The Chimney Saga. Or Cowboys with Kilt’s.

We purchased a Log burning stove for the dining room back in the summer, It was decided we needed a flue liner installed so got in touch with the chimney experts ! we were told to purchase twelve meters of six inch flue liner at a cost of £500.00, this was promptly ordered, No problem this was going to be a quick job.

Six weeks later we were still waiting, numerous phone calls with various excuses ( I’ve been on holiday so not sure what is happening, or the chimney people have it, no we don’t were still waiting etc etc.   Well after eight weeks Chimney man arrives at the door, no prior phone calls, Within five minutes we have fifty kg of soot in the fireplace and all over the room and drifting around the house (blood pressure rising ). Next two large boulders come crashing down the chimney and we are informed by man on roof ,your flue is blocked by a very large boulder completely blocking the way, To the question “ If its blocked how did the other two boulders get  past the blockage “ I got a blank look and then ,We will be back with a long bar to break up boulder..

The next day they return with large scaffolding bar and Bang, Bang, Bang, they succeed  in forcing the boulder further down the chimney, now tighter than ever ,the only thing that will remove is C4 explosive was my remark. They then proceeded to push the rod’s with a big hook on the end up the hole, result we have rods jammed as well as boulder. We will be back and will cut hole through the fireplace in bedroom feed the flue past the blockage and up through the bedroom chimney, no problem.

They return three days later and knock a hole two feet by eighteen inches through the fire Brest,  That’s it they exclaim, all we need to do now is feed liner down through the pot and connect to fire, “ Famous last words” Five minutes later they are down from the roof with the words “ The liner is to big it won’t fit” We will be back with a short length of five inch liner if that fits we will order twelve meters of five inch .

That was three weeks ago, we are still waiting, We now have six bags of rubble an assortment of stones and boulders piled on the bedroom floor and all three fireplaces sealed with plastic to keep out the droughts and dust.

Part two will be in the new year, won’t hold my breath.

Cowboy on the roof.

Prepairing for Xmas

Just a few pic's of our festive preparations.

Jill's seven foot Tree, only just fitted.
The Raised Meat Pie is 18cm wide & 10cm High, filled with Chicken, Ham, Pork & Sausage Meat with a weight of 6lb .

Thursday 8th December. The Storm of the Decade.

 Well the big storm hit us at 8.00pm Thursday evening, one minute there was a good wind blowing and then the suddenly it  increased ten fold . It was only a 3m tide, which normally is not a problem, but the wind increased to 100mph, whipping up the sea, waves were hitting the houses in front of us full on and then hitting us. I have seen waves coming over the top of Chesil beach before but never saw waves coming horizontal before. The noise was deafening and the water was washing up and down the road, but did not enter the house. The next morning the wind had abated but was still quite strong, I took Buster for his walk, the roads were covered with seaweed and debris, All the stone slabs in front of Cromerty Square had been lifted by the waves.  In front of the Bellevue Public House, the council had piled up all the debris, the pile was about twenty feet long and ten feet high. Not structural damage occurred, a few roof tiles & a few garage doors, two or three houses were flooded but no one was injured. I was told that the Pentalina took a battering, the ferry was tied to the jetty with four two-inch ropes and one, inch and a quarter steel cable each end, the two steel cables snapped at the height of the storm.  The storm brought down power cables in some areas and about Four hundred houses were without electricity for most of Friday.   Talking to some of the locals later, they all said they could not remember a storm with winds as strong as Thursday nights.  

Update on last weeks weather.

Update on last weeks weather.

Lightning strikes and Hurricane-force winds caused widespread disruption to communications & transport as North-westerly winter gales hammered the Islands, with gusts reaching a record high of 130 mph at Hammars Hill wind farm in Evie, with an average wind speed of 83 mph., Waves out to sea, off the Western Isles, were recorded on Thursday reaching heights of 14.8m (48.5ft).

Power supplies too many areas were cut and the Barriers closed at high tides over three days, local flooding and wind blown debris blocked many coastal roads.

This week saw more storms ,with Thunder and hail, more on this after the storms subside. (Next Post).