Hi Everyone,


The end is in sight! The kitchen goes in next week and both bathrooms are tiled. We’re onto second fix electrics and the gas is now hooked up. I’ve been spending most of my time painting – there’s a lot of it. The entire downstairs of the house has been replastered so I’m doing things properly and added a mist coat (slightly watered down emulsion), lightly sanding the walls and then adding a 2nd coat. Once this has been done throughout I’ll add coloured paint to the walls and tackle the woodwork. Much worse is upstairs where I couldn’t justify any replastering in the bedrooms – I spent all day yesterday scrapping off paint lumps that turned out to be blu tack and cellotape under several coats of garish pink paint, and filling countless pin holes. I’m in the kid’s room which much have been covered in posters at some point. It’s pretty demoralising because you can spend hours doing this before you’re anywhere near ready to actually paint anything.

Much of the rest of my time on site is spent ribbing my builder who dropped into the conversation last week that he was in the ‘entertainment industry’. Turns out that he’s a club singer – and there was me thinking that he was just one of those saddos that tries too hard when singing along with the radio. He’s actually really good – but don’t tell him that! What with him and the plumber who’s wife sings on cruise ships and is mates with Gloria Gaynor (she’s always down the pub in Mumbles) – it’s a very showbiz crew.


I’m back in a van next week transporting my pre-assembled kitchen units over to Swansea. I’ve just bought some fantastic solid oak worktops which will be arriving on Tuesday – I can’t wait to see all the elements of the kitchen together.


In other news my little sister is expecting baby number 3 now (she’s had so many, we number them now rather than bother with names) and she and partner Lloyd are engaged to be married next Summer. If I can get all her kids trained up with paint brushes I might be on to something.


Jamie is also taking the plunge at the moment and has several canvases on display in the Propaganda bar in Fleet, Hampshire. Go to his website www.fatcatphotography.co.uk for a peek at his work and try and get down to the bar if it’s in your neck of the woods.


I’ll be the one eating Yorkies and reading the Sun…..

# posted by Gareth Jones @ 16:52 0 Comments