This week has been a bit weird, a funny ol’ kinda time. While the dominant feature is one of being poorly, there’s a few things bubbling away here in the Quirky Museum.
Yes I have had yet another UTI requiring antibiotics. These days my Doctor gives them to me in advance as a reserve, knowing that sooner or later they’ll be needed. This infection came on remarkably quickly and has left me feeling pretty awful and really dragged me down. On the bright side, I’m well on the way to recovery but not quite there yet.
From Ukraine
We are going to have three refugees come to stay with us from Ukraine. This has been in the pipeline for a while and definitely is the right thing to do, especially from a humanitarian point of view. It is a mother and two daughters. Already they have left their family home which has been bombed and in an area which had been occupied by Russian troops. Since they have been living in alternative rented accommodation. When they travel to us, it’ll be the first time they have ever left Ukraine and have never flown before (I’m told this is quite common amongst Ukrainians).
Already it has been quite a learning curve for us and still much more to absorb and adapt to. One outstanding point so far was the visa application process. We were expecting a long, tortuous battle with the Home Office but we were gobsmacked when all three were approved in 36 hours, giving our guests permission to reside here for three years, plus work, benefits, health, education and so on.
Things going on in the Quirky Museum
This year is the year we renew the bathroom, kitchen and laundry. The bathroom is next week, providing everything goes to plan – it should do as it’s being done by Chris our friendly plumber who knows the house well having installed our central heating.
The kitchen and laundry are scheduled to take place in June and will take 2½ weeks. This will be more involved (and therefore expensive) but I’m fairly confident it should be successful. This work will be taking place after our guests arrive, from a practical point of view this is not ideal but not impossible to overcome. We will set up a little kitchen in the conservatory with a microwave and a hot plate and probably quite a lot of takeaways! Local friends, feel free to invite us….
The bathroom, laundry and kitchen were last refitted in the 1980s. Since then tastes and functions have changed, although we are incorporating our vintage microwave into the new design but not the gas powered tumble drier (that is definitely going).
As with all of those things, I am excited by them. For Rachel it is a little unsettling and will be pleased once everything is finished.
With building things in mind, we have again consulted an expert in period building construction as we wanted advice about insulating our solid walls. We had a delightful couple of hours hearing all about the different types of lime mortar (I won’t bore you with all the ins and outs, especially as I don’t fully understand them).
While old buildings with solid walls may not be the most thermally efficient, providing the building can ‘breathe’ through the bricks, we should be free of any dampness. Solid walls which don’t ‘breathe’ become damp and damp walls are cold. Thankfully ours seem to be reasonably dry, save one corner of the downstairs toilet in the oldest part of the house. The building technology of yesteryear actually has a lot going for it, in many cases it has stood the test of time.
In summer we have air-conditioning, of sorts. We open the cellar windows and the door into the house. Then we open a Velux window in the attic and hey presto – cooled air being drawn up through the house – it really does work.
All this has reminded us that we are merely custodians of the house. Each owner has made alterations and adaptations to the modern living of the day and we are no different. We may look around and see some things which, in hindsight, may be unwise by today’s standards together with the overarching preference of repairing, instead of restoring or refurbishing. We are so pleased we kept the original windows at the front, a Victorian extension. It would be absolute vandalism to replace them with plastic double glazing but they do need look after (one of my summer jobs this year).
We are far more accepting of some uneven floors and other imperfections in knowing the oldest part of the building has history spanning 400 years. I look at the worn flagstone steps going down into the cellar – how many people have walked up and down? Who were they? How did they live?
Even though we are mindful of the need for a sensitive approach with the building, it is quite in order to have some modern fittings. Just as well with our new kitchen, although over time it will, no doubt, become incredibly dated. I quite like the contrast between old and modern, just like my Apple computer sitting on an old desk. It works well.
Thank you to my friend Phil who provided me, some time ago, with a list of experts from the grandly named Listed Properties Owner’s Club. Thankfully we are not listed.