Crrrrrrack!

Ah well, it isn't as bad as it could be... we hope. About a year after we redecorated our front room, we noticed some hairline cracks, but we weren't worried - we thought it was the plaster drying out and we're in an old house (built in 1880) and it can be a little cranky. Then, this year, the cracks multiplied and this new crack appeared on the opposite side to the original ones and underneath the bay window. Last week, the front door to the building began to stick, and it takes considerable strength to open and shut it. The owner of the flat upstairs finds it difficult to open by herself. So Fred called the insurance and an assessor came around today.

Subsidence is a real issue on our street - Victorian houses with shallow foundations, built on clay soil on a hill. A recipe for disaster. A couple of years ago we watched concrete being poured for what seemed like months into the foundations of a house down the road. So, I had visions of living in a tent in the back garden and hanging out with the foxes. However, the knowledgeable man thinks that the problem (the bay window is dropping as the foundations dry out and shrink) can be solved if the vegetation in the front garden is taken out. The plants are taking all the water and drying out the clay soil underneath. Fred and I are extremely sad about this - we love the green we see outside out window, and the privacy it gives up from the street. However, I've given myself a challenge to redesign the front garden with a cunning use of pots, climbing plants and trellis. We shall have green and privacy, and Whisky will have someplace to lurk, waiting for Fred and me to return after a day's work.

After the vegetation goes, we have to wait until spring to see whether that has done the trick. Fingers crossed.

Another 'bonus' of the day was that I came down with a dreaded cold. It's not swine flu at least, but it is annoying. Drip, drip, drip all day. Grrr.