Day 12 - dust, dirt and chairs

Friday was a bit intense - the six year old lost his second tooth, Mehdi felt wretched and needed a trip to the doctor, the two year old wanted to stay HERE (here being on a particular chair in the apartment) and it being Friday, we both had heavy workloads. We made it through the day and picked up the boys, only to discover the six year old had had a bad fall at school and was feeling very sorry for himself.

Mehdi dropped me and the two year old off at the apartment, then he and the six year old drove to Tyrone to pick up some stuff we thought would make moving easier and the house more comfortable (chairs! a kid's sofa). I've no idea how Mehdi managed the trip to Drogheda to pick up the chairs we'd bought a while back, and then the onward trip to Tyrone. I was so done in in Dublin that I went to bed BEFORE the two year old...he eventually came and joined just before I fell asleep.

Next morning everyone was rested. The two year old and I headed over to the house to do what I could. I had no particular ambition to get much done that day - minding the two year is usually a fulltime job. But he turned out to be very happy either watching horse movies, playing with his toys or just watching me work. So I got a bit done. My main ambition was to get the back reception room into some kind of shape where we can use it for temporary cooking/dining while we sort the kitchen. I managed to:

• clean one radiator
• clean some skirting boards
• clean one half of the doors that divide the two reception rooms (I spent an hour doing this...then I closed the doors to view them side by side - there was absolutely no discernible difference between the 'clean' door and the dirty door. Another hour of my life gone...)
• Ripped out any old cabling that wasn't doing a job
• Ripped up all the old lino and underlay from the back reception room
• Cleaned off the last of the wallpaper and polystyrene
• Started to knock off some blown plaster to see the extent of the damage...(I'm no expert but it seems extensive...)
• Cleaned oven.
• Cleaned oven again.
• Cleaned oven yet again (oven still requires cleaning).
• Cleaned bathroom and hung OUR shower curtain.
• Vacuumed. A lot. Mostly the same bits of floor/carpet...

I'd a lovely surprise break when friends of ours dropped in - we go way back, and they've been superstars in supporting our move to Dublin from London and helping us find a house. It was kind of unreal to sit in our wreck and talk about plans for doing it up - a few months ago, I was really in despair about our house hunt and knew nothing. These guys were instrumental in helping us find a solid house we could get to grips with. And they've promised us a respite in their lovely home out in Wicklow should everything get too much for us during the winter.

Shortly after they left, Mehdi arrived from Tyrone, so we had a whole car load of stuff to unpack. With the dregs of our energy we brought everything in, then ate a huge fish and chip supper while sitting on chairs, which was a real novelty. Before leaving I hung another pair of long curtains on the bay window so I have a feeling of privacy once the dark evening draws in. I was interested to see how I monkeyed up the ladder to change the curtains - the first time I mounted it I was a jittery mess, keeping one hand tight to the ladder at all times. Now I'm up like lightning and completely confident as I work 'hands free'.

Once back in the apartment, the tired out boys fell asleep as fast as I've ever seen, leaving Mehdi and me the first time we've had in forever to sit on the sofa and have a chat over a couple of drinks.