Thursday, September 17, 2009

I almost built an ark

I had to put up a new post. That picture of Steve glaring at me every time I opened the page was getting to me.

So those of you who live round these parts know that it has been raining a wee bit the last few days. Or should I say dumping large heavenly buckets-full of water?
Now normally I like the rain- the coziness of being indoors-the excuse to make a pot of hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream, not to mention little piece of home it represents. But this warm, sticky, jungle rain is a different monster, especially when it starts invading your personal space. Unfortunately, Steve took the camera to Memphis with him this week or I would post some pictures of the the predicament I was in last night, around midnight.
We had a leak- a major one in our kitchen ceiling. It started by the bathroom door and spread- spread till it was coming out of the recessed lighting in the kitchen- spread until the sheet rock started to crack and bulge. I called Steve in a panic, standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by post and pans quickly filling with water, expecting to be electrocuted every minute or at least to have the sagging ceiling come down on my head. He was of course, very calm about it and suggested I find the point in the ceiling that looked like falling in the most and poke a large hole through the sheet rock. So i got a chair and started poking. The sheet rock was pretty saturated and I soon had bored a dime size hole. The mistake was that I was standing right under it. That's right- a shower of gritty rainwater was my reward. I put a big bucket underneath, cleaned myself off, and watched the water from the hole pour down, relieving the weight of all the water that had spread around the kitchen. It helped, but I am not sure how much damage was done. We might be looking at replacing the ceiling of the kitchen.
At any rate, I was really tired by this point, so leaving plenty of towels and buckets behind, I went to bed. I was awakened at 4:30 in the morning by awful screaming. I jumped out of bed to find Etienne standing in the kitchen in a big bowl of water with soaked jammies and yelling his head off. He was so confused, he didn't know where to go. So I hauled him out, dried him off and we got back to sleep.
First thing this morning, I called someone to come fix the roof. I am hoping they will come soon- it is supposed to pour again tonight. Maybe I should build an ark.

3 comments:

Leanne said...

Wow, that's a lot of water. I am quite certain I would not have been calm at all in that situation, but rather wishing my husband was home to fix things. At least you were able to get in touch with him.

Erika said...

Wow! Why in the world was Etienne in the water?
Hope it gets fixed soon! That house is way too small to be entrapped inside.

Hannah G said...

Oh no! And with your husband gone, too? Hope you're drying out now.