FSSHSSSHHT!! FSSSSHT! FFFFFSSSSSHHHHHTTTT!!!

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellows,

Have I mentioned that we have a pump under the stairs before? I forget.

Anyway, we have a pump under the stairs. 

The reason is that our house is laid out kind of strange in that the upper floor - which has two bedrooms and the bathroom - is at street level. You come in the front door and then go DOWN to the kitchen/living room and the other spare bedroom.

So the kitchen sink and dishwasher swoosh all the water through to the pump under the stairs which punts it up to street level. 

You see?

This pump has been a source of problems for us since we moved in. Caro has had the pump replaced once and repaired once since we got here. The previous pump leaked badly and the house smelled damp when we first moved in. 

Anyway, this led to some comedy moments today when Caro was doing something in the sink and I heard this noise coming from under the stair:

FSSHSSSHHT!! FSSSSHT! FFFFFSSSSSHHHHHTTTT!!!

"Stop running the tap! Stop running the tap!" I cried and went to look. 

This time the pump wasn't leaking. It was SPRAYING water everywhere. 

Caro called the plumber and mopped up the water under the stairs.

In the meantime we agreed NOT to use the sink. We had just agreed this when Caro poured a pan of water into the sink.

FSSHSSSHHT!! FSSSSHT! FFFFFSSSSSHHHHHTTTT!!!

"Oh F***!!!" she said. And went to get her mop and bucket.

At the same time THIS was happening, our weekly food box of random ingredients had arrived. And in line with government guidance, I decided to wash these items in the sink first.

No - don't get ahead of yourselves. It is NOT what you think. I sensibly fetched a BOWL and PUT it in the sink and washed all the groceries. THEN I threw the water into the garden. 

"Good boy," said Caro. And I felt very virtuous. And then, because it is now force of habit, I went and washed my hands.

FSSHSSSHHT!! FSSSSHT! FFFFFSSSSSHHHHHTTTT!!!

"F***'S SAKE!" said Caro, fetching her mop.

So that was this afternoon. The plumber arrived shortly afterward and replaced a split pipe and that was that.

And as you can see, our evening was very quiet.

S.