“All that came before us and all that surrounds us is continually leaving its imprint on what we are and how we are, on what we do and how we do it.”
– Miguel Moore
Monday morning dawned cold, which promted Michael to send an email to the company that installed the heating system.
“Unfortunately the house is not able to maintain even 17 degrees, it seems the temperature has gone down since your people were there to install the heat pump. It appears there is no or very little flow showing on the flow indicators.“
The initial answer that came back was not at all encouraging.
“This week and the next we are just doing emergency jobs, so we will not send anyone to check your heating system, please be conscious that we will go to lockdown for a few weeks so only emergency services will be considered.”
In the spirit of how we’ve approached this whole project of rebuilding a stone ruin in rural Portugal from the beginning, Michael decided we will see if we couldn’t fix it ourselves. He had been busy doing research, and he thought he knew where the problem was, as for some reason it appeared that there was no flow. All I had to do was being his eyes and hands.
Nothing is ever that simple. It freaked me out that I could break something, especially as I had to make use of a vice grip and water pipe pliers (items I’ve never used before), as I couldn’t turn the various knobs I was supposed to with my fingers. Let’s just say that there were a whole lot of snot, tears, and swear words (all on my side), before we packed up the tools and admitted defeat.
In the meantime, the Electrician had been to see the people of the heating company, and they’ve apologised to Michael that they didn’t realise he wasn’t in the country and would send out a technician the next day.
Later that evening I heard gurgling noises in the pipes in the bathroom, and on Tuesday morning the temperature in the house was no longer a frigid 16°C, but a balmy 20°C. It appeared that with our fidgeting we “fixed” it. We sent the Electrician and heating company an email to explain the situation, but it appeared that they spotted a faulty valve in the photos Michael attached to his emails, and would send out a technician in the afternoon.
I decided not to wait around, as the Electrician had a key to the house to let them in, and in the face of another harsh lockdown, I made use of the sunshine to hold onto my sanity and treated me to a day out exploring. It lifted my spirits like nothing had over the previous weeks, and I arrived back home just as the technicians were busy packing up.
That night, for the first time in weeks, I had a hot shower. I mean, a truly hot shower, where I had to mix in some cold water to get the temperature just right. I was jubilant as I just stood there, allowing the water to cascade over my body.
It is amazing at how one’s perspective changes from what is hot and cold . In the UAE, I considered daytime temperatures below 24°C cold, but after the recent near arctic temperatures, a daytime temperature of 15°C, while working outside in the sun yesterday, made me think it was on the verge of shorts-and-T-shirt-weather.
My glass is again, very cautiously, half full.
Portuguese Words:
aquecimento – heating
aquecedor – heating system
emergência – emergency
o chuveiro – shower
Written by: Jolandi
Ahh, excellent, all toasty now! And I love the sight below. Is that the IKEA furniture with squares, Expedit? We have it here too, just that our squares are black and white. 🙂 I went to look for an old post to find it: https://manjamaksimovic.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/it-started-with-the-hands/
They are indeed from IKEA, manja, but is called something different. It’s a great way to mix and match things according to one’s taste and needs. It forms the ‘wall’ to the bedroom and I have drawers on the other side, which works so well that I’m planning to get more at some point. I will do a post on the inside of the house at some point. I’m still waiting for the couch . . . and there are various bits of work that still needs to get done. – Jolandi
That third picture – with your ‘chinelos’ – looks incredibly dangerous – and alone. Do be more careful!
Yip, that was perhaps not the best footwear for the job, Trevor.
Will be! – Jolandi
Ah, there is nothing better than heat and a hot shower. So happy to hear for now all is working and you are toasty warm.
Take care of yourself, stay well and safe.
Terri
I completely agree, Terri. I feel emotionally much more stable. 😉
I hope you and your family are healthy and well, as well as nice and warm.
– Jolandi
Glad you are back to Warm.. The cold really gets to me.. 😉
So am I, Lisa. It’s amazing what a difference a hot shower and warm house do to my mood. – Jolandi
Ahhhh, heat! I had been shivering along with you. Love the birds-eye view of the inside also; although your perch did seem a bit precarious, I will look at it as a silver lining in that we might not have seen that nice perspective otherwise! 🙂
I’m glad you like the perspective it gave you of our tiny house, Lexie. I also like how it gives the impression of being a bit ‘precarious’, as it makes me appear a bit tougher than I actually am. 🙂 Truth be told, although tricky to squirm in and out of, I had, apart from the ladder, the fridge and the countertop to get me in and out of there very safely. – Jolandi
I used to live in the northern Midwestern US, where it wasn’t unusual to have winter daytime temperatures around -6 celsius, not to mention being buried in snow for three months. (When a blizzard hit our city during my April birthday, I wept. ‘This is supposed to be spring! But here we are, waiting for the snowplow to come through so we can go out and buy a cake!’) So I know exactly what you mean when a sunny day after a long period of subfreezing temperatures can feel like shorts and t-shirt weather. I’m glad you’re getting some warmth, indoors and out. But I think not having any heat in your home during the winter constitutes an emergency! The heating company must have misunderstood Michael’s complaint.
In my books that constituted an emergency too, Hangaku. But you’ll be surprised at how underheated the old houses are here in Portugal. Most stone houses only have one woodstove for heat, and with meter thick stone walls that is not efficient at all. Modern houses are different, but I think the Portuguese are much tougher than I am. I cannot even start to imagine what it would be like to live in a place with three months of deep snow. I would have cried too if I were you. I’m sure that memory makes you appreciate that you don’t live there anymore, although now you have to contend with fires. I guess there is no absolute ‘perfect’ place.
I made the most of the lovely warm sunny weather and did quite a bit of work outside, which completely lifted my spirits. It started raining yesterday, and rain is predicted for the next couple of days, so at least I can now snuggle up in the (warm) house and get some writing done. – Jolandi
Hello Jolandi,
This is significant progress and really great news indeed! So glad to hear the glass is looking more half-full now. As always, all our best to you and Michael.
Thank you, Takami. I’ve learned to celebrate things here I used to take for granted while living in the UAE. Being comfortable in one’s house is certainly very high on my list of essentials. – Jolandi