esmerelda in residence

The news

I am currently on the next to final leg of "Esmerlda Tours the US of A" aka the laundry folding & house cleaning tour. Landing in North Carolina minutes after the tornados devastated the area, I spent two days with my youngest daughter, and while there folded more clothes than I thought possible. I think she was saving the folding laundry chore for me from the last time I visited (almost 4 years ago). Now I am visiting my mother and my fingers are itching to clean out her closets and throw stuff away - I hope I feel like this when I get home. I have to say I love some of the commercials that are new to me, in particular the walmart/fishing trip. Tomorrow we are headed off to the beach, picking up my nephew to take him along and maybe some thrift shop cruising.

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. 

Another score

After letting me sleep in yesterday until 10 am (10 AM!! I NEVER sleep that late), and allowing me about 30 minutes to wake up, Mr H & I were off to "do something". We drove to a suburb I didn't know existed, had breakfast/lunch, browsed through a second hand book store (6 books purchased!) then went to an antiques fair where all the kit there was extremely overpriced (for the most part) and depressing to look at (I used to have one of those! and one of those! when they were original! I'm not an antique!). While we were looking at some bits and pieces by the front door I turned around to say something to Mr H who had disappeared. Ten minutes later he showed up with two green depression glass butter dishes I had been admiring earlier. Then it was off to drive through towns I had never seen before, finally stopping at a place in the southern highlands which was full of bookshops & stores full of things you just can't live without. We did find a cook-shop that had some stuff I have been looking for and left with a cast iron frying pan. Hurray! Potato pancakes, here we come! Fried chicken! Corn bread! I'm gaining weight just thinking about it. 

The day was sunny and warm, we came home with treasure & the dog has forgiven us for leaving her alone on a weekend day. All in all, a good result. 

what you do

when you find out you are going to be a grandmother again? Why, you run out and spend $$ on anti-aging cream, of course. 

and a purple hat. 

beta tester

Am testing the new version of TypePad - so far, I'm liking it. 

If only I weren't so bloody knackered - I'd redesign the whole blog.