Ransacked!…

…There’s just no other word to describe it…my house has been ransacked!

Well, first of all apologies for my absence over the last few days but this was due to work being carried out on my house.
I arrived home from work last Sunday evening and spent all night moving furniture, packing small items up out of the way and taking carpets up…needless to say i collapsed into my bed totally exhausted…5am Monday morning i was up, sorting dogs, kids and myself with more packing up, moving furniture and lifting carpets in the bedrooms, by 8am that morning the work men had arrived to remove the old central heating system and install the new system.

It was hell, ya couldn’t move in the house, there wasn’t a room they weren’t working in, the mess was horrendous and the dust!
Because of all this and the need to keep the dogs out of harms way as they had the doors open all day Joe, myself and my two dogs were forced to spend the whole day sat out on the back garden…eight bloody hours we sat there!…from 8am till turned 4pm we sat there in our coats… cold, bored, hungry and so damn tired!

All i can say is…thank god it didn’t rain!

When they left all i could do was stand and stare at the state of my home…i could have cried!…there was so much muck and mess it was unreal, i just didn’t know where to start!
But, i got stuck in and by 10pm that night i’d finally got the place fit to live in again.
Tuesday nothing much occurred but most the house was still packed up as the rewiring work had yet to be done and that took place Wednesday, we were again up at the crack of dawn so we had time to get up before the electrician arrived at 8am, it wasn’t as bad as Monday (we were able to stay in the house) but again the whole house and everything in it was covered in dust…brick dust, concrete dust, saw dust…bloody dust every!
The electrician left about 5pm and again i got stuck into the cleaning up work, i was at it all night, scrubbing, hoovering, moving furniture, fitting carpets, i fell in to my bed completely worn out around midnight and swore to myself…’Never Again!’… the stress and strain has made me feel quite ill and now i’m battling the fatigue…i’m so damn tired!
My house is a complete mess, there’s holes in walls and ceilings waiting to be filled, pipes running up, down and along walls waiting to be boxed in and the whole house now needs to be decorated and fettled properly but i’ve just no energy left…the mere thought of all the work i have to do once the jobs are done…well, it just doesn’t bare thinking about!

Yesterday (Thursday) i finally managed to get the house livable again but last night i collapsed in the chair totally exhausted, i must have slept where i sat for about an hour or so because when i woke up it was just going dark, it took me a while to come round and i felt awful so i let the dogs out, locked up and finally dragged my weary but to bed about 10pm which is extremely early for me but i was just so tired i could not keep my eyes open (literally), my entire body had shut down on me and i was physically incapable of doing anything. The alarm woke me this morning and if i’d had the energy to think up some excuse i think i would have phoned in sick…i really didn’t want to get up let alone go to work!

So, i have work all weekend then we start all over again on Monday with more workmen, doing more jobs, making more mess and leaving more cleaning for me to do…another week of exhaustion to look forward to!
Any way, with the house being in such a state and most of it packed up in some corner of a room all week this is why i haven’t been able to post anything, hopefully now the big jobs are done i should be able to start catching up (as time and energy allows), right now though all i wanna do is sleep so i’ll leave you with todays photo…

© Janice Carrington.

Almost forgot…

…It’s time i was in bed to be honest, it’s turned midnight and i’ve got work again tomorrow, but i just realised i’d not yet posted here today (so darn busy)…not that there’s much to write about today, been at work for the best part of the day and spent the evening working on my village photo blog…there was the usual weekend brawl and slanging match out on the street about half an hour ago, but even that’s getting a little boring now to be honest, same people every weekend drunk and stoned shooting their mouths off till the police turn up (they’ve just left)…this used to be a lovely peaceful village!

Any way, it’s late so i’ll leave ya with a photo of a beautiful sunset i took last November…

© Janice Carrington

A good day…at work!

…Hard to believe i know but i’ve actually had quite a good day despite being at work for half of it!

Don’t know why, nothing out of the ordinary’s occurred, nothing particularly good has happened it’s just been a normal day of work but, for what ever reason, there’s been this air of calmness and a sense of light heartedness about everything and everyone…it’s been a really pleasant day!

Oh, there was one ‘out of the ordinary’ thing…i walked in from work to find two extremely large packing boxes stood in my hall way… ‘Joe’s leaving home!’.

Naaa…the company that’s gonna be doing the work on the house (rewiring and new central heating system) dropped them off, presumably for me to pack things of value into before work starts…ok, nice thought, but seeing as they’re gonna be working in every room of the house, once i’ve packed my items of value into these two extremely large boxes were do i put the damn boxes and seeing as i’m gonna have enough trouble moving the furniture and carpets out of their way the last thing i need is two big packing boxes to have to keep moving too… once they’re full i wouldn’t be able to move em any way…they are BIG!

Then i got to wondering…are they intending to create so much mess and mayhem in my house that things could get damaged…surely all i need to do is clear the areas they need to work by moving things to other areas which they won’t need to go near…oh god, i’m dreading it, they’re just gonna ran sack my house with no thought or concern for my home and belongings what so ever.

Stop it Janice…don’t think about it, ya’ll just spoil a good day!

Ok, lets change the subject, i’ll worry about that lot when the time comes (in two days)…time for a photo i think…this is a shot of Dudley, my beautiful liver spotted Dalmatian who isn’t over keen on having his picture taken but does pose beautifully, don’t ya think!

© Janice Carrington

A walk in the rain…

…I didn’t purposely go waking in the rain…that’s just how the day turned out!

Today was the day i’d set aside for a much needed ‘me’ day, i’d made sure all that needed doing had been done so that i could have time out with my camera, time out of the house and some peace and quiet!…how can one teenager make so much damn noise!

Any way…when i got up this morning the weather didn’t look too promising (typical), it was extremely blustery and very cloudy but it had been like that the past few days and by mid morning the dark clouds had blown over allowing the sun to shine through so i figured by the time i’d had breakfast and walked Duds the weather would have started to buck it’s ideas up a bit.
Didn’t quite work out that way today though…by mid day the big grey clouds had become enormous black clouds but they were moving fast with the wind…so i watched and waited but still no break, still no sun!
By 1:30pm i decided to just go for it, it was still dull, still cloudy and still windy but it was dry and that was the main thing…so i grabbed the back pack full of camera gear, grabbed a jacket (just in case) and toddled off for a stroll round the village.
I’d not been out of the house five bloody minutes when it started to rain…then it stopped…then it started again….hmm!…now do i go back home and forget the whole idea of having a ‘me’ day or do i stick it out, after all i was already togged up and out and it wasn’t raining that heavy…it would probably just be a summer shower.
I chose to stick it out and headed of up the church fields, down through the village and onto the meadows, the on and off showers continued and all though it was nice walking in the summer rain it wasn’t doing much for my photography…ya wanna try dodging rain with ya camera…lol
On reaching the meadows the heavens opened and i had to take cover under the trees (still got wet, just not soaking wet)…i must have been stood there a good twenty minutes watching the rain fall while feeling more and more miffed with every drop that fell…all i wanted was just one day…one day!

That was it, i’d had enough, i wasn’t getting any photos taken, the camera spent most of the time in my back pack and i was getting soaked…time to go home!

I’m totally fed up now, i’ve not had chance to get out with the camera for weeks, today was the only free day i had to call my own for at least two more weeks (maybe longer) and what does it do…RAIN!…what’s betting it’s gorgeous tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday while i’m at work!
Oh well, nothing i can do about the good old British weather, however, in future i ain’t gonna plan a day out, i’m just gonna take one!

Well, despite the dark, gloomy and extremely damp conditions i did manage to get a few shots and this is one of them…sort of sums up the day really!

© Janice Carrington

Changes…

…Combining, joining, coming together, merging…call it what you like but i’ve finally got round to bringing my photography to my blog so i just have the one blog to work on daily.

Right, i now have a completely new and separate photo blog (JanC Photography), this is my photography site which i’ll use to promote my work but, so i can still share my work with others (friends, family and so on) while still being able to blog about what ever takes my fancy, from now on i’ll add a photo a day to my blog posts. These photos probably won’t be related to the blog post in any way (all though they occasionally might) and sometimes if i don’t feel in the mood for writing (or don’t have the time) i may just post a photo…you’ll know doubt see photos you’ve seen before (if you’ve ever been to my old photo blog) as i work through my photo collection but there’ll be many you haven’t seen so do pop in as often as you can…but no matter what, i intend to try and post something every day.

At least if my constant wittering on about boring stuff like work, kids, housework etc. is getting on ya nerves you can just come and take a look at the days photo…hopefully you’ll enjoy one or the other and if i’m real lucky…both!

All my old posts (with out photos) will stay put and once i get into the swing of things the old photo blog will be deleted, hopefully this merging of my daily blog with my photography will make life a little easier, more enjoyable and less time consuming…so, to start the ball rolling (as they say) let’s make this the first of my new daily blog/photo posts with this…

© Janice Carrington

All i need…is good weather!

…On track for a ‘me’ day on Thursday but it’s all down to what the weather’s doing on that day now!

Spent Monday flitting from one job to another…tidied the house, walked Duds, took delivery of a couple of bits for the garden, went to town, cut the hedge on the front garden and pottered on the back garden…it was a busy but productive day.
Today i’ve given the house a major clean…not sure why i bothered coz the work men will be here Monday and they’ll just trash the place!…any way, it’s done and tidy for the rest of this week, then i walked Dudley, got loads of washing dried and sorted and i was all done by late afternoon so i’ve had a nice relaxing evening.
Now tomorrow i’m not gonna get much of anything done coz mum and my brother are coming, they’ll be here all afternoon so it’ll be a quick tidy up in the morning and a good walk with Duds when they go but it doesn’t matter, i’ve done what needs to be done so i can chill out and spend some time with family tomorrow…then on Thursday… i’ve kept this day clear, nothing planned but walking Duds, now if the weathers good he’ll get a shorter walk on the morning and another shorter walk in the evening (instead of one really long walk) and in between i’ll be out with the camera…that’s the plan so keep ya fingers crossed the weather behaves and grants me some good photography time…i need it!

Now, the garden…as i said in my last post, it’s all done bar adding some new plants to my pots…or so i thought!
I was out there this afternoon playing ball with Duds when i noticed the gate didn’t look quite right so i took a closer look…the wood that the gate is fastened to is coming away from the concrete post causing the gate to lean and become wedged against the opposite gate post…i’ve already had to have them back to the gate once, now i have to ring them and get them out to see to it again… why can’t folk do the job they are paid to do properly!
Oh, and Dudley is still being difficult…he will not use the garden unless he is absolutely bursting…i walked him this afternoon and as of yet he’s done nothing since (over 8 hours) even though the back door has been left open all day and most of the evening…silly dog!

As for my birdy corner…well, it seems to be a hit with the local wild birds, particular one pigeon who comes back daily to raid the seed feeder, actually it’s several times a day and it’s eating me out of bird seed!…i bought a new bag from town yesterday (Monday), filled the feeder and it’s already 3/4 empty…the little ones aren’t getting a look in!
I don’t want to stop it coming (assuming this was possible) but i do wish it wouldn’t be so damn greedy, it’s even removed from the branch of the tree and flown off with a whole fat ball…twice!…and today i watched it ram it’s body into a tiny gap so it could reach the seed easier…this is one greedy and very determined pigeon!…lol

Oh well, time for a cuppa and then bed i think…nite!

Jan.

At last!…

…After 6 long weeks of hard work the garden project is just about completed…actually all the hard work is done now and it’s all cleaned up so there’s just the titivating to do…planting my pots up fixing a bamboo trellis to the wall…oh, and i need a bench seat…but, other than those little bits here and there the garden is finally DONE!

It looks great too…All the concrete work was done on Tuesday, rubble and rubbish was removed then it was all hosed down and left to dry out on Wednesday, yesterday (Thursday) the sealant was applied around lunch time and by the time i got home from work it had had plenty of time to dry off and we were all aloud to finally go out and actually use the back garden again…including the dogs.
Well, ya should have seen em, talk about excited!…they couldn’t wait to get through the back door and came charging out full pelt, however, on reaching the centre of the garden they both stopped dead and started looking around them…i don’t think they knew where the were and had trouble getting their barings for a while, the garden is so different to what it was. Cleo had a good wander round, sniffed everything, then had a wee on the cobble stones…she accepted it all straight away and has been fine. Dudley, on the other hand, doesn’t seem too keen on it at all…i don’t think he likes it!

After a cuppa and a quick change out of the uniform and in to my grafting togs i got stuck into sorting my birdy corner out, i was out there till 10pm covering the ground around the plants with pebbles and checking what was left to be done… then, this morning, i was up and back out there by 9am…all the windows and doors have been cleaned, it’s all been hosed down to get rid of the remaining dust (did the front garden too while i had hose out), the bird table and bird bath have had a good clean and been refilled with food and water, the big ceramic pots are in place (just need new plants in em), all the paint work has been done, a few odds and sods of rubbish have been gathered in to one shed ready to go to the tip and the table and chairs are in place…just one problem…Dudley!

While the work was being done and they couldn’t use the garden Cleo was the problem as she won’t use any other place to do her business but the back garden, now the works done and they can go on the back garden again it’s Dudley that’s being difficult.
He was out there with me till 10pm last night and he’s been out there with for a good 10 hours today, he has done what he needs to do but, he’s holding on till he can’t hang on any longer. He’s obviously not comfortable with the new garden, at first you could see he was really uneasy but as today has wore on he’s been playing with his ball a bit so i’m hoping it’s just that he needs a little time to adjust and get used to it all…i’m not sure if he just doesn’t like it or if it’s that he’s not sure he’s allowed to do what he needs to do, it’ll definitely be a bit confusing for him as he’ll no longer be able to find his own scent out there…mind you, as i said before, it hasn’t bothered Cleo!

I’m really pleased with it all though, it’s been a lot of hard work and cost me a complete fortune, but it’s gonna be so much easier to keep tidy… there’s no muck and mess, Duds can charge around to his hearts content and it looks (and feels) so much bigger. My work load out in the garden has now been reduced to hosing and pottering with plants, i won’t be cleaning Duds or the house up every five minutes coz there’s no soil for Duds to get mucked up in and he can’t trample my plants to bits coz they’re all gonna be in pots, once he’s got used to it out there and uses it as he did the old garden life will be so much easier.

Well that’s one big job off my ‘got to be done’ list…what’s next!…ya not gonna believe this but in a weeks time the new central heating system and rewiring of the house is getting done and when those jobs are done my brother is coming to lower the ceiling on my staircase!…there’s not much in the way of work for me to do with these jobs but they are all gonna cause so much muck, mess and damage round the house which i’ve got to clean up and once they are all done i’m gonna be up to my eyes in decorating for a good few weeks…the whole house will need doing!

But, i have one week before that lot starts, i’m working tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday then i’m off till next Friday so i’m determined (weather permitting that is) to take one day for myself and get out with the camera, i might not get any further than the village or the ponds and stables for a few hours but i really, reeeeeally, need some time out for me.

Jan.

Forgot to mention…

… So tired from all the work being done around here (and from being up since 6am) i forgot to mention… i’ve finally got the last of the photos from my last day out with my photography friend Dave uploaded to my Flickr storage and the best of em posted to my photo blog Picture This!…when i’ll get a day out again to take some new photos god only knows but i’m hoping the weather will be kind so the garden work will be finished this week then, hopefully on my days off work next week, i can take a day out for myself…in the mean time enjoy.

Right, almost time to walk Duds, see if Cleo will use the front garden, have a cuppa then i’m off to bed…Joe’s not here so the house is lovely and quite and it means i can get an early night in…really need to catch up on some much needed rest!

Jan.

Taking shape…

…Well, the garden is starting to look like it’s supposed to look all though it’s not finished yet.

Monday they were supposed to be here first thing to finish the prep work and get the concrete for all the paving work put down, coloured and patterned, however…on Sunday evening i got a call saying they’d checked the forecast and it was apparently going to rain on Monday so they’d rescheduled the work for Tuesday but guess what…it didn’t rain!…not one bloody drop of rain fell all day Monday so that was a waisted day.
Any way, they were here bright and early this morning and got straight on with finishing the prep work, the concrete arrived about 9am and they were ready for it so down that went…now at this point i started to wonder if i was doing the right thing, seeing barrow load after barrow load of concrete being dumped on my garden caused a feeling of panic to invade my senses and i had to walk away from the window, i just couldn’t look!
After a while though curiosity got the better of me and i took a peek outside, i now had a garden full of concrete but it was all leveled out and the terracing was in place, the design was starting to show. By lunch time it was all smoothed out and even and it had had it’s first (and maybe only) colouring, by 2pm a setting agent had been applied and all the patterning had been done, it now looked more like it’s supposed to. Nothing more could be done today as we now have to wait for the concrete to set, tomorrow they’ll be back to hose it all down and remov all the dust and surplus setting agent, this is when i’ll get to see what the colour is really like, i’ve chosen a natural stone colour but as there are so many shades of stone they’ve done it a light shade to start with and if it’s too light they can darken it when they come to seal it all.

So now, my new paving is down but we can’t go out there till it’s all set and cleaned up and the dogs can’t use it till it’s been sealed. Tomorrow they are back to do the cleaning work and discuss the colour (if it needs darkening or not), if it rains now it doesn’t matter, all though if it stays dry it would be better as the concrete will set quicker but once it’s all cleaned up tomorrow i need dry weather so the paving drys out ready for them to seal it on Thursday.
And once they’ve finished i have to clean up my birdy corner and cover the ground around the plants with pebbles…and then…i can put my pots and patio furniture out there coz apart from planting up my pots (need some new plants for those) it will be done!

It’s gonna be a pain for the next few days with the dogs though, they are so used to having the run of the garden as and when they want it, they don’t understand why they can’t go out there now…Dudley’s not too bad, he’ll do what he needs to do anywhere so it just means walking him every few hours but Cleo, well, she’s a fussy little madam and insists on only using the back garden, if ya take her out on the lead she won’t do anything, if i let her wander round the front garden she won’t do anything, so she hangs on and hangs on till she can’t hold on any longer and does it in the house…it’s a good job she’s only a little dog!

The feeling of panic has gone now but i’m eager to see it all done and cleaned up with everything in place, by the end of this week this garden project will have taken about 6 weeks to complete (from start to finish) and i’m desperately in need of a break from all the muck and mess!.

Jan.

Still going…just!

…The madness continues and it’s bordering on down right stupid now…been at work the last four days and got another shift to do tomorrow, then Monday morning i’ve to be up at the crack of dawn (6am) for the work on my garden to continue…they came last Thursday and while i was at work, ripped up all the old path and patio and made a start on preparing the layout for the new garden, however, nothing’s been done since so i’ve been left with a garden that looks more like i bloody building site!
Weather permitting, on Monday the rest of the prep work will be done and the concrete will be put down, it should also get coloured and patterned the same day too, Tuesday it’ll all get washed down and the whole place will be cleaned up and on Wednesday the concrete will be sealed…well, that’s the plan but it all depends on the weather and we all know how unpredictable that is around here!

The house is a complete tip…not been home long enough to clean properly with having to work extra shifts and what bit of cleaning i’ve had time for just gets undone the second the dogs go out…all the grit, sand and crap from the garden gets brought all through the house on their feet…i’m sick of cleaning floors!
The mess and muck, the state of the garden, the extra work load…it’s getting me down now, my stress levels have gone through the roof, i’m exhausted and totally fed up with it all then, to top it all, last night Joe manages to pull the shower screen off the wall and drop it on the tiled floor, catching the door of the airing cupboard as it fell…result…broken shower screen and a whole in the door!

This is what gets me down…i can’t get ahead for other people wrecking stuff i’ve already done or bought, instead of my time, energy and money going on stuff that’s not been done and needs doing i’m re doing stuff i’ve already done and re buying stuff i’ve already bought…now i have to find extra money for a new shower screen and a new door.
I’m really not doing that great right now, it’s all starting to get on top of me and there’s no end in sight…even when the garden is done the mess will continue as i’ve still to have the wiring and central heating work done…what state i’m gonna be in by then god only knows!

Any way, over the weekend i’ve been trying to unwind of an evening by doing some work on my village photo blog (Whiston)…do you recall me writing about that lady in Canada (Shirley) who i was helping, i traced the site of her gg/grans cottage in the village for her, you may also recall me telling you about a wonderful old gentleman called Mr Newman (Gerald) who knew all there was to know about the village and helped me trace the cottage of Shirley’s gg/gran…well, Gerald also had some fantastic old post cards of Whiston, some brilliant old photos and  some wonderful drawings of Whiston done by his brother who is 87 years old (Gerald is 85)…i don’t mean drawings he did years ago when he was younger either, i’m taking about drawings he’s done recently…he can draw just about anything you ask him to…and he does too!
Well, Gerald said i could take copies of all the post cards, photos and drawings to use on my Whiston blog so that’s what i’ve been doing over the last few days (when i’ve had a few minutes spare). Gerald  was also in contact with an old school friend who now lives in Kent, she turned out to be related to Shirley in Canada (second cousins) and neither knew of the other…they do now though…we managed to get them in touch with each other after all this time, i doubt there’ll ever meet as Irene is now 85 and house bound and Shirley is 70 , suffers with MS and lives in Canada, but they’ve already spoke on the phone and are planning to write each other all about their family’s and lives.

My Whiston blog is now up to date with loads of new pictures… old and new photos with more bits of  historical info added plus the art work by Gerald’s brother…and now i’ve posted here too so the next spare time job is to get my own photo blog up to date and tidied up…i know one thing though…once that garden’s done and this house is cleaned up i’m taking a day off just for me!

Jan.