Quite an eventful day ...

[mysteriousaliways]

- Smelled gas in the kitchen, so I had to turn off the gas at the mains and open all the windows. Luckily it was a beautiful day, so that wasn't too much of a hardship! The gas had dissipated by the time I got F on to the school bus, and I had an unusually busy day today, so didn't call the gas leak people till the afternoon - I figured that since the gas was cut off it should be safe enough. A very nice chap came and fixed the valve at the back of the cooker - just as well, as it was starting to get cold with no central heating.

- The loo blocked, and I couldn't get it unblocked, so I had to wait for Mr Ali to come back from work and fix it. Fun thing to do after a long day at work, ew!

- Car got serviced on Friday, but they found the suspension was knackered to had to keep it in over the weekend. Courtesy car had to go back this morning, so ended up with no car and a dental appointment for me halfway across the county and a doctor's appointment for C in the opposite direction at about the same time. Had to order a taxi, who managed to get lost trying to find our house, AND at the other end - at least I got a small discount for being late :)

- Garage bill came to £984.37 - meep! Going to be an expensive month, and I have nearly £5000 of dental implants to pay for in the next month or two.

On the plus side, I got the bus back from the dentist's and it went along a route I'd never been before - through some gorgeous countryside, on single-track roads, through tiny picturesque villages with lovely stone houses, past fields of lambs, spring flowers and the last section ran alongside Hadrian's Wall, where you could still see the Roman earthworks. Brilliant sunshine made everything look beautiful, and reminded me how lucky I am to live somewhere so pretty.

Found a good present for my great-nephew (god, that makes me feel old! Great-Aunt Ali!!) who's going to be nine this week - a book of Star Wars origami, with specially printed papers for making your own Death Stars, light sabers, Princess Leias, etc. His dad was a huge Star Wars fan when he was wee, and was convinced it was all real rather than fiction (aw, bless!) so I'm hoping he has indoctrinated his offspring into the fandom. If not, at least one person in the household will appreciate it *g*.

Heating is back on, I haz pizza and fic, so am quite contented for now. Getting out into the sunshine really helped my mood today.

Comments

[pippinmctaggart.livejournal.com]

through some gorgeous countryside, on single-track roads, through tiny picturesque villages with lovely stone houses, past fields of lambs, spring flowers and the last section ran alongside Hadrian's Wall, where you could still see the Roman earthworks.

Can I come live with you?
::pines::

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

I thought of you when I saw the sheep :)
There was a shepherd with a sheepdog rounding up a herd in one of the fields. It's amazing watching those dogs work.

If you're ever back in the UK I'd love to show you around Northumberland!

[pippinmctaggart.livejournal.com]

You're on, babe. :D

[bigtitch.livejournal.com]

That was an eventful time! Good for you in being calm with a gas leak!

I'm with you on the dental implants - they're bloody expensive. I'm having the drilling bit done just before Easter.

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

I couldn't summon up the energy to freak out about it too much, tbh! More of a 'Uuh nohhh, please just go away ...' thing :)

Teeth, dammit, why couldn't they be made out of something indestructible?? Blooming design flaw.

At least the sunshine was cheering :)

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

The dentist yesterday said the extraction was the worst part and that the drilling and inserting implants was much easier to go through from the patient's POV, so hopefully it won't be too uncomfortable for you. Until you get the bill, at least!

We had a gas leak once before due to pipes being incorrectly installed through concrete, and the house didn't blow up then, which is why I was probably a factor in why I was a bit more zen about it this time.

[fififolle]

Blimey! That's a lot of money on cars and teeth! Just shows you how much we rely on the car in this part of the world, eh? But it is insanely beautiful.
And gas leak! Scary!!
Sounds like a lovely book :D

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

Such a pity that teeth and cars can't be indestructible and maintenance-free! I suppose it could be worse.

The countryside was gorgeous. It made for an unusually enjoyable bus ride :)

We have several books on origami (the girls went through a phase of it) but I never got around to learning anything other than a Japanese crane. Something I could have a try at someday.

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

Someday I will get up to Hadrian's Wall (still haven't quite forgiven my parents for going about ten years ago and not taking me with them!).

And I feel your pain on the car front - had to have the rear brakes done on mine the other week, to the tune of £300 (and the garage did not seem to think that giving me any more than a £20 discount because they'd not done their job properly back in October and left me driving around with dodgy brakes for months was necessary...sigh).

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of sites round here to visit - bigtitch, lukadreaming and I went to Chesters a few years ago and, being Denialists, managed to spot several Roman stone phalluses *g*. I could come with you and point them out!
*uses appropriate Centurion!Ryan icon*

Meep, dodgy brakes! Time to consider a new garage, perhaps.

[jaynedoll.livejournal.com]

Good that you got the gas leak + blocked loo sorted. And yes, eep at the prices for cars + teeth!

the bus ride sounds lovely - I love buses that go through countryside.
the Star Wars origami sounds great.

Now that the weather's a bit better we'll have to try + meet up sometime. I'll e-mal you + hopefully we can sort something out.