October 7th - October 24th 2010

Birthday is over, it is back to work at the decorating.

With the main work in the living room complete, and more than one person doing the work, we can work on several fronts at once, I work my way through the remainder of the flat putting up ceiling coving.

The kitchen is a bit of a nightmare for the coving, since there are so many corners both external and external it is a real test of my (lack) of mitring skills.

More finishing touches are made in the living room, ie pictures, a "new" sofa etc, and it begins to look even better.

At least there is now one room which resembles a civilised house, and is comfortable to be in.

In the meantime, Tanya and her friend Kim, begin painting the kitchen, and it too begins to take shape and look good.

Unfortunately repositioning of the kitchen units, during the refurbishment, means there are gaps in the existing laminated flooring, with no funds available to redo this, it will just have to wait.

The colours here are Rasberry Bellini and Mello Mocha (the names!), but whatever, I think they look superb.

It looks much better than it did, it would look even better if someone washed the dishes, dried them and put them away!

It is necessary to dispose of the "old" fridge freezer, this is potentially a problem, first we have to get it down the stairs, then we have to get it taken away.

Tanya and I manage to man-handle it out of the kitchen and down the stairs. Our luck is in, a recently vacated house is being cleared of debris, and the operator agrees to remove Tanya's discarded fridge/freezer free of charge.

Next filling and painting of the walls of the staircase begins, we have a slight delay since we need ladders to reach the highest points.

Soon all of the walls are painted, Tanya elects to do them Cornflower White, which is eminently sensible since sharing a colour with the living room both economises on paint usage (and hence cost), as well as providing a visual link from the living room to the upper landing and staircase. Not often you hear the words "sensible" and "Tanya" in the same sentance.

At last, the staircase is painted, including gloss painting of the woodwork. We have even completed minor details like varnishing the doors to the livingroom, bathroom and bedroom.

This really beginning to look the business.

The old stair carpet is removed and arrangments made to have the new stair carpet (chosen by Tanya), laid on Wednesday 27th