Wednesday, April 28, 2010

where ive been









before and after of the lounge, (kind of)

This is where ive been. 
Hopefully this wont be too boring a post for some of you but im kind of astonished that
this kind of thing is achievable in less than a week.
Mum had settlement on Monday last week and we started work that same day. We planned to get the floor coverings removed and walls and ceilings sugar soaped and painted by the end of the week. Has anybody else done this? Its really exhausting. She had ordered the carpets ahead of time and they were being delivered by Friday and were to await installment for the following/this week. The floor sanding guys had a tentative booking for this Tuesday (yesterday).
We were as organised as we could be. 
And we did it!
Just. 
With an hour to spare!







before and after of the kitchen, the cupboards will have to wait for some attention









before and after of a bedroom. It was dark but the curtains were making it seem so gloomy and they now lie in the front yard along with the rest of the carpets and rubble.

 
Its was grotty but mum was happy to have her new place, she got stuck into the cleaning.













Zja and Dan finally able to start painting after two days of cleaning and preparing. They got the fun jobs while mum and I tackled the floors until late into the night. The old lino was stuck down so hard it took us three hours to pull up and we woke up sore the next day from that alone.
But they definitely had to come up, dont you think?

 a corner of the kitchen with all of its tiled, jigsaw-cut lino glory

 



 cobwebbed curtains and the more beautious real spidery sculptures.
 Did I ever tell you that I housed spiders in my childhood and fed them flies? This amazing story may have to wait for another time .... I named him Sultan. He was fast. And black and beautiful. Probably your average garden variety but he was my friend.


the tiles that are no more because the grout was non existent and I know how to tile thanks to my hubby and therefore they didnt need to stay one moment longer

The toilet had to come out to get rid of the smell and the tiles just fell off the wall.
That'll be a job for next week, now. Oh! and we had to take out the walls in the lounge because the wallpaper was going to take so long to remove it wasnt funny.
 We did a two foot square in half an hour, for example. As in two of us.
 Theres no way we wanted to spend two days just doing that.


Mums darling, Dan, (mum got married last November at 73). They have so much fun together. Im told they giggle into the wee hours of the morning. Nice hey?

In the time its taken me to post this ( is there a new format for the upload photos or have I pressed the wrong button by mistake?)  ive done dinner, had extra teenagers here doing homework, dropped dvd's back, done some tidying (pointless), welcomed hubby home from work and the AGDIdeas conferences and we're now in a deep conversation about all things artistic. Also his recently revisited life-drawing classes with a best friend that he's enjoying so much.
Wait! Im being given a present.
He brought this home tonight.


I didnt know anything about this. He never said a thing.
He started painting this a year ago. For me.
He chose to bring it home tonight.
I cried.
I feel as if it is he and I rolled into one image.
I dont think even he knows what this means to me.
He and I will decipher it in years to come.
There are no words worthy of this image . Yet.
Only a feeling.



3 comments:

willywagtail said...

I can only say "amazing", absolutely amazing. You guys have all worked so hard. And wonderful to see such rapport between husband and wife. "He and I will decipher it in years to come." Love that line. Cherrie

dorothybills..... said...

wow, wow so much work, you are amazing Wendy!!

I had tears in my eyes when I read the bit about the painting...so beautiful, you lucky woman! x

Sara said...

wendy you are a whirlwind of activity! how am I meant to keep up?! and you TILE? please hop on a plane to sydney and I will shower you with food, drink and kisses if you 'help' us finish tiling our kitchen. we started renovating 3 bloody years ago and it's just the tiling and some painting holding us back from finishing the bloody thing. So sick of family members asking if we have finally finished the kitchen!
Your mum is one super lucky lady, in more ways than one.
And Bren has outdone himself. Tom and I think that painting looks like it was done by a modern master, a cezanne or someone equally amazing. AND I have an Art History degree, so I am fully qualified to bestow abundant praise upon him! you are one very special and deserving lady methinks. Isn't Bren lucky his talent is nutured and appreciated so much by you? i think you must be his muse.

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