We Have a Bathroom.

It was a morning of more rain and yet more painting.

By the afternoon the rain had stopped though apart from the tiniest of blue patches we were covered by ominous grey clouds. I went on to paint another coat of white on the bathroom woodwork. I think the door could do with more more coat but apart from that the bathroom is done. But ....... I might construct a simple frame around the three mirrors which vary slightly in height. 

The bathroom has gone from this, in 2018 (estate agent's photos),

to looking like this last year after we had got fed up with waiting for the builder and done what we could,

and now to this. It's looking a bit stark at the moment, a plant on the windowsill should help. Also I know it's nit-picking but I wish that the builder hadn't put two tiles with the same pattern next to each other. But apart from that I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out, after all it's not that big a room though a lot bigger than the bathrooms in most UK homes. The three mirrors take up most of the wall above the tiles facing the sink and there's a large heated towel rail to the right of the door. 

 

Grey.

The pillow of cloud that had been sitting on top of the mountains yesterday arrived here overnight giving a very wet and grey outlook to the morning. Eventually the cloud lifted a little but not enough to let much light through.

With the weather being quite dreary I decided that it would be better to spend the day painting rather than going to Pontrhydygroes (the place with the waterwheel and the diy tea room) to walk through the woods with the walking group. So the painting continued. Today I was braver and painted with the edging brush plus a damp cloth to wipe off the inevitable incursions onto the blue walls. That went a lot faster than yesterday but anyway yesterday's primer was oil based so I couldn't have used the edging brush. I've found that you need such a lot of white spirits to clean brushes after using oil based paints that it's cheaper to throw them away and buy new ones. The door and loft hatch also got painted today. I know that you're supposed to take doors off their hinges and paint them flat after removing handles and things but I've gone for the easy option and painted in situ. As I was painting I reflected on how my decorating concerns are such first world problems. Does the colour of the wall or a few blobs even matter when we have a bathroom with running hot and cold water and a toilet, things that so many of the world's population can only dream of?

I finished painting for the day by mid afternoon and took myself off for a walk along the beach. (I took photos with the phone camera but can't work out how to upload them. I could before but now even with the help of the internet and Peter it's all gone very odd.) There wasn't much to photograph apart from a tiny patch of blue in the sky. I was keeping my eyes open for Portuguese Man of War as following an official warning from the environmental agency or some such body a week ago saying they had been found all along the coast including Ynyslas several people had posted photos of them on the beach here. I didn't see any but sadly there were a dead seal and a dead sheep washed up on shore. I watched a chap, the same one who had been doing his tractor driving test, set up his bright orange kite surfer and zip about on the water providing a spot of colour to the seascape. Wrapped up in waterproofs it was fun battling against the wind.

Now for a quiet evening watching Strictly.

 

More Painting.

Grey and wet all day long.

Not that I've seen much of the outside having spent today painting in the bathroom. I could have joined an all day extra zoom Welsh class (not with our usual tutor,) but my brain is fried after our usual two hour session and anyway I just don't have the time. Up and down the ladder I went and by lunchtime the walls had a second coat of blue. But it was a close call. Seeing that yesterday's coat looked a bit patchy I aimed to be generous with the paint and then realised I might not have enough. I did but only just and put the remaining tablespoon of paint in a spare jar. A good thing too as when worked resumed, after lunch and Duo Lingo, it turned out that peeling off the decorators tape was not that simple. It was only on the edges of the tiles and the mirrors but the vinyl paint had formed a layer that peeled away from the wall as the tape came off. I had to use a scalpel to cut along the join before I carefully peeled off the tape. Then more up and down the ladder as I used a small paintbrush to carefully touch up the blue wall paint and then more white on the ceiling to try and even out the join line. It's not brilliant but it will do. 

But I still wasn't done. After rearranging the dust sheets I gave the wooden dado rail and the trim on the cupboard a coat of wood primer. That sounds easy and I'm sure to an experienced decorator it would just be a matter of swiping along to get a nice neat line but I know my limits. Instead I found the tiniest of brushes from my art supplies and painstakingly painted along the edges of the wood before filling in with a slightly bigger brush. Oh and there was the fun of painting behind the heated towel rail. All that took until 6.30 so I feel I've done a good day's work.

 And here ends the minutiae of today's painting exploits.

A New Steed.

Yesterday evening I was so keen to read 'The Wild Silence.' that I completely forgot to publish my blog or even close down my PC. A friend lent me the books on Monday and I've already read 'The Salt Path.' I'd intended to read it after hearing the author on R4 but hadn't got round to it. A heart breaking account but so well written.

Even after staying up late reading I had my usual early Friday morning start. (Up at 5.30.) It was dark and wet at first so I had my tea sitting in the open doorway with the stars overhead. It wasn't long before clouds covered the stars but then were turned pink by the reflected sunrise.

Down at the stables this morning I found that I had a different horse to ride. Not lovely Cadno but Margaret who is just as responsive and being young is lighter on her feet and more forward going ie faster. (I do recall seeing her cantering off when she wasn't supposed to but there was none of that today and I felt perfectly safe.)  Another of the group was also on a new to her horse and the two of us had to spend some time getting used to our horses and weren't expected to trot without stirrups which the rest had to do. I did some sitting trot anyway just to see how I'm doing and it's getting a lot easier. There were seven of us in the lesson today including the two younger instructors who have a ridden exam coming up. 

After riding I did my usual shopping round; Morrisons, town and Lidl. In town I had two long chats with people I know, one from choir and one from the zoo and waved hi to two other people. It's nice to find people I know rather than be walking round a town full of strangers. I had the usual skip around the charity shops and bought another glass paperweight. I wasn't that sure about it but then I see it as a contribution to a good cause and it was only £3.

When I got home I had a break and then got on with painting the bathroom walls. The tops of the walls are quite awkward to get to so I haven't done the best of lines but maybe they will improve after a second coat tomorrow. I didn't finish until 5.30 much to Speedy's disgust. He's still working on BST so that made his supper and hour and a half late. Even then I wasn't finished. Giving the builders a slice of Bara Brith every afternoon meant that it was time to bake another. I'd put the fruit in to soak last night and it didn't take long to mix it all up and stick it in the oven. That should keep Peter going for a while.

 

Oops, (Forgot to Publish.)

A mostly dry day with some drizzle in the afternoon.

It was a busy morning here. The builders came and after fixing the skirting boards over the new plaster in the sitting room they went out on the roof to fit some vents. J had been unable to find red roof vents but got the black ones and painted them red to match the rest of the tiles. I'm relived this has been finally done as I was very concerned about the damp in the loft which would eventually affect the timbers. Disaster averted. Now all the work on the inside of the house that we needed builders for has been done. Just the smaller things like putting up some shelves and painting left for us to do. It only took two weeks of work but we had waited for over eighteen months for the last builder to be free to do the job. 

My first job of the morning was to walk down to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and to ask why I was getting a month's worth of medication only 10 days after the last lot. That they said was down to the surgery who issue the prescriptions so I need to inquire at the surgery. They can't have a very good checking system, for all they knew I could be downing twice the amount of tablets needed. On the way out there was some activity at the RNLI. The boat and tractor were out on the slipway and I wondered if there had been a shout or if it was a routine training session. All was explained on the way back when the tractor was towing the boat around some cones in the car park while a chap with a clipboard looked on. Obviously one of the shore crew was having a tractor driving test.

Once I got home I got on with painting the bathroom. A final third coat on the ceiling and as there was enough of the white paint I did a coat on the walls too. I finished washing the brush and roller with about 15 minutes to spare before our Zoom class. There were only six of us today so we had plenty of opportunities to answer the questions. As we had already gone over much of the lesson in Mach I felt a lot more confident than some weeks. That left me with the rest of the afternoon free to tidy up and then relax before going off to disco aerobics.

It was dry but pitch black when I walked down to the hall. On the way back the sky was suddenly lit with a huge flash of light and minutes later there was a great rumble of thunder from out at sea.

 

A Beach Walk.

Bright and windy today.

The builder came in the morning but his assistant has succumbed to a nasty cold. I'm not surprised as he was in and out of the rain when they were doing the bathroom and yesterday the poor lad was coughing and spluttering. The plaster in the sitting room hadn't dried enough for the skirting boards to be nailed on and there wasn't much else the builder could do today. Instead the three of us had a nice long chat and then the builder measured up for the terrace balustrade. It would be great to get that done at last.

Once the builder left I painted another coat on the bathroom ceiling. One more coat tomorrow and the ceiling will be done. 

Then off I went for a gentle walk along the beach.

The winter storms are beginning to wash away the sand to reveal the submerged forest.

The storms have also washed up plenty of drift wood. I came across this old pallet which must have been in the water for some time for the goose barnacles to grow. In past times it was believed that goose barnacles turned into barnacle geese which due to their migratory nature were never seen on their nests. I've also just read that goose barnacles are the world's most expensive seafood. £80-£90 per kilo for fresh ones, cheaper if you buy frozen but I think I'll pass.

 

Almost Done.

After heavy rain in the night and early morning we had a dry and very windy day.

It would have been a good day for working at the zoo but painting the bathroom takes priority. I got a coat of white on the bathroom ceiling which was good but discovered that the decorators' tape still takes off the vinyl silk paint no matter how carefully you peel it off. Not a major disaster as it was only the primer coat but bang goes my plan to tape along the ceiling when I paint the walls blue. Instead I'll have to paint the join carefully. Peter has ordered me a special edging paintbrush which should help.

The builders came and did the plastering over the tanking by the French doors so all that's left is to fix on the two bits of skirting board that have already been cut. I also asked them to cut a mitre joint in the wooden moulding I bought to edge the cupboard top in the bathroom. I haven't used Peter's big chop saw and I'm rubbish at cutting mitre joins by hand. Having cut the wood A carried on and stuck and nailed the wood to the edge of the counter top ready for me to paint. He then went on to secure the board with the boiler controls that used to be in the bathroom onto Peter's study wall

Once the builders left there was plenty of hoovering, floor washing and putting things straight to do before I went off to Pilates.