Monday 2 January 2023
I still can’t quite believe yesterday was the start of a new year. I spent too much time dwelling on things I (and we) hadn’t done in the house, from tidying to (miraculously) making the house look ‘perfect’. I suppose I have this thing about new year – and I know it’s not just me – that once the old year has gone, the new one will automatically (miraculously) be better. Strangely, sort of, looking back on yesterday and looking around the living room where I usually sit to write these posts, I think we did more than I am currently not giving us credit for.
We put up some pictures, lamenting the fact that most of the pictures we have here seem to be dark colours with emphasis on browns. Most of the tabletops are now cleared of mounds of stuff to sort, we got out step ladders to put some Christmas decorations (that I didn’t even use this Christmas) into a high up out-of-the-way storage area, thus clearing some space in a large cabinet and enabling some bags to be emptied. I feel sheepish saying that the cabinet is partly a drinks cabinet and it was bottles of spirits and rarely-used glassware that was ‘littering’ the floor. We also moved my old chaise longue from the kitchen into Chris’s office and I put a few things up on a storage ledge above the bathroom (unconventional place for storage).
My favourite completed job from yesterday, however, is that I finished the two coats of varnish I’d wanted to apply to the bedframe. It took a lot longer than I expected to finish. I sanded it, painted layers of undercoat, three or four (ie some colours needed three, others, four) layers of seven different colours and two layers of varnish. I have never painted so many coats or been so diligent about a paint job. Mind you, I have also never had an out-of-the-way area where it was fine to leave all my painting mess out for – gulp, when did I start? It was the joyous day the plumber sorted our boiler so about four weeks ago, minus the eleven days we were in London for Christmas. Anyway, it’s done. The next challenge will be assembling it without instructions and with thick coats of paint. I genuinely will cry if we can’t assemble it.
One of my favourite things about yesterday is that we drove ten miles to the end of a road, a route we’d never taken before, and had a walk fairly high up a beautiful, remote valley. There was a dusting of snow on the top of the hills and it was slightly colder than I was dressed for, but we passed no cars or people. I have always been a big fan of sheep. I love that they seemed curious about us and would bravely stand and watch us, running away if we moved too suddenly. There was a fast-flowing river at the bottom of the valley with a few tall, thin waterfalls pouring into it, lots of greenery and a mixture of fir trees and bare hills. Interestingly, we walked beneath an area that is currently being logged. I find it brutal and sad seeing the bruised land where the trees were but it’s also strangely appealing once the loggers have ‘tidied’ up and new trees have been planted and moss starts growing back. I think a lot of people have a lot of things to say about logging, but I know it’s not just a bad thing.
Today, a frosty morning, we are hopefully going to the seaside and via Screwfix for extension cables and a power drill. The walk, the seaside and the shopping list all fill me with slightly more excitement than I would expect.