My big effort for the day was to reconfigure my living room in order to make room for the piano (Piano countdown: t-12 days). The biggest part of the job was unloading two bookcases, moving the bookcases into the guest room, and reloading them. I kind of hated to do it because the guest room is more "out of sight, out of mind" as far as books go, but I really don't have anywhere else I can put the shelves at the moment. I will say I "found" a few books I had forgot I bought, and kind of put them aside into a "to be read soon" pile.

Then, I moved the sofa table, the sofa, the big overstuffed chair, the coffee table.

Then moved the sofa table again because it wasn't working directly behind the sofa. And I tried moving the big chair back more to where it used to be, because I wasn't sure I liked it in its new spot.

I finally hit on a combination that works.



The big empty spot to the right is where I plan to put the piano.

Granted, it looks cluttered. I think ANY shot of a "normal" person's room, that they actually live and work in, will look cluttered compared to a magazine shot. Ever notice how rarely there are bookcases in magazine photographs of rooms? And almost never needlecraft projects, unless it's a small basket of artfully wound balls of wool? I've read about how people have to essentially move out of their houses for a week while the "stagers" come in - and how said "stagers" remove some objects, transport in others, and generally make the room a "fantasy" rather than a reality.

Hrm. Not unlike the Photoshopped models many women's magazines have started using on their covers...where a few pixels are whittled off the waist, or the neck is digitally lengthened, or the skin "smoothed" using an algorithm.

Anyway. My cluttered living room, but I like it that way. I have my quilt to work on and a stack of CDs close at hand, and some books and my fun comfy pillows on the sofa.

I did finally decide that the place I planned to put the overstuffed chair was okay:



It's actually not that bad there after all. (It will also be better once the piano is home so I'm not staring at an expanse of blank wall when I sit in the chair). I'm glad I did find a place for it, and things weren't too hopelessly crowded. It would have been a shame to have to get rid of it - it is very comfortable to sit in, and it is probably the best spot to sit and knit or sit and read.

I will have to be careful if I ever do light the candles in the fireplace again. I may eventually invest in some kind of smaller candleholder that actually fits all the way into the fireplace - I've seen some in catalogs that look like simulated logs, with little cups in them to hold tealights.

My (belated) Christmas present to myself came yesterday, and I promptly put it up:



It looks vintage, but it's actually not. It's a reproduction from Victorian Trading (made in India, I note with a bit of dismay, despite the stamp on the front of the object).

I like it because it looks like something that my grandmother would have had in her house (in fact, I think she had something very similar to this, but that sat on the floor rather than hung on the wall).

I also like it because it is a so-simple-it's-elegant solution to a problem - having a convenient place to hang various unmentionable items while they dry. (I do think I will keep some scraps of plain white cloth in the cabinet below where it hangs; I am not at all sure that the stain on those arms won't transfer to things).

It will also work to hang up damp-but-clean kitchen towels.

And when you're not using it, it folds up neatly out of the way:



It looks very right in my kitchen. As I've said before, I live in a vintage 1946/1947 house and I sort of like to have a few of the impedimentia that might have been around during the era when the house was first built. (OK, the original of the dryer is probably older than that, but I am sure people in the 40s had similar things to dry clothes, especially in the winter or in damp weather when you could not hang things outside).

****

My jaw is still somewhat sore, so I decided to make some chocolate pudding to have with dinner last night. This is a simple but not-quite-instant (because it can take 10 minutes or so to thicken up as you stir) recipe, originally from the (sadly out-of-print) Square Meals by Jane and Michael Stern:

4 T cocoa (I used Hershey's "Special Dark," but I suspect the pudding would be really spectacular with a high-grade gourmet cocoa like Droste or Valrhona)

4 T corn starch

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 t salt

You mix those things together in the top of a double boiler and put it over a pan of hot but not boiling water. Then you add

1/2 cup light cream*

and mix it all together.

Then, you scald (I did, though maybe it's not strictly necessary) 1 1/2 cups additional cream and SLOWLY add it to the mix while stirring. Then you stir constantly until it thickens (this is the time consuming part, add 1 T vanilla (or whatever flavor you like; I suppose you could spike it with rum if you are into that). Put in a big bowl or serving dishes, cover well (to avoid a skin) and chill.

Be sure to stir WELL. My pudding actually wound up a bit lumpy because I stirred kind of lazily, and I also think I might have had the water a bit too hot - I think I heard it boiling before I turned the heat down.

The recipe claims it makes 4 servings but what I wound up with looks more like 6 to me. Then again, the Sterns are not known for stinting on portion size.

Even with just the plain old Hershey's (though I think the Special Dark cocoa powder is better than the regular), it was fantastic. Much better than "box" pudding, and not THAT much more work to make.

(*I grabbed, by mistake, heavy cream, and didn't realize until I got home [stupid Friday wal-mart]. My mother confirmed what I thought: that mixing it half and half with milk would approximate light cream, but she also added, "I make a similar recipe and just use skim milk." Which would be more accessible (I don't keep cream on hand) and would be much lower fat. But I like to make a recipe as-written the first time and then change it up. But I suspect you could use any grade of milk or milk-like liquid in this; perhaps even soy milk, which would make it both vegan and lactose-free...but I suspect you'd have to be even more careful heating and stirring to keep the soy milk from curdling.)

***

And here is the second "Vanna's Choice Taupe Mist" critter. This is probably the most unusual amigurumi I have ever made.

Some years back, when Beanie Babies were in their first popularity, there was a list making the rounds of "failed Beanie Baby characters" or something. It was marginally funny; the one that I remember best (because it struck me as the funniest one) was Tapey the Worm.

Well, this isn't Tapey, but it's his cousin, Flats:



Yes, it's a crocheted planarian. The pattern is a freebee on Ravelry. You crochet two flat pieces and then sew them together. The only little change I made was to do the eye spots with embroidery floss rather than the yarn scraps recommended.

It's about 9" long and I think it would also make an amusing cat toy if you had a largish cat.

****

I'm not sure how to post about this without seeming a bit of a Pharisee (in the sense of it looking like I'm publicly advertising how "good" I am), but whatever.

I put the binding on the Bento Box quilt last night. And I decided it wanted to go out into the world and make its living (like they say in the fairy tales).

And, coincidentally (but perhaps not*), I received the regular e-mail newsletter from Quilt Asylum. And what do they mention but being a drop-off point for Project Linus? So I take that as a sign that the quilt needs to go with me this morning and head out to its new life, hopefully to comfort some child somewhere:



(*There are really quite a lot of things in my life that happen that could be interpreted as coincidences or could be interpreted as not-coincidences. I don't know if it's simply a fact that I'm very good at seeing "patterns" in things, or maybe if there isn't maybe something more to it.)

Well, Mr. Rooter still gets an "A" from me. Or maybe even an "A+," based on how hard they had to work.

They came out at 3 - again, THE TIME THEY SAID THEY WOULD. (this is a big deal to me after dealing with workers who give a vague window and then show up after the end of that window)

First, they went up on the roof (they warned me "this is going to be loud" but it was no worse than the chap down the street from me who has a boom car, when he's driving around with it cranked up to "11."). They snaked out the standpipe from the vent - found no blockage. (Which is not surprising, I suppose, considering that every other plumbed appliance drained normally).

The guys then came in and said they'd have to "try" to snake from the p-trap. (They hadn't wanted to because of the more fragile old pipe). But they tried it. No joy there. They tried to figure out the (apparently rather odd) configuration of how things drain from my house. (I guess the sink is the last on the line, or on its own separate line, or something). They called another guy in, who apparently had more experience with weird old houses, and HE worked for a while.

(All this time, I sat in my living room, trying to read a magazine and secretly despairing of them being able to fix it...and having visions of them having to crawl under the house like that Okie plumber on "Dirty Jobs," and cut out a bunch of pipe and re-weld things, all that mess. And if I have to have people doing Dirty Jobs around me, I want Mike Rowe serenading me [did you know he used to be a minor opera singer? No fake. That makes me love him even more. Yeah, Mike Rowe is kind of one of my tv boyfriends.]).

Then there was a general sound of approval and relaxation, coupled with one of the guys saying, "Put it back together and run water through it."

Then I heard the water run for like five minutes. And no sound of collecting it in a bucket afterwards (which had been the followup of the previous trials). Then, "Go get some of that enzyme cleaner and put it through just for insurance."

So I went to see.

They had pulled out a large snarl of hair - possibly not mine (I do not wash my hair in the sink for the very reason that caused the hair-snarl. I have one of those little plastic dealies that fits over the tub drain to catch the shed long hairs).

The water was draining. It's possible - considering how far in they had to snake - that that plug had been there for a while, allowing some slow drainage (that sink ALWAYS drained slowly), and finally just got shifted or clumped or something so it plugged the whole thing up.

They cleaned up, and I asked if I could buy the enzyme stuff - I figured if I could use it as a preventive-maintenance thing, I might save myself some tsuris in the future. (And I'm all about saving myself the tsuris). It was expensive but it's a huge bottle and you only use it once a month (though I see it can also be used in larger quantities if a drain becomes plugged: good to know).

It was more expensive than originally anticipated (with the snaking and the cost of the bottle of enzyme-stuff) BUT it is fixed.

Or I hope it's fixed. I can't quite let myself believe it's fixed. That's always the case when I get something fixed - for days after my hot water heater was installed, I turned the H tap on very tentatively and steeled myself for the possibility of no hot water. (But they assured me they'd come back out and take care of it if it wasn't fixed right).

So maybe now I can relax. And start washing my face in the "right" place again.

I also called my two favorite places in Longview - Stitches n Stuff and Barrons - just to be sure, you know, that they were still there. (They both are). AND I found a "25% off your entire purchase at Michael's" coupon in the new Better Homes and Gardens (one of the magazines I tried to distract myself with while listening for any sounds of success or giving-up from the plumbers). There's a Michael's in Longview - and I like them FAR better than Hobby Lobby for general craft-stuff - and there are a few general craft-type items I want to obtain, so I think Michael's will be another stop on Thursday.

AND - and this is really the most important thing, more important than drains or shops - the 80-something-year-old mother of a good friend, who feel on Sunday, has been sent back to her assisted living center - no broken bones, no serious injuries.

So I feel like I can breathe a slightly bigger sigh of relief now.

They're coming out tomorrow afternoon to snake from the roof (they can't come out today, understandably enough: it's raining, and it's not safe to go up on the roof in the rain). Possible option of replacing the sink still exists, as it seems it's the overflow that's leaking.

Fudge.

I was really hoping this was going to be EASY.

At this point, I don't care as much about cheap, I just want it fixed so that I can go do something FUN this mid-fall break without feeling like I should be sitting at home dealing with plumbers.

(The adult in me says: you should not go. You have spent too much money unexpectedly already this fall. Stay home instead and work on research, and leave the option open to let the plumbers come out and work on Thursday and Friday if needed. The child/adolescent in me is stamping her feet and going: But I NEVER get a day off work where I can just go and have fun. I was LOOKING FORWARD to this. It's NOT FAIR.)

Well, I'm kind of discouraged right now.

The sink drains, but drains VERY SLOWLY - much more slowly than it ever did. And there's still a leak under it somewhere - not where they put in the new piping, but up towards the sink. So maybe I need a new sink. Ugh. I really don't want to spend a big chunk of money right now and then feel like I have to flush the Longview trip.

So I have to call the plumbers again this morning and see what they can do.

And as for weekend knitting?



I NEVER get as much done as I'd like. A few rows on the scarf, a few rows on the right front of Kenobi, the heel-turn of the second Retro Rib sock. I come home Friday night of a weekend when I don't "have" to work full of all these plans to get all this stuff done, and it never seems to materialize.

So I'm discouraged this morning. Not a good emotion for 7:08 on a Monday morning.

Well, I have to give the local Mr. Rooter franchise an "A."

And it was a lead pipe but I didn't get any kind of "ZOMG I am so not touching that and you need to evacuate immediately" response.

The problem is almost certainly fixed - I say almost certainly because they said they thought it was best for the sealant to set up overnight (they also had to seal a spot on the sink that was leaking, where the overflow part connects into the main drain). They also put some kind of "enzymes on steroids" (well, that's how the guy described it) down the drain to eat through the clog that they apparently thought was still there.

(The sink has ALWAYS drained slowly; perhaps many years' buildup of soap-scum - from before my time even - finally plugged the thing).

They want me to wait until tomorrow morning to try the sink, and then call them to let them know. They said if it didn't drain right, they'd go up on the roof (!) and snake down the standpipe. (Though I doubt that will be necessary; both the tub and toilet drain just fine).

The manager (the plumber called him out for advice; the plumber was a young guy who had apparently never seen a lead drain pipe before) told me it was highly unlikely they would have to open up the wall, and even if they did, they had a cover they could put on afterwards. And he said that the pipes in the walls were a lot sturdier than the crumbly pipe that was sticking out of the wall (in fact, they'd "probably outlast the house" so hopefully my visions of multiple walls being hacked into won't come true.) (That was another of my concerns, that there'd be a gaping whole left in the wall and I'd have to trek out to Lowe's to get a piece of board cut, and then paint it myself, and then drill it and insert molly bolts or whatever to hold it into the rather thin back panel that makes up that wall).

If nothing more needs to be done, the cost will come to about $150, which is cheaper than I expected.

Oh, and the plumber:

called to let me know he was on his way
explained each thing he was doing
showed me a price list so I knew in advance what it cost
went and got the appropriate parts from Lowe's when it turned out their warehouse was out of them
cleaned up the area
called in help when he needed it, instead of blundering ahead and maybe screwing something up worse.

The manager also assured me that they didn't want me to pay them until they were completely done and I was satisfied that the sink was draining right.

I guess what I'll have to do - as I'm not inclined to give up using bar soap - is remember to put a good dose of boiling water down the sink once a month to try to flush out the buildup before it gets too big. (or see if there's a commercially available version of that enzyme stuff)

So anyway. I'm all for supporting local businessmen but it's dang nice to have a plumber who doesn't suggest an appointment window "between 8 and 5, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday" and who doesn't just blunder ahead and then go "oh, crud" when something breaks because of his blundering.

It's ALWAYS something.

So, I did the edging of the yard - my MOST HATED yard task - and when I came in I had to wash up.

So I did so, in the bathroom sink. Then it would not drain. So, being the competent person that I am, I stuffed an old hand towel in the overflow hole and started plunging. The water began to drain, but I could hear a dripping.

Apparently, the Very Old Drainpipe under the sink developed a hole, and the water drained out through there.

Now, this is not as catastrophic as No Hot Water or as No Functional Toilet, but as I have but one bathroom - and one bathroom sink - it means that I wash my face and brush my teeth in the kitchen (and have to be fully dressed in order to do both as the blinds don't go all the way down).

So I called the local "emergency" plumber, just to see what it would cost and maybe try to schedule for Monday afternoon. No go; he's stacked up until the middle of NEXT week (as in, the week of October 22).

(and - I have to insert this here - yes, next week is my Mid Fall Break. But I will be d....d if I give up one of my rare chances to get out and do something more fun than running to the Kroger's in Sherman instead of the Wal-mart here in town for my groceries. And yes, I'm also not giving up the yarn shop trip even though this repair is bound to be expensive. Emergencies are what savings accounts are for, no?)

So I called the local Mr. Rooter franchise. Oh, I know, they will probably cost the Earth compared to the no-name-brand local plumbers, but you know? I'm kind of through with no-name-brand local plumbers. You may recall I learned to replace a wax toilet seal because not one of the dozen or so plumbers I called had an appointment any closer than a week away. (And No Toilet is, as I said, considerably more catastrophic - at least in a one-bathroom home - than No Bathroom Sink is).

They are sending someone at 1 tomorrow. Yes, on a Sunday. Yes, I asked if a weekend call cost more. No, it does not, apparently (And I cannot imagine they'd lie to me about that; I told them I could just as easily have them come out Monday).

My only concern is that the damaged pipe is the little stub that comes out from the wall - and it is a VERY soft metal. And I live in a rather old house. I am just hoping that the plumber doesn't look at it and go "ZOMG that is lead!!!!11!!" and either refuse to fix it or tell me I must have the entire wall (the wall that adjoins my bedroom, as it so happens) ripped out to replace it.

As it's a DRAIN pipe, I don't see that it should be too much of an issue, but still...I've noticed that some people, if the words "lead" or "asbestos" or "mercury" happen to come up, get all scared.

I'm hoping they can just fit a PVC "sleeve" inside the old pipe and seal it off somehow.

If not, I suppose I could just keep a five-gallon bucket under the sink just dump it into the bathtub as needed. A bad solution, but not as bad as having months of costly, life-disrupting renovations.

The end of the saga...


Out with the old



In with the new




(That was the best photo I could take; it's back in a closet and the guy had to build up a stand for the new heater so he could set it up with the appropriate emergency drain. It took him FOUR HOURS [including time running back to Lowe's to swap out a part they gave him the wrong size of]. I guess he earned his money today.)

And yes, it makes good hot water.

Have a most excellent weekend, everyone.

And Bess - very happy birthday to you.