Running on Empty
What happens when you miscalculate your oil delivery
Bleeding heating
After spending another Friday sitting at my desk doing more work than I’d hoped (I don’t work Friday’s apparently, but no-one told my boss*), I went into the living room for the weekday ritual of Richard Osman’s House of Games and a cuddle with the dog on the floor.
*I’m my boss and we haven’t invested in an HR department.
As I leant against the usually cosy radiator, I noticed it was cool, not cold, but not roasty toasty. I asked Erik if he turned the heating off, but no, which could only mean the boiler had finally given up or we were out of oil. Now the boiler had been a bit noisier since we had a show and tell for a recent retrofit survey but there was no reason to think that after 30 odd years the trusty, creaky, cranky back boiler had finally given up the ghost, was there?
No there wasn’t, we had run out of oil.
Bugger.
Thankfully, it was the weekend when I generally spend more time outside and we’re able to hunker down in front of the fire, but it did make the 2 hours in my office on Saturday quite unpleasant. Monday was also a bit of a horror as I had a day of full ‘on’ meetings and it was about 8 degrees. Brrr…
The thing is I did order oil, just not far enough in advance. Evidently it can take up to two weeks to get a delivery. The wagons only come over when they have a few deliveries otherwise it becomes very expensive. It’s probably a 6 hour round trip and because of the size and weight of the tanker it’s not a cheap ferry ride, none of them are to be fair. I did think about popping into the shop on Saturday to check up but I decided I’m not a complete arse, so we waited and I was rewarded on Tuesday morning as I watched a Highland Fuel tanker driving off the boat - yes I was using binoculars!
However, we then hit another snag. We thought it best to let the oil rest in the tank to allow any sediment that might have been churned up to settle back to the bottom, only when the time came and I tapped the on button, nothing happened. This led to two hours of googling, YouTube and frustration as Erik hunted down how to bleed a boiler. You see because didn’t immediately notice that the oil had run, air had been sucked up the pipes. I haven’t asked exactly how he did it as I think he was pretty narked by the end of it, but I did thank him profusely and I am ever so grateful. The house is slowly warming up, but we did still need a fire last night, if only for Kiki!
Eyes, bloods and birds
Last July when I was visiting family in Tunbridge Wells, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get my eyes tested. It’s not that we don’t have an optician here but I was in town and we were walking past one of those famous eye places so I popped in and that is how easy it was. No 6 week wait or ferry journey. I just walked right in! Anyway, not only has my short-sightedness become more short, but I may need reading glasses, yikes! Also my eye blood vessels were looking a little bit off and so the optician wrote a letter for my GP and I fully intended to get it checked out.
Seven months later I went to see my GP about it, not because I couldn’t get an appointment but because I kept forgetting. Hello brain fog. It wasn’t until I was getting ready to leave and picked up the letter that I thought I should read it…all it said was that I should get my blood pressure checked! And so I prepared myself for an awkward conversation, using up NHS time on something that felt relatively pointless, which it was. Blood pressure is perfect. But while we were chatting, we do that here because they have time, he mentioned I’d never had my cholesterol checked and given my advancing age and family history, we thought it would be a good idea.
Which is why I found myself pootling along the coastal road to town (village) early on a moderately calm Wednesday morning. When I say early, I mean 8:45am, which is still early enough to see the birds stretching their wings and chatting with their friends. Driving past some of the fields, I noticed they were chock full, and I mean FULL to the brim, of curlews and oyster catchers. It was a wonder to see. Since then, you can’t move for them, ok that might be a slight exaggeration, but every time I look outside, I see a few oyster catchers pecking away in the grass and the curlew now serenade my daily walks. It’s delightful.
Sunday morning’s experience however, won the show.
It’s hard to explain, my writing hasn’t yet reached the dizzying heights of creating vivid descriptions which transport people to the moment, the feeling or the place. So instead, I’ll say it in my words. They are the only ones I have after all.
This morning was a misty cacophony. A flock of gulls appeared out of nowhere, I couldn’t quite make them all out through the mist, but it took me back to days spent in Scarborough or Hastings. In spite of living right by the sea, our gulls remain fairly quiet. This flock however, reminded me of the chip stealing gulls you get across towns and cities - they seem to make a different, more urgent and far noisier call.
In the distance I could just about make out the gaggle of geese grazing with the sheep hidden behind them, four starlings were perched on the power lines and a lone hooded crow stood sentinel on a fence post. Add in the curlew, oyster catchers and distant lapwing, it was an utter delight.
The daffodils are popping up all around, the trees are budding, even my tiny little hawthorn saplings, and Kiki was delightedly following a rabbit scent round the garden. The perfect start to a Sunday, topped off by going back to bed with a pot of tea and Queen Macbeth.
On that
What I’m reading: Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
What I’m listening to: Wintering by and The Bright Sessions podcast - an easy random sci-fi listen
What I’m watching: currently bingeing Apple TV thanks to a free 3-month trial - The Morning Show, Severance and Bad Sisters
Currently sowing: nothing, not yet but I have started excitedly going through my seeds and have two seed trays prepped ready to go.
What are you sowing?
I worked on Bad Sisters
Loved the audio, it made me chuckle 😅 great writing!