Bleak goings on

Today I intended to photograph some snowdrops or crocuses to cheer myself up on this, the most depressing day of the year, (according to The Daily Mail). Not a crocus or snowdrop in sight - just some unassuming House Leeks that are placed outside the front door to ward off evil (some say).

In just one week since my last post, I have decorated the large sitting room; battling with the ceiling and getting myself and Pebble covered in paint, and eventually painting the walls in 'Egyptian Sand', of which a little blob seems to be permanently on Pebble's nose. I ached from head to toe from moving furniture in and out of rooms and continually stepping up and down on chairs. I washed two sets of lined curtains; supposedly washable, but which have in fact shrunk to be 3 inches shorter!

The dishwasher has ceased to pump out water... (annoying as it's hardly been used), and so I've
been ladeling out water using a plastic cup, tea-towels and attempting to suck out the outlet pump with the 'crevice nozzle' of my vacuum cleaner, (with electrics switched off). It will no doubt cost me 'an arm and a leg' to get mended.

The week ended with a visit with daughter number one, down to the south coast to see daughters two and four and baby Fin and all have lunch together - another milestone in family entente cordial! Then just to ensure I exhausted myself to the limit; I had a tooth removed late on Saturday in order for some fancy bridgework to commence. The tooth broke off, stitches abound and I now have a black eye and puffy cheeks, resulting in getting some peculiar looks from the village shop as I walked in on the bleakest, darkest day of the year, wearing dark glasses and no smile.

It can only get better from here...