We have had a slightly quieter week, what with my humdinger of a UTI and how the weather has continued being so cold – we even had snow one day! Highlights to report are the intrigue surrounding some windows here in the Quirky Museum and helping out at our medical centre.
As you know, I am rather freaked out at the thought of freezing once again next winter. I have improved the insulation, the boiler man is coming to talk boilers (and new radiators) and we want to improve the windows at the front of the Quirky Museum.
The windows are Victorian. Unusually, they open inwards, hence the Juliette balcony. The two ground floor windows have internal shutters which fold closed at night. There are three smaller windows upstairs on the first floor. Considering they are Victorian i.e. 150 years old, they are in remarkably good condition with no rot.
The downside is the glass is paper thin and lets the cold in. Also they aren’t a perfect fit, with some bits being 1mm loose (and draughty) and other bits being too tight (makes opening difficult).
We have had a few different experts look at the windows:
- One says he can make individual double glazed units to replace the existing glass.
- Another says he can make new windows with one large double glazed unit and stick imitation wooden beads onto the glass, thereby mimicking the original.
- Another says he can reproduce the windows as they are (for an eye watering sum) .
- One can come up with good secondary double glazing, combined with a little refurbishment of the existing windows.
We have one more carpenter to come and tell us his solution and then we need to make a decision.
Our current thinking is to preserve the existing windows in some way. They are fairly sound with no rot. With secondary glazing, some maintenance, we might preserve what really are unique windows. We are fortunate the house isn’t listed, although that was on the cards at one point in the past. If it were to be listed, we would have our hands tied with what we could or could not do. Phew.
One person told us how Victorian carpenters would fell trees and leave them for 15 years or more before their sons used the wood, giving them plenty of time to season well. As far as we know the windows might be unique. There may be some resemblance of the work in nearby Woburn; perhaps the same carpenter – who knows? All this adds up to us wanting to preserve the windows and yet enjoy more comfortable temperatures at the same time.
Decluttering continues
We have found a new home for an old bed this week, also for the old well-travelled canvass trunk, which is being acquired by a stylist and it’ll be interesting to know how it might be used.
More COVID volunteering
We have all been volunteering this week at our local medical centre and a little more to come. Within 10 days, the centre will have given about 8000 vaccines. These are the second COVID vaccines and given mostly to frail, elderly people. There are also some carers, some healthcare professionals mixed in, together with the volunteers. For myself, it is nice be back in the Sore Arm Club once again.
Volunteering is a good thing to do. In our small individual way, we contribute to the national effort to overcome the COVID emergency. We help the process as people come into the medical centre, park their cars, become disorientated, register, wait, have their vaccine and wait 15 minutes afterwards. We get a chance to briefly chat to patients and fellow volunteers, getting to know people who live in the village. Whether we can still recognise people without face masks later on remains to be seen!
Social prescribing
While I was in the medical centre and chatting to a member of staff, I learned all about social prescribing. It sounds really interesting!
As an example, if a patient sees a Doctor because they are depressed, they could be given some tablets to take. On the other hand, they might feel better if they spent time outside with others, or joined a gardening group, or a choir, or took up a new sport or hobby – often there’s more than one way to solve the problem. You get the idea?
The concept is relatively new with about 1,000 professionals who are social prescribers in the UK and there are plans for this to grow much further. Naturally my mind was buzzing! Where’s the evidence it works? Does it work with everyone? How do you measure success? What quality standards are there and what oversight is there? Could I help at all, here in the village? Well, you can find the answer to some of these points on the NHS website – click here.
Humdinger UTI
In my previous post I talked about my worst urinary tract infection, ever. I have now finished the antibiotics and I suppose I am better but I feel so drained and exhausted. Thankfully my urine is still clear and I no longer have the other symptoms, so I’m hoping to bounce back nicely now. Hopefully I can pick up running this coming week – yay!