21 August
Paint, Paint and our Anniversary
So to the infamous spam song from Monty Python, let’s all sing paint, paint etc. Other than the planned outside painting of the bungalow, the hall has been the biggest and longest decorating project so far. The ceiling needed two coats and still looked patchy in parts, the walls had numerous scratches, dents and a few cracks. But then the paintwork, well, they must have used the cheapest non stick vinyl that came off the back of the a DIY store. When rubbed too hard, it had the appearance of sticky eczema and came off in lumps, not dust, with sandpaper. The existing brass door handles covered up three previous sets of door furniture with non aligning mounting holes. But polyfilla to the rescue again and after re-sanding and painting, it saved replacing the six doors at £125 a piece. We have used Crown – Antique Cream on the walls and ceilings and Rust-Oleum – Cotton on the paintwork. Brilliant for re-touching when needed as only two tins for 90% of the bungalow.
As June has a propensity for moving things around, especially pictures, I decided to put up some picture rails to save the drill/hammer, hang, remove, filler, paint cycles that have been with me for many years. Purchased the MDF picture rail from B&Q and using a self levelling laser gaffa-taped to the ladder, marked the desired horizontal line. Glued and screwed to the wall and painted wall colour, they blend in well. eBay to the rescue for the adjustable hooks and hangers and away we go. Move to your hearts desire. Now why didn’t I think of that before!
The brown uPVC front door spoiled the finished look, so it tried a can of Rust-Oleum plastic primer, followed by three coats of Rust-Oleum Cotton furniture paint and hey presto, it looks the dogs dangley bits. A bit of spray dust covered the hall floor and the acetone based paint needs mask and plenty of ventilation, but worth it in the end. Now I just need to update the remaining doors and windows…… Oh heck, what have I started.
We hit another milestone this month – 45 years of married bliss (sorry auto-correct error) and celebrated it with a lovely lunch out. It’s been difficult to find decent places to eat out due to the lockdowns, moving to a different area and getting other peoples recommendations of good eateries, but Seagers in Gorseinon ticked all the boxes. In times past, our anniversary has coincided with a holiday in France and I splashed out on a 75p bottle of fizz – last of the big spenders!
Dave and I finally finished off the panel by the gas tank, enclosing and screening the storage area off. The wheel barrow and garden trailer fit in nicely, leaving plenty of room for plant pots, bricks etc.
Design work has started for the bathroom. After much head scratching, web browsing and such, the basic layout has been planned. Now I wait for the plumber to take a look and see what and when the pipework can be sorted. The ceiling needs to be renewed as there are 6, 4 inch holes for ye olde downlighter spots, so a false ceiling is in the plan, giving room for an extractor over the shower area. But first, the tiles need to come off the walls to see if they will need skimming or just a box or two of poly-filla.
I’ve had to remove the comment section from the blogs as I have been bombed with almost 100 unsolicited messages from one site advertising dubious links and services. Not sure whether to take it as a compliment that I have so much of a following in Europe!