What is wrong with this picture?

[accykeef]

Seen from my office window early this morning and nobody in sight.

[trevnhil]

Yes, it certainly does seem to be somewhat on the careless side. It would be difficult to explain to the insurance why you had no keys for it if it got stolen.
I suppose you could always say you only had one set.

By the way, it's a bit bashed. It's not Mrs Keefys is it.

Trev..

[accykeef]

No Trev, it is nothing to do with Mrs Keef - she is actually a very good driver - a bit slow but the only accident she has had in the past was a collision with a Sherman tank just before the war. That was more of a mis-understanding rather than an accident. The tank driver shouted, "I am coming through", and Mrs Keef thought he had said after you and there was a slight bump which damaged the gear stick. It was slightly scratched as the roof hit it but I digress.

The car belongs to a young girl across the road. As you say, it has been in close contact with solid objects but not enough to damage the paint.
Fortunately, we live in a quiet cul-de-sac otherwise an opportunist would have had that away pronto. The purveyors of 'Lucky Black Tarmac', who pass by quite often (strange that, in a cul-de-sac), would have it away in seconds I think or am I doing them a dis-service and they real reason they are driving up our quiet road , peering into our property is to check that any metal which is lying around is not endagering life. Their solution is to take it out of harm's way.

PS - All visitors have left now that the fridge is empty and we now know what foods our visitors are not keen on as we have lots of it in the freezer.

[trevnhil]

I suppose Mrs Keefy must have ducked down below the level of the gear stick then. She was very lucky.

Like you we live in a cul de sac, but it is about 700 mts long. Although tarmac is used for roads here (obviously) we do not get people at the door who just happen to have a wagon load left (bad estimators).
If my memory serves me correctly I think you need your drive doing anyway.
One thing that is happening to cars here in Cyprus is that parts are being stolen off them in the night. This week I have heard of a rear screen being removed and also indicator lenses. A difficult thing to guard against unless your car has a sensitive alarm.

Happy new year. Trev..

[accykeef]

I was joking about the Sherman tank, it was a Challenger.

It always amazes me how these people can do such jobs so quietly that nobody hears them. I have heard of instances where starter motors have been stolen but the thieves usually steal the car and take the bits off it somewhere quiet.

As for our drive, you are quite correct, it is cracking up and needs completely re-doing. The front edge, by the pavement needs digging out and dropping a good 5 inches so there is much work to be done.

I know a man who knows a man with a mini digger, who will tear up the concrete for a reasonable price. I just hope he can avoid water pipes, gas pipes and the drains. The next job however is the roof, the Rosemary tiles are starting to blow so I think it is only a matter of time before it starts to leak. This is one job I will not be doing as I know my limits and that job is better left to a specialist. It just so happens that a close relative is a decent all round builder and he is doing it.

Making preps for New Years Eve now - a quiet one me thinks with some left over nibbles and a few drinks.

We are hoping to carry on our tradition of being on the Stone Jetty, at high tide on New Year's Day (1326) and then return for a glass or 2 of Mulled Wine. We missed last year due to unforseen circumstances although I seem to remember we still drank the mulled wine.

We did think of swimming over to Grange Over Sands and back but decided against it as there would be nowhere to leave our towels and warm clothes. We might still rub goose fat on each other though as, in my opinion, that is the best part of long distance swimming.

A Happy New Year to all

[trevnhil]

I hardly know where to start to answer your ramblings, but the beginning seems to be as good as anywhere else. It used to be that the water main was not in the main drive but in the garden leading to the front doorway. ie from the water main box in the outside pavement, under your garden wall and entering the house under the hallway floor.
Drains of course ARE usually under the driveway. A good idea at the depth can be seen from looking into the inspection chamber.

Now.... What about Rosemary on your roof. What is she blowing about, perhaps on her hands to keep warm. Seriously, those tiles are very simple to lay but there are thousands of them on a roof. If you can get a good price for the job (including scaffolding) then it would be great for someone else to do the job, no matter how good one may be at DIY.

New years eve will be remembered here with little affection. On the Saturday I had to take the cat for injections to combat flue symptoms. Yesterday (new years eve) he was due to go for more injections but we had not seen him since Monday evening.
He never came in to sleep, or for breakfast lunch or his teatime meal. To say that I was worried was a great underestimate especially with the poisoned dog week ago. He eventually returned about 8pm and had a good meal. he immediately wanted to go out again but I made him stay in until after his breakfast this morning.

No doubt as I type this you are gathering your water wings and Goose fat and preparing for the great swim. I would normally check the Morecambe weather as it appears at the bottom of the forum home page. However for the last week or so it has not been working at all, and I have no idea who to complain to???

When you get to the Stone Jetty you could leave your towels on the German Sun Beds, as they will be using ours (no not mine personally)

Have a good day and I hope that the weather is kind to you. I will not make any quip about mulling things over.

Happy new Year. Trev..

[accykeef]

New Year's Eve seems to have passed by un-noticed at Keefy Towers. We missed midnight altogether as we were fast asleep. Seemed little point in staying up, nothing of worth on the telly by the way of entertainment apart from Jools Holland's Snooty Nanny and we have watched her before and don't like her.

Sorry to here about the cat Trevor, they become an important member of the family. The Kleens brought their cat over from York for Christmas I just don't get on with her. Mr Kleen, torments her something rotten and it lashes out at everybody. I was stood by the stairs one day when she clawed me and drew real blood. I chased her round the house with the pipe off the vacuum cleaner and got a few gentle pokes in. She just hisses at me now and I just hiss back. Only time she has anything to do with me is when I am in the kitchen, cutting meat.
It is alternating between cloudy and sunny at the moment so who knows what the weather will be like when we venture out in a bit.

[trevnhil]

We too were fast asleep, and the Jools recording on Filmon would not run this morning due to a shortage of Bandwidth probably.
I am sorry to hear that a cat just hisses at you, ours would either love you or just keep out of your way/

Now, whilst you have been out doing your Forsberg impressions, I have been looking into the renewal of driveways potential problems.

It would seem as I supposed that most water mains do indeed go from the stop-tap in the pavement under the garden and into the house, similar to this one.



It would also seem that you can indeed probably look into a manhole on the driveway to see how deep the drain pipes are. A sample picture is shown below.



I apologies for the quality of the pictures, but I am in Cyprus. And I have not (at the moment) got any pictures at all of Rosemary,

Cheers. Trev..

[trevnhil]

After a little searching I did indeed find a picture of Rosemary. However it is unclear as to whether she is blowing, flaking or just lying there ;D



Regards. Trev..

I hope you are refreshed from your afternoon exploits. And if any of the pics need removing just say so, no probs.

[accykeef]

Not worried about the pictures Trev, hardly gives anything away. The front of the roof is in quite good condition but the back is quite a mess. It is probably due to the lack of sunshine over the years which has caused the tiles to break down.
The water main is fed from the stop tap on the pavement but there is another one which feeds the tap in the garage from somewhere. I think it is fed from under the kitchen floor but I could not find it when I searched for it. I found the electric cable when I did the flagging in the back garden but the water pipe must come out under the back door. The sewers are about 12 inches down at the manhole bit not sure how deep at the gate, time will tell.

The walk went well, a bit cold but very enjoyable. I will post some pictures tomorrow in a separate thread. It was a bit cold so the Mulled wine went down very well.