Poorly chicken

[Purplemaniacs]

Oh no poor you

 

When times are difficult I find it is little things that send you over the edge which normally you take in your stride and laugh about.

 

Hope things settle down for you now.

 

Chrissie

[Cooks]

nothing to be ashamed of Tasha, I would have probably done the same after everything you have gone through.

 

**passes huge easter egg over for chocolate therapy**

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Aaww Tasha...something was sure to give sometime ....I'd have "given" much sooner than you

 

Have one of these or maybe two actually as you deserve it

 

Sha x

[The Dogmother]

Oh golly, that was really mean of Fate

 

Big marshmallow hugsxx

[Sheilaz]

Inanimate objects can be so cruel, I'd have burst into tears too at a last straw like that. You're probably not over the shock, especially it being the second time.

I hope the w/e is relaxing for you. Hugs & tea from me. xx

[Egluntyne]

Bad luck comes in threes, so that is you done for a good while.

[Groovychook]

Bad luck comes in threes, so that is you done for a good while.

Here here!

Think you deserve a rest from all this aggravation!

Wishing you a peaceful Easter!

[Plum]

Have a good Easter Tasha, put your feet up (some hope ) at least it's not work. Enjoy the chocolate and hope things pick up.

[Shirl]

I'm glad no-one was hurt. I'd have something to say to your builder though!

[theherd123]

Why is it car park barriers have a life of their own? The one at my place of work is possessed!

 

Hope you have a relaxing few days now

[Krysia]

I would have cried too!

 

Poor you but at least you are all ok!

[Valkyrie]

Oh the joys of mechanical objects. I would have given it a bit of verbal then kicked it. At the same time looking to see if there was anybody to witness an eejit arguing with a machine.

[Plum]

Oh the joys of mechanical objects. I would have given it a bit of verbal then kicked it. At the same time looking to see if there was anybody to witness an eejit arguing with a machine.

 

There always is though when you turn round again (kicked photocopier at work yesterday )

[Valkyrie]

Glad I'm not alone there Plum!

[chick wiggle]

Awww Tasha, Im amazed you lasted this long, I would have broken down long before now

The only way is up from now on

{{HUGS}}

[Redwing]

Thanks for the support, things are looking brighter now a couple of days have passed

 

We wont be claiming on insurance as we dont want the premiums to go up again (we were burgled in 2008)

 

Onwards and upwards

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Just caught this. Boo! To your chimney, but Yay! to the dogwalker, trifle, firemen, your fair share of rubbish now firmly out of the way, and a bright and safe future.

[mostin]

Only just read this Tasha, so sorry that my hugs are late coming but they are big ones, huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggg. .

 

Hope you have a lovely easter weekend now, and really get to enjoy all your animals and your field you have worked so hard for xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[thelurch]

Sorry for the fire Redwing, luckily it was caught in time, hope the crew looked after you well.

 

Right, lets get this out of the way!....shhhh dont tell anyone but....Im a Fireman!...15 years in the job (its the uniform you like ladies, nothing more,my wife will testify!)

 

Anyway, Ive been to hundreds of Chimney fires in my career, this winter I think Ive been to around 20, mainly because of the colder winter but I think its becoming more fashionable to have an open fire or wood burner.

 

Heres some advice:

 

Chimneys must be swept at least once a year, before you plan to have the first burn of the autumn.

There is a common misconception amongst those that only have a fire on Christmas Day, dont need to get the chimney swept so often but as mentioned, its often birds nests/debris or indeed a dead bird that can catch light, not just the build up of carbon on the chimney walls.

 

We are also finding people having Chimney fires insist they only had the chimney swept a couple of months ago so it maybe that "some" sweeps are cutting corners.

 

If you move into a house with an open fire which you plan to use, its important to get it's integrity checked out, a sweep/builder can do a "draw" test with a smoke tablet to check the smoke isnt leaking into the loft for example.

 

Thats the worst case scenario, if the chimney catches fire in the length thats in the loft, thats the worst place as its hard for us to get to and any imperfections in the chimney wall can lead to a fire in the roof which is a very difficult fire to put out once established.

 

Also always use a fireguard if you are leaving the room with the fire in.

 

Ideally put the fire out before going to bed but at the very least let it burn down and use that fireguard.

 

A woodburner isnt immune either as these often have a foil type liner and sometimes they can get damaged on installation and a small tear is made, over time smoke goes through the hole and carbon ( ash ) builds up between liner and chimney bricks which can then catch light.

 

You can often tell if you have a chimney fire, apart from flames coming out of the chimney pot and a knock at the door, there will be a lot more smoke and sometimes the living room can start to fill with smoke so smoke alarms may well go off.

 

If you find you have a chimney fire, first thing ALWAYS dial 999 if in any doubt, we would rather come and find its out, than not come till later and find something far worse.

 

You could splash some water on the fire as sometimes the steam created can be enough to knock down the worst of the fire up further.

 

Dont be tempted to have a look up the chimney! you dont want red hot ash falling in your eye,we use old car rear view mirrors. We would still need to "rod" the chimney with rods which have a hose attached with a very fine spray.

 

A lot of people dont realise the potential seriousness of a chimney fire but hopefully some of the above can help avoid it.

 

While im on my soap box:

 

Hope you all have smoke alarms, one on each floor AND TESTED AND WORKING!

These will save your life, make sure they have batteries and test them once a month.

 

Close downstairs internal doors at night, make sure if you need keys to get out your nearest external door that there are keys near that door.

 

Dont put washing machines/dishwashers on at night and dont leave the TV on standby.

 

Take a mobile phone to bed, a reliable method of dialling 999 in the night if you become trapped in the house.

 

Dont panic everyone, having common sense is the second best defence against fire.

 

Chris

[Redwing]

Thanks Chris thats all very interesting, it was the part of the chimney through the loft that caught fire but the firemen went up in to the loft to double check all was ok and it wa thankfully

 

Good point about internal doors, we leave ours open so the pets can wander in the night but it looks like thats not wise

 

I work for a fire protection company so luckily we have more smoke alarms than you can shake a stick at but you are right about checking that they work, so many of our friends and family have taken the batteries out of theirs because they bleeped (er hello! low battery!) or went off because the toast got burnt

[thelurch]

you'd be amazed how many smoke alarms I check in peoples houses when they phone and say "I tried testing the smoke alarm and its stopped working", I open it and hey presto no battery! Then they remember the time a month ago when they really burnt the pork chops so took the batteries out.. doh!

 

And sometimes we find them after a fire...

[Lesley]

I hope you know what you've let yourself in for now you've revealed you're a fireman!

 

.....and I really ought to take my TVs off standby then? - I forget

 

We do have smoke detectors but as they're wired in I don't check them very often - although they are checked frequently by cooking toast

[Purplemaniacs]

Oh dear, I always put my dishwasher and washing machine on at night to use cheaper electricity .

 

Chrissie

[thelurch]

If you do put dishwashers on at night, then make sure your kitchen and living room doors are closed so you have an escape route to outside.

Our dishwasher almost caught fire last week during the evening while it was running, walked in the kitchen and it had stopped but there was a strong smell of electrical burning so switched it off and pulled it out to reveal lots of moulten plastic!

 

Not leaving the TV on standby is another good thing to do, you don't need to unplug at the wall but just press the button on the actual TV, although a lot of newer LCD tvs don't have a way of doing this.

[Purplemaniacs]

If you do put dishwashers on at night, then make sure your kitchen and living room doors are closed so you have an escape route to outside.

Our dishwasher almost caught fire last week during the evening while it was running, walked in the kitchen and it had stopped but there was a strong smell of electrical burning so switched it off and pulled it out to reveal lots of moulten plastic!

 

Not leaving the TV on standby is another good thing to do, you don't need to unplug at the wall but just press the button on the actual TV, although a lot of newer LCD tvs don't have a way of doing this.

Ah I don't feel so bad now, I do close the down stairs doors at night.

 

When I was a child I remember my mum switching everything off and unplugging it, glad I don't need to do that but will switch it off. I guess computers and laptops should be turned off and not left on standby

 

Must get the chimney swept, only have a few fires a year so thought it was ok but I will get it done before we light it again in the autumn.

 

Thanks for all the information, it makes you think, just like when the fire safety man comes to school to talk to the children.

 

Chrissie