Feeling Guilty

This winter has been so long and hard that I have been feeling a little survivor's guilt about having left all my loved ones in its icy grip.  That has made it hard to write new posts.

Here, there are daffodils everywhere and most days have been sunny and warm. We've had a couple of grey days and just a bit of rain, but nothing compared to winter at home.

But I have lots to share, so I'm just putting the worst of it out there.  This was toward the end of our walk on the Downs last night.  I hope Spring comes soon and stays, for everyone at home.

Air Disasters

There's a Air Malaysia plane that went missing about the same time the COG and I were travelling.  It set off from Kuala Lumpur and did not reach Bejing and they don't know where it is.  It's like the Air France flight that disappeared some years ago and was only found recently.

It's always tragic, but having flown the same day, I feel heightened emotion about it.  I'm so sorry for the passengers and crew and for their families.  How terrible for them all.

Arrived in Brighton!

We have arrived back in our flat in Brighton.  The poor COG had a migraine starting before we landed and continuing through the bus ride here and into the day.  He felt really wretched and was more of a pathetic old geezer all day yesterday.  However, I am happy to report that his natural crankiness has returned. He is, at this very moment nagging me while he writes a grocery shopping list, so I know he's feeling better.

It's sunny and in the low 50s today, but better still there are daffodils everywhere.  Much can be forgiven from Mother Nature when she supplies so many daffodils.  And also, the grass is green here. I've noticed this before - England stays green in the winter, the grass and ivy etc. don't turn brown. It must be that a few degrees make the difference. 

We haven't yet checked out the storm damage, so we don't know how much they've recovered. 

We are still just getting settled in, delayed slightly by the COG's (POG's) migraine. 

Nothing but good times ahead.

Sealing the Counters

In case you were wondering, the stone counters I started to seal on Jan 1, have not yet been sealed.

Floors?

Here are some pictures of the floors. We don't have much furniture moved in, and it's not in place, because... well, you know why.

Guest Room - just happen to have a 'before' on this one, though it's actually a 'during' since it is the subfloor revealed with the OSB sheets were taken up.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Hall, with the Linen Closet which is serving as an overflow area for Stuff. 

Our bedroom. We are still sleeping on the mattress on the floor because the bed is, that's right, in the back room. 

What I've been Doing: Part II

Remember the counters I was going to seal?  Before I had a chance to finish sealing the counter (after repairing and repainting the kitchen walls), the Wood Floor Guys showed up at the door and said- Sorry we forgot to call, but we are here to start putting in that wood floor you wanted.

The new wood floor covers the entire upstairs, except for one small bedroom. Which means that we had to drop everything and move the entire upstairs into that little back bedroom.  Here is the picture that is worth 1,000 words:

Yes, that is all the chaos that has been my life since the end of January.

I've just edited out a long, boring section about what the floor guys did before they did the floor. They tore out a lot of stuff and repaired what they found underneath it.

It was after they left (leaving behind the bundles of wood planks that needed to sit in the house for a couple of weeks) that I said to the COG, we should paint the closet now. Before the floors go in.

The closet, Sigh, where to start. It's huge and it was horrible.  Obviously put in by a DIY-er who never finished anything and used the cheapest possible materials.  Reader, we tore it all out and bought a nice Elfa system from The Container Store.

Here are some pictures taken after the horrible unfinished plywood was ripped out and while we were painting, but before the floors were installed.  From one direction:

and the other direction. It's 20 feet long.   

Alas, the Elfa is only good on straight walls, and we have one long slanted wall. So I had the idea of building units across the whole wall. And that is what I have been doing every day for most of the month.  

I'm not done - they need tops and trimming out.  But you can see where I'm going and you can glimpse the lovely floors.   

This is a window seat, in between two taller runs. It will ultimately have a cushion, as well as being finished with trim etc. I'm already using it everyday when I put my socks on.

And this is the other side of the window seat. 

They are built to fit perfectly some Ikea and Container Store storage bins.

I'm going to have to leave it as is, untrimmed, until we get back from England in mid April.  I have to begin to unpack that mess of a room which is still piled high with stuff because otherwise I will have nothing to wear in England. And some of the COG's photographic gear is very well protected at the very back of the pile.

I hate hate hate leaving it unfinished, especially after all my unkind thoughts about the unknown DIYer who did such a crap job before.  But I will finish, and I'll post the final pictures to prove it.

What I've been doing....

Long story short:

Spent the autumn travelling. December was lost to Christmas. Then, it was January 1, 2014.

I have a little tradition. On Jan. 1st I reseal my stone counters.  So this year, I cleared off the counters to seal them and then I paused thoughtfully, looking up on the wall behind the counters.  High up on the wall was a little curl of peeling paint, result of an ice dam 3 years ago. And I thought: Hey! While I have the counters cleared off, why not fix that little teeny problem in the wall.

However, once I climbed up on the counter, I could see many places where there had been runnels of water that left hollow places in the paint that you couldn't see from the floor. Plus, the other little bit of damage over the window turned out to need retaping, which I had never done before. So, one thing and another, 3 weeks passed in a blur.  At the end of which time, things looked as they should have all along, which makes it seem like a lot of work for not much reward. Apart from the dull glow of a job well done.

So I painted the insides of the glass-fronted cupboards and made the half shelves I've been meaning to make for 15 years. That was more satisfying because it prettified the cupboards. Sorry for the lousy pictures. And it's a twofer - if you look closely at the upper right hand corner, you'll see some of the damage in process of being repaired.

BEFORE

AFTER (Doors opened, not missing) (Also, I repainted the mug rack that isn't there in the first picture)