences on my little budgie Daisy. Flipping family pets! One gets so very attached and I know that as they are small birds they don't live very long.

I always feel that Budgies and grandmothers are thought of as a bit of a joke so a few words in defence of Budgies.

I have had 3 different pairs with 5 different budgies. They are such happy and exuberant little birds. Mine rampage about the living room being very rowdy and really enjoy just "being" they make one feel happy just watching them.

Daisy was small and very elegant, but very active. When George his partner died 18 months ago at 10 yrs old, I bought a new young bird "Barry". He is very different to Daisy rather scruffy and clumsy and and he doesn't seem very bright.

Barry seems quite agitated at present, and needs a partner as they are flock birds
I am on the look out for a new bird but I am not sure its the season right now.

We used to keep and breed them. Think we had about 20 at one point. They were Dd's! They were in an aviary outside our bedroom window. B- noisy at dawn!

Oldgreymare I did that once too and the water was boiling hot!
I was on my own and it was quite frightening trying to get the screw back in without scalding my hands!

I'm very careful now

I just can't do it with my hands! I'm afraid they're a bit arthritis (like the rest of me)
I'm good at finding gadgets to overcome things like cans and jars, but bleeding keys?

Nellie sorry to hear about Daisy. D2 has one called Max and he is nine years old, he won't come out of his cage anymore but still looks okay.

Nellie condolences from me too. I have a budgie named Betty, but as you say, budgies and grandmothers are a bit of a joke so I don't often admit to having Betty. I didn't set out to get her, in fact she found me in the garden one day. I was chatting away on my mobile when a little blue bird landed on the washing line. I managed to capture her and the rest is history. I bought a little friend for her but unfortunately Betty made her life a misery and she died. (Stress, not murder). For that reason I have resisted getting another but I do feel sorry for Betty when she talks to herself in her mirror and to the birds outside the window

nightowl I have heard that female birds can be very viscious and two hens together lethal.

As Daisy was a yellow bird the lack of the right pigment means the cere above the nose doesn't go blue as in other male birds. I am sure now that Daisy was a male but once called Daisy I couldn't change the name.

We need to come out as budgie owners have a Budgie Pride thread.