Thursday 23 December 2010

hooooraaaahhhhh! I'm in!

'Happy' is an understatement!

I spent my first 'proper' night in the house last night. I have carpets. I have enjoyed the day on the sofa watching my TV which I got out of storage on Tuesday...

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Creakey Cafe opening

What better way to spend Sunday afternoon than attending an opening party for a cafe?! I can think of very few! Especially when there's plenty of mulled wine and tasty treats on offer!

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Sofa so good...

A momentous occasion 

So, tonight is the first night on my new 'preloved' sofa, and the first time in a long time (on and off, I can count 2 years)  I've been able to sit comfortably, on a sofa, at 'home' and write. 

With so much going on in life, it's hard to know where to start with this blog post, a re-cap, maybe, looking forward perhaps. Neither seem right, so although this might sound a little crazy, I'm going to try to describe exactly where I am, both physically and emotionally. Well, as the saying goes, there's no time like the present.
 
I'm in my new lounge, iPad propped on my leg, sprawled out on my less-than-24-hour-old (to me) blue, two seater sofa, a welcome gift from a friendly neighbour, listening to last fm (caribou radio) from an old, paint splattered radio in the adjacent kitchen, via a dusty lead from my iPhone 4, the one with the cracked screen. Good start.  

The surroundings are less than palatial; in fact I'm "technically" still in a building site.  Infront of me is a make shift curtain made of a random remnant of blue fabric, which is pinned up at the window by two drawing pins, and, as well as there still being the odd patch of unpainted plaster on the walks, there's no carpet. 

I'm surrounded by a LOT of dust, pots of paint, boxes of sand paper, tubs of white spirit, tubes of decorators' caulk and a wide variety of brushes and rollers. A broom is leaning up in the corner next to an extension lead, a bag of rubble, and a pile of tools disguised by a dust sheet and did I mention, there's no carpet? Yes, just the cold, bare, dusty concrete floor. 

What I do have, is a warm, well lit house, full of promise and to coin an Eagles lyric, a peaceful, easy feeling. I know it's a real house; royal mail confirmed the address - by letter - and also, because I've literally bled, sweated and cried (lots) to get here. 

So now it's not just a house, it's well and truly becoming a home. Somewhere I can relax, unwind, stretch, be myself, contemplate and recharge the batteries. And not a moment too soon. 

The Christmas countdown is looming large, no, it's in full swing, so finishing the decorating and the carpet fitting are some of the last things to do, and although it maybe over a year ago that I thought I would be moving in the first time, I'm really starting to let myself imagine that it's finally coming to an end. Soon, I'll be able to go a whole day without considering the whereabouts or actions of a builder, plumber, electrician, carpenter, tiler, water/gas/electricity engineer, architect, building inspector or some other tradesperson of some description.  Oh what bliss that day will be.

"Not long",  "you're getting there", "nearly there now" ....all phrases that just have a certain irksomeness to them, having heard them so many times, this building project has gone on a long time, too long. So long that there've been times that I think I've forgotten what it's like to NOT be renovating a house... but now, it's so close to completion, that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't just bright, I can almost feel the warmth from it on my skin.