Spending a little...

It was back to work for Sophie and I this morning and we both felt like we needed another day off to recover from yesterday!

We were busy with calls throughout my shift and I also had to change all the prices in between talking to customers. Keith picked me up at 3pm and we went down to Riverside where we bought some more emulsion paint for the walls. I also bought two lampshades in Wilco's for the hall and the landing - one was very pretty and was silver and glass and when the light's on it makes lovely patterns on the walls and ceilings. The one for the hallway was a mother-of-pearl shade, which I thought would go well with the new flooring.

It was a gorgeous day and the sun was out in full force. We had a cup of tea and a cake in Costa and returned home to relax for a while before preparing dinner. Sophie arrived home and while she liked the hallway shade, she wasn't that keen on the one on the landing...OK, it is a bit like a Disco ball, but I like it!

Dinner tonight was chicken pie, but Sophie enjoyed a vegetarian one instead. We have all agreed to try and cut down on our meat intake and we think that Quorn is a great substitute for mince!

A day off?

Today has been hard work and there were times this morning, first thing, when I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry!

We made a start on the painting and Keith insisted on applying the first coat right at the top of the wall, over the stairs. He balanced on a ladder to do this and we all seriously thought he was going to fall off! My palms were drenched with sweat and I was utterly relieved when he finished. It was so hard getting the paint in a straight line at the very top of the wall where it meets the ceiling and he did a good job under very hard conditions. He'd already painted the ceiling white the day before so to give him a break I took over and did all the edges while Sophie started to apply the emulsion by roller.

The first coat always looks a complete mess and today was no exception - it looked dreadful and I felt very miserable looking at it and I just hoped it would get better after we'd applied the second coat!

Of course, today has been beautiful - probably the loveliest day of the year so far and we were all cooped up indoors! It did give us the chance to open the windows, though, and get some fresh air into the house!

We applied the first coat of emulsion and once the second coat was on, it looked a lot better. I loved the grey we used - it goes beautifully with the white banisters, doors and skirting boards. There's only one problem: the pictures we had on the landing and hallway won't go as they are much more creamy so we'll have to find them homes elsewhere.

Sophie and I stopped for lunch at 2.30pm and ate the leftovers from our veggie chilli of last night. We used Quorn again and we enjoyed it very much. We've all agreed that if we have spaghetti or chilli from now on we'll use that rather than minced beef.

Some pictures of what we've been doing so far:

Applying the first coat of primer over the dark wood

Our bare stairs!

Hallway without carpet!

Getting down to it in the study!

Finding room for everything before they lay the carpet will be difficult!

Mike taking up the carpet and removing the gripper rods

What a flippin' mess!

We finished painting at about 4pm and I had a lovely soak in the bath. Keith suggested going out for a meal in the evening as none of us felt like cooking so we went to The Lamplighter. I had a very sore and itchy eye (a stye?) so I felt a bit yukky, but we had a great evening nonetheless and Sophie enjoyed a beefburger as they are so delicious. I had a chicken burger with bacon and sweetcorn relish and we all shared nachos and garlic bread to start. We couldn't face dessert and went home to collapse on the sofa. It's back to "work" tomorrow!

A longer day...

I did three extra hours today as I was given the job of changing all of our prices, which comes into effect on the 1 March. I sat at another desk and thankfully didn't have to answer the phones, which was a good thing! I have a feeling that on Thursday I'll have to do both, though, as Sara wants them all done by Friday!

It was a long day and I treated myself to a Kitkat and a cup of tea at about 4pm! Luckily, it hadn't been as busy as yesterday, but it was still lovely to go and wait for Sophie in our car park at 5pm. Keith had dropped me off this morning and it seemed the sensible thing to ask Sophie to pick me up. It's still light now at 5pm and getting lighter every day. How I long for the Spring and the longer days!

Both Sophie and I are off work tomorrow and although we'd planned on having a day out, we need to get the decorating done by next Tuesday when the first work starts on the floors - they're putting down a levelling substance which can't be walked on for six hours...I just hope they come early and do it otherwise we'll be in trouble!

Frantic Monday!

As if the weekend hadn't been busy enough, today was frantic at work with relentless phone calls and lots of admin work. It's half-term here next week so people were calling to book their children onto our holiday activities and playscheme. I was working with Joanne who is very new so she was thrown into the deep end, somewhat!

At 2pm I escaped home and after popping to Brixworth to get the newspaper, I did some glossing of the banisters. Keith had painted all the skirting boards in the hallway and cloakroom so that had helped enormously. It's becoming to come together now! Sophie has a day's holiday on Wednesday and although we had planned to have a day out and maybe a nice lunch, we're now going to emulsion the walls and try and get as much finished as we can.

Sophie came home from work and after relaxing for a while, we had dinner - veggie sausages with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Keith is going to Tesco tomorrow to get yet more food and we've decided to abandon the veganism as it's so difficult finding things to eat for Mike and I'm fed up with it!

More painting!

This morning we woke up to some truly horrible weather - it was cold (about 3.5c) and it rained relentlessly. We drove down to Riverside to visit Homebase and it was deeply unpleasant in the nasty conditions. The roads were even beginning to flood in places.

At Homebase we bought a big tin of silk emulsion - Polished Pebble - as well as some gloss paint, a smaller tin of emulsion for the ceiling, a paint set and more primer. That little lot came to nearly £90!

Afterwards we visited a hectically busy Weston Favell Centre and bought ingredients for our meal tonight and tomorrow night. All we seem to do is buy food at the moment! I couldn't wait go get out of Tesco as it was packed with people!

As soon as we were back home we made a start on the painting again and I was able to get another coat of primer on, as well as the first coat of gloss. It was beginning to look great and much lighter and cleaner.

Mum and Dad popped around for a cup of tea and said they'd been to an antique fair in Woburn. My Dad said that driving on the M1 had been terrible and I was surprised they'd even attempted it today. I really think that driving on the busy motorways is now beyond my Dad as I know he drives slowly. They looked a little shocked at how our house is at the moment but agreed when I said it would all be worth it in a couple of weeks time!

As we were so busy we didn't even have time to go for our lovely walk on a Sunday afternoon but we did have a little cocktail! A Brandy and Ginger Wine concoction that went down very well!

Sophie and I cooked dinner in the evening - the Gino D'Acampo pasta dish we tried a few weeks ago. In Tesco we'd bought Quorn mince to put in it and it was lovely. The Quorn seemed to swell and soak up the lovely flavours and there was more than enough for Sophie to take to work tomorrow!

House in uproar!

I wasn't keen on my job today (putting a couple of coats of primer on the banisters) but I knew it had to be done before the new carpet was put down so I just gritted my teeth and got on with it!

Chaos reigned this morning as Keith and Mike took up the carpet in the study and moved a lot of the furniture into the conservatory. Sophie took everything out of the cabinet and the drawers and kept asking why we kept so much stuff! Taking up the carpet and the gripper rods was hard work and Keith had to go around and fill in the holes again afterwards.

I started on the banisters with the undercoat and quickly grew to hate painting the wood! It was laborious and fiddly and my knees ached from the position I had to adopt to get it done!

Now the downstairs of the house is very bare indeed, with only carpet in the living room, but that's on borrowed time! Luckily, we can keep the sofa and the chairs in there as the carpet layers will work around them! Thank goodness for that! The rest of the furniture will have to be moved out the morning when they visit.

Sophie helped me with the painting and before long we'd run out of the primer. They look better already though and I can't wait until they're finished!

We didn't move out of the house at all today, not even to go and get a newspaper, and dinner this evening was a veggie paella, cooked by Sophie. It was definitely missing something...chorizo and plump, juicy chicken breasts!

Getting ready!

I had another busy shift at work today and it was great to escape at 2pm and know that the week was over. Keith had been hard at work in the house taking up the carpets in the hall, stairs and landing and removing the gripper rods where we were going to have vinyl put down. He'd had to fill in holes after he'd chiselled the gripper rods out and had spent most of the day on his hands and knees. He'd also been to the tip to get rid of it all and was worn out, poor thing!

The house now has a bare empty feel but at least I can paint the stair banisters and skirting boards at the weekend and not have to worry about getting it all on the carpet!

I looked up the people mentioned on the baptism cards and messaged one of their ancestors who was very pleased to have the information. I know there's more in the Bible that Mum and Dad have so I said I will look it up and send it on. I wish someone would do the same for me with certain members of my family!

Tonight's dinner was soup and crusty bread so not much could go wrong there, but I am getting a bit fed up with the relentless veggies now. How I yearn for a nice bit of steak or a roast chicken!