and saturday's answer is......

Pea green is not a good colour for a bedroom.




It's not a bad colour as such, but on mass it reflects so much colour it seems to glow right through the whole house, down the hall, around the stairs, everywhere.

friday's big question is........

....is pea green a good colour for a bedroom?
I know it was a good colour for a boat according to the owl and the pussy-cat.

kung hei fat choi

Happy Chinese New Year!
The Year of the Rat is looking good. Apparently Ratty is the protector and bringer of material prosperity- quite a good birthday year for a shop I think! Oh, and this year is an Earth Rat year.

I am a Snake and , whilst looking all this up, discovered I am a Wood Snake. It's good to be precise about these things.
So apparently I am wise, profound, clever, logical, practical, intelligent, creative, compassionate, discrete, cautious (there were a few other attributes I may have left out for the sake of space...).

day 5

My foot is killing me. I can barely walk. My shoulder is on fire. My back is tight as a drum (if a back can be).

This morning was spent close to tears. Telstra had put a bar on the mobile phone, I hadn't receive the bill so it hadn't been paid. The quote came from the electrician (ouch!) and I had been awake half the night in agony.

Resolved all this with a fit of controlled wreckery. I dismantled the speakers (which the electrician was going to charge me a fortune to do), patched the holes and started painting again. Was feeling very overwhelmed but am a bit more philosophical, tired but unbeaten.

Changed the way I was going to do some of the fit out. Had I been made to change anything yesterday I would have stood my ground and said 'no!' but practical changes came resignedly today. In the long run they are good changes and I do like solving a problem. The kitchen issues though still have me stumped. How to fit a 2 1/2mt square peg in a round hole. I'll work it out somehow!

Just thought I'd interrupt this to ask if you had noticed how beautiful the Crape Myrtles are this year. Stunning. They apparently love the heat and drought. I've seen a lovely purple one in Fairfield that was quite unusual and this one was in Kensington.



Being on my whole 1920-50s kick at the moment (or rather still) I just adore the Crape Myrtles with their smooth but mottled bark twisty branches and their kind of blousy colours.
They are making me happy at the moment.
One day I'll have a garden with Crape-Myrtles and Dogwoods and Freesias everywhere.

of ladders and drop-sheets

Sorry but you are just going to have to put up with the renovation news for the next couple of weeks.

This weekend has involved tearing things out, pulling things down, ripping out dyna-bolts (I have a love hate relationship with the dyna-bolt), falling off ladders, lots of over painting with undercoat to get get rid of the red and patching of hundreds of little holes.
The kitchen has me stumped and I think the only way to get it to function is to rip the whole thing out. There is very limited space in the kitchen/bathroom/laundry way and it is going to take drastic steps to get it sorted. I knew it was time to come home when I found myself standing in the kitchen peeling the red paint off the walls in long strips. It was like peeling sunburnt skin, very enjoyable in a weird way.
I hate blu-tac by the way. Anyone who uses it should be made to remove every scrap of it before they move out.
I desperately need a sparky and a chippy (and a plumber but I don't know the nickname for one of them, we used to use the term 'Reg' but he moved to Cobram). I wish I still had my pet tradies, they were so handy.

have key, start ignition

After a heap of phaffing about waiting for the #@$*^!+ key, I finally took matters into my own hands and called a locksmith.
New locks all around- tick!
Gregory dropped in for a perv.
Jess and Princess Coco la Nutt brought chocolates and let off party poppers.
Having analysed the feng shui for what will be the bedroom, they are pictured below trying to decide how to remove the false ceiling from what is known as the 'big room'. Whilst the false ceiling is annoying, I am not prepared to pull it down at this stage as the saying 'whole can of worms' springs to mind.



So as a treat (and to stop them trying to de-falsify the ceiling) we ripped up the lino in the hall, kitchen and bathroom. Satisfying!

today is key day

Sometime today I get the key.