I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve never been a fan of them.  But I’ve known for a while I needed to change a few things.  I get so easily absorbed in the blog that things at home have slipped.  The household admin is in a mess, quite literally.  Our spare room needs dealing with, which in reality means that I need to get rid of a lot of Monkey’s toys that aren’t played with much. The fireplace in no more, we have new skirting in place.  We want to sort the flooring out.  I need to get the paint brushes out.  So 2017 means starting the new year at a different pace.

I learnt over Christmas, when Monkey was ill, that the blog really will survive if I don’t schedule posts, that was the first time in nearly 4 years where I didn’t have posts scheduled pretty much every day.  We all lived.  So my plan for this year, was to blog a little less in January, compared to other years.  I want a living room without a gaping hole in the carpet, I want to say goodbye to the dark stained wood in the living room and hallway.  I want to throw the carpet out that’s in the cloakroom.  None of this is possible without me putting the hours in to get it sorted.  I don’t want to spend my nights painting, it’s a day time, school time job, that’s what will work for me. Starting the new year at a different pace, getting things in place at home, making it feel like my home.  This house has never really felt like my home.  But I can see no sense in moving at our age, when Monkey is settled at school, and the OH’s mortgage is so small, and the location works.

So on Monday morning I started work, the plan was in place.  I’d have hoped by today, I’d have made really good headway.  Painting during the day, and writing as needed in the evenings.  Yes, we’d be living in chaos for a while, but it would be worth it.  Then Monday evening it became clear that I’d caught a bug, temperature soaring and shivering with cold.

It’s Friday now and I’m certainly starting the new year at a different pace!  Not quite the pace or direction I’d planned though.  Nothing has been done, no work, on the house or the blog.  I’ve got what Monkey had before Christmas I think.  Walking to school and back yesterday floored me.  I spent the day on the sofa, watching day time TV.  I haven’t watched day time TV in years! The house is a mess, masking tape all over the place.  The living room is full of packing boxes for all the glass I need to pack before we can move my massive display cabinet.

The laptop has been staring at me from one corner of the room, the tin of gloss paint from the other.  But never mind, neither is winning at the moment.  I’m hoping today I can do a little gloss work, hoping I’m feeling a little more energised.  Fingers crossed!

Flooring and carpet samples show me there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I might not be quite on track, but we’ll get there.  The blog might be a little quieter at the moment, and not entirely as I’d planned but it’s not forever.  So if over the next few weeks I don’t post every day, just remember that I’m probably covered in paint and wishing I was sitting at the laptop instead!

The story so far …… Good bye to the worst fireplace ever!

Good bye to the old gas pipe and hello to a clear wall and new skirting board!

Hello 2017 and to starting the new year at a different pace.