The sun shines, making the house look bright and airy, and the open windows make Spring seem almost here. Perhaps it is!
Cats hop in and out of windows, and help to accentuate how very filthy they are - it's time for the window cleaner's monthly visit.
12.30: Margery arrives. No cleaning today - the vacuum is away being serviced after making horrible screeching noises yesterday. We are lifting stair carpet instead, and set to with vim and vigour. Fiddly bits first.
Flossie and the cats help. Tosca watches.
Unpleasant stains are revealed. These are not the worst.
They have historical value to anyone wishing to chronicle the life stages of the ageing cat; I am not in the least nostalgic as I roll up sections of carpet into black bin liners.
Margery the Unsqueamish says this is fun. She is always a treasure, but is invaluable when rough work or dirty jobs require an extra pair of hands.
I continually impale my thick-soled slippers on the deadly gripper strips.
We decide to leave the old underlay covering the killer spikes until nearer the time for the new underlay and carpet to be fitted. Lacerated paws and feet are not a sensible idea.
Tomorrow I will sand the side bits where carpet and wet paint have left ridges over the years, clean up, and prepare for the loathsome task of gloss painting.
But for now, we stop for coffee and a slice of gingerbread; I tell Margery the story of when the Lovely Son fell on the gripper strip many carpets ago and gashed his hand open.
This story involves a greeny-white 11- year old boy about to faint, a great deal of blood, a stepfather also greeny-white and about to faint, and me gritting my teeth at the feebleness of the species while sorting out butterfly stitches and dressings.
We laugh, rather unkindly, and finish the gingerbread. Flossie and Tosca help.
Job done.
12 comments:
Another pair of hands makes the job seem quicker. Can't wait (but will have to) to get rid of our disgusting carpet.
A very satisfying day's work . It's going to be a pity to leave all these improvements behind !
Great stuff.....wish I had done that much today! Sounds like you have a buyer? You don't bring the inlaws unless you are serious ! X
A good job done - everyone should have a Margery! I once had two dentists removing a splinter of bone from a botched extraction. They were so busy discussing what they were doing, it was only the dental nurse who noticed that I had gone green and was on the point of throwing up before passing out!!
Bravo on a job well done! Looking forward to the "after" pics with new carpeting installed! BTW, that video of your cats with the mouse on the stairs was GREAT!
Fingers crossed Rachel, all looking good on the sale front! I bet Flossie was a great estate agent.
I'm not alone then, I had a similar gripper experience to Lovely Son.
The underlay didn't look as bad as I'd expected after the build up!
You've certainly got a lot done today!!
Dan
-x-
I love the sound of Margery the Unsqueamish and her idea of fun. It is fun with two though - and canine and feline assistance to boot. Can't wait to see the 'after' photos!
Well done. I'm not in the least squeamish but did wince a little at the thought of those spiky spikes and bare feet. It's going to look fab!
I'm turning green, with envy, because I have so many jobs that I need a Margery for.
Margery is, indeed, A Treasure!
And, just as an aside, that next-to-last picture makes quite an optical illusion as I click down.
You have a way of making even a dirty job sound like fun... except for the greeny-white and blood part, of course.
That must have been a satisfying piece of gingerbread. We have been painting, too.
Fingers crossed for Couple #1.
Have you started looking again for yourself?
(Yesterday I saw a house in Oxford that I loved -- and I realized that one shouldn't really do that before one's OWN house is sold.)
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