We were up at the crack of dawn on Monday morning. The decorator was coming to paint the bedroom and the inner hallway and paper a feature wall in the bedroom, and he’d be here at 8am. So we were up early so we could get the last of the portable furniture out of the room and take down the curtains, and the poet took down the vertical blind as well.
At three minutes past eight the decorator sent me a message to say he was almost here but there had been an accident down the road at a notorious junction. When he got here he said it was something to do with roadworks down there, so there must have been a bit of ‘touching’ going on between vehicles. He thought it was something minor anyway, so that was a relief.
We had a chat and I made drinks, and then he set to prepping the two rooms and the poet went straight into work mode. He’s off to Ireland in a few days and he wanted to check in online, so that was his first job. I knew I’d be busy all day proofreading, so we left the dog in the living room with him (working at the dining table) and I moved into the office, where we’d left just enough space for me to work. Most of the furniture went into the living room, but some stuff came into the office with me.
First job of the day was yesterday’s blog post. I hadn’t even started it, let alone finished it. When it was done, I chose the image, posted it, and shared it everywhere. I caught up a bit on social media, had a walk around to straighten out the kinks and stretch my bad foot, and when I sat down again the next job was starting today’s blog post.
I opened up my pdf reader and when it had done an update I was ready to go.
In between meetings, the poet did a few chores and one of them was hanging the washing out. Before the garden was levelled and turfed, we had a rotary airer inherited from the previous owner. My first thought was to ditch it as soon as possible, but it turned out to be very sturdy and we could fit lots of washing on it. So we asked the builder if he could save it so we could put a new ground spike in.
Once it was down, though, we talked about getting a brand-new one. But as a rotary airer would probably go slap bang in the centre of the new lawn, and as it would likely stay there for the entire summer, the poet reminded me that I prefer a long washing line. And I do. But I didn’t remember seeing the line props come with us from the old house. He was quick to present me with both!
So one of the things he bought from B&Q at the weekend was not one retractable long line but two. And while the shed they’re currently attached to isn’t long for this world either, he said it was no big deal to just attach the lines to that for now.
The washing lines have been in almost constant use ever since. The washing dries so much more quickly on a long line and, with two lines, by the time one of us is hanging washing on the second line, the washing on the first line can come in and get folded and put away.
Not only is a long line much more efficient than a rotary line, I do love to see a row of clean washing blowing in a breeze.
Seeing the washing on the line through the office window wasn’t the only thing that distracted me yesterday. I’d also added a throwaway quip to a BBC news story on Facebook and so many people just didn’t bother reading it, or didn’t understand it – I’m aware I can be a bit too subtle for some of the British population (see how polite I was there?).
It was amusing seeing how many only read the first few words or who just didn’t get it. But the funniest part was when one person decided to hurl insults at me, which I politely ignored…okay, I may have added a laughing emoji… and someone else who did get it made a joke about him. Well, the ‘joke’ was taken as an ‘insult’ and he had a go at that person for resorting to insults…so, of course, I pointed out that he hadn’t done precisely that in the first place. (Clue, he had.)
If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. Simple.
In the end I had to just step away from the amusement and get on with my work. Everyone else was getting on with their work and with almost 50 comments and over 100 reactions, my post was feeling more like work as the day progressed. But I had real work to do, and the poet was dragging me out early to go and get something to wear for this family tea I have coming up – so far out of my comfort zone, I was leaving that particular task as long as possible.
While I was working, we had a delivery, and it was some ankle support sock things the poet had ordered for my painful foot. So I took a break while we worked out how to fit those, and I sat with one on my foot for the rest of the day. A friend suggested the foot thing might be stress-related, and she might be right. She did lose me a bit, when she went all scientific on me, though (sorry, Diane!) (yes, she’s a Diane too), but the poet nodded and seemed to know exactly what she was saying.
The decorator left just before 4pm and we spent a lot of time gazing at our new walls and ceilings. The bedroom walls were painted a darkish pink, and now they’re white with a hint of jade. The ceiling was white, and now it’s white with a hint of jade. The woodwork was stained brown, and now it’s brilliant white. The white has completely lifted the room. The wallpaper is a dusky pinky rough plaster effect print, but that won’t be going up until Wednesday.
The hallway walls were painted cream and now those are white with a hint of jade as well. The ceiling was white, now it’s white with a hint of jade. The coving was white, now it’s brilliant white. The woodwork was still in shades of brown stain. But again, the white has made the tiny hallway feel a bit bigger.
We’re taking the white with a hint of jade throughout the house, along with the carpet, for continuity. But each room will have its own personality by adding a different accent colour. The bedroom is pink and green, the inner hallway is white and green. I had to first match the carpet with a paint colour and then find a much paler colour that went with that for the walls and ceilings. I sent those to the decorator, who took the references to a paint place and they mixed the white paint to match the pale colour I selected.
We think he and the paint people have done a really good job matching the colour, and now the colour reference is plugged into their mixing machine we should be able to order more as and when we need it without worrying about whether or not it will match.
I did as much work as I could, proofreading, if you’re interested, and then we went out to the shops. I got a pair of jeans in the right size (I’ve gone down a size and all my jeans now help to make me look fat), a pair of jeggings and some underwear. Then we went to Dunelm Mill to get a new blind for the bedroom. I found a dusky pink one that matches the wallpaper perfectly that’s also thermal and blackout. That may go up today.
By the time we got back the poet was running a bit of a fever and he went straight to bed. He did a Covid test, which was negative, so we thought he might have caught a summer flu. I knew he didn’t feel well when he mentioned cancelling a meeting today. He never cancels meetings and usually takes his germs with him. Hopefully he’ll be feeling better today.
Otherwise, with my foot and him being ill, we’ll make a right pair. And the dog might not get his walk…I may have to take him and walk with a stick!
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