The Big Push Day 13

Up at eight thirty this morning and back off into Hesdin to check the bank, the money had not come across so i did a manual transfer, hope it goes in tomorrow. When i got back i made a start on painting the ceiling, this was a bit of a paint in the backside but i got it done eventually, it looks pretty shoddy so i will have to try and patch the bits that look bad. I spoke to ant several times on skype, he is stuck in Hong Kong for an extra day so i wont have the pleasure of his company till Thursday! After the paint job i settled in to a relaxing afternoon and watched some American Dad dvd's. Sausage and chips for dinner and then an evening in front of the tv again then an early night, another day of scrubbing and painting tomorrow!! I have to say i am getting a bit fed up with the work now and the house being in a state constantly and just want it finished and done with, but these things take time, one more major job to go then it's just little finishing touches. At least when ant gets back it will be easier to deal with.

The Big Push Day 12

I awoke reinvigorated from my lazy day yesterday and got straight into the swing of things, i had my coffee and did the blog as usual but only allowed myself 30 mins online before heading off out to Hesdin. I checked the bank to see if the money was in, it wasn't so i will need to go in on Tuesday as well, then went to Mr Bricolage and bought three tins of paint and some weed killer. When i got back i started on the second coat of the stairs, masked everything off so ant would not have to cut in and got painting. I had just finished the cutting in when Janine arrived so i stopped and had a chat to her, she had brought me a courgette and some tomatoes so i sent her away with a cabbage and a cauliflower. Whilst Janine was here mam in law phoned, so i said i would phone her back once Janine had gone, which i did. The i made another start, again just as i was getting into it the phone rang, it was ant. A member of the crew he was working with had died on route and he was a little shaken by it and had to speak to me, so we chatted and he seemed a little happier, the only thing is we now don't know when he is going to get back.
Eventually i managed to get the painting finished, it doesn't look too bad, but it could look better. After this i headed over to Chris and Allan to say hello, i hadn't seen them at all over the weekend and i didn't want to be rude. They are having work done in their house too and Simon was there so we all sat with a cuppa and chatted for a while, then i headed back. On returning i decided to try and tackle the hall ceiling, i managed to mock something together and just hope it doesn't look too bad when it has been painted, then i called it a day.
I cleaned the house and myself up, planned the evenings viewing, then made dinner, lowly pork chops with brussel sprouts, peas and chips tonight, not very appealing but very welcome as it was the first food i had had all day. The tv was drivel as usual and a bit later in the evening i went on line to catch ant on skype, we chatted for a while then he went off to sleep and i went back to the sofa. By nine thirty i was watching ace ventura call of the wild, what a croc of rubbish, so i turned it off, put the dogs out for their evening constitutional and went back on mine for a while, then headed off to bed and read.

The Big Push Day 11

I woke late this morning and had a relaxed morning, i knew i had things to do but couldn't find the oomph to get going, so i procrastinated for quite a long time, then went upstairs and sorted out one of the bedrooms, i even ironed the bedding, put some pictures up and generally tidied round the house a little. I caught up on a lot of the washing that has been waiting to be done since we got back from oz, and then spent some quality time with the dogs. One day off does not make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. I spoke to Sarah on the phone for some time, had some lunch, watched a bit of tv and generally slobbed about.
Late afternoon i went back online and caught ant on skype, he was quite chatty and we spoke for some time, he wanted to be sure i was not getting too down under all the pressure of the work, i am not i just wanted a lazy day, i was missing him allot so it helped to chat to him. I spoke to gran for a while on the phone and we talked about our imminent move to oz, so she knows it is going to happen now, she was a little disappointed but i reassured her it would not be the last she saw of us, and she understood this was something we had to do. After this is was a very gentle evening, sweet and sour chicken, the antiques roadshow and then an evening of carry on films before heading off to bed determined that tomorrow i would rediscover my oomph and get on with it again.

The Big Push Day 10

A five o'clock wake up this morning then a quick get ready and off to Lille for ant, he's off to Hong Kong for five days! I am not sure i will be able to cope as the will to carry on with the work on my own is already being slowly sapped. I got back by half eight and sat down to another coffee and went on line, did the blog and looked at Adelaide Now then some real estate, checked out Mount Barker but it was a little pricey as well. I looked at the euro to aus dollar exchange rate also and realized we would have a fair bit less than i thought, we will just have to hope it gets a little better. I spoke to ant on the phone and he told me off for wasting time on the computer and to get on with the painting, so i was about to make a start when the post person came and i got the electric bill i had been waiting for, i phoned the company only to be told that they would not be reimbursing the eight hundred euros we have over paid until February!! so this annoyed me a little, phoned ant again and he again got shirty about me not having started work.
I started painting the stairs we had papered the day before, it was not too hard but i made a little bit of a mess on the cutting in, after the first coat went up there was not enough paint left to start on the second coat, so i wasn't sure what to do with myself, i phoned ant again, then decided i would go have a shower and get ready for the evening, i managed to get into a pair of jeans i had not worn for a while, so that pleased me, then rested in front of the tv until Tony and Jackie arrived.
Tony and Jackie arrived at about seven and we headed off to Greg's for the party, it was in full swing by the time we got there, Greg has a band and there was a little marquee set up at one end of the garden and a food and drinks bit at the other. We set ourselves up near the food and drink and sat and chatted and listened to the music, there was also a pig on a spit which was interesting, the meat was delicious.
By about ten we had had enough and headed back here, Tony and Jackie came in for a coffee and chatted for a good while longer then they headed off home and i headed off to bed, quite tired by this point, i read for a little while then went to sleep.

The Big Push Day 9

Todays plan was to somehow cover the walls in the stairwell, a bit of a difficult task due to the height and restricted space, so we got our selves up and ready then headed out to Hesdin and went shopping at Mr Bricolage. We bought two rolls of fiberglass wall paper, designed to cover all surfaces and give a finish ready to paint, and some glue stuff to apply it. We got back to the house and started preparations for the work, i gave tony a call to see if he had any extending ladders i could borrow and to see if they fancied going to Greg's famous party on Saturday night, they did for both. Tony said he may drop by later with the ladders and he wanted to check out how things were going. Ant and i set to and did the easy bits first, the paper was very easy to apply, though we made a bit of a mess of the first piece we did, the subsequent pieces went up with little hassle. As we got to the bit that was hardest to reach we started to improvise with our ladders and other steps and, with a hotch potch of me supporting this Heath Robinson type design we managed to get all the wall finished, ready for painting by me the next day. In the end it looked quite good, and the stairs were much brighter than they have ever been. Whilst we were in the middle of the work one of the ceiling tiles i had put back up the day before fell off the ceiling, so i will have to look at repairing that problem another day.
Once we had finished applying the paper we started with the furniture moving in the bedroom, just as we had finished moving the bed Tony arrived with the ladders, great for the paint job on Saturday since i will be alone. We showed Tony the works in progress, not too sure if he was impressed but he didn't seem horrified, then i gave him one of the cabbages from the garden and he set off. Ant and i did the final tidy up then headed back to Hesdin to do a little food shopping, we bought pizza for dinner and some other bits for me whilst he is away. We got home and set too loading the pizza's up with extra toppings before cooking, then sat down to dinner in front of the tv and relaxed. The pizza was so filling i had to give some to the dogs and ant put half of his in the fridge. The dogs really got lucky as they got their normal dinner, the fish from the day before and pizza, diet day on Saturday i think.
By ten we went upstairs, ant packed his case for the following morning and i read for a while whilst he scurried around the house, then an early night as it will be a five am rise again, the joys!!

The Big Push Day 8

Up at 8 this morning, then online with coffee and smokes, i completed the blog then we had a little look at Adelaide Now and some property pages then we made a start. I had decided to try to cover the ugly ceiling in the hall with some polystyrene roll so headed off to St.Pol to pick up some stuff, ant started work on the cutting in in the bedrooms. I bought the rolls and some neoprene glue then headed home, by the time i had stuck a couple of the old polystyrene tiles back to the ceiling i realized the glue was not the best solution as it was burning the tiles, so i headed back out, to Hesdin this time, and bought the stuff i was supposed to get to stick the stuff on.
When i returned i made a start, and with ants help, a lot of sweat and a lot of hard work, got the ceiling covered, it looked a bit tatty in places so i decided to get some coving to cover the tatty edges, another trip out. While i was out ant had finished both bedrooms and dressed one of them, so we now have a nice space to sleep. I spent another hour applying coving to the ceilings then got really frustrated with it and ant decreed it was time to give it a break, it was five in the afternoon. We had a short rest upstairs and i watched All About Eve while ant napped on and off. When we came down we decided we didn't want the fish i had defrosted so we hightailed it out to the Frite van at Le Parq and got some fast food.
We had a nice easy evening in front of the TV, i had a couple of gin and tonics, and at the end of the evening we watched Almadovar's Volver, which was good. Then off to bed for another well deserved sleep. Ceiling looks much better than it did, it needs a coat of paint or two and i need to finish the coving but it is now a nice clean white rather than nicotine yellow.

The Big Push Day 7

Up early again today, came down and did the usual stuff, but having ant home was a bit more energized to get on with the task. After the coffee routine ant and i moved the furniture in the last bedroom and then i started on with the paint, ant started doing the skirting boards in the living room. I had the bedroom done after a few hours and came down to see how ant was getting on, he had nearly done in the living room. I phoned Jacqui and spoke to Simon to see if he could suggest how he could help with the stairs, they said they would come over in the afternoon. Ant made a start on the cutting in in the bedrooms and i set to doing a bit of tidying, washed the windows then cleaned down the walls in the living room. Jacqui and Simon arrived and we discussed what we could do about the ceilings in the hall and bathroom and the best way to get the walls sorted up stairs, he thought it was going to be neigh on impossible to get the ceilings sorted so after they had gone i phoned Maggie to ask if it would make a huge difference, she didn't think it would.
By this time ant was fed up of painting so we decided to shift the furniture back into the living room, this didn't take too long and the place looked so much better when we had finished, it has a whole different feel now the floor is done and the skirting painted. I decided that we would call it a day at that point, nearly five in the afternoon, so we tided away painting stuff then had a relax for an hour or so, then i sorted out the dinner, roast chicken, and we sat in the living room for the first time in ages and had a night in front of the tv. Gran phoned whilst we were eating to say that the lap top had arrived and dad was pleased with it, so i phoned her back after dinner and ant chatted to her for ages, then he decided he would phone his mum and everyone else in the world so i was left to my own devices. We had an earlyish night without the dogs in the room for a change so slept really well.