More Chaos! ;-)

Seeing as life isn't stressful enough, what with doing a (fairly) major renovation project, (in another country, in a different language!), we are in the process of decorating at home.

[Belovèd, if you are reading this, that is the irony you have such trouble spotting!]

I was planning to put it off a while, after the accident. What with the flat containing too much stuff that I wanted to put into storage before starting, coupled with not getting an excuse that good very often, postponement seemed like a great idea!

[Let's not call it procrastination!]

Not injured, but a bit sore feeling, and not really in the mood for all the contorting that 'cutting in' would entail.

That was before the phone call from Chris whilst we were trying to get from Paris to London - tiler on standby, would be here Friday (today).

So that put the decorating back at the top of the agenda!

David was planning to go out after work Wednesday and Thursday evenings, so we unplugged the washing machine and dishwasher and parked them (with all the other clutter we haven't yet been able to take to the storage depot; no car) in the dining room.

Together with the door, and all the kick-plates I could remove from the kitchen.

It was Wednesday before I felt up to starting in earnest - Chris recommended getting the glossing done before tiling - so I needed to paint the ceiling, paint a coat of white on the walls as undercoat, stain-stop the skirting, undercoat the skirting, cut in the wall colour, and gloss the skirting & door frame.

And preferably get a second coat on the ceiling so I could reattach the light fittings!

Oh, and it all needed a good clean for starters...

Needless to say, I didn't manage half the things on my list, so Chris had to start - with a promise from me to 'cut-in' the gloss with great care.

Anyway, to cut a long story short [what you are waiting for, dear reader?], mess everywhere, nearly all the whole tiles laid, and Chris gingerly treading on them as he cut the surrounding tiles.

I'd got no more packing done - Chris is entertaining enough to chat to, I seized the opportunity to escape packing away stuff (Karen, forgive me!) - and it was lovely to watch someone else working.

He was going great guns, with the likelihood that he would finish today, and manage to seal round the bath for me before leaving.

I had spent hours yesterday removing the old silicone sealant, so was pleased as punch when Chris said he couldn't have done a better job himself.

Sadly, all the banter came to an end with a phone call from his wife: they'd had a visit from the burglars.

Despite me trying to push him straight out the door, he stopped to use up the bucket of adhesive and glue down most of the cut tiles.

Very kind of him; the floor is much less likely to sustain damage over the weekend.

I wonder if I'm some sort of jinx?

At least Zoë wasn't at home when the bastards broke in, and thankfully it was now (rather than in a couple of months time - she'd have been there with a new baby, then), but looking on the positive side seems to be becoming a bit of a habit!

I was far less worried than Chris about when he will come back (you get a good craftsman, you hang on to them!), but it does mean that our visitors will find an even bigger mess than I'd warned them about!

Looks nice, so far!

I do hope Chris gets everything sorted out quickly, and that the burglars meet with their karma in a fitting way.