Home catch-up

I forgot to mention that while I was away, a new central heating boiler was fitted, and on Monday of  this week, our new secure front door was fitted, by the people who did our double glazing Secura Windows. and it looks good. There's more light in the hall due to its glazed panelling and white surfaces. The locking mechanism with a single key replacing the old pair of locks. It takes a little getting used to, as it operates dead bolts into the door frame. The previous door was fifty years old and undistinguished. This improves the appearance of the house from the street, and we joke about coming home and not being able to recognise our own front door

It's taken me a couple of days to settle down, and get back into domestic routine. Yesterday, I took my usual walk down to the river Taff. A large tree was lodged at the top of the weir beneath the footbridge. A lady walking her baby in pram told me there'd been high winds and torrential rain a few days earlier. It was hard to tell the place along the bank from which the tree had been uprooted.

Many big trees grow along the water's edge on both sides. I think they are Alders which flourish in wet zones and readily colonise a place where there's soil to take root in. Some grow for decades, if undisturbed, but the roots are shallow and tend to run through subsoil rather than go deep so they are subject to wind and water erosion where exposed, right. A few days of rain and flood water quickly masks a place where a large tree s torn out, so it's very difficult spot where it came from, along a well populated river bank.

One ivy clad Alder had split down its trunk and most of the tree now lies wedged among others on the bank. Many fallen trees not obstructing the path are left to rot back, offering a nourishing haven to insects, and that's good for bird life. As for the tree lodged in the river, I wonder if this will be removed fairly soon, as it's big enough to attract other floating detritus and build a blockage in the water, and lead to flood defences being overwhelmed. It worries me that Council budget cutbacks could lead to costly neglect. Would conservation volunteers be allowed to have a go at removing it? I wonder?

Today, we had another visit from the double glazing specialist who installed the new door, to replace the double glazed window panel which fractured due to thermal shock they day we had a home visit to order the new front door. The house is now secure and warm.

I've been playing catch-up with the More4 Water Presents series Professor T. It's interesting viewing as it's a Flemish language Belgian Crimmie, set in and around Antwerp. Flemish is related to Dutch and borrows words from English, French and German. London has a long historic relationship with Antwerp and Rotterdam due to maritime trade. It's fascinating to glimpse a little of the life of some of our nearest neighbours. 

Professor T is a psychologist and criminologist and university teacher of immense learning. He has complex mental health issues, including OCD behaviour, and a kind of autism expressing itself in what resembles Asberger's syndrome, though his remarks are delivered with often embarrassing bluntness and unapologetic honesty. It's very funny to watch with a superb supporting cast bearing with his odd behaviour patiently, because his analysis and judgements prove to be penetratingly accurate, if on times bewilderingly. This character reminded me immediately of Agatha Christie's quirky old Inspector Poirot, odd, self contained, larger than life. Another brilliant Belgian, anything but dull, despite appearances.

The crimes investigated (and I'm watching Series two first) most revolve around family relationships rather than criminal or political conspiracy. The analysis of complex motives, and inter personal dynamics as ordinary folk are precipitated into extraordinary situations is very thought provoking, as are various relationships within the workplace. Mental health and disability issues come into focus, and one of the secondary story-lines showcases senile dementia, and euthanasia, legal in Belgium, very sensitively done. It addresses serious everyday issues, and in an entertaining engaging way. Well worth a watch. I'd like to see the series on BBC Four.