The dulcet tone of a chainsaw echoes across the valley, as Rodney works his magic on a massive tree stump that's been an eyesore on my rural idyll since we moved here. Earlier today, I was so grateful that Mal and Damien could get here so pronto to fix the septic. It was then that Tony arrived unexpectedly, with the spare part for the fridge. Five days early, you've got to love that.
What with Arne and Phil spending three days here earlier in the week with the interior makeover, Rob and Dean taking care of the rewiring, and Neil coming to take away everything they pulled out, it's been a bit like the
agfest carpark here. Next week, Stevo will be here to do the plastering, and hopefully Pete can make it to finish some painting. Then we just need to wait for Wocko, Rick and Matt for some final touches and we'll just about have a new kitchen (oh, but we do need to save money to pay them, sadly this job will stretch over several weeks).
The cheque book's taken a beating. But we have a deadline to get the place shipshape before Christmas. You see, we're hosting the family this year, twenty six for Christmas lunch, and, as they're all coming from the mainland, well, they'll stick around for a few days. And that's when we can all relax and enjoy the efforts of our above mentioned renovation team.
Yikes! What a mess! Two macs, one vintage singer, and a load of papers:: children's drawings, photos, bills, seeds, books, magazines and notepads. Wallpaper, that I've tried to tear off to see what's underneath. Oh dear. It will go one day. We bought the trestle table at a junk shop and painted it. It runs the width of the room and makes a great work space when it's a bit more organised.
The best thing about hq is the view from the window of our garden. Apple blossoms, garlic, strawberries and poppies. Very nice. 
But today, when I was working in the garden, feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the enormity of it all, I watched the little ones playing. There were trees to climb, long grass to run through, flowers to pick. In summer there are strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and wild blackberries and hopefully this autumn, there'll be apples and cherries.
