(I know this title is not original, but I enjoy the alliteration so this may be a keeper)

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday: These three days have sort of blurred into a swirling mix of paint and water. Ceilings were patched and painted and deliveries of big items went off shockingly smoothly. We are now in possession of built in wardrobe doors, new radiators and a roll of living room carpet. None of them are fitted, of course, but by golly we’ve got them. The bathroom has been painted, tiles grouted and bath silicone sealed…which is when we discovered the leak.

The bath panel did not come off in one piece…sigh.

But by the end of Wednesday the leak had been fixed and we had trundled home, not having the energy to face fitting doors, radiators or carpet.

The magpies that were taunting the young fox last week were spotted harassing a squirrel this time. They were far more daring with this smaller chap, going so far as to peck his tail at one point, but from his reaction I suspect this isn’t his first magpie rodeo. That was the most blasé squirrel I’ve ever seen.

Thursday: Home, and the guilt at having not spent the entire week DIYing and decorating as planned spurred me onto 5K on the treadmill THEN the entire afternoon tidying the garden (or one half of it at least). A lot of the bee flowers have finished so into the compost they went and with the space that freed up I was able to have a small re-design, moving some plant pots closer to the house for when Autumn weather starts up, and emptying pots ready for next years annuals. The bending, stretching and general up and downing knackered me out way more than the treadmill, so I definitely got my workout today.

One of my neighbours also has an Etsy shop, which I manage for them, partly because I have more time available for that sort of thing, but mostly because it was me that talked them into opening it in the first place. Today she sold a Cleo Clam and I am ridiculously proud of how my photo of the Cleos came out.

Friday: Off to the post office to post Cleo and another phone sock before running the guantlet of the M25 again. If the place is ever to be ready to be sold we need to get our arses in gear and fix the blooming thing up…so we shall.

Friday night is pizza night of course, so we made it down to the wilds of Southern England in time to prove dough, top, cook and eat a two cheese and olive delight. Kitchen ceiling coving was also painted.

Saturday: Second coat on coving, first and second coats painted inside the fitted wardrobes and new radiators fitted…feeling pretty good about dragging ourselves back down south again. bathroom is still leak-free and the wallpaper hasn’t fallen off yet.

Arrived home this evening to mayhem and destruction.

It appears we have some blasé squirrels of our own and the cheeky sods have stolen some of our sunflower seeds. I don’t begrudge them their meals, but they could have cleared up after themselves.

Some of the music festivals we have attended in the past have started up again and I will admit to a very small twinge of FOMO when their emails land. I am not at all ready to either join such large groups of people or go back to festivals but I have scanned the list of artists that are playing and it brings back some fond memories. I really, REALLY hate the process of getting to and from festivals, but when I’m there the rest of the world disappears completely…that would be nice to have again someday.

Sunday: I had some confusion as to the identity of a fruit that was either an orange or a grapefruit…this is how I was informed of the answer:

This is what I have to put up with…