esmerelda in residence

Cavern of despair (alternately titled "how to renovate in 41C weather")

Up at 5 am on a Sunday to try and beat the heat and get the final push done on the spare room (also known as the "Starwar's Suite" originally then renamed to the "cavern of despair" by Mr H). The weathermen are predicting a high of 41C (105F) today and 21C(68F) tomorrow, but of course we have to work tomorrow, don't we. 

Anyway.

The stuff we've finished:

1. Window repaired (wood cancer in frame, but not extensive). I use we in the royal sense as Mr H did most of the hard graft & I as always either wielded a paint brush or provided nourishing cups of tea while Mr H provided the hard labour. 
2. Starwars wallpaper stripped. 
3. Walls primed and painted. 7 million holes in the walls patched prior to painting. 
4. Ceiling fan installed. 
5. Floor sanded, sealed and waxed. 
6. New door fitted, painted and hung. 
7. Windows painted (and scraped where the painter (me) got a bit sloppy.
8. Architrave painted. 

Still to do:

1. Fit door hardware. 
2. Final clean of windows.
3. Fix fly screens (someone was scrubbing them yesterday and they disintegrated) and paint. 
4. Hang blinds. 
5. Hang flyscreens. 
6. Adjust furniture height. 
7. Put room back together. 
8. Make shelves (this is tentative). 

We are quite possibly being very ambitious in thinking we can do everything today, however as we have company arriving on Thursday evening we don't have much choice. 

Photographic evidence contingent on the weather because if it's too damn hot I'm not going into the study to upload photos. Instead I will languish underneath the air conditioner and drink frosty adult beverages. 

Back story

Finally - I have uploaded some of the pictures from the bedroom renovation to the flickr account (thanks to fav sis in law for providing the motivation). I am amazed at the work we did and how it isn't really reflected in the pictures. 

For example this pic:  

while it shows the mess  the bedroom was, it doesn't reflect the absolute chaos that prevailed while the demolition was underway, nor does it reflect the pain I underwent having to go get a tetanus shot (note to self - always wear shoes when renovating) - nor does it reflect the absolute backbreaking work Mr H put into the room. 

Take this picture as another example. 

This photo doesn't begin to reveal the cursing that went on behind the scenes as Mr H & I carted each monolithic section of wardrobe into the house. You don't see the frustration on my dear husband's face when I tell him the dual hanging section has to be re-done as there isn't quite enough room for my shirts to hang properly. You don't see the husband and the youngster spending an entire day to "make it so". 

So please, cruise on over to the flickr site and have a look & see if you can imagine what it took to get here:

 

from here. 
  

Why?

No posts recently? I started to say that nothing funny or interesting has happened lately, but let's just give the true reason. Sloth. I am deep in the throes of post winter, is spring ever going to show up, tired of the soul-sucking commute, sloth.
A few extra days off next week- maybe things will pick up then.

what I've been up to

Sheesh, blink your eyes and another month just goes zipping by. Guess I better rethink my thinking about applying to blogher; don't think I can stand the pressure. 

So, in the past month I've:

1. Purchased a new (to me) table and chairs for the dining room. The table is one of those old formica/chrome 50's tables with 4 chrome chairs. 
2. Purchased some "vintage" tupperware. The stuff actually looked brand new and at $20 for 3 bowls I wasn't going to pass it up as you can't even buy new stuff at that price. 
3. Made a trip to one of the inner suburbs to purchase a wok. 
4. Didn't buy a wok, but did score a granite mortar & pestle for $35. 
5. Thanks to Mr H's keen eye, picked up two bedside tables for $165. The tables are similar to ones we were outbid for on Ebay. The tables need to be refinished though. 
6. Spent the weekend in the mountains - got some good ideas for house renovations. 

And really that's about it. Nothing very exciting or glamourous. Well, there is the whole running out of petrol on the way to the train station thing, but we won't talk about that. 

The next big thing on the calendar: Elvis Costello on Oct 17.  And maybe some company in October as well. 

Overheard

Teenage boy: he looks like a girl.
Teenage girl: yea, when I was dating him peple thought I was a lesbian cause he looks like a girl.