We Are Still Here!

A La Carte

Most visitors arrive with a little offering; a bottle of wine, groceries for the duration of their stay or a bunch of flowers. This lot - nothing, not even a morcel of cheese.  Nevertheless, they ascended upon us, treated us like a five star restaurant, ate their fill and caused irreparable damage.

'What do you fancy from the menu Minnie?'
'Oh Mickey you spoil me. I think I’ll have the stuffed sofa seat cushion. What about you?'
'I’m going for the cushion back with stuffing and as a special treat let’s share a little cushion piping shall we?'

War has been declared!  We shall fight them on the settees.  We shall fight them on the sofas.  We shall banish the mouse from the house.

More unwelcome visitors. The mice among the clothes was bad enough now we have found the little sods have been squatting in the sofas we have stored in the house and munched through two sofa cushions and worse still through the covers too.  My fault entirely, I should have removed the covers as I have done with the other sofas. Do you think patchwork settees can ever catch on?

A delicious helping of stuffed cushion

Bienvenue

Back to the building work.  Come on in.  Wipe your feet – on second thoughts wipe them on your way out!  Let me show you around.  It’s been a long time since we were all on site.

 

Since we arrived back from the UK the LGB has built a temporary staircase.  At the time I wondered why he was expending his time and energy building something that would later be pulled down; however, it really has made life so much easier than climbing a ladder. 

Dolby surround sound cinerma screen

We have put the picture window in the kitchen/diner.  The mountain of earth has been moved and we have a view down the garden. We sit in our reclining garden chairs like Derby and Jone in an old folks home.  It is like having our own little cinema screen, but the only action is when the wind blows and the trees sway a little or a deer wanders through the garden, but pleasing to us! The front door is in and I am chuffed to bits with that. 

I Can Sing A Rainbow

I have actually made a decision about the colour for the windows, yes really.  It is a lovely shade of snotty green. Actually, I don't know the name of the paint colour, probably something like rolling stone moss.  They always have marvellous names for paint colours don't they; watermelon pink, clotted cream, driftwood grey. Sometimes we would never guess what the colour may be.  The career's adviser never told me I could have a job naming paints.  I'd be a little more real so you would really know what colour you were getting; shitty brown, gloomy day grey, varicose vein blue, yellow jaundice, pasty face pink.  I'm liking this, I could go on and on. Anyway, I have chosen snotty green and I am quite happy with it – this week!  So the picture window and the front door frame have been painted. I’m even washing the brushes!

 

The LGB has plastered the family bathroom.  We have made great progress with the insulation and plaster boarding the ceiling and the walls.  What a difference!  It really is all coming together.  The electrician is getting us all wired up before we get cut off again.

We have had many visitors not including the rodents and I will write about that soon. They had all been forewarned.  People holiday abroad and complain because there are building sites next to their hotels, but we actually have friends and family coming fully aware they are staying on a building site!  No refunds or compensation will be given! Amazingly, everybody so far has enjoyed their stay.  The pee bucket, concrete floors, make shift shower, downstairs toilet with no door (there is a curtain for some privacy) is putting nobody off.

A rather rushed and disjointed post I’m afraid, my apologies.