Such is life that one can pootle along with not very much occurring and then EVERYTHING happens at once. Of course, being the top notch planner and organiser that I am, I can generally cope with these moments of Universal Chaos which is just as well because this week has been jam-packed FULL of activity but, bizarrely, none of them jam related.
Operation ‘Decorate the Back Bedroom’ (postponed from 2020) began in earnest two weeks ago with the arrival of a new bed frame and the purchasing of paint (white for the wood, Frosted Dawn for the walls) and these rather lovely door knobs…
They were fairly expensive but are things of beauty and I love them! Also, being made from heavy duty ceramic, they could double as a home defence mechanism against errant burglars. I reckon they could cause substantial damage if launched firmly at the forehead of an intruder. I bought four altogether to replace the flimsy wooden knobs on the built in cupboards. I also bought these to replace the five flimsy wooden coat hangers…
Nice, eh? The arrival and installation of these have been the least chaotic part of the last two weeks.
On Monday, Chris, his partner and my granddaughters arrived for a visit. We went on foraging walks (mostly flat), we went to Hawkstone Follies (mostly uphill and over rocky terrain - not for the faint-hearted but a seriously good cardio workout), and we went to Trentham Gardens (mostly flat) where I renewed my annual membership so I can resume my regular walks there now they’ve removed the irritating restrictions like being able to walk in one direction only around the lake because Covid is clever like that and knows if you are travelling the wrong way. We made cakes, pottery pots, we had a barbecue, we kept pretty darned busy.
Yesterday, la famille departed, and the mattress for the new bed arrived and is now languishing in the living room. The bed, in its component boxes, is languishing in the studio. Andy and I removed everything from the bedroom: bed, carpet, underlay, that spiky vicious stuff they attach carpets to floors with, shelves, books (now languishing in my study along with the old mattress), random bits of cable from the previous incumbent’s highly complicated satellite TV system, pictures and picture hooks, window blind - you get the idea. Andy took a huge pile of stuff to the tip whilst I set about filling holes, sanding woodwork and evicting spiders, ably unassisted by Bambino Bobble Wilson aka Useless Cat.
Now, half of the bedroom is covered in tongue and groove wood panelling so requires satinwood paint, as do the skirting boards. The heat was on to get the woodwork done so it dried off before the carpet fitter arrived to fit the carpet on Saturday morning, because new carpet fluff on semi dry gloss paint I did not want.
Reader, it took me six hours to paint all the woodwork in that room. Six hours! On and off a chair, on and off my knees, bend to the left, bend to the right, fiddling around fiddly bits. A gym workout has nothing on this task. At one point, because I had the window wide open, a hornet of enormous proportions arrived and seemed to have trouble finding its way out again. Seriously, the thing was two inches long and sounded like a Spitfire plane. Fortunately, it did not stay long. I didn’t fancy my chances tackling it, not even with heavy duty ceramic knobs to hand, so was glad when quiet patience paid off and Monsieur Hornet went on his way unaided.
Today I was back with a vengeance, paintbrush and ‘Frosted Dawn’ in hand, tackling the remaining two walls which are wibbly wonky uneven (well, they are part of the original house and pushing 180 years old), covered in a paint that, if I was a paint namer for Farrow and Ball, would be called ‘Rancid Fungus’ and which then proceeded to suck up the new paint like some sort of opium fiend. Fours hours and two coats later, job done! Bambino sat and observed me part of the time, then he went to sleep, presumably because watching someone paint is an exhausting activity. Meanwhile, Andy went to the DIY shop to buy three 2.4 metre planks of wood for new book shelves, plus a wooden carpet bar. And then he made me a cup of tea and a cheese and chilli jam toasted sandwich for lunch.
And then the carpet man phoned and said could he fit the carpet on Sunday instead of Saturday? I admit I let out a small sigh of relief because it’s taken away the air of frenzy to get everything else done today. I feel quite tired, to be honest. I quite fancy the idea of spending the rest of the day sewing. Or reading. Or contemplating the meaning of the Universe. Something quiet, involving minimal movement. Damson Cottage looks a bit of a state, as do all houses when major decorating is occurring and the contents of a room has to be shared amongst the rest of the rooms in the house until the decorating is done. But it’s okay because Order will always arise from Chaos, and that is a Good Thing!
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