Nowhere nearer to normality yet

Thank you so much for all the kind comments about Jet. Thus far he is doing extremely well and has made lots of friends at the vets! He's such a trooper :)

There is so much to do here that normal things like washing, ironing, cleaning just aren't getting done. We have had lots of visitors so I have been making and stripping beds and washing bedding and towels more frequently than usual anyway. My bedding however hasn't been washed, so I have said to Mr D that we are stripping it today and I will put it on a timed wash so I can hang it out first thing. I just love to slip into a freshly made bed. I have done four loads of washing today already. I think living in the country means more dirty clothes!
The ironing basket will have to wait though - don't feel like it! As will most of the cleaning - decorating makes more mess anyway.

We have a Stanley range cooker which also heats the water and the house, but also have a seperate electric oven and halogen hob. As the range wasn't on, we were using the electric one, but I made an apple and cinnamon crumble cake today with the windfalls, only to discover that the electric oven has packed up - I think the element has gone. I then had to give myself a quick lesson in using the Stanley. It's on and the cake is cooking, but I certainly wouldn't have chosen a cake as my first ever try at cooking in a range oven! I'll take a photo when it comes out....

It looks cooked...  

Meanwhile, we have been working on obliterating the deep purple/Barbie pink combo in the other back bedroom. Three coats of white later and we have gone from this.....

To this....

It still needs one final coat, but it's already so much better. It is a west facing room and not particularly light, especially as we presently have a dozen or so pine trees out to that side which will be chopped down, but are cutting out both light and view at the moment.
There were two wooden shelves in that bedroom, which had been 'pinked' around the edges, so I decided to paint those too. The shabby chic effect was an accident, but we all rather like it, so it can
stay.

  

We have bought some second hand furniture pieces to paint up. So far we have acquired a double bed, a bookcase, a chest of drawers and a beside cabinet for £170. Mind you, I've fallen prey to the gorgeous drawer knob fetish, so that might make them slightly less good value!