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Monday, November 28, 2016

Memorandum Monday blinds

Big Monday morning wave to you all and a cold but sunny day - we've had several like this recently giving lovely light on the water and nice reflections (when the birds stay still!)


I learnt a lot about venetian blind workings this weekend - for instance
- when the cord used to raise and lower them frays it no longer fits through the hole and so wont work
- the cord can be removed and replaced
- the easiest way to measure the width of cord is to wrap it around something 10 times, measure the width of that and then divide by 10
- not many places stock 3mm nylon cord and the places online that stock it charge almost twice as much for postage as the cost of the cord
- using thinner cord means that the mechanism to counter gravity and lock the cord in place when open does not work (but a knot around a handy hook on the wall does the job)

I still don't know why they are called 'venetian'

Off to start some tidying and putting away of ornaments (and general clutter) ready to start getting out festive decorations on the 1st.

Wishing you all a great week

8 comments:

Karen said...

That story sounds like you've put in a lot of time to get those blinds repaired! Lovely photo!

Patio Postcards said...

What a lesson to learn - sometimes it does seem impossible to repair things both in locating the replacement piece & the cost to get. Well learning new things is always neat, but this lesson of new ... I am looking forward to hearing why "venetian". Happy week ahead & putting out seasonal decorations sounds fun :)

Maggie said...

I could tell you a joke about how to make a Venetian blind.... but it's a bit corny and I am sure you will have heard it. On a more serious note I always worry about the safety issues for young children with those cords.

Maggie said...

Got distracted. Forgot to say lovely photo.

debs14 said...

I know that joke Maggie is talking about! We bought new venetian blinds when we had our kitchen refurbished and there are new regulations in place so that the cords are very much shorter than they used to be and are linked together for the inevitable H&S rulings. I didn't realise you could replace the cords yourself, it's always seemed a very fiddly job that I've shied away from!

Sian said...

I feel your pain. I'm the kind of person who only has to look at a Venetian blind for the cord to get tangled up, or one of the blades (is that the word?) to get a kink in it.Though I have made Roman blinds in the past and I got all the cords and stuff at Dunelm.

Wishing you a great, tangle free week.

Barbara said...

I don't have any venetian blinds - but I remember trying to cope with them at work. I hope you get the blind sorted.

Susanne said...

Luckily our blinds of various sorts all still work after 20+ years, but I have lost half the little plastic thingie from one of the cords, and have no hope of hunting that little piece down. I think we're not going to start on the Christmas decorating until the 1st either, we have lots of other things to attend to first. Happy Monday!