Believe me, we are doing our best in trying to stay warm. You might already have clocked, I like a nice warm environment as I feel the cold, so we are a bit challenged with lows of minus 7C outside.
Years ago, when Rachel worked as a librarian, she would often bring old books home to burn in the wood burning stove. Everyone thought that was sacrilege, especially for a librarian who should be on the side of the books. By the time she was Head of Books in a college, she would bring books back by the car full!
Trouble is, it’s a long time since any books went up in smoke. We have worked our way through most of the wood pile, a few weeks ago we have had a ton of firewood delivered and that has almost gone. So imagine Rachel’s delight when she spotted a skip at a house in the village with a load of old wood in it.
Before I had even blinked, she was knocking on the door and asking if we could help ourselves to the wood. The chap in the house was a little stunned and, at first, a little hesitant. Rachel must have given him one of her super-nice smiles as he then said “oh, just take the lot if it helps you”.
So we walked home, got the car and a few tools and returned. The photo shows most of the wood in the back of my car. Then I cut it all up! And I used a handsaw, thinking that would help keep me nice and warm. It certainly did keep me warm and my Fitbit thought I had gone for a bike ride (more about my less-than-perfect Fitbit another time).
Yesterday, Kevin, one of our very nice neighbours turned up with a load of logs for us. I think he had taken pity on us, knowing how we were running low and experiencing problems with the central heating. So now another friend, Harry, is coming on Tuesday with his chainsaw – yay! Although this wood will need to ‘season’ until next winter, it’s nice to know things are coming together.
We need to get our act together with the heating. I know my body’s thermostat means I naturally feel the cold, plus when I get a UTI I am often shivering. Everything in the house seems extra cold; I think the very fabric of the house has been chilled through sub-zero temperatures over the last 10 days. The Dusty Museum is so old it doesn’t have cavity walls, let alone insulated walls.
The jolly old boiler is doing its best and when I say “old” it certainly is – at least 30 years old, nearer 40 I suspect. None of the radiators have thermostats and there are miles of uninsulated pipes under the floorboards (see earlier post on trying to reduce our heating costs). The main snag are the old Victorian windows at the front of the house, with their paper thin glass. We are still mulling over whether to fork out having them sympathetically double glazed (for the price of a very nice car). In the meantime we struggle keeping the house warm and, it is fair to say, we are unlikely to ever hit 25C which is how I like to be.
And yet I know that the moment we do something with, say, the windows or heating, it will create a knock-on effect. By this I mean if we have the central heating system replaced, we will need to reorganise the kitchen as the old floor standing boiler will need to go. And while we are doing that, it would make sense to have a new kitchen, and while we are doing that…. well you get the idea. Thing is, we don’t exactly have a bottomless pit of money, we need to be careful with what we do.
eBay and decluttering
Rachel and I have a different mindset with decluttering. Rachel is quite determined to find a home for everything – no matter whether it is sold, kept or given away, she is also more sentimental about some things, perhaps the male-female viewpoints at work here. Even complete junk must be found a suitable home and the wheelie bin is the absolute last resort.
Me? I’m far more radical. I do need to take care though, to maintain marital harmony and I’m mindful of those times – spanning many years – when I would delight in clearing out the garage, throwing rubbish into the wheelie bin, only to find Rachel sifting through, often retrieving things!
Now that we are emerging from a little period of hibernation, we are getting our act together more. I think we are passing on some of Grandma’s things (like the Optelec reader) through to some of our unwanted things.
I have been astonished at the stuff people will buy, right from the time when I threw a broken radio out and Rachel then sold it on eBay for £20. Apparently there is even a market for Apple packaging, such as the box of a laptop which we no longer have, so that’s up for grabs on eBay as well!
So I live in real hope as we rationalise our belongings. It is quite liberating to see old, unwanted stuff going and allowing us some space to b-r-e-a-t-h and not be shackled or held back by surplus stuff. I think this will allow us to shape our home as we would like, working from a slightly clearer canvass.
Lastly
A couple of my friends are on my mind. There is J who this week has written to say her days are very numbered, a kind of farewell and to reassure us she’s not afraid – she knows where she’s going. Secondly there is A (who I know reads my blog) and I want him to know he is very much on my mind. We prayed for you again this morning.
J and A – I love you as my friends. I wish I knew you better and I long for the time when we can. You are amazing people.