Cleaning time

My friends and family often joke about me having OCD when it comes to cleaning, as a friend said, I ‘Run a tight ship’. Luckily I have actually met people with OCD, so I know I am not even close to that strange planet they inhabit. Besides, my crazy daughter will actually walk to the end of the hallway to switch the light out, so the switch is ‘the right way up’. And clean and tidy makes me happy. But now there is extra cleaning to do.

Last week my boyfriend moved into the house he has purchased for us. I am moving in later, during the summer. The house was previously owned by an old person and has not been cleaned in years. With my boyfriend’s sister helping, I spent a day getting filthy, hovering cobwebs off every wall and ceiling, scraping off grease and food marks, and attacking the bathroom with screwdrivers, so thick was the limescale. The toilet is still giving me nightmares and the area the estate agents optimistically described as a kitchen is even worse.

Then there is the general mess to contend with. The house is full, and all I have moved in so far is a token cactus. Boyfriend has not exactly labeled boxes, preferring a more intuitive method I like to call ‘man packing’. Its success relies on saying loudly and often ‘I know where everything is’. He announced this confidently several times before we went to Tesco to buy replacement television cables for the ones he can’t find. But the house has a lovely light feel, and I think it will be really super when we have sorted it out. Most exciting of all, the builder is coming soon to talk about building my garden studio. I can’t believe I am getting a studio, it’s like a dream.

Today was mostly taken up with another trip to the orthodontist. The teen now has a bright blue brace, and is bemoaning the banning of corn on the cob and jelly babies from her diet. The week gets even busier from here on, as I have a new private student tomorrow, and a commission to paint a local village. The photo I have been given is less than ideal, and the weather is too foul to get another at the moment.

Finally though, I finished my article on learning to draw, called A Beginners Guide to Drawing. I am very proud of it, and it has been well received on the Squidoo, the site where it lives, which has made all those late nights on the computer worthwhile.