Sooty and..

..dull wet morning, so got on with one of those jobs we should do before winter sets in.

Now there are two ways of sweeping a chimney. One is to climb up on the roof with ladders, and push the brush down. That seems to be the preferred  method for some people up here. The other is to push the brush up the chimney from the lounge.

Now I did a quick risk assessment this morning, taking into account the wind, and wet roofs, and heights, and ladder footings, and.. No I didn't really..!

First off, I had to fix the old Dyson vacuum.. It had cut out some time ago, and as G had another cleaner, it was never an urgent job.. Turned out to be the fuse, after I'd stripped it all down. So I reassembled it. It still didn't work. So stripped it down again, and eventually decided to fit a new plug. That sorted it..

Then to the chimney. Rods and brush in. Raise the chimney pipe, move the woodburner out of the way, remove the pipe, old sheet over the mantle piece, and brush up. Twisting all the way, and adding further rods, job took about three minutes. Outside for a quick photo for evidence!, and then back in to repeat in reverse order.. Got half a carrier bag of soot, it came off in crispy lumps, and the clean up afterwards..

I and S are back for a week or so, so they both came round to visit. S brought me a gift of... I'm not allowed to say because she could have got locked up if they caught her smuggling them out!!.. I'm really pleased..

Took Tans down the beach with a new ball we got her yesterday. It's too large for her to bite, but did have a handle that she could carry it with. Second throw into the sea, about 10 foot out, and still within her depth, she couldn't get hold if it. She gradually pushed it further out as she tried to get a hold, but went well out of her depth but still couldn't get it. After a few minutes, as she got gradually further out, I had to call her back and abandon the ball. Last we saw of it, it was floating away towards the wild shore. She did have a second attempt to get it, but I had to call her back again.. We then found a lump of seaweed which was much more fun to play with..
We may find it sometime, but I'm hoping not. I was quite concerned when she'd been in the water for a few minutes..