Hello all ... gotta love a good Victorian loo .... at my last job I had reason to visit a wonderful Arts & Crafts priory in Norwich for training courses. The William de Morgan tiles in the loos were a joy. The wonderful mural in the main room (with Frederik Holman Hunt's initials) often made much more impact than than some of the training
Hope everyone's feeling ok and have their hatches firmly battened down for the cold winds we going to be getting over the next few days ...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Morning all. Bright and sunny at the moment but looks like it's going to get a bit chilly and breezy before long.
Good to hear your test was negative Hazel. Sounds like you may have the nasty cold that's doing the rounds.
Talking of Victorian loos...
My brother lives in a Victorian listed property with many original features. The elderly couple he bought it from had been there 50 years and it was in desperate need of renovation and so he started his battle to make a modern functional home in a listed property...
A major sticking point was the downstairs loo which had an original highly decorated Royal Doulton toilet. Lovely - except there was a huge crack in the bowl and it was leaking all over the floor.
Months of arguing with Norwich planning people who wanted him to keep (an unusable) toilet in situ. He nearly reached the point of 'accidentally' dropping a hammer down and breaking it completely.
The planners eventually agreed he could replace it with another original Victorian one after he suggested keeping the original bowl and pedestal in the same room - but detached from the plumbing and used as a planter. It looks great with a big parlour palm growing out of it!
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I’ve done the sm shop and bought some french stick and pate for lunch. It wasn’t too busy thankfully. Hazel soo glad the test came back negative. Rather cold out, bracing. I felt stiff as a board on my travels. It’s so good to be warm again and having a lovely cuppa. I’ve been to visit the rellies and helped mum empty a landing shelf. I had a snooze and then popped home to feed Alfie.
Good afternoon everyone and thanks to all for the kind words about handy brother.
Chive, I am pleased to hear that you are feeling a bit more like yourself again.
Biglad - you can get therapy for that you know!
Good to hear that the test was negative Hazel.
T'Bird, it beggars belief that a council would not have found a way to settle the problem of the leaky loo but I am happy to hear that your brother came up with an acceptable alternative. I can imagine it looks impressive with a parlour palm growing out of it. (Either that or an explosion from the sewer! )
RosieBB, its always nice when SM shopping is easily completed without too much hassle.
Time to snuggle up with Alfie maybe?
Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
That was a very good solution for your brother's loo, Topbird. The planning people sound very shortsighted and inflexible.
We went to a GC this morning and bought a very wide plastic leaf rake. Wish we'd had one before. It was great for the leaves on the gravel drive. The drive is now all clear of leaves.
I was very tempted to buy a Chistmas tree but I'm going back to France on the 4th and probably won't be back until next year. I'm hoping OH will be able to join me, he's seeing the surgeon on the 30th. I don't think there is much hope of his hip replacement this year. His operation has been postponed 3 times now.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Afternoon everyone, Good news about your Covid test @Songbird-1 hope you feel better soon. @Ladybird4 the bungalow sounds wonderful, so pleased your brother has found his new home. Hope all goes well and he is living there very soon. @Chivetalking good to hear you slept well and are feeling much better too. @Busy-Lizzie do hope OH is able to travel so you can spend Christmas together. @bluebellsinthewild lovely you could spend time with your family today. How is your foot, any luck with having an x-ray yet?
Hazel ,I am so pleased that your test was negative. TBird one of my great aunts toilets was beautiful ,Victorian and very coveted by some of the family .Conversely another great aunts loo was a walk down the field and VERY rustic . Hazel we replaced our loo seat last year . It was quite new ,it could be lifted off for easy access to the pipes . However any weight put on it ,it started to drift off the loo .after several attempts to stabilise it and many near falls it was binned.😏 We now have a solid hardwood painted seat which does not require the user to wear a safety harness .🥳 Busy I am so sorry to hear that your OHs operation isn’t likely to go ahead before next year .Lily it is lovely to see bluebell .we live close enough to help one another when needed.
Hazel, it might be worth a try looking on YouTube for help with changing your loo seat rather than trying to get a plumber in. I have had warning alerts on my phone to say that there is going to be some high winds on Saturday. You and I have mentioned before how we dislike that sort of weather
Busy I've got fingers crossed here that your OH's doctor gives him the OK and that he feels comfortable enough to travel to be with you over the festive season.
Ruby, I love your polite description of the Great Aunt's toilet down the field! And the picture you painted of you in a harness on your old loo seat had me in stitches!
Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
Nipped over to my sisters for a couple of hours tidying up and filling her garden waste bin. Removed a big shrub that has never been happy as it wasn't planted deep enough (not by me I hasten to add ). It had partially uprooted itself a couple of times and ended up growing at a strange angle after my attempts to replant it. To top it all a couple of months ago it did a great impression of being completely dead. It had started to display new green growth recently but was patchy. Anyway, it's gone now! It's left a good gap which we can think about filling in the spring. I whacked a few bulbs in as well, which might provide a pleasant surprise for my sister in the spring.
Then it was the turn of my youngest - more tidying up and another bin nearly full for the final collection of the year. Got rid of the remains of the sunflower jungle and got her involved with utilising the runners on her strawberries. Finished when it went dark and just got home after a bit of traffic on the 62.
Posts
Hope everyone's feeling ok and have their hatches firmly battened down for the cold winds we going to be getting over the next few days ...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Good to hear your test was negative Hazel. Sounds like you may have the nasty cold that's doing the rounds.
Talking of Victorian loos...
My brother lives in a Victorian listed property with many original features. The elderly couple he bought it from had been there 50 years and it was in desperate need of renovation and so he started his battle to make a modern functional home in a listed property...
A major sticking point was the downstairs loo which had an original highly decorated Royal Doulton toilet. Lovely - except there was a huge crack in the bowl and it was leaking all over the floor.
Months of arguing with Norwich planning people who wanted him to keep (an unusable) toilet in situ. He nearly reached the point of 'accidentally' dropping a hammer down and breaking it completely.
The planners eventually agreed he could replace it with another original Victorian one after he suggested keeping the original bowl and pedestal in the same room - but detached from the plumbing and used as a planter. It looks great with a big parlour palm growing out of it!
That was a very good solution for your brother's loo, Topbird. The planning people sound very shortsighted and inflexible.
We went to a GC this morning and bought a very wide plastic leaf rake. Wish we'd had one before. It was great for the leaves on the gravel drive. The drive is now all clear of leaves.
I was very tempted to buy a Chistmas tree but I'm going back to France on the 4th and probably won't be back until next year. I'm hoping OH will be able to join me, he's seeing the surgeon on the 30th. I don't think there is much hope of his hip replacement this year. His operation has been postponed 3 times now.
Good news about your Covid test @Songbird-1 hope you feel better soon.
@Ladybird4 the bungalow sounds wonderful, so pleased your brother has found his new home. Hope all goes well and he is living there very soon.
@Chivetalking good to hear you slept well and are feeling much better too.
@Busy-Lizzie do hope OH is able to travel so you can spend Christmas together.
@bluebellsinthewild lovely you could spend time with your family today. How is your foot, any luck with having an x-ray yet?
Hazel we replaced our loo seat last year . It was quite new ,it could be lifted off for easy access to the pipes . However any weight put on it ,it started to drift off the loo .after several attempts to stabilise it and many near falls it was binned.😏 We now have a solid hardwood painted seat which does not require the user to wear a safety harness .🥳
Busy I am so sorry to hear that your OHs operation isn’t likely to go ahead before next year .Lily it is lovely to see bluebell .we live close enough to help one another when needed.
Nipped over to my sisters for a couple of hours tidying up and filling her garden waste bin. Removed a big shrub that has never been happy as it wasn't planted deep enough (not by me I hasten to add
Then it was the turn of my youngest - more tidying up and another bin nearly full for the final collection of the year. Got rid of the remains of the sunflower jungle and got her involved with utilising the runners on her strawberries. Finished when it went dark and just got home after a bit of traffic on the 62.
Time for the comfy armchair methinks