A Mild Case of Dupuytren's Contracture

My father has lumpy palms which I had thought were callouses or some kind of arthritis or something. Then about a year ago a similar lump appeared on my right palm. Didn't bother me much as it didn't hurt and, given as how I am my father's son, hardly surprising - more "Ho, hum, here we go: the start of old age crumbling."

Then a facebook friend posted a picture of his bandaged hand following surgery for Dupuytren's contracture. I Googled the condition and there was picture of a hand looking just like mine!

Wikipedia picture

My hand

Dad's hand

(sorry about the colour - iPhone in low light level)

According to Wikipedia:

• "It is an inherited proliferative connective tissue disorder" - tick! like father like son.
• "The ring finger and little finger are the fingers most commonly affected." - tick! both Dad's ring fingers show it, now my right hand, I expect the left is a matter of time.
• "Dupuytren's contracture progresses slowly and is usually painless." - phew! certainly true in Dad's case so here's hoping.

At least I know what my hands will look like in 27 years time.

Sotto Le Stelle 06 - Stone Works

Cisternino, Puglia, Italy.

Since our visit last weekend the builder has been working hard implementing a number of the decisions...


Expanding the niche

The niche at the top of the entrance stairs is being expanded down to floor level to provide storage probably for coats. Every cc of storage space is vital is this apartment.


Removing the dividing wall

The big decision was to remove the dividing wall between the two rooms. This is possible because it is not structural. The dismantling is being done carefully because we expect to recycle a number of the stones for blocking up a doorway and possible works on the roof. Already you can see how spectacular the vaulted ceiling will be. The dividing line will need to be sand-blasted to bring it up to the same colour as the rest.


Re-framing the well head niche

The right hand edge of the well head was lower quality tufa - a soft porous rock - now replaced with better quality stone at Saverio's suggestion. We will retain the pulley wheel as a feature, possibly with a miniature bucket for a bit of whimsy. The well shaft itself will be blocked off; the cistern below is no longer in use and has been opened up as a garage underneath the building.


Terrace - Lighting wiring

There will be lighting and a power socket or two round the edge of the roof terrace for the balmy Italian summer evenings on the roof.


Terrace - chimneys

The stainless steel exhaust chimney from the "fornello pronto" on the ground floor has been lowered and is being encased in stone. All the neighbours' chimneys will be aesthetically improved with a stone casing.


Terrace - roof access, boiler niche

The central heating boiler will be housed in a newly-created external niche, mainly, it would appear, on safety grounds. That also has the advantage of not taking up internal space. We are not having a solar panel and hot water tank on the roof. It would appear that the design of modern boilers means that it doesn't make economic nor environmental sense.

Only four weeks till our next visit when we choose the kitchen fittings. I am expecting to see big changes.

Sotto Le Stelle 05 - Structural Decisions

A weekend for big decisions on Sotto le Stelle so the builder can crack on with the works.

One can have loads of alternative plans but there is nothing like being in the physical space to make the decisions firm. Saverio, the builder, needed to know where to put the wiring and plumbing so we had to decide the basic layout. The key decisions made were:

• the heating will be underfloor
• the kitchen area will be a linear range, not peninsular, not U-shaped
• the kitchen units will be (left to right): fridge, dishwasher, sink, cooker, hob
• the bathroom will be (clockwise), handbasin, shower head, shower entrance, loo
• the stairwell ceiling lump under the sink will be boxed over not lowered
• the washing machine will go at the top of the stairs to the roof
• we will not have alternative washing machine plumbing laid in to the chimney niche
• there will be no solar panel nor hot water tank on the roof
• locations of power sockets and TV ariel socket decide
• the door straight ahead at the top of the entrance stairs will be blocked off
• and the big one - the dividing wall is to go, apart from a small stub by the kitchen range

Mary explains the plan to Chris and John

Our neighbours are part of the planning committee. We have consulted with our friends to gather as many ideas as possible.


Kitchen Wall (street to the left)

The niche on the left wall might be used for storage. Fridge at the left hand end then the dishwasher. The sink will be centred in the big niche, which used to be a door through to next door. The oven will be in front of the well opening, then the hob with extractor fan above.



Stairs from street, stairs to roof, bathroom

Most vertical walls will be re-plastered. After some discussion we took Saverio's advice and decided to leave the stonework of this wall exposed to make a feature of it. The bathroom arch will need to be partially narrowed to provide privacy for the loo just on the inside to the right and to accommodate the door which will open outwards.


The former loo and street-side Juliet balcony

The niche to the left is, in fact, a fireplace with chimney above. A previous owner had built a small cupboard to contain the WC and the tiniest handbasin ever. We toyed with fitting the washing machine there but decided storage space was more valuable and are putting the washing machine at the top of the roof stairs.


Doorway at the top of the entrance stairs

At the top of the street stairs there are two doors: one straight ahead into the long room (bedroom / living room), one to the left into the square room (kitchen / dining room). One option considered was cutting a step into the double height threshold as it is too high for a single step. It would lead straight into the bedroom area. We are keeping our options open on how to separate bedroom from living area. However space is very tight and so the best plan is to block the door up and gain some floor space round the bed. Access will be via the other rooms.



Living room end of the long room (valley to the right)

The sofa bed will go against the end wall. The dividing wall to the left will go - apart from a low wall that will form the end of the kitchen units and mark a boundary between the two halves of what will now be a large open plan space. The result will be a spectacular full view of the complete ceiling arch.


Bedroom end of the long room

The niche on the left was filled in and plastered over. The works revealed it and opened it up - space is at a premium and every cubic centimetre is to be recovered. The blocked up doorway straight in front will become clothes storage space. The far right doorway will be blocked up. The wall between the pillar and the nearer door will go.


Window in the valley wall

This provides some much needed natural light in the darkest corner of the room which will be the bedroom end of the long room.


Damaged corbel

I had spotted the damaged corbel which we guess was hacked off to allow tall wardrobes to be positioned against the wall. It clearly offended Saverio's sense of rightness and was already on his list to repair.


Chimneys

We were surprised to see so much scaffolding at the front when we arrived. Turned out the neighbour saw our works and commissioned Saverio to sand blast and re-surface his adjoining frontage at the same time - while the scaffolding and the equipment was all there.

None of these chimneys belong to us apart the the stubby one bottom right. Saverio, bless him, has persuaded the neighbours below and next door to re-vamp their stacks so that we will see stone rather than asbestos, concrete and stainless steel - a far more aesthetically pleasing outlook. Methinks there was possibly some quality negotiating done here involving scaffolding and chimneys.

It is good to have made some basic decisions after so much soul searching. Next month's visit will involve more deciding - probably mostly to do with kitchen units and appliances.

Peaches and Blue Third Anniversary

It was on Valentine's Day 2010 that we formally adopted Peaches and Blues from Cats Protection. How appropriate as we love them to bits.


First ever sight of Blue and Peaches

We went down to the Cats Protection National Cat Centre to look at a cute kitten and came away with two mature persians.


Blue relaxing in the Garden

They soon settled in and adopted a classic feline lifestyle with plenty of snoozing and general lying about.


Peaches relaxing in the laundry basket

We bought them warm, cozy baskets which they, of course, ignored and preferred to sleep anywhere else: on the back of the sofa, the piano stool, on our bed, on the stairs...


Peaches being a Health and Safety hazard on the stairs

Blue provides me with regular amusement just by being herself and by being extra cute.


Blue being cute in the bath

Both cats regularly sleep on the breakfast room chairs hence this, one of my favourite photos:


Peaches wondering where supper is

Mary's excellent photo and current wallpaper:


Jungle cat

A selection of the best photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmclellan/sets/72157632589954950/detail/

Cleaning the Wandle February 2013

Three months since the last community clean up but I had excuses: cataract op, South African visitor, visiting MIL in Scotland. At least I have broken my duck early for 2013 so let's see how many I can make this year.

A bit chilly but I had taken the precaution of wearing my walking long johns and extra thick socks. This month it was a revisit to the Kimber Road stretch - previous visits here include January 2012 and August 2009 plus, quite possibly, others I have missed.


Kimber Road bridge with post office trolley

Despite previous clean ups there was still plenty of junk to be hauled out of the river. As before in this stretch there was a reasonable haul of shopping trolleys.


Hauling a shopping trolley out of the river.

The river was flowing fast and deep in places and it was getting chillier and chillier. I not not unhappy when they called an early finish at 3:30. There were plenty of volunteers helping load the rubbish onto the lorry so I left them to it and went home for a soak in the bath to warm up.

A full set of photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmclellan/sets/72157632731796799/detail/

More about The Wandle Trust.

Sotto Le Stelle 04 - Sand blasting

The latest batch of photos from Pietro show all manner of progress. The stonework is being sandblasted inside and out and is coming up very sparkly white and new looking.


Sandblasted ceiling star

The plaster removal had revealed a blocked up alcove. Given as how storage space is at a premium it was a no-brainer to have that opened up again.


New alcove uncovered

A key long-term maintenance task was to have the roof repointed to prevent any further water ingress. There was some evidence in the stained ceiling plaster. This should sort that out.


Roof terrace repointed

I wasn't expecting to have the roof stonework sand blasted. The interior yes, the facades maybe but this wasn't on my list. It does all look very wonderful but after a few years I am sure the weather will tone it down a bit.


Roof access sand blasted

Less exciting but still as essential is getting the plumbing up to standard while the floors are up and the place is still a building site.


Plumbed upgraded

So much to see since our last visit when we bought the place. It was bare of furniture and still very much as seen. Next trip it will look very different. That is when we finalise the big decisions about where to put bathroom, kitchen and bedroom.

Cirque du Soleil - Kooza

Royal Albert Hall, London. Saturday 19-January-13

Our friend Ros was not able to use her tickets so we bought them off her and had an early birthday outing for Mary. Most of the reviews out there summed up our experience pretty much - spectacular acts, especially the Wheel of Death, great live band, too much clowns.

What was more interesting for me was which acts we found hard to watch. The trio of bendy Asian women appeared to have spines made of rubber and watching them made me feel distinctly queasy. Conversely Mary couldn't bear to watch anything with the risk of a fall - the high-wire act, the trapeze artiste and the Wheel of Death.

I thought the teeterboard act was impressive, especially doing multiple back-flips on a mono stilt, but the wheel of death was universally singled out, quite rightly, as the massively impressive act of the show. To quote The Telegraph review "You watch with your heart in your mouth because there isn’t a safety wire in sight and the act sets the whole house on a roar of delicious excitement and dread. At moments like this it is easy to forgive Cirque du Soleil its cheesier excesses."

The "Much Sought After" Tonsleys

We live on the edge of a half-kilometer square of two- and three-story, Victorian, terraced houses known as "The Tonsleys" (Tonsley Street, Tonsley Road, Tonsley Place, Tonsley Hill and other streets) - bounded by Fairfield Street, East Hill, Trinity Road and Swandon Way (inside that green square). Or as they are often described by estate agents as "the much sought after Tonsleys".

To quote an old article in The Independant: "Because of the village atmosphere and convenient transport, the Tonsleys attract young professional couples who, living in small properties, have to begin thinking of moving when they start planning to have children. Some move to a larger house within the Tonsleys, but when the next child arrives they have to move again, out of the Tonsleys altogether.

Since working in Victoria I now walk to Clapham Junction and in the 7 ½ minutes it takes me to cross The Tonsleys I counted two Aston Martins, four Porsche and un-numbered Audis, BMWs and Chelsea Tractors. Who knows what is parked in the other streets and we haven't seen the Ferrari for a while.

Two Aston Martins and a Porsche

I get a monthly update from OurProperty.co.uk - here are sales from the last three months in Tonsley Place / Road / Hill:

2 Tonsley Place £670,000

7 Tonsley Road £620,000

80 Tonsley Hill £875,000

41 Tonsley Place £1,150,000

32 Tonsley Road £975,000

For more up to date prices see the OurProperty.co.uk search.

Clearly not for the young graduate trainee. It was not always such an affluent area according to the cabbie I had the other week. Brought up in Southfields and went to school nearby. He claimed - "no word of a lie" - that 80% of the kids from the Tonsleys were on free school meals. How times change.

Now if we could just move our house one street along!

[Yeah, I know, then we wouldn't have been able to afford it in the first place]

Sotto Le Stelle 03 - Walls Stripped Bare

The builder is in, the plaster is off, rubble is away and the wonderful vaulting is revealed.

Pietro has been taking photos and sending us regular updates on the cleaning.


Cleaning the plaster off the walls and ceiling

Where the arches of the vaults meet each other at right angles you get a lovely "Christmas star".


Christmas Star

The stonework will be sand-blasted and repointed. The plan is to plaster the vertical surfaces and leave the arches stonework exposed. Which walls get re-plastered depends on how we plan the re-build. The jury is still out on that.



We will also need to put in some additional steps to improve access to the stairs up to the roof.


Stairs from street and up to terrace

Saverio spotted that the doorway into the kitchen had traces of an arch. Here he has taken away the narrowing walls to reveal a wonderful, elegant arch.


Archway into the Kitchen

The external walls also need cleaning, repointing and painting. So up goes 14 metre scaffolding.


Scaffolding on valley side

We go out in mid-February to see the progress for ourselves (and pay the first part payment). Seeing the apartment "in the flesh" may help firm up our remodelling decisions. Can't wait.

Loads of photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmclellan/collections/72157632449775651/

Thames Path 05 - Thames Barrier to Erith

To help walk off the New Year's Eve indulgences we planned the next stage of our Thames Path walk. The idea had been to walk the eight miles from Staines to Windsor and Eton Riverside but flooding caused by recent rains had other ideas. Instead we went for the recently opened extension from the Thames Barrier downstream to the River Darent.

Lynn, John, Ros, Bob Mark (me), Mary

The route took us past Thamesmead (mostly social housing developments built in the late 1960s) and Crossness Pumping Station (a sewage pumping station designed by engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette at the eastern end of the Southern Outfall Sewer). The latter is a Grade I listed building and looks like a must see for fans of steam engines and Victorian engineers. Write up of the route: http://www.thames-path.org.uk/thames_charlton_crayford.html

It was a glorious sunny day as we set off and stayed that way. The one downside of this stretch was the absence of anything other than housing and industrial estates; no shops and no pubs for our normal lunch stop. As a result we kept walking and, after nearly three hours uninterrupted walking, decided to call it a day and peeled off at Erith for the train home.

Distance this leg 13.2 km
Previous legs 105.4 km
Total so far 118.6 km

New Year’s Eve 2012 / 2013

Mary has been travelling so much she wanted a quiet festive season at home. We had cancelled our planned trip to Ghana and settled for a dinner party for 10 instead. We provided the main course whilst other provided canapés, desserts and cheeses.

We started off with a blind wine tasting for a bit of fun – four sparkling wines – just to see what people made of them without preconceptions from seeing the labels. Personal preferences varied and everyone reckoned that one or other of the South African wines was French.

A - Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 1996 (M&M cellar, current price £150!!!)
B - Waitrose Blanc de Noir NV (Waitrose, £20.99) - Mary meant to buy their award winning vintage one @ £24.99 but it was sold out
C - Simsonsig Cuvée Royale 2005 (sawinesonline.co.uk, £14.50)
D - Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blancs 2008 (sawinesonline.co.uk, £13.99)

Chateau Meyney 1989, Chateau Canon de Brem 1998

A couple of fine clarets to go with the steak. The meal lasted from 7pm to midnight followed by more chat till 2 in the morning, past my normal bedtime.

Five people stayed over so I am grateful that the local launderette does a service wash for all the bedding otherwise the house would still be festooned with sheets and duvet covers.

The Goose is Getting Fat

Our 4.5 kilo goose generated a whole litre of fat. Goose fat is recommended for roasting potatoes so we wanted to keep it but not as one great lump. We hit upon the cunning wheeze of freezing it in cup-cake cases then bagging up ready to dispense in handy sized portions throughout the year.

We used the first block on New Year's Eve to create some very tasty roasties :-)

Christmas 2012

This year it was our turn to host my parents for Christmas lunch. We take turns with my brother and sister; Mary aims to do the same for her mum with her sister and brother; last year we hosted Mary's Mum in the Lake District. Although it doesn’t always quite work out that way that is the plan,

This year we decided to go for goose and the excuse to open some fine wine from the cellar.

Chateau LaLagune 1993

Decanting over a candle is so 19th century, I use a torch instead. I also use a laboratory grade filter to strain the dregs and sediment and squeeze out an extra small glass for use in the gravy or drinking later. I used to use a coffee filter but that gave some paper taste taint - a lab paper works a treat.

Mum and Dad arrived mid morning by taxi for a late lunch and a relaxing afternoon and evening. They stayed over so were with us for Boxing Day breakfast and lunch. We were trying to feed Dad up as he had lost some weight with recent illness and needed fattening up - he certainly seemed to have regained his appetite.

A full fridge is a happy fridge

Then we relayed them over to my brother’s in St Margaret’s for supper with Sarah’s family and a couple of nephews.

More good food and good company although there was a surfeit of desserts – Sarah having gone into overdrive in the sweet department.