the saga continues..... and its 4am

Unable to sleep due to my brain not powering down and switching off, I am downstairs - much to the surprise and delight of the catlings who think they can now have 4am firsts (breakfast firsts).

I am always amazed (in a cross sort of way) how noisy the house is through the night. The creaking and expanding of the pipes, the rumble of the fridge, the click of the walls, as well as the sighing and settling of the heating gives the house a heart beat, a rhythmic breathing - a life of its own - I just wish it didn't do it so loudly!

Any hoo, as I was saying -  seeing I am awake and trying not to toss and turn too much, disturbing Himself, I thought I would slink down quietly and try and calm my frazzled grey matter with a cup of tea and a tinkle on the keyboard (and feed the catlings).
The tea is delish, the cats are playing in the kitchen and the brain is still whizzing, so I shall continue to subject you to my wafflings..

After yesterday's tidal surge was temporarily contained by catching the drip...drip...drip in the spare kitty litter tray, Himself armed himself with some tools and unscrewed the incontinent cupboard off the wall.

Not as easy as it sounds as it suspended beneath the counter next to the sink making it awkward to reach. With a few choice words hissed under his breath he managed to wrestle the unit free by manhandling it out of position. The catlings decided to inspect his work by trying to shin up his legs. Not a popular move.

Once the cupboard was freed of it's moorings, we could see where the leak was emanating from. There, lurking behind the unit was a copper pipe which was shooting the finest shower of water straight up against the underside of the counter. It was such a fine jet of water that it seems disproportionate to the problems it had been causing. This stream was of great interest to the catlings, in particular Lily who sat beneath it with a quizzical stare. Himself, now seeing what was the cause of the leak set about fixing it.

Easy job he grinned, just off to get the 'thingamy watsit' (please insert correct terminology here - my brain although awake is not functioning).

I start to cook our evening meal.

Much clattering and muttering later, he stomps off the garage.... 'Need to get the doodad thingamajig' (insert as before but with a different tool)

Bit more DIY sounds are coming out from under the counter, the air is turning a delicate shade of blue.

...The **** thing won't fit...... need the other gizmo -  see if that makes a difference - if not its off to the local hardware store...mutter mutter mutter (insert necessary correct terminology and swear words at will).

By now food preparation is in full swing as I step over bits of copper piping, the offending cupboard, tools of various shapes and sizes and the husband. He is, I feel, getting a little cross that a simple job has turned out to be a major affair but then..... isn't that normal? It feels like it in our house.

He breaks off briefly to eat then disappears off to his garage again to retrieve the gubbins/whatchamacallit/doohicky-thingamajub that will just do the job and solve all the problems......but not just yet..... (once again, please feel free to replace the above words with plumbing related tools in any order you fancy - I thank you)

Eventually he emerges jubilant and I am ushered into the kitchen to bask in his victory. There - his nemesis - a small finger sized copper pipe, with a tiny split in it, lies vanquished on the floor surrounded by tools and mucky  water. He has manfully replaced the pipe with a special 'whatever' attachment thingy and most importantly - HE HAS STOPPED THE LEAK - he is without a doubt my hero.

However, the story does not end here - oh no, what happened afterwards included some of the following - moving the incontinent cupboard across to the other side of the kitchen and attaching it to another wall, which meant the fridge had to move out of its slot and into a new position, which entailed removing the obligatory grotty stuff that collects beneath the fridge and mopping the floor. The space where the fridge now resides needed another cupboard to be evicted (cue same grotty stuff lurking plus half a dozen cat toys, toy bullets, missing letters from school, elastic bands and marbles) and moved to it's new home.

This also meant the dog's bed (a hard plastic kidney bean shaped bed) was next to move. Only problem here was the bed now did'nt fit the remaining space....our kitchen is not big, it is bordering on bijou.
Not a problem says Himself - he is on a roll and I am going along for the ride. He returns waving a carpentry saw about in the air and promptly removes a corner off the dog's bed. She watched horrified from behind the desk. It now fits...........

While all this is happening, the boys have had their showers, sorted out their books for school and gone to bed.  The kitchen is still full of activity and a disgusting mess. I am now flagging....Himself too is getting bored with the whole thing so we stop for a brew. I try to wash up.....there~is~no~hot~water....

Oh yes Himself remembers, I switched off upstairs under the hot water tank.

Off he goes to turn the water back on. I think that I should also know where this tap is in case this ever happens again, so follow him.

I wish I hadn't....to get to the tap, he has pulled out half the bedding and towels from the airing cupboard and piled them up.....everywhere.

I walk away.

Back downstairs, kitchen just about acceptable, washing done, tea made and catlings fed (again) we sat down and contemplated what a 'productive' day it has been.

Thank goodness it was over - it was nearly midnight and we'd had had enough!