Wednesday 28th July - Thump! Crash! Clang! Rrrrrrrr!

 They are taking down the defunct chimney as I type (9am)... hammering and drilling out the bricks and chucking them down, clanging against the scaffolding tower, crashing to the ground, flying in a loose arc over the half-dozen cups stacked on a pile of bricks after the first 'arriving on site' coffee-tea run at 7.30am. They like starting early, and clocking off around 4pm, which suits us too.

 Thank heaven for the sound-proofing qualities of double glazing, I say. And also thank heavens that our 90-year-old neighbours are both a bit deaf now. It won't go on for ever; they are only taking down the lower part, as far as the bedroom windows. I took this picture at close of play yesterday.

At the bottom is the retaining wall for the patio, which is at a higher level than the ground. There will be two broad, shallow steps down to the right - the net wall, running out of shot to the right is the retaining wall for them. Further back is the wall for the extension, coming out around ten feet from the house and running most of the width. We stopped short of the boundary wall so that we didn't disturb our neighbour's property.

The roof, a mix of opening glass panels and solid panel, will slope down towards the garden from just below the bedroom windows, hence the chimney activity. When these houses were built, in the 1950s, most 'modern' houses had a coal stove in the kitchen for heating water, something like this;

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-boiler.htm

I can just remember one in the corner of the kitchen of my first childhood home. When we moved to a larger house in the 1960s my mother INSISTED on full, oil-fired central heating!   

The other big task left before the actual extension is delivered, as far as I know, is moving the soil pipe. At the moment it just clips the corner of the back door frame, which will become the door from the old kitchen to the new kitchen. I can't remember exactly what they settled on; I have a feeling it is going to be directed towards the edge of the end wall and then boxed in.   

The current French windows will be taken out and left as an open archway into the living room part of the extension. There will be very similar French windows opening onto the new patio.

The current kitchen will become a downstairs shower room/loo opening off a utility room  

Well, that's the plan, the dream, the vision....

 At the moment the hup! people (for that's the name of the company making the extension want to deliver everything on Monday... hmmm. There's a slight tension in the air....

......

Ring on the door bell... what now....

'I've come to deliver the glass for your roof?...eight panels?... about 1.5 m by 1 m?...' 

What!!!! 

Three telephone calls later, and he's driving back to wherever he came from, with the glass still loaded. He's at least a week early!

And so life continues...

Thump! Crash! Clang! Rrrrrrr!

Sunday 26th July - John Chapter 3

 I'm reading John's gospel very, very slowly. I print out just one chapter, in a big font size from the King James version, because I like the weightiness of the words, and keep it - don't laugh - by the loo. 

(One of my uncles insisted that the downstairs loo in his house should be wide enough to he could read The Times newspaper, back when it was a broadsheet, in comfort.)

So, anyway, I just read the same few verses, several times a day, until I think I've understood them reasonably well.

After a month I have just embarked upon chapter three;

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.    

         That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

            Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

            The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not                 tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

            Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 

 In just a few verses we have a whole scene; Nicodemus arriving after dark - had he been busy all day, and this was the first chance he'd got? - or was he skulking through the shadows hoping no-one would see him visiting Jesus? 

He comes seeking answers, and all he gets is riddles. Was he puzzled by Jesus's response? Or irritated?

Am I puzzled? Or am I irritated? 

The first mention of the Spirit is, famously, right at the beginning of Genesis. Ruach Elohim. The Spirit, or Breath, of God hovering over the waters.

 

As someone who lives 'an oxygenated life', and spend every day adjusting oxygen flow rates according to whether I'm sitting, reading, playing the piano, wrestling with my Tax Return, cooking, washing up, walking, standing, getting dressed, etc, I am very interested in breath, and the Breath of God, the one as a living, breathing example of the other. 

I'm going to need to spend a bit more time on these verses to try and get my head around them. I think reading other translations of this passage will help.

 

Saturday 25th July - another hot, airless day

 

I think she has found the word for the season...

Friday 24th July - the story so far;

1This morning the front garden looked like this;

But by 9am it looked like this;

The mound was from digging out the soakaway in the middle of the grass area at the back (I can't, in all conscience, call it a 'lawn'), and finishing off the foundation for the extension, and digging out the foundation for the retaining wall around the patio. 

I stood and admired the skill and delicacy of the man operating the great grabbing jaws on his lorry, picking up the earth and rubble and swinging it round without leaving a trace in its path. 

Here's how the extension looks now;

This is the extension from the side. The new side door from the kitchen will be where that coffee cup (with the broken handle? It was fine when I handed it to them!!) sits on the wall.

The hole on the other side of the wall is where they have begun to dig out around the current manhole access for the drains. On Monday they will put in the new cover, outside the extension, and they told us it would be a good idea to plan  to make 'alternative arrangements for using  the loo on Tuesday or Wednesday for a few hours, perhaps you could go out for the day or something?'   Hint taken... I certainly don't fancy using their portaloo!

I thought I had taken another picture showing the patio area... it's too dark now so I'll do that tomorrow. 

Getting through the mechanical jungle to water the plants at the bottom is like some kind of crazy aptitude test, but we achieved it.

....

It usually takes me three attempts to get a new knitted square for the collaboration going... this time appears to be no different. It might be third time lucky... the first half dozen rows look ok. And it's such a straightforward pattern too!

....

Two 'wins' today;

I took an oxygen cylinder for a little 10 minute walk, just a few houses up the street and back. It was so hot I couldn't manage to walk far without pausing for breath, but it was pleasant to look at the flowers in people's front gardens and see the bees almost beside themselves with ecstasy over the flowers of what I think was a yellow buddleia.

and

 I spent some time playing the piano today, the first time in days weeks. Scales to start with... they are so deeply embedded in my memory now that they are easy to play, but it took some time before my fingers started moving properly with the notes sounding together. Then Debussy's 'Little Shepherd' which I'm currently teaching, and revisiting (in VERY slow motion!) the gigue from the French Suite in G major by Bach. I think it must have been about 1973 when I learned it! It's a terrific romp. I love the way the opening tune is thrown about from one hand to the other.

Here's Andras Schiff;

Thursday 23rd July - it's a square swap!

11 A tale of four squares...

Here's number one - a very simple two-stripe pattern. I chose one of the easiest patterns in the boo because I knew I didn't have much brain. To make it slightly more interesting, I thought I would use Sirdar Crofter, which is supposed to knit up into a Fair Isle type pattern, and a different yarn that is self striping, gradually changing to the next colour. 

Square no 1.

And I was right about the brain power; about half-a-dozen rows in, I discovered I had cast on three too few stitches. I just added some stitches to the end of the row and kept on going. I like the square, but it was too wonky to send to Ang. 

Square 2;

I like the way it shades from dark blue stripes to light blue. But wait, what have I done with square 1? After a few days searching, I gave up and embarked upon square number 3: 

This had a nice little riff on Breton stripes; Ang will like that, I thought. But then square 2 had gone missing...

This was getting ridiculous. 

So, I knitted square 4, and halfway through squares 1, 2 and 3 mysteriously reappeared. How do they do that?

I sent two squares to Ang, and kept number 1 and another for for myself. But which one? I can't remember; you'll have to wait until Ang posts about her parcel!

She's written about the square she sent to me here;  

and here's what came in the post yesterday for me;

A square which really looks like the sea on a sunny day, two rolls of very thin (very useful!) Washi tape in seashell colours, and lovely stitching markers, with seashell coloured beads. It really cheered me up! - thank you 😊 

I've had a trying couple of days what with one thing and another; the swaps always seem to arrive on a day when they would be most appreciated.

Thursday 23th July - My Oxygenated Life - hot dry weather

 Hey ho.

All this hot weather hasn't actually been 'too much' for me - at least, no more exhausting for me than for anyone else. We have worked out how to keep the house cool by wedging the front door and windows and back door and windows open as often as possible, creating an effective through draft even if there isn't much of a breeze outside.

Obviously when the builders are creating a huge din , or doing something very dusty, like cutting up the concrete slab that was under the old garage, then we have to shut the back doors and endure the stuffiness for a couple of hours, but it's not been too bad.

My main issue has been nosebleeds - my word - how one can get through the tissues! I've had four in the last fortnight, that last one this morning. So far I've managed to quell them in around 10-20 minutes. Obviously staying calm and still is the way to go, but it's very scary when they suddenly start.

'Pinch the bridge of your nose for at least 10 minutes' is surprisingly hard to do but it eventually does the trick. I wonder if I can adapt one of my husband's modelling clamps to do the job for me? 

This is happening mostly because of the extremely dry air and and the constant forced flow of oxygen through my nose which has dried the membrane and made it fragile. I should have been using a water-based lubricant, like Knect, (NEVER use petroleum jelly in your nose, and especially if you are an oxygen user)

and I do have some, but I was not diligent in taking care of myself. Lesson learned. If you think it looks like rebranded KY jelly, you are not wrong...

I've also been having issues with my mouth drying out, especially overnight, so that I'd wake in the wee small hours with my tongue and cheeks completely dry, like sandpaper. So beastly uncomfortable. The dentist recommended Oralieve, so, after checking with the chest clinic nurses in case of medication conflicts, I sent off for the starter pack. 

Oh, the relief! I can massively recommend the products; toothpaste, spray and gel and lip salve (I haven't tried the lozenges yet). Although I note in the very, very small print that the spray and gel might not be suitable for people with milk allergies. There is a magnifying glass within easy reach for small print!

I've bought a second spray and gel to have by the bed.

I'm particularly pleased that there is a lip salve; because oxygen users are not supposed to use petroleum, beeswax or lanolin products I've been stuck for something to help with dry lips over winter. I should make it clear I'm not gaining anything by mentioning these products, but if you are looking for something like this, you could give them a try. And I'm not a medical expert.

So there we have it. Would that life could be simpler! But it's not so complicated that we - my husband and I - can't cope between us.