Roasting our visitors

The first half of this trip has been full of visitors.

On the Tuesday 19 June, Jim - a work colleague - arrived with his wife Debby and their three youngest daugthers. He is American of Sicilian ancestry and so took the opportunity while working in the UK to get the family over, visit Rome and then drive down to get the ferry over to Sicily. As this was while we where in Puglia I said "Come stay with us" and so he did!

They stayed overnight and left on Wednesday morning the same day as Bill (pictured here buying melons in the local market) arrived for a week. Then on Friday two girl friends of Mary's, Andrea and Elaine, joined us for a very long weekend.

It has been a heatwave round here. Bari reached 47 C (117 F), the hottest since records began. Fortunately up in the hills we peaked at a mere 40 C (104 F)

Everybody left on Wednesday 27 June so now we have ten days to relax on our own.

Midway through our holiday

I have not been blogging because we are halfway through a three week holiday in Italy. This is a quick post as we have just popped into town to pick up a few items. So much to write about so here is a snippet to keep you going.

I did a full stock-take of the garden trees, with the help of our friend Bill who was visiting for a week, and can confirm that we have:

• 9 Olive
• 1 Walnut
• 1 White Mulberry
• 2 Fig
• 2 Pear
• 2 Unknown (probably apricot)

Now all I have to do is find out how to harvest and process raw olives.

Main courtyard before and after

In all the before and after pictures I had managed to miss those of the main courtyard.


Main courtyard before
So here is the very first time we went with the estate agents back in early 2004.


Main courtyard after
And this is how it ended up three and a half years and many euros later.

Our house may be Georgian

I am beginning to suspect our house may not be Victorian (1837-1902) but in fact Georgian (1714-1830).

When we bought the house the vendor told us it was 1890 but there is nothing in the legal paperwork to confirm this date. Stylistically nothing about it really looks late-Victorian: the cube-like overall shape of the building, the horizontal (not-arched) window lintels, the small panes in the sashes, the original wooden shutters, the tall (12 foot, 3.66 meter) ceilings. We have been describing the house to our friends as Victorian but with Georgian dimensions.

On Sunday I was chatting to Jo next door and she tells me we are listed in the 1851 census. Suddenly that makes more sense of the Victorian extension at the back. Why build a house and almost immediately extend it? But if the original property was built at least 40 years earlier that is far more plausible scenario.

Wednesday evening I called in at Battersea Library Local History Service near Clapham Junction to inspect the census which they had on microfilm. It was not possible to identify our property exactly as the street had changed name and length. It was previously North Street and ran all the way to the river.

Apparently a lot of street naming went on at the request of the emergency services because there were so many North Streets, Victoria Roads, etc. There used to be a field where B & Q now stands which was the site of Wandsworth Fair, marked on the 1894 OS map as "Fairfield" hence the new name of our street. I will chat to Jo again then go back armed with the original address.

Further evidence came last night when Mike from The Original Box Sash Windows Company came round to quote for refurbishing the side and back windows. He looked at the bathroom window and exclaimed "Good Lord, I have never seen a window that old!" This from a man whose company specializes in repairing Victorian windows.

He explained that the thin profile of the wood and quality of the joinery spoke to an earlier age of craftsmanship. This was repeated around the house. He also, interestingly pointed out the slightly opaque pane in our bedroom window as "sugar glass" - low quality glass from a repair sometime during WW2.


Wandsworth in 1786

This map from 1786 shows a street there and buildings. North street runs from just above the "W" of Wandsworth to the "r" in Creek. Pickpocket Lane is now, more prosaically, York Road. Unfortunately the scale and detail are not sufficient to confirm anything useful, merely to encourage. Now I am getting excited at the prospect of playing House Detective and researching the true age of our home. Watch this space...

Heartbeat, increasing heartbeat

You hear the thunder of stampeding rhinos, elephants and tacky tigers *

I am back on the bike after two weeks dental recovery. Last week I bought myself a new heart rate monitor and the first cycle into work took 41:00 minutes at an average of 155 bpm. At one point I looked down at the wrist monitor and it was showing 169; who needs to go to the gym for a workout.

Sunday we watched a DVD of "The Queen" starring Helen Mirren where a key theme is the relationship between Blair and HRH. This week Horse Guards Road is closed for the Trooping of the Colour so my route has had to change. In a piece of elegant symmetry my route in takes me up Whitehall past Downing Street and my route home takes me down the Mall past Buck House.

Sunday I pulled the unicycle out of the bike shed known as "Arthur", pumped up the tyres and took it for a wobble round the patio. I have to say it is *not* like riding a bike. I will need more practice even to get back to my previous dubious level of proficiency.

* "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" by Sparks

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe *

The weekend was mostly spent in the garden completing the installation of an irrigation system to keep the plants watered while we are on holiday. This means we will return to a blooming garden unlike last year when absences and hose-pipe bans meant the spring planting did not survive the summer and we had a load of dead and dessicated plants.

It is also a fine example of "constructive laziness". My thighs may ache from hours hopping about in the shrubbery like a frog but that now means no more watering! At the appointed hour the hissing of summer lawns will announce the timer unleashing a trickle of drippers all around the garden.



I also realised that we now have a "wabe": The grass plot around a sundial. It is called a "wabe" because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side. This sundial was my 50th birthday present from the family and lived on the patio at Avon Cottage. Now it is on the Wandsworth lawn I have a "wabe". So that's nice.

* "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll

Austrian Wine Tasting at Charteris Wine Society

Another interesting tasting at the Charteris Wine Society, this time Austrian wines. It is always good to try something different and expand one's wine horizon. This time the wines were ably presented by Christian Malnig of Kipferl, an Austrian Deli just around the corner at 70 Long Lane, London EC1A 9EJ.

I did not know the Gruner Veltliner grape but it seems Austria grows a lot of indigenous varieties and this is the most popular accounting for 36% of the nation's production. Very enjoyable and comparable to the best of Alsace varietals any day. Also it is a nation of small producers; the average grower has a mere 3 hectares!

Christian dealt with the high volume of chatter but doing not so much presenting standing at the front but more visiting each table in turn for a sit down chat. That worked well, especially as the individual attention meant we could ask specific questions.

He and his wife also presented us with platters of Austrian meats and, for the sweet wines, various delicious pastries.

Notes

C: colour; N: nose; P: palette; ** = favourite; -- = not favourite

Whites

Gruner Veltliner Alte Reuben, Selection, Weixelbaum 2005 (GBP 8.99) **

C: mid-yellow; N: peppery / spicy; P rich complex, unctuous, steely aftertaste, bit of acid tingle. My favourite and that of several others.

Gruner Veltliner Seeberg, Matthias Hager, Kamtal 2004 (GBP 14.49)

C: darker yellow; N; Kiwi fruit; P: not as unctuous, smokey

Reisling Reid Gaisberg, Wahre Werte, Weixelbaum 2005 (GBP 10.49) **

C: yellow; N; powerfiul; P: sweetish Alsace style

Rotgipfler Privat, Schaflerhof, Thermenregion 2005 (GBP 8.49) --

N; very little; P slightly hollow, some grip.

Scheurebe (Samling 88), Stefan Potzinger, Sudsteiermark 2006 (GBP 9.98)

C: vary pale; N: v fragrant, lime-green (SB-like); P: tart apple / unripe melon

Red

Blauer Zweigelt, Daniel Jaunegg, Sudsteiermark 2005 (GBP 8.98)

C: purple: N: sour cherry; P: merlot-like, redcurrant / raspberry

Sweet white wines

Traminer, Stefan Potzinger, Sudsteiermark 2003 (GBP 12.49) ** ½

C: deep yellow; N: pungent / sour; P: sweet yet tangy (good with strudel)

Ziefandler Beerenauslese, Beigler, Gumpoldskirchen 2003 (375cl - GBP 12.49) ***

C: Golden yellow; N: honey, peach; P: very ripe pineapple, sui generis, my kind of wine <G>

Call me Count Dracula

So it was back to Dr Ashok Sethi to have the stitches out and not before time. After 10 days my gums were telling me the stitches had done their job and were now more of a hindrance than a help.



X-ray of whole mouthful of teeth showing implants

I do not remember these X-rays being taken although I must have been led from the chair to the machine and back again. What I do remember is Ashok saying "Wider, Wider!" and me saying "Ow!"

It appears that, to be very sure of avoiding the nerve, he exposed it so he knew exactly where it was. This would explain why I felt some discomfort even through the anaesthetic and the sedative. talk about touching a raw nerve. Ugh and shudder.



X-ray of lower left teeth after implants

That it is for three months when I go back to get the OK for the permanent crowns to replace the current temporaries. Well apart that is from crowning the lower right 8 but Raj cannot take an impression for a least six weeks till these chaps have bonded in.

Sunday in the Garden

At the weekend we bought *three* trolley-loads of plants and spent Sunday planting them in the beds.


Planting the lower bed

Mary did the planting, I did the big weeds and cutting the lawn.


The lower bed planted up

I also spiked all over the front lawn with a fork and now the muscles in my fingers ache. "My hand's can't feel to grip" - opening screw top bottles is real a challenge.

Molly Goes to Bristol

Saturday we took Molly to Charles Ware's Morris Minor garage in Bristol for an Extreme Makeover (Upper body edition).

She has been sitting patiently in the garage of "Thatched Eaves" (aka "The Chocolate Box Cottage") next door to Avon Cottage since we moved out on Valentines Day. If you want to stay in a cute cottage in the New Forest I can thoroughly recommend "The Chocolate Box Cottage". Fran has kept Thatched Eaves immaculate, the garden is wonderful *and* you have "The Olde Beams Inn" next door!

Anyhow, we went down Friday afternoon, had a 'nouvelle' curry at Indigo in Ringwood High Street with Bob&Lynn and stayed the night. In the morning we picked up Molly after the guests had left. As usual she started first time - not bad for a 43 year-old car.


Molly at the end of her ride

We then drove 65 miles in convoy to Bristol with me behind in the Beemer and got to Charles Ware's before they closed for lunch.

We had Molly's 'bottom' done several years ago as Moggies (as they are affectionately known by us Brits) are prone to rust. The man looked her over and will give us a call in the week with estimates and options as to what we can do within our budget. Given how much I have just spent on my teeth I think it is only fair Mary has her extravagance too :-)

A New Bathroom for Wandsworth

Plan for new bathroom

Our bathroom is small and a previous owner has not made best use of the space.

The "before" as it is now has the bath against the window wall, the basin top left and the loo currently where the basin will be, bottom right.

The door opens the other way so, if you are sitting on the loo you get knee-capped as the door opens. Plus the shower window-side means the sill gets soaked and all the paint peels off.


This "after" was designed for us by the team at "H2OLondon". Hanging the door the other way and rearranging the units as you see here will make a big difference. Plus new everything and tiles and accessories will make a transformation. Well done chaps.

We have a final visit to the warehouse on Friday to see the bath in the flesh and choose tiles and colours. Then a six week lead time on the bath so the work won't be done till the end of July. Fortunately we have a shower room downstairs otherwise that might have meant a week of showering at work.

A Weekend in the Cotswolds

This weekend was a long weekend in the UK as today is a Bank Holiday (public holiday). Mary and I worked at home Friday and made a fast getaway to The Lamb Inn, Great Rissington in the hyper-cute Cotswolds. We joined usual suspects Bob&Lynn who had gone up Thursday and had just done a 17 mile walk around Bourton-on-the-Water with 100 of Lynn's work colleagues.

John&Andrea, formerly in St Albans, have recently relocated to Cranham, 25 miles down the road, so they joined us for dinner at the Lamb where we were on a "bed and evening meal" deal. The pub's "signature dish" is a slow roast half leg of lamb that just falls off the bone.

Saturday was a gentle 8 mile walk into BOTW and round in a big circle. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the countryside round there is delightful with gentle rolling hills and all the Cotswold stone houses. We ended up back at the Lamb for another fine meal - eaten very slowly by me.

Sunday was over to J&A's via the farmers' market in Bourton for a short walk to the Black Horse for a pint of local ale (except me - boo!) After lunch we headed back to London so we could get up early today and crack on with odd jobs about the house and garden.

An extraction and two posts

Well that wasn't as painful as I was expecting but that was mainly because I was doped up to the eyeballs. The extraction of the molar was the part I was least looking forward to. The work was done under a local but I was also sedated with a drip feed into the arm. I don't know what was in there but three hours of my life disappeared down a chemical black hole.

When I came to Dad was there as the "responsible adult" to make sure I got home safely. I had an hour's kip, we strolled down to the chemist to pick up a prescription for antibiotics, then - duty discharged - Dad went back to Farnham. When the anaesthetic wore off it was not too painful, no need for more paracetamol this morning. Now it is a soft diet for three months while the bone grows in and bonds to the implants.


CT scan of jaw showing site of implants

This is the CT scan I had done last week with the implants superimposed. The yellow is the implant and the green is the post that takes the crown. Number 36 is where the cantelivered crown was. Number 37 is where the extraction was and had to move close to the adjacent tooth because of the hole left by the split root. That will fill with bone over the next few months - the human body is a wonderful thing!

Street Life (New Kids on the Block)

Quite literally. Walking over Waterloo this statue appeared one day.

It was not for a couple of days that I noticed several more atop various office blocks and buildings of the South Bank Centre.

Then a couple of days later I spotted several more on rooftops on the North end of the bridge.

Turns out there are 31 of these statues according to the BBC. They are by Antony Gormley who did the Angel of the North and this work is entitled "Event Horizon". It tickled me.

Early May in Italy 07

Off to Italy *again* at the weekend. This time a free Alitalia flight courtesy of airmiles but the limited number of mile and availability meant we did have to catch an early flight. Up at 4am to catch a 6am flight and we only just caught it. The queues were horrendous and our flight got called forward twice: once at the check-in desks and again for the security screening.

As requested the gardener had started planting up the beds but has yet to start work on the automatic watering system. He has planted up the beds with typical Maquis shrubs plus some roses and iris.


Flower bed with shrubs

The weekend was spent doing a few useful things. Ordered a last couple of bits of furniture: a cupboard for the Lamia living room (storage is scarce) and a side table to put the small hi-fi on. We made another trip to Emmezetta (local hypermarket) and bought a giant parasol and an all-in-one TV and DVD player. We also bought a copy of The Blues Brothers to watch - in Italian of course - but I knew the lines so well that didn't really matter.

I also managed to clean out the pizza oven ready for my first attempt at real pizza cooking when we go out in June.

Note:
Edited post to replace camera photos with quality image from Mary's camera. [Tue 22-May-07]

CT Scan for Titanium Implants

Tuesday I went for a CT scan in preparation for a couple of titanium implants next Thursday. I swear I could feel the scan move down my head. The technicians said no-one had mentioned that before but I could feel a planar circular sensation rotating round and round and passing down my skull, most odd feeling!

Some while back I mentioned that I had 11 crowns (including 3 post and core) [1]. Here is the proof courtesy of the implant specialist Dr Ashok Sethi:



X-ray of whole mouthful of teeth

Below is the lower right 8 (on the left of the X-ray) that gave me such grief a while back [2]. But there will be no implant there. Raj will crown it and then wait till, one day, it eventually fails and then do two implants together.



X-ray of lower right teeth (8 & missing 7)

No, the implants will be where I had the extraction last October [3]. The extraction was tricky because I had a "siamese" crown. The lower left 6 only had one root; the tooth having cracked the other root had to go. Half a root wasn't enough to take the strain of a crown so Raj crowned the two as a pair. See diagram below.


Diagram of lower left teeth (6 & 7)

Eventually the other half root went and so it took had to be extracted *from under the crown*. That meant separating the root from the cantilevered crown then easing the root out sideways - not as bad as it sounds. Now the extra strain on the remaining tooth has caused its root to crack so that too will have to go and two implants go in their place.



X-ray of lower left teeth

Charity Double Header

Sunday was all a bit hectic as we had signed up for the Stroke Association's Thames Bridges Bike Ride* and then Oddbins announced their annual wine fair** (all proceeds to charity) for the same weekend! What to do? Forget the bike ride? Start and wimp out halfway through? In the end Mary had a stroke of logistical genius: activate the Emergency Drinking Trousers (pat pending). So this it how it went:

Thames Bridges Bike Ride: Sunday morning we got up early so we could cycle to Clapham, got the train to Waterloo and cycled to the start line at Tower Bridge in order to be first away over the line at 8 o'clock. We were in the very first batch. We then cycled 32 miles over 16 bridges in 3 hours dead arriving at Hampton Court at 11:00.

Intermission: We then caught the 11:35 to Waterloo where we chained up our bikes on platform 16 and changed into our day clothes in the public loos. Lunch was a sandwich on the train. Hopped into a taxi and off to the Design Centre, Islington.

Oddbin's Wine Fair: As usual we started with champagnes; tasted about 17 and the Billecart-Salmon was this year's NV winner with an honourable mention for the Charles Lafitte. I cannot find my notes so cannot recall which was the vintage winner - ah found them - the Veuve Clicquot.

We then attended a master class on New Zealand Pinot Noir. Very educational and the best of the bunch was the Murdoch James "Fraser" Martinborough 2004. The rest of the afternoon tasting at will until it was time to stagger home with out friend John. Though, truth to tell, he was staggering more then we were!

* Previously:
Got the T-shirt
In Training for Charity Bike Ride 2
In Training for Charity Bike Ride

** Previously:
"Oddbin's Wine Fair 2006"
"Drinking for charity - It's a dirty job but..." (2004)
"Amethystos (under the counter)" (2005).

Street Life (Counting Cars)

We live on the edge of an area of Wandsworth known as "The Tonsleys" (Street, Road, Place, Hill and some other streets). A half kilometer square of modest three bed-roomed Victorian terraced houses bounded by Fairfield Street, East Hill, Trinity Road and Swandon Way.

On Saturday we went to the Guinness Cup final at Twickenham with Bob and Lynn and afterwards went for a curry at The Chutney in Alma Road. In the short five minutes it took us to walk the 400m to the restaurant we counted 6 Porsche, 2 BMW Z4, 2 Mercedes SLK/CLK and a Maserati.

Mary's Mum once asked if we were not worried about having to park our 6-year old BMW 3 series on-street to which Mary replied "no" because there were lots of nicer cars for thieves to steal.

Dudok's Town Hall, Hilversum (1930)

DSCN0110
Originally uploaded by markmclellan.

A fabulous building. It was closed to the public but Ian chatted to the security guard and explained the cultural nature of our visit. The guy then very kindly not only let us in but also gave us a guided tour of the interior. We saw the concert hall, the registry office (where civil marriage ceremonies are performed) and even the mayor's private office. The detailed inside was gorgeous, gold tiled columns in the main hall, decorative tiles and stuff.

Duiker's Zonnestraal Sanatorium, Hilversum (1931)

DSCN0092
Originally uploaded by markmclellan.

We took the train to Hilversum to see two buildings, this sanatorium and the town hall. We haggled with three taxis to take the twelve of us to see this, wait for 20 minutes and then return us to the town hall. It was a beautiful, sunny day - we were very lucky with the weather.

This was built for TB sufferers, partly to help them recover with lots of fresh air and partly to isolate them from others so they did not spread the disease. The believed lots of fresh air was essentlal so there are plenty of balconies and windows - all very light and airy.