Clean it up in the yard
A new story begins! And I begin it with a page whose construction was not, in any sense, easy. I made a 3D model of the cottage based on a photograph then retro-fitted Mrs Clovis’ pre-existing downstairs floor into it, while making an upstairs to go over it. Then I superimposed a cross-section over the complete house, for the doll’s house effect. Then I had to actually draw it.
Patreon subscribers ($3/mo and up) can read the whole of Steeple #18 here, along with many other hi-res PDFs of recent, and older, work.
That toilet tool looks like an unbent wire hanger. Such an implement has been my go-to for cleaning out the bathroom sink drain for years, but for its ability to draw stuff upward, rather than use in breaking things up.
A bent coat hanger is a wonderful tool for toilet related disasters
An unbent and reconfigured coat hanger is a wonderful tool for many things.
I suspect Mrs C should eat more fibre and no longer require the blockage clearance chopper (BCC) tool
At first I misunderstood what she was suggesting should be thrown out the window which I simply put down to some regional tradition along the lines of “Gardyloo!”, until I read it again…
Thank you for clearing that up! I did think it was an unexpected instruction 😆
He knows his way around loos – Mags should get Brian to install a macerator.
By way of apology… y’know… in case Mrs C ever finds out about the party she definitely didn’t have.
Now watch- Mrs Clovis will surprise us all by telling Maggie she SHOULD host a party there while Mrs Clovis is away.
I’m sure she’s working on the assumption that Maggie will disregard any prohibition but that she will issue one nonetheless. It’s tradition.
Issuing such a disclaimer prepares for liability issues. It’s the equivalent of a label from the British Ladder Council.
As a wise man once wrote, “DON’T TIT ABOUT ON LADDERS”.
Another great cross-section panel (second only to the recent Wolverine and Kitty one a few months back). In all fairness Mrs. Clovis German engineering can go two different ways from excellent to over-engineered and needlessly complicated.
“GERMAN SCIENCE IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!”
Somebody’s owned an Audi also, I see.
I actually have never owned a German made car before, just Japanese (Toyota, Honda) and American (Mercury, Ford). I was actually thinking more along the lines of the Tiger 2 tanks in WWII.
I loved our Audi until it was time to have it repaired, and pay for them to remove the front of the car to change a water pump.
I am being literal.
My Rowenta iron though is terrific. It’s almost 26 years old and won’t quit.
My personal experiences with German Engineering (in the specific case of transport) have been all bad. A car that everything failed on, and Deutsche Bahn.
Germany should outsource DB to Miele, at least they couldn’t make it any worse and might well make it run better. (My Miele vacuum cleaner just turned 36, has had a couple of part replacements along the way but basically is still as good as new.)
I’m on my 2nd Miele & have made multiple repairs to it already. I don’t think they’re quite as sturdy as when you bought yours.
I’m fairly certain the vacuum cleaner in the strip is a Miele 300 or 500 (I have owned both models).
Seems that Mrs C likes to make a Miele of it.
Slow clap.
Maggie has now been inducted into the mysteries of the poop knife.
Gosh. Is that *Bauhaus*?
I expected Mrs Clovis to live in something with thatch and window flower boxes (though perhaps with thistle and stinging nettles and…. what’s that the with the spiky thorns? Honey Locust?
We already saw Mrs Clovis’ home (but not the upper floor) in the Christmas With Clovis story. https://steeple.church/comic/backwards-and-inside-out/
No, it’s Baucottage.
Wasn’t Peter Merfy the lead singer of Baucottage?
Honey locusts are pretty sizable trees, not exactly window box material. Though that doesn’t stop them from trying.
We have one. (We would have many more, but I keep mowing them off.) It grows thorns two inches or more long, sometimes with thorns on the thorns.
The black locusts are worse, though. The thorns are much smaller, but that just means they hide in the rough bark of the medium-sized branches until you incautiously grab one bare-handed and they shank you. The honey locust at least waves its spears around openly.
The construction of the page was surely complicated, but the result is awesome. Nice see Maggie as a giantess and Mrs Clovis in all her mechanical knowledgen. Perfect!
I think that Maggie is going to try to put on a dinner party with some decorum. But, it’s Tredregyn, after all, so…, we’ll have to see.
None of this Dyson nonsense for Clovis. I’m betting it is something that she and/or Mr. Clovis cobbled together from parts salvaged from a doodlebug (there’s more than one way to acquire German parts). I’m more interested in that mystery rectangle on the wall to the right of the sink. Too high to be a serving hatch. Is that some kind of communication device for the Rev (akin to the manner in which Tom can nag Billie).
I’m pretty sure that’s a picture frame.
Methinks Maggie’s hair will be more of a problem with the tub drain and/or sinks (depending on her washing habits) than the toilet. Those platinum locks would likely make a Gordian plug in any trap worthy of the Alexandrian solution.
I’m sure Maggie will barely need to use the vacuum, let alone… look up french polishers in the Yellow Pages.
“It’s just possible you could save my life”. I think I directly reference this in part two, or if I don’t, I come close.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you!?”
“Who’s SHE!?!”
It was an obvious point of reference, I didn’t think you would resist.
For those who were maybe in a different country, or not yet born, in the early 1990s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKb3J9mctlo
(Ironically you will probably have to watch a YouTube advert in order to watch… an advert.)
As a left-of-pondian, I appreciate the link.
“I heard you like advertisements, so I put an advertisement in your advertisement so you can be advertised to while you’re watching an ad!”
Wait wait you have a photograph of Mrs. Clovis’ cottage?
She didn’t see you lurking outside with your camera, did she?
Great composition. Love the page.
Mrs. Clovis has been working out. Her neck is thicker than Brian’s and her arms are as strong as Revd Penrose.
Y’know the more I see Mrs. C, the more I like her. Even if what’s happening here isn’t necessarily a reason.
The most useful takeaway for Maggie here: If you find an old unbent coat hanger in the garden, do NOT touch it!
Cornish plumbing: That rich furrow of humor that does so much to give Steeple its home-spun character.
I think, if it is all the same to you, that I would actually prefer not to talk attachments. But then, I would also prefer not to imagine dragons; and look where that has got me.