The walls are all stripped down, the piles of (stinky) wallpaper have been binned, and I'm ready for action. I've got lining paper, paste, size, brushes, bucket and seam roller -- I'm going to do this properly. I've got the Wallpapering section of my jumbo DIY manual memorised, I'm all set.
So imagine how irritated I was yesterday when my boss said, "You know that week off you've got ... how committed are you to that?"
Argh!
Very committed, was the answer -- especially since the compromise alternative of the week after next off was ruled out. And the week after that was also a non-starter. So I'm still having next week off, but I may lose my days off the following week, which are the Sunday and Monday. I chose that week in particular because I knew I'd have those days off tacked on the end, but my boss has booked his weekend off at the Flodigarry Country House Hotel (my fault, I gave him vouchers), so he won't be around.
The cause of all this disruption is some top-secret project that will keep us all busy over the next few weeks. I'll be busy manning the fort, I'm not involved in the project.
Back to the decorating: frustratingly, B&Q have run out of the colour I've chosen for my bedroom (Blue Sky), so I'll have to trail back into town at some point. Or maybe I'll just paint it Magnolia.
20 February 2004
17 February 2004
:: interior decor
Why? I had this lovely (almost) flawless wallpaper:
And I had to go and scrape it all off.
First the paper had to be torn off, then either I steam/scrape/scrub the glued bit left behind -- it's like a ghost of the paper. If I decide to go with lining paper, then I don't have to scrape the glued bit off.
It took hours, long hours, it soaked up my entire long weekend, and it's not even finished yet. It took hours just to get all my books out:
It had better be worth it. I'm taking next week off to redecorate the dining room and my bedroom, and possibly the livingroom too, depending on how I get on. I thought I'd get a good headstart this weekend. Hah! By the end of next week I'll be knackered -- I'm already aching all over.
However. It did have to be done. I painted the livingroom over the wallpaper, which I really don't like, and guess what? I still don't like it. In fact it's worse, because it's the wrong colour.
Did I tell you about the toilet in the dining room? Frances next door told me a little while back that once Mrs B couldn't manage the stairs any longer, her son-in-law installed a toilet for her downstairs. She was sleeping in what is now the diningroom, so that's where the toilet went. After she went into the home, he took it out again. So while stripping off the wallpaper I discovered where all the pipes went. How fascinating! What a lovely mental image.
In other news: a message from Faye. She says she can't get a signal on her mobile at her new home, and internet access at the library is fully booked, hence the silence. However, it's a lovely house and a busy job. Can I suggest that everyone send her a card/letter the olde worlde way?
Spooky moment while stripping wallpaper: I was listening to Poetry Please on Radio 4, something I don't usually do because a) I'm usually working and b) I hate the way Roger McGough says "poo-etry". So anyway it's a poetry (pooetry) request programme, and as I scraped away, I thought, I should write in and ask them to play Sorley McLean reading my favourite poem (pooem), his great work Hallaig. And I swear, the very next reading was ... yes, Sorley McLean reading Hallaig. I nearly fell off the ladder.
You can listen to the programme via the internet, follow this link.
In between scraping and scraping and scraping, I went on some good walks, cooked some nice meals and watched a bit of TV. Just now I've had a lovely long bath. Now I'm off to the 24-hour supermarket for some dog food. Bertie hates interior decoration -- it's completely pointless and makes a hideous mess. I have to compensate with lots of treats and nice walks.
And I had to go and scrape it all off.
First the paper had to be torn off, then either I steam/scrape/scrub the glued bit left behind -- it's like a ghost of the paper. If I decide to go with lining paper, then I don't have to scrape the glued bit off.
It took hours, long hours, it soaked up my entire long weekend, and it's not even finished yet. It took hours just to get all my books out:
It had better be worth it. I'm taking next week off to redecorate the dining room and my bedroom, and possibly the livingroom too, depending on how I get on. I thought I'd get a good headstart this weekend. Hah! By the end of next week I'll be knackered -- I'm already aching all over.
However. It did have to be done. I painted the livingroom over the wallpaper, which I really don't like, and guess what? I still don't like it. In fact it's worse, because it's the wrong colour.
Did I tell you about the toilet in the dining room? Frances next door told me a little while back that once Mrs B couldn't manage the stairs any longer, her son-in-law installed a toilet for her downstairs. She was sleeping in what is now the diningroom, so that's where the toilet went. After she went into the home, he took it out again. So while stripping off the wallpaper I discovered where all the pipes went. How fascinating! What a lovely mental image.
In other news: a message from Faye. She says she can't get a signal on her mobile at her new home, and internet access at the library is fully booked, hence the silence. However, it's a lovely house and a busy job. Can I suggest that everyone send her a card/letter the olde worlde way?
Spooky moment while stripping wallpaper: I was listening to Poetry Please on Radio 4, something I don't usually do because a) I'm usually working and b) I hate the way Roger McGough says "poo-etry". So anyway it's a poetry (pooetry) request programme, and as I scraped away, I thought, I should write in and ask them to play Sorley McLean reading my favourite poem (pooem), his great work Hallaig. And I swear, the very next reading was ... yes, Sorley McLean reading Hallaig. I nearly fell off the ladder.
You can listen to the programme via the internet, follow this link.
In between scraping and scraping and scraping, I went on some good walks, cooked some nice meals and watched a bit of TV. Just now I've had a lovely long bath. Now I'm off to the 24-hour supermarket for some dog food. Bertie hates interior decoration -- it's completely pointless and makes a hideous mess. I have to compensate with lots of treats and nice walks.
12 February 2004
:: blither
Where does the time go?
Faye got away all right, had a fairly cold and miserable trip south though, by the sound of things. She's now settled in to her new home/job and I hope to hear all about it soon.
The Saturday before she left was nice and sunny so we went for a walk in the Pentlands. By the time we got there it had clouded over, but we soldiered on. The plan was to have a good walk and then have lunch in the Flotterstone Inn. But it seems everyone in Edinburgh had the same idea -- the hills were hotching with people and dogs.
It was bitterly cold, so we didn't walk that far, just up to the top of the reservoir. The inn was packed out, with a queue for tables, so we headed back to the car. In the rain. "It's nearly snow," I said. By the time we got into the car it was snow. We drove to Carlops in a blizzard. Had a nice pub meal there though, in the Allan Ramsay hotel. I had thought of going to a film or something in the evening, but Faye was busy packing and, well, it was too cold and snowy outside to bother.
So yes, she's gone south and I've been busying myself with sleeping, reading, doing embroidery and playing with my new Palm. Oh, and walking the dog and walking.
Inspired by the great crib-painting expedition, I'm taking a week off later in the month and finally doing up the dining room and my bedroom. It'll take at least a week, what with scraping the vile wallpaper off. I'm going to start preparations this weekend.
Faye got away all right, had a fairly cold and miserable trip south though, by the sound of things. She's now settled in to her new home/job and I hope to hear all about it soon.
The Saturday before she left was nice and sunny so we went for a walk in the Pentlands. By the time we got there it had clouded over, but we soldiered on. The plan was to have a good walk and then have lunch in the Flotterstone Inn. But it seems everyone in Edinburgh had the same idea -- the hills were hotching with people and dogs.
It was bitterly cold, so we didn't walk that far, just up to the top of the reservoir. The inn was packed out, with a queue for tables, so we headed back to the car. In the rain. "It's nearly snow," I said. By the time we got into the car it was snow. We drove to Carlops in a blizzard. Had a nice pub meal there though, in the Allan Ramsay hotel. I had thought of going to a film or something in the evening, but Faye was busy packing and, well, it was too cold and snowy outside to bother.
So yes, she's gone south and I've been busying myself with sleeping, reading, doing embroidery and playing with my new Palm. Oh, and walking the dog and walking.
Inspired by the great crib-painting expedition, I'm taking a week off later in the month and finally doing up the dining room and my bedroom. It'll take at least a week, what with scraping the vile wallpaper off. I'm going to start preparations this weekend.
6 February 2004
:: getting there
Faye's gradually working her way through the morass of paperwork and phone calls. Her backpack has arrived safely via air freight; she just had to call the official, who faxed her a customs form, then talk to the official for half an hour, fill in the customs form and fax it back, then talk to the official again to organise a delivery date. I think she's just about co-ordinated the activities of Lothian and Borders Police and several departments/branches of Lloyd's Bank regarding her stolen cards and chequebook. And I'm pretty sure she's mailed off her application form for a visa renewal. She's organised her start date at her new job and discussed details of her duties with the other carer.
She's also getting over her jetlag, and is very cheerful and positive despite all the hassles she's had to wade through.
We had a nice day yesterday -- I got my hair done (always a treat) and she took her car in to have its wheels aligned, then we met up and she treated me to lunch. After that we had a trawl through the charity shops of Morningside before I headed off to work.
There was a tremendous rainstorm in Edinburgh yesterday, complete with thunder and lightning. The building I work in has a glass roof, so the noise of rain hammering down was tremendous. Reminded me of listening to rain on the crib roof. Ah, the summers of yesteryear!
Anyway, Faye has an extra day, so she leaves for the south on Sunday. She's planning to stay overnight at Whitby, and then spend Monday night at Banbury. It's close to Oxford but not as expensive.
In other news I'm enjoying my new Palm in an extremely nerdy way. The whanau should be grateful though: I'm putting in everyone's birthdays, with a seven-day advance reminder. It's a chore entering all the data, but it will be worth it. I've already found it much, much more useful than paper diaries etc, but in such nerdy ways I'm not even going to tell you.
Faye wants one now: she's downsized from a fat Filofax to a skinny diary, a skinny address book and a skinny shopping list, but a PDA would be even skinnier. Trouble is, the old computer I gave her doesn't have USB. So now she's thinking of a lap-top plus PDA. I think with her mobile lifestyle (and a fresh desire to lighten her luggage load) that set-up would be perfect. Some places she doesn't have room to set up the computer, and it's a clunky old thing anyway.
At one point, Faye was looking for something in her suitcase. She sat back and looked round at all her stuff and sighed. "I think I might have a disorder," she said.
But the thing is, all our family has the same disorder. I know I do. When I came to this country I had a backpack and a small suitcase, and I sent over a tea-chest by sea freight. ("What've you got in this, rocks?" puffed the delivery man as he hauled the chest up the stairs. In fact I did have rocks in it, including a beautiful white river rock that John gave me.) Now I have a three-bedroom house with ample storage, two sheds and loft space and I have an amazing amount of stuff squirrelled away. So much in fact that I lose track of things. Like my Christmas stuff: somewhere I've got a box filled with ornaments, fairy lights, wrapping paper and Bertie's antlers. Can't find it anywhere.
Trevor certainly has the disorder. I asked him once if I could get him a model kit for a birthday or whatever. He took me through to his study and flung open the cupboard doors. There were shelves and shelves of unopened model kits. Mum .... well, we've all seen inside your wardrobe! Full marks for tidy storage. Pinky's flat is so tiny (and so tidy) that you wouldn't think she could have the disorder, but she's confessed to having a big cupboard downstairs. So there you go. It's genetic.
She's also getting over her jetlag, and is very cheerful and positive despite all the hassles she's had to wade through.
We had a nice day yesterday -- I got my hair done (always a treat) and she took her car in to have its wheels aligned, then we met up and she treated me to lunch. After that we had a trawl through the charity shops of Morningside before I headed off to work.
There was a tremendous rainstorm in Edinburgh yesterday, complete with thunder and lightning. The building I work in has a glass roof, so the noise of rain hammering down was tremendous. Reminded me of listening to rain on the crib roof. Ah, the summers of yesteryear!
Anyway, Faye has an extra day, so she leaves for the south on Sunday. She's planning to stay overnight at Whitby, and then spend Monday night at Banbury. It's close to Oxford but not as expensive.
In other news I'm enjoying my new Palm in an extremely nerdy way. The whanau should be grateful though: I'm putting in everyone's birthdays, with a seven-day advance reminder. It's a chore entering all the data, but it will be worth it. I've already found it much, much more useful than paper diaries etc, but in such nerdy ways I'm not even going to tell you.
Faye wants one now: she's downsized from a fat Filofax to a skinny diary, a skinny address book and a skinny shopping list, but a PDA would be even skinnier. Trouble is, the old computer I gave her doesn't have USB. So now she's thinking of a lap-top plus PDA. I think with her mobile lifestyle (and a fresh desire to lighten her luggage load) that set-up would be perfect. Some places she doesn't have room to set up the computer, and it's a clunky old thing anyway.
At one point, Faye was looking for something in her suitcase. She sat back and looked round at all her stuff and sighed. "I think I might have a disorder," she said.
But the thing is, all our family has the same disorder. I know I do. When I came to this country I had a backpack and a small suitcase, and I sent over a tea-chest by sea freight. ("What've you got in this, rocks?" puffed the delivery man as he hauled the chest up the stairs. In fact I did have rocks in it, including a beautiful white river rock that John gave me.) Now I have a three-bedroom house with ample storage, two sheds and loft space and I have an amazing amount of stuff squirrelled away. So much in fact that I lose track of things. Like my Christmas stuff: somewhere I've got a box filled with ornaments, fairy lights, wrapping paper and Bertie's antlers. Can't find it anywhere.
Trevor certainly has the disorder. I asked him once if I could get him a model kit for a birthday or whatever. He took me through to his study and flung open the cupboard doors. There were shelves and shelves of unopened model kits. Mum .... well, we've all seen inside your wardrobe! Full marks for tidy storage. Pinky's flat is so tiny (and so tidy) that you wouldn't think she could have the disorder, but she's confessed to having a big cupboard downstairs. So there you go. It's genetic.
3 February 2004
:: the eagle has landed
Yep, Faye arrived this morning, safe and sound and bang on time, and looking tanned. We had a cup of tea and a good catch-up chat before she hit the wall: no sleep to speak of for over 24 hours, plus jet-lag. I've put her in my room: I figure she has greater need of the comfy bed than me!
She starts her new job on Monday, which is a shame -- not that she's starting a job, but that it's so soon. Bertie is thrilled to bits to see her again, and it's mutual.
I had a great few days off. I drove through sleet and high winds to get my Palm -- and got a little karmic payback for not using public transport. The shop has a parking building right next to it, so I though, aha, I won't have to go outside. But I had to collect the Palm at its customer pick-up depot, which is across the road! Damn. But it was worth it -- it's the coolest thing out, so little and neat.
Sunday morning I met up with a work colleague and his wife and their dog for a walk -- Bertie and Oz are great pals. Then Andrew turned up with Faye's car and we had another walk before I drove him into town to catch his train back home. Then I went on to Fiona's for dinner -- that was fun, there was a good crowd there.
Yesterday was mainly practical stuff -- cleaning, laundry, supermarket shopping, entering data into the Palm. I also had a good walk on Blackford Hill, Bertie's favourite venue. Many, many dogs, mainly labradors.
My knees are much better just now. One of my neighbours was having a clean-out and found a couple of (unopened) tubs of high-strength glucosamine sulphate tablets, so he passed them on to me. They seem to be working: the inflamation has gone down and my knees feel much stronger and more stable. Still get jolts of pain, but nothing like the same constant aching. I've still been using my stick though, it helps on downhill stretches.
She starts her new job on Monday, which is a shame -- not that she's starting a job, but that it's so soon. Bertie is thrilled to bits to see her again, and it's mutual.
I had a great few days off. I drove through sleet and high winds to get my Palm -- and got a little karmic payback for not using public transport. The shop has a parking building right next to it, so I though, aha, I won't have to go outside. But I had to collect the Palm at its customer pick-up depot, which is across the road! Damn. But it was worth it -- it's the coolest thing out, so little and neat.
Sunday morning I met up with a work colleague and his wife and their dog for a walk -- Bertie and Oz are great pals. Then Andrew turned up with Faye's car and we had another walk before I drove him into town to catch his train back home. Then I went on to Fiona's for dinner -- that was fun, there was a good crowd there.
Yesterday was mainly practical stuff -- cleaning, laundry, supermarket shopping, entering data into the Palm. I also had a good walk on Blackford Hill, Bertie's favourite venue. Many, many dogs, mainly labradors.
My knees are much better just now. One of my neighbours was having a clean-out and found a couple of (unopened) tubs of high-strength glucosamine sulphate tablets, so he passed them on to me. They seem to be working: the inflamation has gone down and my knees feel much stronger and more stable. Still get jolts of pain, but nothing like the same constant aching. I've still been using my stick though, it helps on downhill stretches.
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