A tough week

Between a tough week at work, a diploma assignment returned “for rework”, and the ‘necessary-but-relentless’ cleaning jobs (anyone enjoy pressure-washing moss off concrete in near-freezing temperatures? No, didn’t think so…) this weekend couldn’t come soon enough. And even then, the number of jobs to be done before Christmas seem to be mounting – not helped when we decided to add a third room to the ‘everything stacked in another room while being redecorated’ stage in the farmhouse. 

We held our business meeting in the pub on Friday evening to get a break from the chaos, and, taking advice from a friend, we prioritised our weekend’s list of jobs so at least the most important ones were at the top. And by the end of Sunday, we’d got through the whole list, giving us that feeling of completion even though we’ve not managed to truly finish a room yet. Inside – we’ve packed the lounge up and started painting it; while getting on with the various coats of paint on the woodwork in the dining room and spare room. For those two rooms at least – one more coat, plus new light fixtures and curtains, and we’re onto the fun part of furniture and finishing touches. 

And outside – we took a break on Sunday afternoon to get our new fruit trees planted, and repot the old jasmine we brought from London. The dead nectarine tree has gone, and hopefully in a few years we’ll have a lovely crop of nectarines, peaches and cherries to add to our harvest! 

Next week looks promising too – with an extra day off, the loan of a steam cleaner, and Christmas lights ready to go up, we’ll be one step closer…