Archives: attic

So – I did no work in the attic over the weekend. Bad Paul – bad.

We did rearrange the kid’s room though as we are thinking that Jude might go in there as well in the travel cot. It remains to be seen that we will do this, but it’s nice to have the option, & the room seems better for it. Jude sleeps very well with us, but he will he cope on his own? He didn’t really go for the Moses Basket that much.
Louise said that he was smiling yesterday morning. He certainly seems to have moved up a notch in perception terms. Instead of focusing on a light over your shoulder, or the transition between a light & dark area he is looking more at you. Into your eyes (& the drifting off & you realise that he is not any more). He is starting to coo & gurgle a little as well. Jack & Eve love him to bits. Louise says that Eve announced that she “..Like baby Jude”. They would spend a lot more time giving him kisses if he was not out of reach.

Website is still down; has been all weekend. Weird. I know exactly why, but am not saying, as I’m not sure I’m allowed. Suffice to say the cause was not our fault.

Well – the weather has been shitty this week – so no fix on the roof. I was up there last night though doing evening work on paint stripping. Louise thinks it would be a good idea if I tried to do a ‘push’ up there for a couple of weeks. I have to agree it would be a good idea. I will not be able to concentrate so much on getting web stuff done although that is already beginning to suffer from a lack of time in general at the moment.
The diary page is in dire need of a tidy up, but minutes to spare are sparse. Noted last night that the site was down. This was due to a power cut initially, but the server that it’s based on has not recovered. Some kind of hard disk failure – so no doubt we will be fielding a lot of call from that problem at work today as well. Bah.
Fortunately I only just did a complete download of the site last week – so I do have a proper backup (phew!)

Did my work in the attic when I got home. The house was empty when I arrived, so I was able to slink off up there without anyone knowing where I was. I left the newspaper on the table as an indication to Louise I was in fact home & not prating about in Manchester buying stuff like what I’m not supposed to. Took my coat & bag up with me so I could perform the pretence of coming home, so that the kids would not think I had been up there. When I say kids, I mean ‘Jack’ as he is the one apt to want to ‘help’ in the attic. Got my bit of work done, & togged up again for the ‘just got home’ pantomime & sneaked downstairs. The kids didn’t see me, but Louise was just opening the door for Jimmy & Jill who had just arrived (They do the roof fixing). Timing or what? So – I got to look like I was arriving with them & took them up to the attic so that they could survey what was going on. Jimmy had to get onto the roof in the rain (it was pouring down again). Not something that I like the thought of too much (from a personal safety point of view). I left them to it – took the ever-inquisitive Jack & following Eve downstairs & out of the way. They followed later & said that, well; it’s going to have to take some thorough investigation, as they cannot see what’s causing it. They have, after all, fixed it up at least twice now, including redoing the lead flashing, putting silicone sealant on the stonework & all sorts of tricks. Weird. If it stops raining they’ll be able to take things up & look proper & trace back. There was some condensation last time they did this, so I guess that might have obscured the diagnosis.

9:00 & I’m still not at work. Train just leaving Rochdale.
I’ve had to catch a bus to get here. The Summit tunnel is flooded – no trains do run. Bah.
Still – at least I’m on the comfort of a train now, although I have to type on my lap.
Hope for better running on the way home…
All this rain is of course doing wonders for the attic ceiling – which is still not fixed. It still leaks around the chimney breast & is now worse that ever (basically because it’s been raining so much. Weather permitting (an actually day without rain) they will be back to look at it again. They were sure they got whatever the problem was last time, but it seems not really… It all starts to dry out – but that’s because the weather is dry… then when it rains it’s very difficult to tell if it’s getting any better – whether it’s still drying out. It takes really crap weather – persistent heavy rain for you to realise it’s still not fixed proper. This time it took a little longer to get them back to look at it because we had to get the keys back off Louise’s mum (who had them in case she was needed at short notice when the baby was born). She forgot to actually bring them the day Jude was born anyway. We had left Louise’s set with Andy & she effectively hid those for us by putting them ‘in a safe place’. Hey ho. So – as I say – they will hopefully be back to look at that this week…
How is my progress in the attic going – decorating & such a like? We.e.e.e.lllllll….. I’ve made good progress stripping the skirting boards, but I have not really got as much done as my conscience allows me to.
All this malarkey getting to work makes me feel should have stayed at home today.
A pleasant weekend. We did not go out anywhere, but there was no real antagonism about that. On Friday we all went to get haircuts… well – not Louise & Jude. It was mainly for Eve as her fringe was far too much in her eyes. She didn’t really seem to mind it, but it must have tickled & got in the way rather. We can see her now! She was a little reluctant – so I sat in the chair with her – she standing on my legs – while the barber (lady) cut her fringe & trimmed the back & sides to tidy. I was on the verge of needing a cut – so was good to sort them, & Jack just had a general trim. The kids where a little loud (Eve is just naturally loud – but funny with it – not really annoying) but the barber & clientèle seemed fine about it. Barber kept them engaged & no sour looks from clientèle. All went rather well for such a risky venture.
Both Jack & Eve slept through the night last night. No tears & crying. Louise had to change Jude’s nappy at some point – so perhaps her walking about in the night doing that reassured Jack & Eve. I dunno – they so rarely do that; it’s a treat when they do.
Manchester looms – time to stop.

Yeay – they’ve come to do the roof around the chimney again – Louise called to let me know (& that she was getting a haircut).
Hopefully the wall will dry out up there now. Louise said that they reported that when they took the lead flushing up they found that it was damp underneath – so it looks likely that this is where the fault lies… Possibly some previous shoddy workmanship disturbed by the general work we’ve had done in the attic.
I’ve started doing a little more work up there on an evening, so I expect that I’ll be slowing up with regard to updating ZUM! as much as I’d like to & sorting out other aspects of the site I want to mess about with.
Hey ho. Jut been stripping the final bits of paper from the beams & making a start getting manky paint off the skirting board. Hattie came & put the radiator back on the wall yesterday. Neat job – the copper pipes bend into the radiator very nicely – no heat burnish on the copper either – pretty. Same the radiator is an old one of ours that a previous foolish owner of the house has put another layer of paint on – but can’t be choosers.
Jack came out of school unhappy on Monday complaining that he had been bumped a lot… Odd. Apparently he did yesterday at school – he mentioned that he was being bumped when he was ‘playing out’ – playtime. He was generally in a good mood yesterday evening, but a little tired & on a short fuse. Eve was playing with a jigsaw with Louise’s mum & Jack wanted to join in, or take some of it & was refused a couple of times – so he got mad & threw jigsaw around the room & jumped on the box. Eve cried & Louise’s mum was probably quite shocked as I don’t think she was ever seen him do such a thing. Louise, as we have learnt best, did not confront him there & then, but left him to it – he ran out of steam quickly & was helping to clear up moment later.
I got similar when I was trying to get him out of the bath, except he was intent on getting me wet – so I left the room & closed the door, leaving him for a couple of minutes. When I went back he was out of the bath (the water had drained away) with his towel around himself & had got his toothbrush down & even put the toothbrush on himself. Very good.
Louise is to mention the bumping thing at school today – so we will see how that went…

Train home – I usually write in the mornings, but it was a boneshaker this morning – with no tables nor nuffink & well crowded – so that was no good.
Had fun over the weekend with the camera. Managed to get some rechargeable batteries – but they still get the life sucked out of them in no time. Anyway – as suspected – there will be a lot more pictures up on site. All I have to do now is clear all the stuff off the scanner & I might start getting some of those pictures that Jack (& Eve) have been doing.

Actually drew a comic strip the other day (this would be the 1st one in uh… far too long to think about!). Did it on the computer – altho it is a scrappy affair I’ve proved to myself that it can be done – so that’s a good thing. Perhaps with a bit more farting about I may become proficient, but it will have to wait. I want/need to get the attic sorted. Hattie has hopefully been around today putting a radiator up there & they should also be coming round to fix the flushing round the chimney breast to see off that annoying leak we have somewhere. We really do need to get it sorted & usable as a bedroom for ourselves as we cannot cope with the new baby in a cot in our present room as well our bed – as there just isn’t the room!
Still got walls & skirting to paint & paint & strip, respectively. Then some carpet to buy & all sorts of bits like that.
Hmm
Lots.
Still – I think I can get it all done before the new baby moves to a cot.
Went to Leeds on Saturday & spent my parent’s birthday money on a bunch of comics. Glad to see that Hicksville has been reprinted. I was short a copy of this comic/graphic novel/whatever you wish to call it. I’m not sure how Joe Public would go for this truly excellent story’s the ideas in there are so comics orientated in spirit. The ideal of the comics library in there is such a beautiful idea for anyone who has struggled with their comics creation… <sigh>.
The idea of creating my own ‘Kupe’s lighthouse’ online swims round my head for a while… another dream to dream.

Standing about, waiting for an age in Littlewoods Index Shop to get some silly storage boxes. Well we need them, but I’ve just been told that they do not have in stock – counter to stock systems… So I thought I’d do a bit of typing while the look for the 2nd choice… Joy.
I was going to head off for Halifax again after work, to go to good ol Woolworths again – pricked by the mild panic of a need to get something for Xmas for the kids, there were a couple of items that might have been thought good. I was supposed to get a couple of things sorted in Manchester & head home. Plans not gone well – trains have left & I’m still here – hey ho.
Need to get back to sort out the attic a little. We’ve got Hattie coming round to fit a radiator up there now – yeay! I have to do a little rearranging to ensure that access under the floorboards is good… Still – having a radiator up there should help the damp on the walls that has developed due to the rain getting in by the chimney again – darn – last months fix has proved not to :( They are coming back again this week to reassess & see if some of the leading does in fact need to be repaired due to a hole somewhere. Bah.
My birthday t’morra &I’m hoping that the digital camera I’ve ordered may have arrived in the post. Would be exceptionally pleasant if it has. A great toy to play with, methinks. More immediate than film based medium – & thus a lot more throwaway as well.

On Train

Well that went well… They in fact did not have anything in the way of storage crates whatsoever -so I missed 2 trains for nothing. Called in to Louise to report abject failure & to tell her where I was. She was not impressed hat I was not home yet, as she seems to have Hamish & Amber around as well -full – stressful – house. Bum. Ok – I’ll not even mention the fact that I could have tried Argos – but the queues wer even worse there – heh. Maybe next time, maybe never.

Train home. Another early night last night. I think I might be starting to get sensible & obeying when I actually feel tired. That means that we got no attic painting done – but nonetheless the will was there, if not the energy.
Still too busy to have updated the web page recently – which is a bit annoying, but if I cannot find the time, I have to concede that there is no time even if my conscience disputes the nature of reality. Damn that reality – it’s so set in it’s ways. I know it keeps a little extra time up it’s sleeve somewhere, but it doesn’t want to tell me about it. Why do you think boredom takes up so much time? It sneaks extra minutes in when you’re not paying proper attention.
Ah, to luxuriate in inane boredom…
Eve has been to the doctors this morning. Just a routine thing as recommended by the health visitor due to our general concerns for her. Jude will also have his chest listened to, as he has an unpleasant cough at the moment. To be honest his cough should have been checked when he had his immunisation jabs last Friday, as I don’t recall him being any better then than he is now. Hopefully there is nothing to worry about in all of this, but a parent naturally worries & lets phantoms of doubt breed.