A very busy day

Our home is plainly and simply, a big mess right now.

We recently tiled right through the house, from entrance to exit.

There is dust upon dust as a consequence and furniture upon furniture as well.

Today we are having new carpet and underlay installed throughout the three bedrooms and computer room next door to our bedroom, so, these rooms are empty of their furniture which is piled up in the other areas of the house.

We have had a new toilet installed in the second lavatory space and had a painter here to patch up in different places as well.

We're also waiting for the plumber to rock up to fix up our downpipes so it's chaos and pandemodium as we can obviously cannot return the furniture and stuff to its allocated space until all this work is done.

Any wonder I have been feeling off lately. I developed laryngitis not long after returning home from our trip to Europe and whilst my voice has returned I have been left with a nuisance cough and sore throat which is taking forever to shake off.

I am not here to complain though. I merely wanted to state my case and issues, describe the frustration of having the house in complete turmoil and vent my annoyance at not being able to clean properly.

As I write, the painter has been paid and left, whilst the carpet layer is busy trying to lift up and remove the pre-existing underfelt which has over time managed to adhere itself to the slab surface. I sense he is not 100% happy but I am sure this must happen a lot especially with older homes.

We have lived in our current residence since 1999 and it's been a good home. The kids were adolescents when we moved here and were not too happy with the change from our old place at the time, but, they grew to settle in and enjoy the peaceful environment that comes with a lovely big court and a house set well back from the hustle and bustle around.

One can hear the freeway in the distance but the local sounds are that of birds and motor mowers as a rule, so peace and tranquility has reigned here for a long time.

We have very strong memories of our children as they grew from that adolescence into young adults here and those memories both wonderful and sad will remain with us always.

We have held many parties here, especially significant birthdays with Chris's 18th., my 50th., Merryn's 21st., and Murray's 60th. coming to mind. Chris's farewell was held here also all those years ago as well and while much of the nitty gritty of that time is a blur, due to the devastation we felt there are still times when I think of the throng of people who came to celebrate his life, and for that I will always be thankful.