Yesterday morning, at 6.15 am, there was a small 'bang', and all the lights went out. After some trial and error fiddling with the fuses (I'm not a great electrician), I discovered that it was our water heater (immersion heater) that had blown-up.
Luckily we have a wonderful Plumber (J-P) who came to our rescue almost at once.
This below is a picture of all the sludge that was inside the old heater, as well as the furred-up element itself. It had been installed in 1989, so had given good service.
We now have a nice new shiny new one, which I hope will last as long as the old one.
We have a very nice, new-ish, Dutch neighbour, and Billy and his dog have become firm friends.
They are learning to box, and occasionally surprise each other with an uppercut, or straight right jab. I don't know where this idea came from; maybe they've been watching boxing on TV. I've never seen dogs do this before.
Billy's other friend, a very big female German Shepherd called Amie, is currently in Holland. I think Billy wonders where she is.
'Things' that go bump in the night!' Luckily my electrician is close by and my plumber/
ReplyDeleteOurs is at the end of a phone, but he always comes at once. He's a treasure.
DeleteMy dog has occasionally stood on hind legs and 'boxed' with another dog, like hares. I think it means 'let's play'.
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly his friend, who throws punches. It's quite amusing to watch.
DeleteDog boxing! There's an idea for a new competition.
ReplyDeleteFor the Olympics, surely!
DeleteHow lucky you are to have such a wonderful dog like Billy.
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky, he's a lovely boy.
DeleteLast winter I asked the plumber to flush out all the radiators in the heating system. He bled one and showed me the result. The colour and consistency of the water was more or less the same as that in your photo! He said that flushing them would probably result in most of the radiators leaking and the need for a whole new system!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that Billy has a new friend. My Boston terrier, Pac, also has a huge GSD as a "bestie", but sadly she's currently on the high seas with her owner, on the way to spend summer in the cooler climes of the UK.
Did you need a whole new system? That would prove costly. We've also had trouble in the UK with our heating system. I think it's been fixed in our absence.
DeleteThank heavens for Super Plumber > J-P! J-P saved the day!
ReplyDeleteJ-P is wonderful. We always pay him more than he asks, and he treats us well in return.
DeleteThings seem to fail without notice. That said, your heater gave you many years of great service. Billy's new friend/neighbor wants a boxing partner. It is good they are getting along. At one point my 2 neighbors each had labs. Casie and Toby. Casie was very athletic and she wanted to wrestle Toby to the ground.
ReplyDeleteShe learned to grab his collar and flip him to the ground then pin him...and quickly release him. It was quite funny. Everybody thought it was humorous, except Toby's owner. Warren disliked the athletic Cassie who won every wrestling match. The dogs remain great friends despite one owner a bit bent out-of-shape.
I can understand not liking his dog being the loser every time. Cassie should let Toby win occasionally.
DeleteLovely that Billy has friends and you have some good neighbours.
ReplyDeleteThe new neighbour is proving to be a pain. He's thrown stones and shouted at Billy. He's obviously not attempting to make himself popular.
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