FALL CLEANSINGS 18

The final tasks for fall were firstly to get rid of some of the stuff Dad had accumulated and secondly to tidy up the garden. Our friend from round the back gave me a lift to the tip with some junk from the poly tunnel.

As you can see, the polytunnel is full of junk. This mostly came from the shed when it was replaced a couple of years ago - which I mentioned in my blog at the time. Dad simply never got around to sorting out his garbage. Most of it was only of value to himself anyways, so when starting to turn it out, very little did not get piled to go to the tip.

 

As you can see, most of my job was covered in weeds... The next photo shows the tip trip pile getting slightly bigger with a green 'trolley thing'. 

This green trolley was manufactured by my maternal grandfather. He was a carpenter by trade, and when in need of something, generally made or adapted something to do the job himself. He used it for several years to get his groceries home without having to carry them in bags. Most of the elderly population these days will buy a trolley to do this, but my grandpa made his own. However, I do my groceries online or small trips by hand, and it was warped and not really useful to myself, so... to the tip it had to go.

 

FALL CLEANSINGS 17

The next task was to paint the ceiling chunk the same caramel cream gloss color as the walls, as I had originally hoped to do, but wished to wait and assure myself I had enough paint to complete the task. I began...

Additionally, I caramel-cream glossed a few small pipes near the sink, that I had also left in case the tin of paint did not extend to cover them - let's face it, the walls themselves were the MAIN necessity. After the caramel cream gloss painting, I closed the remnants of the tin - not much left - and prized open the darker hazlenut brown tin. This was to cover the dresser. I initially coated all but the front board - as shown in the photos. Luckily, I had sufficient paint over and have since coated the surface shown as white in the first two photos as well.

My next painting task will come under the heading of winter rather than fall, as it will be December before I begin. I plan to paint the corner table once the dresser is securely dry enough to replace items on.

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Tuesday, and I could put back my kitchen as a kitchen! What a relief! As someone who enjoys cooking nearly every day, not having a stove/chopping board and only having access to half a fridge had been very difficult. My initial sanding fears of never having a clean kitchen again began to evaporate as I firstly wiped the floor by cloth and hand, and then replaced the furniture.

Yes, I am aware that the dresser and corner table have not yet been painted - but there is paint enough left over for them. The main bulk of the painting has now been done - in that room - however, I still have the ceiling chunk, ceiling proper, dresser, corner table, and 2 wooden chairs to go - and a few little bits I missed or went wonky on.

I began to replace bits and pieces - to be used until I do the odds and ends yet to be done.

 

Ahhh, to have a kitchen again!

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Saturday came, and I applied hazelnut gloss to the trim, doors, shelf, and closets - this took me 5.5 hours. I began to wonder if I would ever finish, and it took longer than the walls themselves. I think this was probably because I had to be careful with edges and used a smaller paintbrush.

On Sunday, I re-coated the walls leaving the re-coating of the other bits for Monday. A friend brought me a large serve hot meal of bean chili and rice around, as the kitchen was unusable, for which I was very grateful.

As I began on Monday, I was thinking that it would be the longest paint-day yet, because I had taken longer to do the bits than walls previously, and I also had to fix up the joins and any patches missed. However, Monday ended up the shortest day of the four. Suddenly, the bulk of the paint-work was done! I ate Indian that night.

FALL CLEANSINGS 14

Prior to the following, I took a video of the entryway, hallway, and kitchen as-was.

VIEW IT HERE.

Wednesday evening I did return to the dusty scene of doom and use polyfilla on a few cracks. Thursday, I began to wipe down the entire room - including most of the dust from the floor. I then took a breather to go out shopping - came home to find my son had gotten rid of the junk to the tip with our friend, and also gotten the mattress upstairs - as he had dumped his old camp bed.

One calamity occurred when he impatiently tugged at the bed frame that followed - without waiting for my assistance - in the form of a chunk of wall on the corner of the stairs being chipped off - luckily, we have plenty of polyfilla left! Son has completely finished painting his room and is currently making scrapey-bangy noises as he positions his furniture and polishes it, sets up his bed, etc. I had a beer break as I contemplate the start of the painting...

Friday came & I began! I started applying caramel cream gloss to the walls, going in a clockwise direction around the kitchen. I took a short break - for beer/pee - and another short breather - to drink some water - later on, but the painting itself took circa 5 hours.

More pics and details to follow.

FALL CLEANSINGS 13

Back in the kitchen, the stove was moved into the center as I began to calculate how many days it would be before being able to cook a hot meal again. By the time I got to the corner table, I was at the 'I should not have started this' stage of reasoning. I told my mind to shut up and got on with it, though - what choice did I have, now that I had begun?

By the time I got past the kitchen table to the fridge, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be able to cook a hot meal again and feeling grateful we have an Indian take-out in the village. Just a few more walls, I thought....almost back to the door-hole I began at.

After circa 5 hours work and 45 mins break, I was done for the day. I removed my dead dad's track pants that I had covered my pants with and also had to take off my cardigan and skivvy as they were dusty too. The depressing state of the kitchen is not shown in this photo -

- shall I say that all over the dark brown tiled floor is white dust, white smudges, dusty footprints and paint chips. I then considered going back down after a computing break, in order to begin the polyfilla tasks, even with a mug of coffee I did not feel enthusiastic... yet, it would be a few hours closer to having a clean and freshly painted kitchen, wouldn't it...?

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As well as the mess left by removing the door - I had a pinned on draught excluder to remove. Then, I was all set to go with my painting the kitchen task. I began the next day - a Wednesday in the middle of the month. I began by wiping down the walls, sanding them down, then wiping them down again. That sounds simple... Allow me to assure you it is not quite as simple as it sounds and to inform you that it took me 5 hours - almost 6 if you count a beer break and a break to eat a bowl of chilled stewed apple.

This shot looks so clean. Let me assure you it was not as clean as it looks. There was dust everywhere from the sanding. I had begun to move the first 1-2 pieces of furniture into the center of the room. That was not so hard. It was when I got around to the sink and had nowhere to put the cabinet, table, or fridge that I began to wonder if I had taken on a little too much and should scream for a pro to come in and do it for me.

Before getting that far, I got to the Flatley - there was nowhere to put it to clear out another day - so I had to turn it out - and throw it outdoors right away. I can recall it being used for its proper purpose of airing damp clothing when I was a child - but it had long since been turned into a closet. I mean, you would not want to put clean clothing in there now, would you?

FALL CLEANSINGS 11

My son continued to paint his room - green. As he occupied himself with that task, I began on my next task - removing the excess door. I never do shut it, and do not need a door between the hallway and kitchen, so decided to remove it. Easier said than done...

As you can see, there is a lot of paint on the screws... My first task was to scrape it off them so I could unscrew them. This was not so hard on the top 3 screws - but the bottom 3 gave me more trouble - one thread had worn and one has so much paint in, it was difficult. In the end, I used pliers to unscrew them, once I had them a little unscrewed.

The final screw would not budge - in the end, I held the door itself and twisted it until it dislodged the screw a little - and then I could release it using the pliers. Finally - the door was off - and I had a mess. 

 

FALL CLEANSINGS 10

My son began to paint his room early in November, soon after we had purchased the paint for the kitchen and his room - as shown above. He chose green. Pale green ceiling, light green walls, and dark green trim. Meanwhile - the wine-making jars off the saucepan shelf, I had a job on my hands.

The second white chair with the filthy cushion came in handy - as the step ladder was not very much use. I ripped the cushion off the chair and cleaned it down to use as a stepladder instead. Then off I went to tackle...THIS!

I got to work and scrubbed off decades of grease. My mother was short - far too short to use this high shelf. She died 8 years ago, even if she did manage to reach up there to spring clean at some point in the past. Dad did not use his wine jars for several years, and as far as I know, the shelf had not been cleaned since before he used it. It can now be used for saucepans - or could - until I began to paint the kitchen!

 Looking a bit better, I think you will agree.