On Jun 7, 2004, at 20:06, Weronika Patena wrote:
Hmm. I'm again not sure what Venetian blinds are, but in our house there were things called "zaluzje" (Tamara?), which kept the sun out. I looked at some venetian blind images, and it looks like they're the same thing,
They are, though there are so many different varieties of "blinds" and "window shades", that it's hard to say sometimes... :)
but maybe normally they're mounted on the wall above the window?
Ours are mounted on the inside of the window frame, at the top, and hang free, all the way down to the bottom of the window. It's a single piece "job" covering the entire window. When the window is closed (or partly open, as it only ever opens *partly*, being sash), you can regulate the amount of light coming in via a little rod at the side. Depending on how you twist it, the slats will either overlap slightly (minimum light, and maximum protection from Peeping Toms) or hang parallel to one another allowing maximum light, while still making it difficult to see inside, unless you're really close to the window.
Which latter function (ie making it difficult for people from the outside to see inside, while permitting those inside to spy on the street scene) is, essentially, what the word "zaluzja" implies. It comes from the French "jalousie" (spelling?) and, originally, was used to describe the see-through layer of the curtains (usually lacy <g>). It was later than the two got separated, with "zaluzja" kept for the "blind", and "zazdrostka" (*literally* "small jealousy") applied to the see-through, fabric one (and now, only used on the bottom half of the window, a bit like the American "cafe curtains")
To open the window, you first pull on a string, which gathers all the slats together (or rolls them up, on older models), and, once the window's open, you let them down again. But you couldn't use those with casement windows, at least not those which open to the inside. I have seen them, however, on French doors leading to patios and such, especially the sliding kind (in California as well, as a matter of fact, though in the Bay Area, not where you're at).
Ours were mounted directly on the window, so they just moved with it when it opened (unfortunately no longer kept the sun out then).
Very strong/hot sun is hardly a *problem* in Poland (half the time, we don't get enough of it) :) When it is, you close the window *and* the curtains, and hope the double glazing (with a layer of dead air between the panes) will keep the heat out.
I do remember, from Poland of my childhood, the "outside shutters" (okiennice) that Helene has mentioned - though I've seen them only in the village, not in the city - and very nice they were too, for the middle of the day nap in summertime :) Here, we used to have some on our house, but they were for decorative/aesthetic purposes only; they were *screwed to the walls*, each side of the window; you couldn't *use* them... <g> Not only because they were screwed to the walls but also because you couldn't lean out of the window far enough to grab and close them :)
So... Since Severn dislikes "fake" as much as I do, we got rid of them at one point when the house was painted from the outside. It sure makes the windows look disproportionately *small* from the outside... "piggy eyes" I call them... :)
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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