Worn out!

 

Baggy, Calum and Pepper Pooch have been at the holiday cottage since Sunday evening, but they certainly haven't been on holiday! Clever Bird thought that there were a few things that needed fixing, replacing or sorting out; she made a list. It had only fifteen things on the list, some little - replace the light bulb on the landing, some seemingly little - replace the plug hole in the shower base. Four solid days of flat-out grafting later, they are almost at the end of the (now forty-plus item) list. And they are so totally exhausted, that they decided to stay tonight, even though in theory they could have finished off and headed home.

Baggy's main responsibility was to get Gloria Gardener in action. Item - "do the garden." No biggy. Yeah right! After a summer of extreme heat, followed by a period of gentle rain, then more heat, the garden had run wild. This was what Gloria was faced with:

Clearly, the main job was to cut stuff! There were two problems with this simple task, firstly it required a very accident prone Baggy to be up a ladder with secateurs. Dangerous, and difficult, as the firs (presumably leylandii), have branches on them that Baggy, with her dodgy operated-on arms, could not cut for love nor money. Clever Bird decided to get the electric hedge trimmer out. Calum refused to let Gloria up the ladder with them - very wise.

 
As it turned out, even the hedge cutter couldn't cope, and Calum had to resort to big clippers and lots of grunting.

The second problem was the shear volume of cut-off bits! So Gloria had to have a bonfire! It has taken Gloria thirty full hours to get the garden to this stage:

It also took four packets of fire lighters and Baggy is currently wearing the lovely perfume known as Essence of Bonfire. Baggy required the odd siesta to get her to be able to carry on, although getting in bed wasn't always simple.

Dogs are welcome at Blossom Cottage although they are not supposed to go upstairs, and they are certainly not allowed on the furniture. But obviously, as one of the owners', this does not apply to Pepper. Sigh!

The Domestic Goddess decided to give the summerhouse a proper vacuum and wash:

Thankfully, the weather has been absolutely glorious, more like summer than autumn, so Baggy got sunburnt in the process, and the pooch was delighted to be outside with her.

Meanwhile Calum was beavering away inside! His list was deceptively casual. One of the main items being to 'fix the shower'. What this actually meant was:

• Replace the shower hose, that someone had snapped off.
• Remove all the old silicone from around the shower base and replace it.
• Remove and replace the plug hole with a new one.
• Remove the old 'blown' plaster from each side of the shower bowl, where the shower had leaked and re-plaster it.
• Paint around the outside of the shower doors once the plaster has dried.

This also required going off and buying the silicone, and finding a shower hose of the correct size, and sourcing a plug hole - this took three separate trips into the local town! Creative Clara didn't take photos of Calum doing these jobs, as it's not a large shower, and Calum is not a small man - Baggy retired to a safe distance (the garden), instead!!! Just the painting needs doing now - Clara's job!

  Another 'simple' job - re-plaster the stair wall - again, not so simple, but he was on it!

 One of the things that Clever Bird thought it might be advisable to do, was to put up a 'Mind your head' sign over the low seventeenth-century door. Clara suggested getting a nice one of the 'Duck or Grouse' variety. As The Goddess was washing windows, Calum's creative side appeared!

 Both Baggy and Calum have worked their little socks off, and spent a not inconsiderable amount of money, to keep the cottage up to a high spec.

• New electric hob (as someone had dropped a heavy pan or something on the old one, and cracked it).
• New rug for the sitting room - the third so far!

 

• New kettle.
• New mattress covers.

Also, the chimney has been swept; the septic tank emptied; the oven professionally cleaned.

Calum has put new taps on the bathroom sink; mended the chair webbing that had been trashed on the kitchen feature-chair; touched up paintwork; mended the loo-roll holder, a cupboard door, the summer house door, and part of its roof; replaced lots of bulbs (a couple of which required Ninja-manoeuvres along beams); stuck peeling ceiling paper back up; re-siliconed around the bath and a load of other stuff that Hormonal Hannah has forgotten.

Baggy and Calum have rescued a cooker from the garden shed and put it in Billy Bob Jalopy campervan to take home and use in place of the falling apart one at their house. So all-in-all, it's been a productive few days.

They had one lovely evening off, after having bumped into two dear friends at the bike rally on Sunday, they went round to their house for supper on Tuesday evening for a wonderful meal and a good chin-wag.

As Clara types this blog, Baggy's feet are throbbing with pain and bits that she didn't know she possessed are aching! Her hands, wrists, knees and ankles are all extremely swollen and Clever Bird is well aware that thanks to ghastly Hormonal Hannah's depression, the reason for this is clear to see in these photos! Her comfort-eating has put her to the heaviest weight she has ever been! If Grotty Groom ever wishes to ride her horse again, Baggy is going to have to lose at least three stones in weight. So Hannah is just finishing off a packet of chocolate biscuits as Clara types this, and next week Baggy will be re-enrolling with a local Fat Club, which she will be re-naming Fit Club. Meanwhile, Calum will be going back to work lorry driving on Saturday, to get a rest.......
 

Note to readers (my lovely Baggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.


Baggy's daily state!
Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Blue.
Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 5. 
Tears: Only when smoke got in her eyes.