Frustration

Very torn between needing to be at home for the exam period and needing to get things fixed up down at Spring Cottage. There is a mountain of things in the living room, which need to be taken there, and I need to check on how the painting is going. I have paid half the painter’s costs, against my better judgement, so I hope he has been doing a good job. Further frustration resulting from a last minute dinner invitation for tonight, which I’ve accepted, but which means I won’t be heading west until Saturday morning. I hate the feeling of there not being enough hours to do everything I want to do. Had a sensible talk with myself on the bus to remind myself that this is really the last weekend, that this will strictly apply. The next two are definite London ones as the exams will be in full session, and then the issue will disappear.

This weekend should see: putting up the house sign and mowing at the very least. I also want to test the mobile broadband which I have finally succeeded in installing on my computer after two weeks of fiddling and reading geeky blogs online. I hope the reception is better than in London (unlikely) or else it will be back to BT. All the other stuff – purchases, new blinds, etc., will have to stay packed up until the painting is finished.

This must be the most boring blog on earth.

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Impatience

I’m such a busy Lizzie that I forget that I’ve only had Spring Cottage for just over two weeks. I’m already impatient with progress on the house, although I’ve got quite a lot done. I’ve now found a painter and he’s due to start in 10 days or so – I hope. He has the keys, so let’s hope he gets going when he said he would. He thinks it will only take a week. At that point, I expect it will feel really different. It should be cleaner and lighter and feel more mine, than it does now, when I can still see where all Lady-Vendor’s furniture and pictures were.

I still can’t take the table down as I’m finding it difficult to get the replacement table for the kitchen in London. Also I will need help with sofa transportation and will have to wait for the Boy to come back from university to help.

I’m just looking forward to begin able to spend a weekend doing something other than clean and organise. Whilst that is fun, I am looking forward to being able to invite people to stay and show them its loveliness.

Beds – I forgot – they are coming in 10 days. I have to find a kind friend to help me put them together and then at least one will be able to sleep properly. So, its beds, table, sofas in that order and then the rudiments of comfortable living will be there. Not much else is necessary really and stuff will accumulate.

Oh yes, and I’m also expecting a peg rail and a slate house sign soon. I got a quote for the new radiator in my room today. Approximately twice what I’d budgeted for. I’ve no idea whether it’s a good price or not, but at least I was right about the existing rad being too small for the room. Since it’s my bedroom, it would be stupid to let it be too cold. Not that I want to sleep in the very warm or spend vast amounts of time in my bedroom but if I found the room cold in May, what will it feel like in December. I just can’t help feel anxious at the amount of cash that seems to go out of the door every day at the moment. But of course this will slow down as things get done.

What fun it must have been for all those MPs to charge stuff like this to the good old taxpayer and feel that they had the right to do so. A rotten system. I don’t blame them individually for doing it, but I do admire those, like Hilary Benn, who avoided doing so. There are so few with real integrity, sadly.  But I think most people’s invoices would look pretty foolish placed under close scrutiny – showing up all our petty vanities, so I think it’s very hard to judge all this out of context. They do need to think of something better though. This system is like something out of the nineteenth century. Oh wait, that’s exactly what it is…

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