(((Andrea)))

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Folks, lest anyone think I have money to throw around on help with the house, I don't-- but when we carve a helper's fair pay out of grocery bucks, there's a quadruple impact. We buy/eat less, he eats, etc. etc. I'm very selective in what I pay for help with-- and it always involves me doing a good portion of the work in the process.

So today Adrian worked his magic on the upstairs of the house. (I got my exercise being his second pair of hands.) I had prepped a room to add a big rug, so he measured and cut free carpeting I'd been saving (FC) to fit the pattern I drew, and up it went. We walked its wrinkles out together. But first he had vacuumed up a ton of dust and pet fur, in the room to be improved, and then he also sucked the used rug's dirt and dust out once it was in place. It's off white-- not suitable for high-traffic or mud-traffic downstairs. But most of the traffic-pattern dirt it held is now invisible-- glad I didn't waste money getting it cleaned first. The one stain it had is under the bed, tra-la! It went over a rug that holds onto cat hair like velcro, so that room (Sailboats) will be much easier to keep clean. We also turned the box spring and mattress for more even wearing. The scraps will go to the laundry room.

But the big impact was in the landing room that has needed stuff sorted for months. I had gotten it down to the last few smallish boxes and a table to bring downstairs, and as of today those are gone now too, in addition to left-behind stuffed animals that no one wanted. (I kept a few as keepsakes, and am donating the rest.) The antique wicker basket that had held them has come down to hold CATS in front of the HEATER. And a few items that did not belong to me went to their owner's room for HIM to deal with! :~)

Why the impact was so huge for such a tiny room-- a landing-room that was probably a nursery at one point-- is because it frees up the downstairs now to be kept pretty as a PUBLIC space, with this nice sitting area right outside our bedroom door for JUST US. The TV will probably move upstairs eventually, and this also clears the way for Adrian to paint out the awful bird wallpaper we have put up with for over 16 years, in the LR, that is shown in the MudGather pix in the Photo pages here. And I had a brilliant idea on that as well, today. The wallpaper is glazed. Various high-adhesion primers have been recommended but Hardi's brother Phil is a professional painter.... and the switchplates and outlet covers were also papered and glazed. I can take a few off to send him to play with, before we invest in a series of expensive primers!!!!! And then keep one to remember the old paper-- they can be replaced with new ones.

~S~