Broken Chimney Repaired following storm Eunice

 Well that took a bit of time but the Chimney and new Pot are in place in time for Xmas 2023.

The initial Roof Tile damage was sorted the next day by Ascot Roofing and their response was excellent, 12.30 next day and pouring with rain they replaced about 40 roof tiles from some originals I had stored in the Garden - Runfold Granular Concrete Green, unfortunately the roof had been changed to Red in the years past.

The Pot was sourced in Worplesdon just outside Guildford in the summer of 20222. By chance while having a Tea at The Christmas Bakery, I was about to leave the car park when a Van with Roofing Services drove in and parked for their lunch. I asked if they knew where I could source a replacement pot the same size, showing him the broken piece I had been carrying in my boot for months. 

"Just lets us finish our Coffee and then follow me to my yard not far from here " ok good idea and it was . They had acquired an Aladdin's Cave of Reusable roofing Pots and Tiles and Finials. 

The Brickwork was also lucky when mentioning my problem to a local Armadillos Cafe over Coffee she said " Oh my boyfriend does that" so arrived Sam Carpenter and Brickwork and the Job was not long finished. I did buy some replacement Bricks from the local Builders Merchants to colour match the damaged bricks., which helped.

Short Film;  Story of my Broken Chimney, repaired after Storm Eunice hit our village. - click on link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xKNGI3jaPYx8Y02yU9to2ho-IrmI9JSD/view?usp=sharing

The damage to the Gable from the TV Cable ripping off the External Paintwork will get painted in the Spring of 2024 - hopefully. 

All new Aerial and Cabling has been done and working well.

Eunice was the name of my mother's school friend and neighbour when they went to Wembley Grammar 1936. She too was a Pianist, a good one and Storm Eunice was well named after her, when it  played 'Nick Knack on our Roofs'.
 

A Colette - A Small Collection of Jazz Records

 Have you ever, have you ever ?

Bought then collected record albums only because you started with a handful of similar ones - one record does not make a crowd but I think a handful leads to it.

One day while traveling home from Guildford, I stopped at an Antiques and House Clearance store which I have found a few gems in over the years. There behind a stacked up shelf unit, on the floor and lower shelves, were LP's and 45's. I browsed and bought on good terms a selection. 

There were groups of Albums - Jazz 33's and 78's . I took them home and cleaned them up, following YouTube's guideline video on cleaning 78's - run them under the hot/warm water tap and wipe them with a soft bristle brush with washing up liquid. It works well once dried most looked ok.

Bought sleeves and plastic covers and listened to the cleaned ones. Having visited New Orleans in the 80's with my wife Jackie and New York but not Chicago, I read the sleeve back notes and enjoyed many hours following their story.

I even found a brother of one Stephen Foster, Dunning Foster in Chicago and laughed as Dunning was Jackie's maiden name. Stephen Foster was prolific and brilliant but after New York left west to reside with his young brother's haulage business then travel further west to San Francisco.

The house clearance had hit on a Jazz Record collector's chest of love.

Was I lucky ? Yes however I had said, I'll just listen and bring them back if it suits? Now I think I'll keep them and listen again....no sound here yet  but enjoy a read of some of the Album's  covers contents below ..  

Louis Armstrong -  Cornet, Clarinet & Vocal Collection

Johnny Dodds (Clarinet) Collection

Chris Barber Collection

Joe 'King' Oliver Albums  and Ken Colyer Jazzmen Albums 

Charlie Galbraith

Dave Brubeck

Stephen Foster Songbook Album with Jelly Roll Morton Albums and Pioneers of Jazz

The 78's were housed in an Album which you could flick through keeping the condition in a better quality than some lose stored ones.

STORM EUNICE Friday 18TH February 2022

 At 12 noon I had been listening to the radio, washing the dishes and decided never the less to put out the scrap food bag.

The radio had just said, don't go out if not necessary so, I just stepped out the back door to the bin and Clatter- Bang- Wollop- Thump, my chimney's top half was pulled down by the wind whipped TV Aerial.

 It  bounced down the back of the cottage roof and making several holes in the roof tiles, landed on the flat roof and slid further onto the paving in the garden by the Recycle Bins and me !

Luckily by immediately phoning a local roofing firm Ascot Roofing, I got allocated a repair man the next day at 12.30 pm .

They arrived in pouring rain and immediately removed all the broken roof tiles and replaced with some from my store of original roof tiles, which I had kept in the garden since they were surplus to the extension we had added some 20 years ago. Ok, so they were green  tiles and the roof is now red tiles, so there are a few patches visible but the result was a dry house.

 

When my brother visited, he removed a few loose bricks and it just needed sorted then Feb 2023.

As good luck would have it, while parked in the Christmas Bakery, Worplsedon a roof repair van arrived and Alan the driver asked me to follow him to his local roofing store of Second Hand Tiles and Chimney Pots to buy a replacement pot.

This luck was followed by a local cafe manager saying her boyfriend was a roofer and carpenter and so Sam repaired the chimney some 12 months after it was damaged - but looking good now.

This leaves just the recolouring of the Green Tiles to Red and the side gable white masonry paint which was damaged by the Aerial Cable being pulled off and taking some exterior masonry paint with it. 

Sept.2023.