The spare room needs some work, no doubt about it. I've ordered a double bed, so couples can stay in comfort. The window had a blind, a cheap one that was starting to sag in the middle because of the width it was stretching across. So the plan was to trim the blind back and fit it into the actual window space, and put up some curtains as well, for a "window treatment" effect. Flash, eh?
So I went to Ikea on Monday for curtains for the spare room and the small bedroom, which will now house the single bed. This room used to have a venetian blind, but it came crashing down during cleaning operations last month, smashing the brackets. After much mulling at Ikea (which, it being a public holiday, was crowded with people mulling and their bored, bawling children), I chose curtains, rods and finials, plus a nice frame for a gorgeous print Mum sent me for Christmas. Got home and realised I'd forgotten to get brackets for the rods. Sigh, tsk, etc. Yesterday morning I went back thinking that at least Ikea wouldn't be so crowded, only to find it was so insanely busy that the carpark was full. It felt crazy to have to battle the crowds for such a tiny purchase.
Last night I took down the blind, cut it to the approximate size, discovered it was still too wide and cut it again. Then I unscrewed the brackets and repositioned them, after drilling holes in the surround and causing a large crack in the masonry on one side. Sigh, tsk, etc. Fitted the trimmed blind into place, admired the general effect and rolled it up. Blind came crashing down. Sigh, tsk, etc. I've put it back up but I'll have to reposition the brackets somehow to make it secure.
The next step was to put up the brackets for the curtain rods, and that went fairly smoothly, apart from having to take them down again after discovering that the screw that grips the pole is positioned so that it couldn't be loosened in situ except with a very short screwdriver, which of course I don't have. By this stage I was too exhausted and filthy to contemplate hemming the curtains, so I haven't quite finished. But it's going to look lovely.
In between bouts of Ikea and DIY, I went on a few lovely walks. One was along Roslin Glen, which I haven't done for years. Bertie loved that one - a new walk! With extra mud!
Roslin Castle, right next to Rosslyn Chapel (which is under heavy scaffolding and doesn't look romantic at all). Click here for fascinating information about the castle, including the legend of the big scary dog. As soon as I let Bertie off the lead, just under the castle walls, he went hurtling off in the wrong direction. I whistled him back and he came flying, but didn't see me and dashed past, scaring the bejesus out of a young couple coming the other way. Maybe they'd just been reading about the legend!
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