“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Not my words, but those of St Paul marvelling at how swiftly his new windows were installed in 54 AD. And so it was with us—maybe not in the twinkling of an eye (400 milliseconds, apparently), but still, fitting sixteen windows and a door in eight working days is definitely going it some.
It was done with sort of military precision I usually associate with the Royal Engineers building a bridge, or a colony of ants making off with my devilled eggs at a picnic. It was like being sacked by the ancient Assyrians, if the ancient Assyrians had thought to bring their own vacuum cleaners and tidied up after themselves. We knew some of the old wood was rotting, but the biggest surprise was when the workmen uncovered a large wasps’ nest inside one of the frames (though presumably our surprise was nothing compared with that of the wasps). “They were really loud, couldn’t you hear the buzzing?” the foreman asked, little realising I’d just put it down to tinnitus.
Grasses in the Wind
In gansey news I am well on the way to finishing the gansey, just the bottom of the second sleeve and the cuff to go. At such times I always think of the wise words of the Constable of France in Henry V, an experienced knitter: “A very little little let us do, and all is done.” It will be touch and go to finish this by the end of the month—it’s a meaningless deadline anyway—but the little left to do really is kinda little.
Meadowsweet
One consequence of getting double glazing is that the world seems quieter and further away. The noise of the funfair is reduced to dull pounding far off in the distance, like washing your hair in the bath while listening to Led Zeppelin. It’s already less draughty, too, as you’d hope; last year on windy days the bedroom was so well-ventilated blowflies got discouraged by the headwind. Unfortunately, the rest of the house now looks a bit shabby in comparison. There’s an old “The Broons” cartoon where the family buy a new cushion and end up having to redecorate the entire house, as each thing they renovate makes everything else look shabby, and which ends up with them having to replace the cushion again as the cycle never ends. Hmm. Now I come to look at them, those lounge cushions do seem a bit tired…
Ah, the solution to the new pillow is to wrap a towel around it. Eventually either something will spill or the towel will rub it enough so it goes with the rest. The new windows will fade into the background soon enough.
Good thing the builders got rid of the wasps. Wasps are destructive even when undisturbed.
When I got my new door it was a definite upgrade. The steel coating lets me use magnets to put up reminders. Beats the refrigerator for getting attention.
The gansey pattern stands out so much now, it seems a shame to block it.
Hi Tamar, my main consolation is that it will soon be winter, and I won’t have to worry about the sun coming in the windows and showing up the threadbare furnishings until next spring!
Wasps just seem spiteful by nature, and let’s be honest, would any creature harmless and well-intentioned by nature look that evil by choice? I think not!