Barmy Blue's Bland Blog

Eerie and annoying.
Alternative title The Leak.
Alternative alternative title Happy Day After Smile Day.

I baked a strawberry-chocolate-princess-pink-marshmallow-shimmer-glimmer-berry-cake.
Or alternatively a chocolate cake with pink strawberry icing decorated with mini marshmallows, a heart marshmallow, strawberry glimmer crunch cake topping things, little chocolate chunks and little chocolate hearts.
I was very sad so I decided to bake the cake and top it with happy stuff. I also dug out some birthday candles, including my birthday 26 candles (since I'm still 26 so it's okay ). I put the candles on it to imitate a birthday cake in hopes it would further cheer me up.
But I couldn't call it a birthday cake. So I called it a Smile Day cake. Happy Smile Day for yesterday to everyone. (I bet there's already some sort of international Smile Day already. But if not then the 13th of October will be Smile Day from now on.)

You see. I normally sneak up to bed about 5:30ish in the morning, just before mum gets up for work. I'm normally asleep by the time she takes the dog out or shortly after she leaves for work. So by about 8am I should either be asleep or almost asleep.
Yesterday I went to bed at about 9am.
And here's why.

So. Remember how I told you about the leak in my bedroom?

Well. It seemed fine. I checked on it when it was raining but nothing happened. I got complacent.
Then Napoleon called me on Sunday, asking about it in further detail, since I'd only texted him about it. He thought I might have meant the little pipe outside my window that is an overflow for the water tank. It flooded last year and that pipe was dripping (this was before I knew what it was for) it wasn't that big a deal (it seemed) and it was really cute because a magpie figured out there was water in there and would drink the little drips from the pipe. It was nice because it was so close to my window. The magpie seemed very happy.
Although that pipe had a dark secret. Although it was dripping, it wasn't draining the tank as much as it needed to (it's only a little overflow pipe) and the tank was flooding the loft.
I bailed out the water but it just filled up overnight.
What it was was that there's a floating thing in the tank that's supposed to rise and sink with the water and automatically shut it off when it gets too high. This thing was stuck fast. Napoleon had to replace it and it's all fine.......for now.

So. When I said vent in my room he thought I might have meant that little pipe outside my room, which he tells me it actually called a vent (Although he never used that term before so how would I know. Besides, if it had been that I wouldn't have said vent anyway. I'd have said the pipe outside my window is dripping again).
My room has a vent at the top because there's part of a chimney breast in my room. I'm supposed to have it open in summer for ventilation and closed in winter to keep out the cold a bit. I've had it closed for a few years because we had a wasps nest somewhere in or near that chimney and I kept getting little bugs and I was worried they were getting in through there, and that a wasp might get in that way (I've always had a phobia of bees and wasps since I was a child because I was terrified of getting stung. So far, at least, I have never been stung by a bee or wasp, though you never know what might happen in the future). Probably weren't but I haven't had a problem with it until now.

Yeah.

Then the vent started leaking. But it wasn't that much. I mopped it up and when it stopped raining it was all fine. Didn't think any more about it until early Monday morning.
It had leaked. I mopped it up again and went to bed. I worried about it. Couldn't sleep. Thought I should just check it for peace of mind. No. It was stupid. I couldn't get up every five minutes. I agonised over this for a while. Then I heard a drip.

I got up and it was dripping again (of course, because it was still raining heavily). I mopped that up. Then I found the blisters.
Blisters of water under the wallpaper. And there was a really big one. Mum had to get ready for work. I frantically texted Napoleon (as if he could magically fix it. But I hoped he would have some helpful advice or something). I poked a pin hole in one of the blisters and spent ages trying to squeeze the water out. In the process weakening the paper so that was probably a very big mistake. The other one was too high to reach. I had to wait for the weight of it to drag it further down.
Mum left for work and I got very upset about the situation.

You know when you have toddlers or young children who are tired and get very cranky and start crying for no apparent reason and just won't stop? I'm 26 and I spent about an hour crying like a cranky toddler. In my defence this was a hopeless situation and I was very tired.
Mum advised me to put down a plastic bag with kitchen roll to absorb the water (the plastic bag to stop it seeping into the carpet). Naopleon advised me to move my bed away from the wall and any stuff under it. I didn't really want to but I knew I had to move at least half my stuff, all the stuff at that end. I had books under there and electrical so they needed moving pretty sharpish, just for safety. I unplugged the extension cable, even though it was turned off so now I can't go to bed with my pretty moon and stars lights to look at. I turn them off once I'm in bed, I just like to have them on while I turn out the bedroom light (it's over by the door). I still have my cactus light.

So I moved all the stuff, and pulled my bed out a bit. I had to move my manga bookshelf (that mum got me for Christmas. Thankfully it's on castors) because it's right beside my bed, and my laundry bin. When Napoleon said to move my bed I don't think he realised how little space that would leave me.
Yesterday I had a silly idea. I'm told that rice is good for absorbing moisture. People use it if they've dropped phones in water but someone at uni recommended it after they'd had some flooding and used it to dry out their books. I think you're supposed to seal it up in something though, not just scatter rice on your skirting board, because that's where the water drips to and you can't get a tissue to stay there to absorb it.
The rice thing is disputed. Some say it's like a sponge (well, yeah, when it's heated) some say it's a myth, others say it absorbs water vapour. Well. The worst thing that can happen is that it attracts the mice back. I've had a better idea since. Well I think it's a better idea. Silica gel.
I've developed a bit of an obsession for beef jerky and it comes with a little packet of silica gel. I'm hoping that will be much better for preventing the spread of water on the floor and the growth of mould than kitchen roll and rice. It's only small so I don't have high hopes but surely it's worth a try. If only I could somehow make a screen of silica gel packets and put it up to the wall. Maybe it would draw the moisture out of the wall. Maybe not. I don't much like the idea of trying to get a dehumidifier, my room's cluttered enough as it is.
I was hoping we could not put on the heating until November. But since it's raining so much and I have this problem with my room, we decided to put it on.

There's nothing Napoleon can do to fix it in the rain, so we have to wait for it to dry out. Hopefully it will be fixed before winter, because wet places and freezing temperatures are a terrible combination.

I think that's all.

Oh. I've cheered up today. I'm feeling okay now so that's good.

Bluebiird out.