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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?

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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. 

 

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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.

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I am starting to feel like it is 'my palace' more than 'dad's messy old ex-council dump' at last, with a few me-touches such as the above vase. Plenty of work yet to do though...

One task was to remove the door in between the hallway and kitchen. It is forever propped open by a dirty dusty doorstop. I never close it myself, although my father insisted upon shutting it every night. He had been told that 'if' a fire started in the kitchen, the closed door would help save him. There was also the task of getting rid of the boxes of stuff in the pink and white room.

 

The spare-room was beginning to get less cluttered, as I made my way slowly through the piles of stuff in there - perhaps hastened by the need to reach the bed, as my son had decided he did want it, after all. I waded my way through stacks of crockery and other bits and pieces, none of it ever 'used'... Finally, the pink and white room chairs were sawn and taken to the tip and the room was available for storing painting things in.

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My wine cellar was finally emptied of wine-making jars and rinsed over with vinegar-water. I then put back a few of the wine-jars, and the things I want to store in there - wine, beer, drinks, water - leaving a few excess wine-jars hanging around the kitchen until dry. 

Next, I had to tackle the rest of the wine-making jars! The shelf in question is supposed to be used for storing saucepans and pots upon, and I would like to do this myself - eventually.

Instead, I turned out the pantry - my fav chore - this time, in order to organize it based on when things had to be eaten by. One shelf for by the close of 2013, another for early 2014, and the third for sometime after that. I have yet to tackle the bottom though - because some of these pans need to go on the shelf that has not yet been done.

 

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You can see that the entryway is now spick n span. Garden flowers in a vase I once bought from a holiday in Paignton Devon and a Thai food canister have more meaning to me than family photos and a mug filled with dirty old pens...

I also have my new doormat - £4 from Tesco - on display for use by entering muddy feet. Other than new paint, this area is DONE!

Well...this area is not. The great big white flatley in between my stove and dresser is filled with - my parents accumulated crockery. Yes, MORE plates, pans, saucers, etc... Eventually the flatley can be taken to the tip and the stuff inside sold or donated. I doubt very much that there is anything I want to keep. Plenty of work yet to do in the kitchen though - including painting of walls and the green will become either purple or chococlate brown.

I was either going with creamy brown walls and chocolate brown shelving/dresser OR mauvey walls and purple dresser/shelving. I made the decision to go for the 'cup of coffee' styled look, based primarily upon the fact that the tiled floor is dark brown and we have an ochre windowsill. Paint was purchased and I was ready to roll - after my son finished his room.

I actually began the painting yesterday - but have pre-written 3-4 more blogs to post before I get up to the actual painting tale!!

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Today - as in when I wrote this - I sorted out another 3-4 bags full of junk from what once was a lounge, then dad's bedsit, and will become my spare room. Most of it was scraps of material, broken and chewed up christmas decor, and used christmas, wedding anniversary, etc cards. Quite frankly, someone else's wedding anniversary cards mean absolutely nothing to me - not even if I know the people involved. The memories associated with the cards belong to other people, not myself...

Recently, I finished cleaning out the former cleaning closet - the recent wine closet, which is going to stay a drinks closet! As you can see from the first photo, there was a lot of junk to remove first. For a day or so, I simply took out the first lot of trash, cleaned half the floor, and put in MY drinkies stash and spring waters. Later, I began to go a bit further.

Above you can see a corner of my bedroom - which is finally clear and big enough for my Yoga practice! Below is the filthy sink after I cleaned some of the gunk out from inside the stove - along with my new-look kitchen windowsill, which I am finally satisfied with. This meant I actually cleaned the inside of the windows this week!

 

As you can see, the stove now looks almost new - or did til I spilt curry on the top! The three corner stand on the left and flatley on the right might be the next things to tackle....