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The council's old fart's visitor is coming around lunchtime today. I still have more doors to frame in architrave. Lots more tidying to do.
The kitchen door to the front hall had to make do with "pillars". There is literally nowhere for a top rail to fit due to a joist.
Somebody wise said that attracting visitors was a great way of ensuring progress. Left entirely to my own devices I wonder how much I would have done. It is certainly true that I would feel deeply ashamed if the place had remained untouched.
There was a distinct sense of pent up jobs being unleashed when my wife died. My late wife was no longer supportive of any jobs I did in the house. It always meant clearing up the mess of [usually] sawdust.
Being suddenly freed of these constraints meant I was able to do [almost] anything I liked. Within a strict budget. It allowed me to vent my anger, at the totally unexpected loss of my dear wife, in a constructive and creative manner.
Filling the long, sad, empty hours, without her familiar company, demanded action. Yet, at the same time, I enjoyed the familiarity of having her things around me. Which made the guilt of parting with much of it all the more painful.
Inwardly I may have over-exaggerated her connection to much of it. Most of it was accumulated years ago. When we were still doing the rounds of charity shops and flea markets. Constantly looking for bargains. It was usually boxed or distributed throughout the house and largely forgotten. Though I was never allowed to touch "her stuff."
Visitors were limited to the annual sweeping of the chimney. Now I look back I think my wife was similarly ashamed of the "fullness" of the house. Not with household rubbish [which it never was] but the excess of furniture. All packed to the gills with collectables. Every nook and cranny housing recycled objects.
I was no more innocent in this accumulation than she was. The lack of "witnesses" to our combined clutter only reinforced the need to remain totally isolated. My wife put all her energy into her gardening. Within a regime which almost amounted to solitary confinement. She hardly ventured beyond the gate for years. Having such a miserable bunch of pig ignorant neighbours only reinforced her total isolation. So things and everything around us stagnated.
Nothing changed over the years except for the size of the TV. She would spend hours watching gardening or château restoration videos or programmes. While I filled my time on the computer. Or in the observatory. Or building another. Or making more instruments to add to its contents.
I had the distinct advantage of doing the shopping. So I got out and had regular, if trivial, contact with other people. She had no contact with anybody else, at all. Except for me of course. She resented having to go out and complained that the car seat was uncomfortable. A variety of cushions were tried and always found wanting.
Looking back I must accept that my wife was deeply depressed. She would not have any dealings with the doctor. She rarely had any satisfaction from contact with the health service. Blood tests were always negative or the condition untreatable. She suffered from neuralgia in her neck for decades. She was never going to accept a risky operation in the vain hope of a cure. So she took over the counter pain killers. Perhaps they damaged her liver. Leading to the cancer which killed her.
7.00 Windy and overcast with steady rain. Should I put on my winter coat and venture forth? A walk is so vital to my fitness for the day ahead. A cure-all for every ache and pain. Both mental and physical. A little, temporary discomfort is nothing compared to the benefits.
8.15 I put on my winter jacket and headed off into the rain. Which proved to be rather less than imagined. I quickly tired of taking to the verge to avoid commuter's tyre spray. So I detoured around the edges of a field. It was a bit wet and muddy but nothing to worry about in my walking boots.
My jacket is now hanging up to dry. Which will be a slow process unless I light the wood stove. It is presently 65F/13C upstairs. Which I find quite comfortable at the moment. I shall be moving about, tidying all the tools away, once I finish morning coffee.
The morning was spent tidying, vacuuming and cleaning in readiness. My visitor arrived and we talked for ages. It would be difficult to imagine anybody more gifted than she is at communication. She puts me so completely at ease and able to discuss anything and everything. She says she loves her job and it shows. She really is excellent and it is always a pleasure to talk to her.
14.15. 52F outside. Just finished lunch. The strong wind and lower temperatures have had a real impact on indoor comfort levels. 64F upstairs. 60F downstairs. It was fine when I was busy but sitting still proved it was too cold. There is a gap and daylight all around the entrance door. That must be attended to. I can't afford a new door. So I must make a new one. A much better one than the last. Which I made from 6" [150mm] T&G floorboards. It shrank in summer and swelled in winter. I shall use the grooved plywood this time.
20.40 51F. Just returned from visiting my British friend. Where I was invited to stay for a meal. Tasty stew. I was getting advice on cooking and preparation. While studying the kitchen layout ans decor. For ideas I might be able to use at home. I am beginning to like really overall white for walls and ceilings. It brightens up a room quite spectacularly.
I had lit the stove before I left at 15.00. With one large beech log on top of the kindling. The temperature in the lounge had shot up from 60 to 67F. [15-19C] in ten minutes. It was still showing 64F in the lounge after 5½ hours. The stove's stone casing was still warm but not hot. The ashes on the grate were modest and cool. 64F/13C upstairs too. Only 61F in the unheated kitchen.
When I am at home I plan to open both hall doors. To see if the kitchen can borrow some heat from the lounge. Though the greenhouse, double door really needs to be better sealed. They were a fine, secondhand pair with double glazing, but no draught sealing strips. Being enclosed by the greenhouse reduced the need for sealing but not completely. The greenhouse is a bit draughty in windy conditions. I haven't attended to this yet. The sponge sealing strip against the house all has disintegrated over time.
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