Downtime

21 Aug 2016 28 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Charity, Decorating, Sorting out

It was a full on 8 days, and the task appeared to be never ending.

The kid’s rooms are done, yes, but the rest of the house looks like a bomb has hit!

I had every intention of getting a bit of general cleaning done today, then starting the sort through of my arts and crafts items… These need packing and storing in our attic, so I know where things are, and can get them when I need them…

Books replaced by boxes of my addict’s supply of Arts and Crafts materials!

But after the main areas of the house got the thorough cleaning they deserved, and lunch was served to all, I showered, popped to the shops and ate something.

And realised I could not get up! Exhaustion had totally set in! It was like I could not face another day of rooting through boxes!

In fact, my hands and finger joints felt so sore, arthritic, almost!

I decided that today had to be a downtime day.

Boxes can wait… it’s not like they can go anywhere themselves!

And speaking of boxes…

…this is the dining room downstairs right now!

I am itching to get things sorted here, but the first two pictures give you an idea of the things we need to remove and get rid of, to charity, or a good home before I can begin to finish resetting the PC up in its new home in the dining room!

I guess phase 5 will begin tomorrow when my poor weary joints have had another nights rest!

Slow and steady wins the race, though, so I will get there, before the end of the holidays! Two weeks to go…

Sleep tight peeps!

TJ’s Household Haiku -Cut

21 Aug 2016 22 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #TJ's Household Haiku Challenge, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Cut, Haiku, tanka

A little tanka to start!

Wondered where he went
He took a week hiatus….
Computer issues!
But now TJ is back here
With a new prompt to tease us

The prompt word is …

Cut

I was inspired to write 3 haiku tonight. The first is associated with the photo TJ shared

Japanese Crests

Snip

Scissors snip paper
To create a masterpiece
Just open and see

The second inspired by my last week’s pursuits

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Cut

As I decorate
My hard work is rewarded
With cuts on my hand

And a tanka about self-publishing

Image from Pixabay

Profits – Tanka

Lining the pockets
Of the large conglomerates
To earn but a cut
Blood sweat and tears shed while writing
And self-publishing my book

Proud member of the Haiku Hub!

#SoCS Aug. 20/16 – Date

20 Aug 2016 30 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Date, Linda G Hill, Socs

Saturday is here which means it is time to look at Linda’s SoCS prompt!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “date.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

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Date – It’s a heck of a long time since we went on a date. Having kids means that wanting to go out on a date means planning with military precision, with regards to childcare, where we are going, how far we go…

It isn’t often but we sometimes have the kids staying over at their grandparents for the night.

Now you’d think that was the perfect time for a date.. but usually we are so tired we end up staying at home, and the TV and a takeaway is the extent of our date… and inevitably, I go upstairs much earlier, and flake out before Hubby Dearest even gets to bed!

The last time we had a real date, hearts ‘n’ flowers and all, was my 39th birthday. He planned a most excellent weekend for us, a posh hotel up in London, a trip to the theatre to see ‘Thriller’, dinner at a restaurant we used to go to before getting married, and drinks at some of our old haunts in Leicester Square. The night at the hotel was lovely, not interrupted by kids, as they were at their grandparents, and there was a HUGE breakfast to eat the next morning, delivered to our room. Hubby had surpassed himself 🙂

Hmm…. It’s my birthday again in 2 weeks… 41… maybe we will get another date night fixed for then, just before term, and school madness starts!

Happy Saturday Peeps!

The Ultimate Blogging Challenge: Day 4 – Recommendations

20 Aug 2016 25 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: A Little Daydreamer, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Recomendations, The Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Caitlin’s Challenge today…

The topic for today is “recommendations”. Now for this, you can recommend anything from beauty products that you love, books you’ve enjoyed, music artists/songs that you’ve recently discovered, a place you’ve visited… You could even recommend another blog that you enjoy reading.

This may not be the kind of recommendation that Caitlin was thinking of, but it was what came to mind with the prompt!

I’m a tad tired today, after completing my week of decorating…

It wasn’t for me. I can definitely recommend getting a decorator in, rather than doing it yourself!

Actually, as many of you had said, when I first mentioned what I was up to these last few days, there is definitely a huge sense of pride in seeing my work completed. It feels good knowing that I painted both the kids rooms, ceilings, skirting boards et al! (with help obviously!) And also building all the furniture. I am a whizz with power tools!

I ache, but it’s a good ache. An ache that says “It was worth every twinge, seeing my kids faces when they checked out the finished rooms!”

But, as I said at the beginning, I definitely recommend getting a decorator in!

We were contemplating sorting out our bedroom, the hallway, and the living/dining room. After this last week, I can hand on heart say, decorating isn’t for me!

…now interior design… I can handle that!

Decorating – Phase 4/5 … and Completion!

19 Aug 2016 85 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Decorating, flat pack Furniture, Kids Rooms, Shattered

It’s been a week and a day… (but who’s counting…?!) and finally my children are sleeping in their own bedrooms!

So Phase 4 was getting furniture moved around, and building flat pack furniture…

So one bed was moved into the other, but it was not possible to sleep in due to all the stuff still in the room! Luckily the bunk bed that we had invested in 5 years ago had a pull out single bed under it, so they spent yet another night in their shared bedroom.

Yesterday we managed to get delivery of both the wardrobes and assembled one of them.

Note to all: building flat pack furniture with your spouse or partner can be a volatile activity. It can either strengthen your bond or create rifts!

We had our squabbles, but we managed to put the wardrobe together… well, it was going smoothly until the end, when the sliding doors appeared to have an issue… the doors weren’t staying in! After much huffing and puffing on Hubby Dearest’s part, and calls to the company, we sort of gave up. My in-laws had a family friend round doing some work, and he is a bit of a Jack of all trades, so I rushed off to show him the apparently faulty part.

Alas, he had left for home moments before I arrived! And the Trade shops in the area didn’t have these parts in stock either!

I was so frustrated! We had made the whole thing… were we going to fall at the final hurdle?

Then Hubby Dearest called me to say he had fixed it! I can tell you sheepishly, that I hadn’t read a little note on the part which allowed you to adjust the wheel height, which solved the whole issue!

The offending cupboard!

We then decided it was best to sleep… it had been a tiring day!

Today, it was the turn of the second cupboard… which was even more complex, with many parts!

First, we had to dismantle the old one, and dispose of it… you should see the pile of refuse we have now for collection next week!

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I was a total teacher and sorted the parts, and even labelled the screws and things, so I was able to reach for the correct things as I needed them! Masking tape is a great thing!

While building this one we got a notification that the desks would be arriving today too! Excellent! I wasn’t expecting them until next week, so this meant we could get things done much quicker!

So, the cupboard took nearly 5 hours to get right, and then we couldn’t agree on the layout of either room! We want the kids to get maximum use out of the space they have, but we both have very different ideas! Still, he won for Lil Man’s room, and I won for Lil Princess’s layout!

I disappeared for 45 minutes to town to pick up some new bits for the rooms, extension leads, lampshades, duvet covers, hangers etc… then rushed back to give the new bed clothes a wash!

It was impossible for me to wait until tomorrow so I decided to start the desks and it took me an hour to do the first one. After a bite (or 3!) of pizza, I scuttled off to make the second one and did it within half an hour with mo instructions! Go Me! I am the Flat Pack Queen!

Then I started unpacking things, setting the bookshelves straight, putting clothes away in their new homes, all that stuff…

And here we have them, the finished rooms! All that is remaining is new curtains and rugs!

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Oh and a mirror. Lil Princess needs a mirror to look at herself apparently!!

I am so tired, bruised beyond belief, (but then that is because I am so clumsy… it was inevitable!) it was 11pm before the kids finally went to sleep!

I need a shower, a drink, a massage, a holiday!

Until tomorrow my lovely Peeps! I know it’s not finished yet…so much stuff to still rehome, but for tonight I will pretend that we are done!