Water, frozen and not

Once upon a time, when we lived in Santa Barbara, but were preparing to move to Toronto, we were sitting at our dining room table in our rented condo, and it started to rain. It hadn't rained for a long time. The roof was not capable of dealing with this situation, and little drips soon came in and dropped right onto the table where we were sitting. We had just decided not to buy a really nice house we'd seen in Toronto, and here was proof-positive that renters rule, because all we had to do was call the landlord and put a pot on the table, and our job was done. It was someone else's problem to call the roofers!

But alas, we did become homeowners, and almost the first thing that happened was the shower leaked into the kitchen. This time it was our problem for sure, and we found out that the whole structure under our fab bathroom was soaked and rotten, and that cost us a few grand.

Then, we had a deck on our roof, and that was old and rotten, and so we took it down (tossing boards down from the 3rd floor into the alley!). The roof was now exposed, and unbeknownst to us, water was leaking in. Finally we noticed that the bathroom ceiling (yes, the same bathroom!) had a sort of saggy look to it, and when we poked it, the whole thing collapsed in a sodden mass of gyproc, insulation and rainwater. That cost us even more money.

Then, one day, more water came pouring into the kitchen. I can't even remember what the initial cause was, but when we went to turn off the water pipe, we couldn't, because the previous plumber had neglected to put a little valve on the pipe under the sink. Lucky for us, this was just before our grande renovations, and we somehow kludged it up temporarily until we could spend even more money...

We had reason to remember all these water-based adventures last night when Arthur was in the shower and water began to drip into the living room! The caulking around the tub is not sealing, and so that's another little job... At least it seems little, and it's probably easier for us to do it than wait for someone else, and after all, we've got experience with these things now....

And, for the frozen water, there was actual frost this morning! Last week we didn't even have the heat on! Arthur was thrilled -- I guess it was almost snow-like. He went out and tried to scoop up the crystals of ice off the grass. Lucky I made those mitts, eh?

I'm sure the sun'll melt it all away and we'll have another lovely fall day. Yesterday Arthur and I went to Lammas Land, played on the playground a bit and wandered along by the river. It was a bit chilly, but nothing a sweater and hat couldn't cope with. The trees are looking wonderful and the sky was clear blue. The punters are mainly gone but, up our end of the river, the college rowers are out in full force, with traffic jams of eights under the footbridge. I just hope this fine weather, frost and all, lasts a while before the grey winter rains set in!