Sunny Sunday

Our lounge still contains all our bedroom furniture and other items that were stored in the bedroom as well as the pictures that were on the walls.  Of course now we have new wallpaper I don't want to put anything up on the walls, at least not for a while, so I will package the pictures up and see if I can find somewhere to store them for a while.  

I bought a big roll of bubble wrap the other week for wrapping my ebay sales in, but really disappointed with the quality.  Almost as soon as you touch the bubbles the air disappears from them, they don't even pop! I will use this to wrap the pictures in and to use as extra packaging for parcels, but for anything fragile it is not really suitable so will have to get some more.

The last few days have seen some lovely blue skies and sunshine, although it has been cold.  I've not been feeling the best.  These train trips into London twice a week have exposed me to germs I wouldn't normally catch.  

Today I cleaned the light shade that had been hanging in our main bedroom.  It is dated, but it looks clean and tidy and has roses on it, so it will do.  I still quite like it.

It will be a while yet before we can even think about decorating for Christmas... still not sure when the carpet will be fitted, so until then we just have to keep living with the mess.  I do plan to try and go through some of the stuff this week though and see what I can 'sell, throw, giveaway, package up and keep'.  

I plan to write my overseas Christmas cards in the next week - the final posting date is coming up soon.  I had hoped to get some of my photographs made into cards, but just haven't had the enthusiasm, mojo, or whatever it is to get them done, so it will be going through my stash of cards instead.  We have plenty so might as well use those first, plus it will save some money.  Just got to remember where they were put!

The Sailor arrives home on Wednesday and I am looking forward to seeing him again, although this time he will be going to live in his own house and not stay here.  Seems he has flown the nest.  Although he hasn't lived here permanently for a few years, he always stays here when he is home on leave.  It was strange changing his room round when he left in June.  Although I have been sleeping in it since then, it was always his room.  I guess now it really is my room.  

The new guinea pig has arrived and he seems to be getting on well with Jay (Jeremy) which is good news.  Now just got to think of a good name for him.

A New Piggy.

(Not my photo)

This little fellow is arriving tomorrow, although by now he will be much bigger than this.  He is going to be Jay's new companion.  Hopefully the introductions will go well and they will enjoy meeting each other.  I am exciting to finally having another Abyssinian.  

Bedroom Progress

After working some crazy hours into the early morning my husband finally finished stripping the wallpaper and preparing the walls in our bedroom just in time for the decorator to come in on Monday morning to start work.

Some before shots of the walls.

Ceiling and coving/cornice painted first.

Above the wardrobe painted.

The door alcove, door frames and skirting boards were also painted.

First wall papered - the wallpaper isn't as yellow as it seems in these photos.

The 'fixed' headboard (one of 'Bob the Builder's great ideas!) was painted to brighten it up.  I would have loved to have had this removed, but knowing how other things have been fixed on in this house, it would have been a major job and I suspect some re-plastering would have been needed to have been done as well.

This is a bit more like the true colour. 

All walls finished by Wednesday!

Thursday we went down the road to the carpet shop to choose some samples.  I was pretty certain which one I wanted even before I bought them home.  The lighter blue, the first on the left.

I didn't change my mind.  

Today I cleaned the windows and frames.  The will need painting in the spring when we can leave the windows open for a few days to dry properly.

I scrubbed the curtain rails and attachments, they came up almost as good as new and then reattached them to the walls.

One of the hems had come undone on one curtain so I restitched that.  We will need new curtains, but these will do until we can afford to do so.  They could do with being shorter, but as they will be changed I am going to leave them the length the are.

I did the same with the bay window, but forgot to take a photo!

Next I started rolling back the horrid foam backed carpet - the foam had turned to piles of dust underneath it.  Pretty horrid!

The foam that was stuck to the floor was also scrapped up.

All the carpet is up now apart from a bit underneath the wardrobe - not the same colour, it must have been the original carpet and 'Bob the Builder' who used to own our house (yes he was a builder and his name was Bob) must have built the wardrobes half on top of the old carpet - he didn't even clear up the broken plaster that had fallen on to the floor from the walls!  Like everything in this house, it is not as easy or straightforward as you think.  The legs of the wardrobe are ON the carpet at the back but not the front, so not as easy to remove as you would think.  Good thing hubby has got fairly slim arms as he is going to have to lie down on the floor and reach in with a knife to cut the carpet up.  

Once that is done we will vacuum again and then mop the floor to make sure it is completely clean ready for the new carpet to be laid, which will probably be in about two and a half to three weeks time.  In the meantime our lounge will have to continue to look like a furniture warehouse as there is no point moving the drawer units back in until such time as the carpet is down,

While clearing out underneath the wardrobes, we found my framed music qualification certificates - not sure why they ended up under there.  I've cleaned the glass and the frames and I think once I have my sewing studio cleared I might put them up in there.

Lest we Forget

Arthur Bear is very proud to be wearing his British Royal Legion Poppy today.

This remembrance post was written in 2014, but it still holds true and the poppies are such a wonderful tribute, it is worth revisiting them.

Lest We Forget

Remembering all those who have lost their lives during the many wars. Remembering my great grandfather Private Christopher William Chatterton who died of wounds in France during the First World War on 26th March 1915.  He was in the 1st Batallion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.  He is buried at Caberet-Rouge Cemetery in France and in the mid nineties we went to see where he was buried.  To say it was a sobering experience is an understatement! Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez is one of the largest in the region and contains 7,655 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, more than half of them unidentified.

His wife, my great grandmother died the year before on 19th November 1914, and so they left four young children who I believe were put into various homes and foster places.My grandmother was only one year old, having been born only the year before on 11th November 1913.  To think she would have been 101 years old today! (104 today!)

Yesterday we ventured into London to view all the poppies which represent all the lives lost during WW1. To think there are 888,246 which represent each life lost during this war.  It is devastating,  all those lives lost.  I wonder what they would think of the United Kingdom today?  

The sheer number is staggering, and really puts it into perspective...and this is just one side!

One of those poppies represents my Great Grandfather.

On Sunday I sang with the St Ethelreda's Church Choir for both services at the church and also down at the memorial.  

We sang 'In Flanders Fields'.   The music was composed by Jill Knight and set to the words of the poem by Major John MaCrae, 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

You can here a recording we did on the Wednesday before here.

Also remembering my grandfather who fought in the Second World War. During his last few years, we were to witness the long term effects on his mind that the war had. I miss you so much Pop. 

Healing Nicely

The wonders of Fucithalmic Eye Ointment.

You may remember on 24th October, poor Dundee suffered from a bad 'eye poke' a condition guinea pigs can sometimes get from getting their eye 'poked', usually with a blade of hay.

This is what it looked like before I started treating it.  Many vets would have said he needed his eye removed - I know this as I have seen less severe problems on other people's pigs who took them to the vet and that was the outcome. Whereas I have used this before and seen the success stories!  So figured it was worth a try.

This is what it looked like about 5 days ago - so much better - it did look worse for a while, but I forgot to take a photo.  However, by this stage,after a week of treatment he had started blinking so I had a feeling his sight might have been returning.

This is the eye today and I gave him his last treatment.  He is blinking his eye now everything time I try to put the ointment in, and has been treated twice daily for the last two weeks.

I am guessing his vision might not be what it once was, but he is certainly a lot happier now.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November - No Chance of Forgetting!

I awoke, after a pretty rough night to the most beautiful morning.  The sun was streaking through the blinds and I couldn't wait to pull them up.

The orchids are looking good on the window sill.

The garden was bathed in sunlight.

Leaves need racking up.

Job done, they have now been picked up and put in the compost bin.

The spa pool has been 'wintered' and the pump disconnected.

Red berries.  

I have decided to also take part in the 'Every Day in November' Art Challenge.  Some of the prompts I am substituting as they are duplicates of last month.

#1  Sparrow (original prompt was pumpkin)  I think I will work on this some more.

#2 Spider's web.

#3 Umbrella

#4 Gloves - my husband's garden gloves.

#5 Cottage (original prompt was scarecrow)  I decided to just do a 'flat' almost cartoon type image for the cottage.

Having chosen the wallpaper, we decided to go and get it today.  Three stores later, and a phone call to another we left very disappointed and empty handed.  They didn't have enough rolls, despite two stores have 12 and 10 rolls shown as in stock.  Seems it can't be ordered either.  So back to the drawing board - we have exactly one week to decide and get the rolls!

No chance of forgetting the 5th November - the last few nights it has sounded much like the bombing may have sounded during the war!  Why is it that fire works just seem to get louder and louder bangs?  I feel so sorry for all the poor animals and elderly people especially.  I wish they would only sell fireworks organisations that put on properly organised displays that are on just the one night.  At least that way the animals don't have to have night after night of this!