All our books are out of the boxes and shelved -- not necessarily in their permanent spots, but at least available and accessible! I am so happy, not least because there's room for all of them. In fact, we actually have room for more (God forbid).

Painting is not happening after all; the painters overbooked themselves and dumped us. That's okay with me, as I have done nothing about acquiring curtains for the windows that are currently covered with ill-fitting Venetian blinds that are almost, but not quite, the last word in ugly. I hope to start work on that this afternoon.

The flooring crew returns on 1 November to remove the slippery white ceramic tile from the dining-room floor and replace it with hardwood. I can't think why anyone would put that stuff on a floor at all, let alone a space where wet stuff happens, but there it is; I'm sure it was one reason for the availability of this house when every other half-decent dwelling for sale in Stratford this spring had a line-up of bidders. Unfortunately, the kitchen and foyer floors have the same white ceramic tile, but replacing it will have to wait for the tumult and shouting of the kitchen renovation have died down, the bills are paid, and our chequing account has recovered from the shock.

But today, I'm just grooving on the neatness of my study.