Monday 11th Mar

Would you believe its back to DIY? Yes I know it must sound like I’m painting the Forth Road Bridge, but it’s still just the one room. Today it’s the ceiling; two coats and avoid the spot lights. The great problem with painting an already white ceiling white, is you can’t see where you’ve been. That’s why I go for two coats in case I miss anything on the first pass. However before I can start I’ve got to prepare the room, and by the time I’ve taped papers on the windows and covered everything in dust sheets, it takes me as long to prepare as it does to paint the first coat.

Still on the DIY front, I managed to get hold of a local plasterer on Sunday (picked out of the Yellow Pages), who turned up today to give me a price for patching a small part of one wall. And he’s coming to do it at the end of the week! I mean you do here how hard it is to get hold of decent tradesmen, and how unreliable they can be, but fingers crossed this guy could be a winner. I hope this is not famous last words.

Mrs P performed taxi duties this evening as the eldest was at a final dress rehearsal, so I passed a peaceful evening with a good book. Sometimes life is good.

Yours reading serenely

Jay