Thursday June 28, 2007
A best behaviour day, and I’m told I passed with flying colours.
Graham’s mother is at the holiday camp for her early summer break and we’d planned for her to come on over to the house to see what we’ve done with it, and the garden, since she came almost exactly a year ago. Back then our furniture was still in store, Dolly and I were living in the caravan with Graham, and I was commuting to the house almost daily, engaged on the big scrub down before covering the walls with a nice light neutral cream. The back garden was clearly in the early stages of death by caddis and chafer larvae.
She wasn’t much taken by the place then. She is delighted with it now.
The back garden is transformed, and is growing healthily, and we’re keeping a very close eye on the bug situation against a re-invasion.
The whole house has been painted inside and the first two floors are furnished and decorated almost all the way. There’s work to do in the study and in the living room but they’re already within sight of the finish line. The top floor has been painted but is still somewhat disorganised and serving as a depository for stuff that’s in transit before the final settling down.
As I explained to Graham’s mother, the whole project is on hold now until October, when Graham finishes the summer season and shifts back here to finish off. We have an unofficial target date of Christmas for the topping-out ceremony.
While I was preparing lunch, Graham took his mother up to the living room, where he unpacked and installed the new Quad 606 power amplifer. Out of respect for his mother’s musical preferences he auditioned the system with Bruch’s violin concerto–always a good test. It passed, brilliantly.
Lunch was a cheerful affair and, after coffee and an extended chat around the table, we all broke up to get ready for the return to the holiday club.
I dropped Graham’s mother outside her chalet and she waved us off on our way along the track to the caravan.
“Coffee?” Graham asked when we were safe inside.
“No thanks. I’m going to curl up on the sofa for a bit of a nap.”
“Good thinking, bat person.”
“I think it all went very well?”
“Yup. You did a splendid job, and behaved perfectly.”
“I shall remind you of that next time you’re telling me off for being naughty.”
“Won’t make any difference.”
“Thought not. How about reminding you in time for my birthday?”
“Ah. That you can do.”
“It’s a deal.”
The author, webmaster, and minder of the cat