Three weeks earlier I had accompanied my plumber to the house so that he could evaluate the work involved to reconnect the oil central heating system. My Tenants had been duly forewarned by a week and, as I had briefly seen the state of the house when I returned to the country, I had asked if we could have clear access to the Boiler, Hunter Stove and Airing Cupboard.
When we arrived at 9am neither of us could get inside the under-stairs cupboard to see the boiler as the cupboard was FULL!! We opened the door that thankfully opens outwards, and were met by a solid 5 foot wall of stuffed bags. The airing cupboard upstairs was little better and the space in-between was so cluttered it was impossible to walk without stepping on something. My heart broke seeing the house like this and even my plumber was mystified as to how people could live in surrounding such as these..
We agreed that work was impossible under the circumstances but decided to install the heating once they moved out. We then discovered that Colin was beginning his long awaited six week sabbatical to France on September 29th! Ideally the work needed to be completed before the new tenants moved in and while I was still in the country. My young, idealistic tenants helpfully said that the house would be empty on the Monday and Tuesday before their departure as they were just going to wash carpets on these days, it was a tight window but the arrangements were made .
I arrived with Colin at 8.45am on Monday 26th September to find they had not moved out at all! The house was still FULL. Admittedly there was some furniture missing but they had made up for this absence by piling bags of things in every room. . The under-stairs cupboard was still FULL yet Colin, my wonderful patient Muslim Imam, smiled valiantly and arranged his things. I retired to the front garden while the Tenants and the Plumber did what ever they could in the house.
I spent 6 solid hours clearing the front garden. The hedge was dead but this I decided could wait until my house was empty. I swept, de-mossed and de-grassed the paving stones, I cut back the 'herbs' and weeded a years worth of grass from their roots, most were dead and so, slowly, the bed emptied. I found old labels and rubbish, broken pots and glass. I was rewarded with a “Whow , What a difference” at the end of the day, to which I pointed out that this was how I had left the garden!
On the Tuesday morning, having dropped Cian at school, I returned to check on Colin and to begin on the back garden. As I carried the pile of cuttings from around the oil tank to the compost heap I noticed something wrong.
The compost heap was now lying on TOP of the carpet that used to cover it. Three hours of solid graft, that had even me wondering if this was a job impossible to complete, saw the carpet removed and consigned to the decking ready for the trailer to the tip.
The words “We thought it was hard to dig over” were said as I stood, chest heaving and close to tears beside the newly recovered and turned compost heap!! I am sorry but that compost heap had not been turned once, let alone dug over since I left the country a year ago.
A huge pile of dumped vegetation and grass cutting was then moved from what had once been a grassed area next to the compost heap onto the actual compost heap and I began to clear a years worth of veg debris from around the raised beds.
I know I am fussy, I know no-one else works to the standards I set myself but there are surely limits to untidiness.
Left over trimmings from leaks and other vegetables lay abandoned on the paths between the raised beds. Not just once had they been left but numerous times judging by the various states of decay.
The trimming of freshly pulled veg is a chore that needs to be done but is it not just as simple to walk to the compost heap and trim them there, or to pick up the bits when you finish or at least trim them over the actual beds where they would eventually rot away. Every path was full of 'compost', abandoned plastic pots, bits of junk, string, gloves, all wet and rotting.
By 3pm I was physically exhausted and again near to tears. My plumber was finished and lay a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Allah's will seems sometimes strange,” was all he could say.
He explained the new restored heating system, I thanked him and left the house wishing my tenants a good life and good luck with the move.
Wednesday I arrived with the trailer. The house, considering the mess it had been in at 3pm the previous day was remarkably empty. The new found space in the front garden was full of bin bags but the house was empty. There was a 'dog' line around the walls, the lino was wrecked in the kitchen, the hall carpet was full of mud where the dogs had repeatedly rushed in from the garden, the carpet outside the bathroom lay frayed where they had tried to dig their way in but it was fixable.
My Agent arrived, took photos, read the meter and checked the grounds. By 9.30am he was leaving and I was ready to do battle!
Focus, you may recall from the news, has closed. Before I left, the whole house had been painted to Jo's taste with paint from Focus.
My young tenants had painted the only room that Jo had left. No colour matches were possible even if I had wanted to keep the chocolate brown or the dark sage green and dusty purple bedrooms!
I.G.Owens had been consulted the previous afternoon, colour charts had been checked and I had a car full of new supplies.
The bedrooms were to be magnolia, as were the two lounges, the hall would keep its clotted cream colouration and the bathroom and kitchen would be restored to the colours I liked and had lived with during my years in Winllan.
I began in the bathroom,
repainting it peach instead of the previous clinical white.
The hall way eventually took 3 coats of the new colour cream and if the truth be told could do with yet another coat!
The kitchen was dismantled and turned back into Mediterranean Blue.
The bedrooms had their first coat of what would eventually become three 3 coats each of magnolia to cover the dark shades that had been painted over my once lilac and soft green sleeping areas.
A heatwave hit the UK as I struggled away inside.
The back garden still contained the broken tumble dryer,
a deceased BBQ and a huge pile of junk and broken dog things where my patio should have been!!
Moss and dirt covered the floor, the hose lay cut from the tap to one side,
buckets of ash mixed with rain water lay abandoned in large tubs.
With the first coats of paint drying I tackled the patio.
I scrubbed and swept.
I loaded barrels of 'bits' into the trailer until the patio was found.
I looked at the 'rockery' with its collection of plants, stinging nettles and buttercups.
I am all for organic gardening and the rights of individual plants but one must draw the line somewhere!
The Rockery was dismantled and rebuilt, this time with out the broken bricks hidden 1 inch below the surface and the plants.
As darkness fell I returned to the house to clean and paint. The fires were emptied, three buckets of ash were retrieved from the small fire, four buckets from mine. As I cleared a buckets worth of ash from the flue I pondered the fact that my tenants had been dismayed because the wood burners didn't 'work correctly'. It was past 1am when I eventually walked away that first day!
Thursday I manned the Taxi during the day and early evening as Peter attended his brothers funeral. I then spent the night at the house painting until I crawled into my sleeping bag at 3am.
Friday morning I began at 8am. The grass was cleared of dog mess and cut, more plants were relocated to the compost heap.
The wood shed was emptied of 'bits' and re filled with 'things'.
The freezer room was cleared,
the freezer was emptied of ice and scrubbed clean.
I then worked in the house until 8pm before returning to Machynlleth to man Taxi's until 4am.
Saturday I began at 10am, I painted, I cleared,
I dug and I scrubbed until 8 at night. That evening there was the most amazing '80's style Birthday Party in Derwinlas- I finished driving at 7 in the morning!
Sunday morning I returned to the house and I have no recollection of the night
I was nearing exhaustion. Three weeks earlier I had promised Lisa a visit, she had booked days off, arranged a meal with the girls at the house for me. On Monday morning I did a final clear up inside the house. I placed a few of my belongings around to make her look less empty, elephants returned to the stair case where they had once lived, bath crystals were put into a bowl in the bathroom, my huge shell and dolphin took their place on the shelf.
There was still so much to do but the new tenants were due to view in 36 hours time and I just couldn't do any more for now. With a final look over my shoulder I closed the door and drove the 4 hours to Southampton.
The viewings took place on Wednesday 4th October, Richard called me at Lisa's and the decision was made.
Thursday morning I drove back to Wales. The carpet man arrived at 10am to lay the new carpets and I began to feel not right. I told myself I was just tired and battled on.
Friday morning I felt worse and by Friday evening I was having to lie down and sleep between every job. I ached from head to foot. Climbing in and out of the car hurt every joint and took so much energy. My throat became infected, I alternated between the shivers and the sweats. I stayed away from the house and just drove Taxi's until I dropped.
On the Monday I rested. By now I was feeling so so sorry for myself, I was not able to eat because of my throat, sipping soluble aspirin to try to kill the pain was the best I could manage. I felt alone and vulnerable. The money in the bank has just about all gone, I have a 5 month trip ahead of me and there was still so much work to do at the house before the new people were due to move in.
That evening I asked Peter to come to bed with me at 11pm and to just get up if the phone rang rather than go looking for work in the pubs like usual. The phone rang 15 mins later. I said I would have a bath while I waited for him. He came back 2.5 hours later surprised I was still waiting. When he had made his pick up from the Red Lion he had been invited back for food from the buffet left from a retirement do that afternoon and so instead of coming home to me, he went back and then picked up more work. Discovering this destroyed what was left of my mental energy. I lay silent for another hour as Peter slept, wallowing in my despair before falling asleep myself.
Tuesday morning I returned to the house and stayed there all day. I painted, pottered in the garden between the showers and thought about why I was so upset that Peter had worked and not come home. It is what we do. We work late, I know that. I think it was just the fact that in my exhaustive state I allowed myself to 'need' someone and they had, in my eyes, 'failed me' yet again.
So I pulled myself together, and took control of things. The one certainty I have in life is that with time I can do anything. I have 3 weeks to sort the house. Every week day I have decided I will wash, or re-wash, one carpet and one room will receive a coat of paint until it is done. Once these two jobs are completed each day I will rest in my pretty home until it is time to pick up Cian from school. I have my laptop with me and my music so no more pressurised, silly hour working.
I have made contact with my new tenants, who sound wonderful and asked them for some help. I have explained that I simply can not get Winllan back to what she was by the time they move in. I have offered to pay for materials if they will give me their time. We need a new front gate, two curtain rails are missing, and the garden needs total re-construction. I received an e-mail this morning saying that this plan is ideal for them as they want to make Winllan their home. They see putting their energy into her development as their gift to the house. David even asked if I could leave the garden as it is, as I would 'spoil his fun' if I cleared it all!!
You see, once we take responsibility and set our minds to positive things, positive things happen!
So right now I am sitting in the upstairs garden window, I have soft new carpet under my feet, the heating is on, my lounge has had its second coat, Marks lounge has had its carpet cleaned for the second time, I have Nina Simone playing on the laptop, an apple from my apple tree is in my mouth and I have another hour before I need to pick up Cian.
Life is back on track.
Wow Kerrianne, you worked hard.
ReplyDeleteHouse looks lovely
Thanks for coming over the other night xx
Cheers Dee, I really enjoyed myself! xxx
ReplyDeleteKeep up your writings, I am enjoying my daily read!!
Indian soon xxx