Too much sherry Gimlet?
Well, Christmas and New Year have passed here with little event, because we are mostly still caught up in the DIY maelstrom. We did, however, get the best present: boyfriend got a new job. It is super news that he has been offered a job about 15 minutes away in one of the local silk mills. Surprisingly it is similar work to his previous job in a paper mill, with no night shift. It is not fantastic money to start with, but we couldn’t be happier that it is so close to home, and the petrol savings will be significant, we may even share a car eventually.
Meantime he has been putting to good use all the construction training he did whilst off work, starting with tiling the entire kitchen and new extension floor. This is a huge task, the kitchen (which was previously two smaller rooms) is not level, and the entire area covers 24m square. Floor levelling:
The worst thing about this has been the loss of my cooker (and indeed kitchen) and a few days ago the TV was buried behind the second sofa, the dresser and a freestanding kitchen unit being in the lounge, the cooker and a large cupboard were in a hallway, the fridge and freezer were in the extension and numerous food items in boxes distributed between the teen’s room (some chocolate biscuits were never seen again) and the spare bedroom. The teen started every sentence with the words “Where is?” as I explained for the umpteenth time that I didn’t know where anything was and she would have to search like the rest of us. I am sure that most households mislay things, like the remote or the car keys but when you have to look for stuff like the fridge and the cat you do start to question reality.
The new tiles go down:
And the contents of the kitchen move around the house:
I have been known to complain in the most scathing manner about the cheap gas cooker we inherited with the house, and simply cooking dinner on this loathsome item is like going into battle. However after 5 days of microwave dinners I am so please to have it back. Being a strict vegetarian and wheat intolerant, the selection of food available for microwaving is rather limited. The teen was also horrified not to receive her usual home cooked food, and in particular voiced her disgust at having to eat ready-made cheese sauce on her pasta. I really hope she marries a millionaire, or life is going to come as a big shock.
One thing I did manage over Christmas was to spring clean and clear out the studio, the amount of clutter I had acquired in just under a year was amazing to behold.
So the big question is; did I manage any artwork? Surprisingly I am nearly finished a large Watercolour and several mosaics are in progress:
I was also delighted to discover I had sold this original watercolour in a local gallery!
It is back to ‘proper’ work this week with the resumption of my Saturday art classes, and lots of bookings for January for private students, including a couple of new people.
Happy New Year all, let’s hope it is an extraordinary one for all of us.
What a lovely watercolour.
ReplyDeleteYour cat looks much friendlier than my 2 cats, who are not a bit grateful that we took them in:)
liz
Thankyou, do not be fooled by Gimlet's cute looks, he is a little terror, also a rescue cat. Was grateful for a little while, now demands expensive cat food, last night let a mouse loose in the house, and this morning chucked up something nasty in front of the washing machine. He is a ruthless murderer of small furry things too. But we love him still... Michele x
ReplyDeleteHi Michele - it's all looking very positive and I'm sure you will bring order out of chaos, if you haven't already!
ReplyDeleteAnd many congrats on the sale of your lovely snowscene. You've captured that strange light that we get when it snows beautifully!
(Was glad to read that I'm not the only one who hasn't got back into proper 'work mode' yet. Next week . . .)
You make me very glad my teens are grown up :o) It looks like your art keeps you sane in the midst of all the changes.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, the art, or at least the warm tidy studio keeps me sane. I finally have something that functions like a kitchen again, now we just have to finish tiling the extension. I say 'we' more in the sense of being creative director and less in the sense of actually laying any tiles obviously :-)
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen will look lovely once it's finished. I have an all black cat just like yours called Jasper. He's as laid back and soft as yours looks.
ReplyDeleteGimlet's laid back looks are deceptive. He is like Jekyll and Hyde. Laid back one minute, mad mouse slaughterer the next!
ReplyDelete