hearth, grate, fire, flames, woodburner, heat...

(c) E Roberts

I'm sorry I haven't kept you up to date. Such a great deal has occurred and I don't know where to begin, other than on Friday 23rd October my wood burner was installed and later on there was the inaugural lighting of it and a cosy night in with my dog, cats and a friend from Warwickshire who was passing through. It was good to have a human to share this with.

The down side of now having something like a proper living room is that housework has to be resumed!

Next time I'll 'show and tell' about the oak flooring and a little more of the story of some of the tiles, but in the meantime I'm busy thinking about what curtains may go with the paint I've yet to chose let alone apply and the blind I'm about to fix.

I was very fortunate to have one of my daughters with me for a few days and she managed to get my television working - this was quite funny and brought home to me how much I have aged, not merely chronologically, but in my ways, sort of as in advancing of years old lady type ways, and that coupled with the purple fleece hat I've taken to wearing on the beach has brought me up sharp.

How it was is that on Sunday afternoon I thought I would try and get the tv tuned in whilst I killed time until it was time to collect my daughter from Taunton railway station. I couldn't make anything happen although I knew to press menu and follow instructions. I'd already rewired the aerial plug because it was covered in plaster. I despaired and slunk off to the crypt like what was a walk way kitchen to make a cuppa when I heard voices. East end of London voices. Loud, confrontational conversations, in your face 'what you fink you're looking at?' type conversations. Quite upsetting really. Yep, my tv had tuned itself into the 'Eastenders' omnibus.

It didn't stop there although most of the programmes were in Welsh, but I was happy. A young adult offspring soon to descend would not have been happy had there not been a working tv. I have been catching up on programmes on the ipod players on my pc and laptop quite happily these last few months, augmented by the occasional dvd. My other daughter, L the elder, when she visited last month and I, before there was a living room remember, had had lovely nights in sitting up in bed watching films on the laptop, one night enjoying a Chinese take out too! We finally got to watch Slumdog Millionaire and also Beaches and The Rose.

But, L the younger had only been in the cottage five minutes when she'd pressed a few buttons and discovered the terrestrial channels I'd managed could be replaced by millions of digital ones... I have yet to understand how this can be without a free view box, a cable system, satellite dish or some sort of broadband wireless thingy. As far as I knew this area isn't due to become digital even until next year some time. Huh! The young of today eh?

Anyway, now you get a more rounded and honest picture of this woman who would otherwise have you believe she is an ace little cottage restorer and whizz demolition expert, fabulous restoration expert in the making and brilliant demolisher and rebuilder - she is merely a middle aged refugee from the corporate world she no longer understands who eats takeaways in bed and has joined the rest of the semi hopeless who get easily baffled by electronic equipment. I could go on for I feel a bit weary and tired from the last few months.

Definitely time to slump on the sofa in a warm, cosy living room now I've got one before the next phase begins - like the stairs and stairwell and landing, the 'orrible, really, really horrible bathroom, the spare room, and perhaps the most important from the point of view of paying for more works, the workroom/studio. I'll keep you posted when I've had a little rest. The kitchen, which is almost horrible too, is last on the list, which in truth means probably in three years time, or there abouts.

(c) E Roberts