Lethargy Strikes

Well, we just managed to get the plastering finished before Christmas - last Thursday to be exact - so we were right to defer any further work on the extension until the New Year.  The week included another day when no-one turned up, with just a "sorry" by text but no actual reason. Thus the five or six day job took 8.5 days of work, spread over 17 elapsed days.  No wonder the timescales have slipped; I really did want to have a functional extra
loo downstairs before Christmas, but it was not to be.  Now the trouble I will have is the lethargy that I can feel overtaking me already - I know that the solution will be to make a list for each week and then I will show myself that I am making progress (albeit slowly).

Christmas has come and gone; our first Christmas in our house and, in fact, the first time that Jane and I have been on our own on the morning of Christmas Day.  I know it's been mild but today I was surprised to hear my son (who arrived for our late Christmas dinner at 5.30pm yesterday) say that his first night here had been "all right but it was a bit warm".  He should remember what it was like here during the days last December!

As far as we are concerned it has been snug and cosy - absolutely wonderful.  The kitchen woodburner and the lounge fire have both been much appreciated, as much for the comfort they provide as the actual heat. My best Christmas present is a log splitter (basically an electrically driven hydraulic ram) which will be first used on all the wood from the front garden, ready for next year's Christmas.  I was also given a moisture content meter so now I'll know that everything I burn is dry enough.

Having got a bit of a cold, I'm staying inside for the next few days, and I'll clear the decks ready to hit the work in the New Year.  Talking of "decks", my daughter (a primary teacher) told me a real story recently of a small boy who was asked what role he would like to be in the nativity play.  "The horse", he said.  "But there aren't any horses in the nativity" said his teacher.  "But we sing about him", said the boy, "Dec the horse"!