A Nomadic Life

We're having the lounge redecorated. Oh, how I wish we weren't. It seemed like a good idea at the time though ...

All would have been fine if Colin wasn't such a perfectionist. He wasn't happy with the state of the chimney breast once we'd stripped the wallpaper off. We could see the line of where the original gas piping for the gas lights (Victorian house) was, and a little bit of plaster had chipped off just over a ball joint. While I was out shopping last Saturday, Colin decided to see if he could turn the pipe to make it a bit flatter (yes, I know!). Only a man could think of something like that, right? Unfortunately for us all, his bright idea resulted in a large amount of plaster falling off the wall. I can't even begin to tell you of the stress this caused me, nor of the stress of discovering him ripping the rest of the plaster off. Any normal man would have just patched it up, right? Not Colin. Did I mention that we can't afford a plasterer? And did I mention that Colin has never plastered before?

So ... my new couches arrived last Saturday morning. They have been sat in the lounge since their arrival, still wrapped up snuggly in their plastic wrapping, and shrouded in old sheets to keep all the dust and muck off. The old suite has been chucked out. We have nothing to sit on. And we can't sit in the lounge anyway, it's full of rubble, dust and plaster. Dining room? Out of bounds too. It's full of everything we moved from the lounge. So that means that for the last eight days we have been living upstairs in the bedrooms. Eating, sleeping, chatting. A couple of days was fine, but it's got real old real fast. I hate it. We have no TV to watch (as Colin is fitting our flat screen TV to the wall in the lounge - no lounge, no TV) - not that we have missed it at all. The funny thing is, that despite living like nomads, wandering aimlessly in search of somewhere to settle, I've been using the laptop LESS, and getting much MORE sleep!

Last weekend I was tucked up in bed both nights by 8.00 pm or thereabouts, and I've been in bed well before 10.00 pm every night this week. I know it's gone 11.00 pm now, but I've had a snooze this afternoon for an hour so I feel justified in staying awake a bit longer. Added to that, I wasn't feeling well yesterday so I slept for about five hours in the afternoon (and got a full and long night's sleep too), and things in the sleep-deprived world of Katiepops are looking a whole lot more rested than normal.

Anyway, despite not being a plasterer, I have to admit that despite there being bits of plaster everywhere (which Colin assures me he will clean off), he has made an amazing job of the chimney breast. I think, however, that we have created a monster ... he's been going around the house making notes of where he wants to start next ... eek!

The decorator was supposed to be coming tomorrow to start papering, but Colin has put him off because the new plaster isn't quite dry yet, and there is lots still to be done. However, he promised that tomorrow he will finish sorting out the electrics, then we can start clearing out the rubble, then get the carpet up and out, and then hopefully by the middle of the week we can get the new suite unwrapped and assembled, with a view to the papering being done towards the end of the week. I can't wait for it to be finished so that I can stop living in a bed!

I haven't taken any pictures of Colin's masterpiece of plastering in its finished state, but maybe I'll do that tomorrow and post them here for posterity. I have to admit, I'm proud of what a good job he's done. Well, there's always a first time!