May is absolutely my favourite month in the year. Filled with hope, beautiful skies and a taste of things to come, it always uplifts me. And yet this year, it’s been so cold and wet, until now. On 30 May, I’m thinking May has finally arrived.
In our old house, we would be using the heating less in March and very intermittently in April. Hardly ever in May. This year in the Quirky Museum our gas consumption (mostly for heating, a little for the gas tumble drier) for April and May is about the same. I have blogged before about the cost of running an inefficient 40+ year old boiler hitting almost £300 a month in the winter.
The weather has been about a month behind where it ought to be. Still, there has to be a bright side to all of this. There is… the tulips in the garden have lasted much longer, only just starting to wither. The weeds are only just starting to do their stuff. So right at the end of the month, it feels as if May has finally started and I’m so happy about that!
In addition, I should say how with the heavy rain we’ve been able to test the quality of the roof repair carried out a few weeks ago. I am very pleased to report success! This is the first time – for decades – that there hasn’t been a leak in the roof, or so I’m told.
Still on heating….. we have chosen our heating engineer Chris. This is partly on recommendation from a friend and also because we were impressed by his professionalism. We have agreed the work will start on 12 July and will take two men a full two weeks. Once they have finished, we’ll have a Bosch combo boiler in the front garage with the pipes entering the house via the cellar, meaning they’ll have to send the pipes through the foundations. We will have snazzy new radiators plus two extra radiators and pipes in place for an extra radiator in the re-modelled kitchen (for when we get around to that).
Kenny the joiner has been to have another detailed look at the front Victorian windows, their hinges and catches with a view to refurbishing them, one by one. After that work is complete we will look to have secondary glazing installed. Hopefully all that will be in time for next winter when I hope to be a little warmer!
Speaking of remodelling the kitchen and laundry, this is where I get into hot water with Rachel. You see I have all these plans in my head. I can easily imagine what things will look like by the time we have moved things around. Rachel complains about this; I’m zooming ahead and leaving her behind. This is a lesson for me, to slow down and to try a little of “hey look Rachel, I’ve drawn a few diagrams of possible layouts, how do these seem to you?”
Health, running etc
Did I tell you I’m on antibiotics yet again? I have felt quite unwell, so the very nice kidney consultant (the irreverent maverick consultant) has put me on a week’s course, followed by a low dose lasting 3 months. THREE MONTHS!!!! That should do the trick, if anything will.
My blood pressure appears to have settled now, aided by tweaking my medication. I’m having a chat with my GP soon, just to make sure everything is now hunky dory and my kidneys are handing the medication alright.
With all of this going on I haven’t had the energy to run, although I did try to run a little errand in the village. I set Strava recording the run as otherwise it was probably going to give up on me! Worst of all was being totally out of breath, even though it was a slow pace and completely flat.
On the bright side, I have had a walk each day, clocking up 8-10,000 steps, so I’m sure that’ll be doing me some good. This recent health blip has made me stop and think…. no need to share that thinking here other than saying it certainly puts things in perspective.
Being sociable
As things are gradually returning to normal, in terms of the Coronavirus restrictions, we have had a few friends come for coffee in the garden. This weekend we have enjoyed the company of two sets of neighbours which has been nice. I long for the time when we can open our home more fully and get to know some local people much better – the village is lovely – so too are the people.
One thing that has impressed me is the way I’ve felt genuinely accepted here. This village is not one of those communities where you need to live in a place for 10, 20 or more years before you’re accepted as a local. People readily smile and say hello in the street and we have been asked to read the Bible in the church here (Rachel did, not me as she’s so much better than me).
The point is, we feel accepted here and I am beginning to feel more ‘at home’ these days. This is something very important and has happened so much quicker than I would have expected, so every reason to feel encouraged.
Different blog posts are written in different ways. Sometimes to amuse, have a rant, or to inform or other things too. This post is simply one of those posts which is about recording things going on. It’s really for my benefit, to look back on. Nevertheless people tell me they like reading my blog and knowing what I’m up to, so thanks for being there and your private expressions of solidarity which I do appreciate.