Saturday, January 22, 2005
Knackered
I slept not at all well last night and found myself awake by 5.30am. I tossed and turned, watched some BBC News 24, listened to the radio, read a page or two from a book and wrote some of my own words in my notebook. I fell asleep again at about am but struggled to stay there - so I just got up.
The process of cleaning the house for the prospectus photographs, valuation and viewings has now begun. We began in the lounge: packing the non-essentials and deciding how best to get the place looking it's largest and most attractive. I'll probably take photographs when it's complete for two reasons; first, I know I will never have seen the house as tidy as when we are done. And second, it will be a good memory to have. It is after all, our first home together, but really, it has never felt like that to me. When I sold up in Glasgow and moved in, it was - and still is - in Gail's name and I had to find my own space in a home that had already been claimed. Which was not easy, and the adjustment was difficult at first. I don’t need a lot of space – just somewhere to write and listen to my music.
The house we are moving to was bought by us and will be decorated and upgraded by us. So to me, it will be our first proper home, and it will feel 100% mine.
The weather was nice outside; chilled, fresh and a clear blue-sky overhead. It's almost as if an early spring was in the air, and yet mid-winter is yet to stop by so I know it won't last. There are many more frozen mornings and blasting gale's still to come.
As if by magic our real-flame gas fire chose to go on the blink this afternoon. Having worked for years and with it being one of the main features in our living room, it is typical for it to stop working in the winter and with us relying on it to give the house a warm glow for any prospective buyers. A quick call to Ian the handyman was made and he hopes to get round tomorrow to fix it.
While cleaning the house, I tried to envisage how best to co-ordinate the house move with all my writing commitments. It's not going to be easy; I can see many late nights ahead, but the main worry is scheduling in a concert gig and a night at the theatre. I can see me ending up going by myself because I want to cover a play this time and Gail doesn't like them. She prefers musicals, which is fair enough, but there is also the baby-sitting aspect as well; someone needs to look after Laura.
I wrote to my editor at KIC during an afternoon break and asked about the possibility of expanding her ideas on the music column. With all the commitments I have getting to large concerts to do reviews is a costly and demanding thing to do. But if I was to write about local, national and international music in general, I think it would work and be more relative to the readership. I await her response.
Gail and I got through a pile of work in by the end of the day. Most of my time was spent polishing every tile, grout and inch of porcelain in the bathroom. Gail battered into Laura’s room and we quickly discovered just how much junk has been collecting in her room over the years. Half a dozen large boxes filled to the brim with toys. Her room is all but done now and the lounge is half-complete, so over all we are making good progress.
Time flies when you are having fun – ahem ;-) – and before I knew it, time had pulled itself into early evening. Into the kitchen I went and cooked up a nice big pot of chilli – not too hot so Laura would still enjoy it though, and it went down a treat - as did the sponge cake for pudding.
At night I got some time to myself. Gail took a long bath with her study papers for a financial exam she has on Tuesday and I brought the laptop through to the kitchen to write. With all the work I have on right now, I realised quickly if I am serious about this writing lark, I need to do it regardless of how little I slept last night, or how tired I am from today’s work around the house.
So I brewed a cuppa, stuck on my Classical Chillout CD and started to write. I started off with issue 2 of the website development column and got a pretty good first draft down. The word count is about right and it reads well so I’m very pleased. The good thing about this column is I have planned about two-dozen issues ahead so I know precisely what each article is going to cover. With the music and theatre reviews that isn’t so easy to do though. It could be with the travel column so I’ll have a think tonight about that and then jot a plan down tomorrow at some point.
It’s going to be hectic again tomorrow, and like today, I will have to squeeze my writing in any chance I get. Much of my time tomorrow is going to be in the garden (weather permitting). I have a hedge to cut, garden to sweep and tidy and then there is all the litter that seems to gather at the bottom end at street level. Most of it was blown in when some bins were caught up in last week’s windy storms and it looks a real eyesore now.
Right - I’m knackered! I’m off to bed.
The process of cleaning the house for the prospectus photographs, valuation and viewings has now begun. We began in the lounge: packing the non-essentials and deciding how best to get the place looking it's largest and most attractive. I'll probably take photographs when it's complete for two reasons; first, I know I will never have seen the house as tidy as when we are done. And second, it will be a good memory to have. It is after all, our first home together, but really, it has never felt like that to me. When I sold up in Glasgow and moved in, it was - and still is - in Gail's name and I had to find my own space in a home that had already been claimed. Which was not easy, and the adjustment was difficult at first. I don’t need a lot of space – just somewhere to write and listen to my music.
The house we are moving to was bought by us and will be decorated and upgraded by us. So to me, it will be our first proper home, and it will feel 100% mine.
The weather was nice outside; chilled, fresh and a clear blue-sky overhead. It's almost as if an early spring was in the air, and yet mid-winter is yet to stop by so I know it won't last. There are many more frozen mornings and blasting gale's still to come.
As if by magic our real-flame gas fire chose to go on the blink this afternoon. Having worked for years and with it being one of the main features in our living room, it is typical for it to stop working in the winter and with us relying on it to give the house a warm glow for any prospective buyers. A quick call to Ian the handyman was made and he hopes to get round tomorrow to fix it.
While cleaning the house, I tried to envisage how best to co-ordinate the house move with all my writing commitments. It's not going to be easy; I can see many late nights ahead, but the main worry is scheduling in a concert gig and a night at the theatre. I can see me ending up going by myself because I want to cover a play this time and Gail doesn't like them. She prefers musicals, which is fair enough, but there is also the baby-sitting aspect as well; someone needs to look after Laura.
I wrote to my editor at KIC during an afternoon break and asked about the possibility of expanding her ideas on the music column. With all the commitments I have getting to large concerts to do reviews is a costly and demanding thing to do. But if I was to write about local, national and international music in general, I think it would work and be more relative to the readership. I await her response.
Gail and I got through a pile of work in by the end of the day. Most of my time was spent polishing every tile, grout and inch of porcelain in the bathroom. Gail battered into Laura’s room and we quickly discovered just how much junk has been collecting in her room over the years. Half a dozen large boxes filled to the brim with toys. Her room is all but done now and the lounge is half-complete, so over all we are making good progress.
Time flies when you are having fun – ahem ;-) – and before I knew it, time had pulled itself into early evening. Into the kitchen I went and cooked up a nice big pot of chilli – not too hot so Laura would still enjoy it though, and it went down a treat - as did the sponge cake for pudding.
At night I got some time to myself. Gail took a long bath with her study papers for a financial exam she has on Tuesday and I brought the laptop through to the kitchen to write. With all the work I have on right now, I realised quickly if I am serious about this writing lark, I need to do it regardless of how little I slept last night, or how tired I am from today’s work around the house.
So I brewed a cuppa, stuck on my Classical Chillout CD and started to write. I started off with issue 2 of the website development column and got a pretty good first draft down. The word count is about right and it reads well so I’m very pleased. The good thing about this column is I have planned about two-dozen issues ahead so I know precisely what each article is going to cover. With the music and theatre reviews that isn’t so easy to do though. It could be with the travel column so I’ll have a think tonight about that and then jot a plan down tomorrow at some point.
It’s going to be hectic again tomorrow, and like today, I will have to squeeze my writing in any chance I get. Much of my time tomorrow is going to be in the garden (weather permitting). I have a hedge to cut, garden to sweep and tidy and then there is all the litter that seems to gather at the bottom end at street level. Most of it was blown in when some bins were caught up in last week’s windy storms and it looks a real eyesore now.
Right - I’m knackered! I’m off to bed.
Colin 11:19 pm
2 Comments:
Colin,
Congratulations! This sounds wonderful. And I know the feeling - I bought my home about five years ago or so, and it felt so much more like MINE than any apartment I had previously, since I could do anything I wanted with it.
Have a great time fixing it up to your liking, and all that.
Ann
Congratulations! This sounds wonderful. And I know the feeling - I bought my home about five years ago or so, and it felt so much more like MINE than any apartment I had previously, since I could do anything I wanted with it.
Have a great time fixing it up to your liking, and all that.
Ann
Hi Colin ~ Thanks for all the kind comments in my blog!
I too understand the feeling of a place not being *your home*. It's wonderful that you will have this opportunity to create some joyful memories with your little family, in a home that is absolutely Yours. I wish all the best for you. Take care ~ Marian
I too understand the feeling of a place not being *your home*. It's wonderful that you will have this opportunity to create some joyful memories with your little family, in a home that is absolutely Yours. I wish all the best for you. Take care ~ Marian