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Apologies for not feeding you all a daily update yesterday: I was completely defeated! Although we did have a very nice afternoon. Katherine, Samuel and Jamie came to visit and to give us the thumbs-up on the new house. To be fair, the caravan seems to have been the main attraction. Much fun was had by all devouring pancakes for dinner in its kiddo corner. We also demolished a fair bit of cake and managed to exert ourselves kicking a football around on the little Common between our street and the school. Obviously the kids weren't nearly as knackered as us grown-ups...
After team Denby-Smith had left, I thought I better get on with stripping more wallpaper. Only the steamer stopped working after I'd not even finished the first wall. It took me ages until I realised that it had only tripped the RCD and by that time it was nearly half past eleven - far to late to get onto the staircase ceiling as previously instructed by Dave the electrician. We went to bed with everything looking like a complete mess. How Hendrik managed to clear most of it and empty our bedroom of stuff so Dave could work in it this morning is a mystery to me...
Still, Hendrik owes me one! No kidding! While I was dealing with two ratty boys at bedtime in a painted-cardboard-for-walls caravan within very easy earshot of all the new neighbours, he was having a meal out as a work do (AND he's going away overnight on Wednesday, again for work). I might be imagining things, but it did seem tonight like we're beginning to attract funny looks. Probably because so much of our lives is inevitably played out on our front lawn.
Anyway, as a kind of reward for managing to keep expletives to a minimum tonight (and I do hope those that did escape me were said under my breath!) I think I shall take myself to the Stratford Comedy Hullabaloo on Friday to see Ed Byrne. Anyone fancy joining me?
In other news: the staircase ceiling and our bedroom now have shiny new downlights (actually, shiny they ain't: they're brushed nickel). And the door handles have arrived. I can't wait for Thursday, when the carpenter is back to fit them. Some privacy in the bathroom will finally be restored!
It is amazing how much difference a little bit of friendly company makes when one has to get on with unpleasant tasks! Corinne and Tim helped us tackle the boys' bedroom (aka "the blue room") this afternoon. As a result, there is hardly any blue wallpaper left. Unfortunately, a lot of the plaster came off with it, so this one is going to be an expensive fix. Shame! But at least it's nearly done, despite being a real motivation killer. Tomorrow the staircase awaits. That's most probably going to be an even worse job. Thank goodness Katherine, Sammy and Jamie have promised to rescue us in the afternoon by distracting us with afternoon tea. Willem is so excited about showing them our new house that he made meticulous plans today, bless him!
Day 13, the lowdown:
- new door bells procured: zero
- loads of washing done and dried: two and a half (thank you so much T&C for letting us use your house as a launderette!! We shall endeavour to finally plumb in our own washing machine this weekend!)
- bird feeders filled and hung up: three
- new doors fitted (NOT by myself!): four
I am slightly tipsy writing this. In fact, both Hendrik and I are ever so slightly tipsy. I just learnt that that is by far the most pleasant state to be in while stripping wallpaper. Such a shame we had to stop so as not to annoy the neighbours at this hour. I could have gone on for hours without realising what a mindless task it is...
In other news, the previous owners have agreed to send someone to clear the loft and garage. Success! And Willem was back at nursery today which means my sanity has had a chance to recover. Only one child on hip for most of today. Very relaxing! (You guys must be beginning to think I am one of these Earth Mother types who are glued to their children 24/7. NOT THE CASE! The only reason I am carrying children around a lot of the day rather than letting them get on with their stuff on the floor is that there is no floor in large stretches of the house. Many of the floorboards are up or at least loose for Dave to do his wiring thing, and there are nails and screws EVERYWHERE which means that there just isn't anywhere safe for the kiddos to play. And as some of you may dimly remember I already have one tick against me with Social Services. I really don't fancy another conversation of 'that kind' with the Health Visitor...)
Well, well, well, we're finally back in the 21st century! Broadband is
connected and we even have a landline phone. Amazing! I can now actually
look at builders' quotes without needing to get my magnifying glass
out. Wicked!
The first lot of new internal doors arrived this
morning and apparently the carpenter is going to spend all day tomorrow
fitting them. And we're having skirting
boards in two of the bedrooms. Not that that was particularly high on my
list of priorities, but it seems our builder has been delayed on
another job and thought he'd do us a favour if at least we saw some
progress on other fronts.
Tim and Corinne might be rocking up
to give us a hand again on Saturday and, while I can't think of anything
nicer, I am slightly apprehensive, as it'll become very apparent just
how little progress we have made since they were last here. All I can
say is: sick children. I really don't know how on earth to get on to
wallpaper stripping and hole filling with a baby and a toddler who both
seem glued to my hips.
In other news: our new road is
really growing on me. Not only have we now met several of our neighbours
and all of them without exception have heartily welcomed us to the
neighbourhood. No, we also have just discovered an alleyway leading from
almost opposite our house to a football-field-cum-mini-playground
and further onto the primary school. Ace! Ah, and then there is the
lady riding her horse down the street. Two sightings of her so far.
Curiouser and curiouser...
The
British Summer has finally arrived. It has been raining cats and dogs
all day. Our feet now make squelching noises when we plod across our
front lawn from caravan to house and back, and we can sometimes hardly
hear each other over the drum roll of the raindrops on the roof of the
camper. The whole camping experience is suddenly very authentic - and
not in a good way! It wouldn't be that bad if the kids weren't this
whiny. It's seriously hard to keep them entertained and distracted from
their various malaises when all you have to work with are 6sqm. All I
long for is beds AND a table to be up at the same time. Am I being
overly demanding?
