A slow day today. I had a long walk this morning, then did the admin and marked a couple of essays. But I eventually gave in to the urgent attentions of Mochi, who doesn’t think I should be in the study past 4pm and plonks herself on my desk. I’m giving a lecture tomorrow anyway (youth and social inequality) so feel justified in the early finish.
Tea was last night’s green soup turned yellow and spicy with curry powder and served with fried wild garlic tofu fillets. I’m now drinking a British semi-sparkling wine, Chapel Down Bacchus 2021, which tastes weirdly like elderflower wine.
It's gone cold and miserable again. This lunchtime the pianist and her husband came round for lunch. Scallops with endive and clementine salad for starters, then sea bass and leeks, CHEESE, and chocolate brownie provided by the guests. After that we practised Rachmaninov. The sonata still isn't concert-worthy, but it's starting to sound a bit more like it's supposed to.
My other achievement of the day was selling my ski trousers on Vinted. I've only ever been skiing once, and I didn't really enjoy it, so I might as well monetise the kit.
Just about recovered from my visit to the eye hospital on Tuesday. Spent 4 hours+ there, having my eyes assessed for removal of cataracts, - the majority of the time was spent sitting in the waiting room between brief visits to assorted consulting rooms to have my eyes scanned, examined, measured, answering questions re: my long & varied medical history, asking questions about the process before during and after, and finally being given the news that they are going to operate, initially, on the 'worst' eye. No idea when that might be, but it is one more step along the way!
Including the travelling - a bus ride in the rush hour was not fun - I found it all physically & mentally exhausting. Glad that bit is over!
Now I can concentrate on the blood test coming up next Friday to re-check the blood sugar results from last week's M.O.T. Am trying to keep to a very comfortless diet, omitting as much carb-rich food as possible in the hope of dropping it to a point where the medics are not concerned about it.
In addition, I am trying to combat the dizziness that has plagued me every day since the beginning of January. Dr & Physio seem to think it is an effect of the vertigo I have had on & off for years, so have given me instructions for Brandt-Daroff exercises to add to my daily schedule. They seem to consist of sitting on the side of the bed and hurling myself sideways to one side and then the other, 5 times.
Ah well, it's something to keep me occupied on rainy days.
{{{RoS}}} Hope you can get the dizziness sorted out, and the cataract ops go well when the time comes.
Choir practice as usual today; I'm almost glad I'm serving tomorrow, as the choice of hymns certainly wouldn't have happened if I'd had anything to do with it. Two folk-song type things and a Kendrick out of five hymns is too many ...
I've had cataracts in both eyes @Roseofsharon and the operation is pretty straightforward. The putting drops in afterwards is a bit a of faff but well worth it for the improvement in my sight. My hearing is past praying for and having dodgy eyesight as well as hearing wasn't a lot of fun.
This morning we trotted off to my church, not for a service but for a meeting about insulating homes that was being held in our church hall. It was rather more interesting than I feared it would be.
As it is February 1st wine will be drunk this evening.
I used to be the sister in charge of a cataract clinic and perform pre and post op slit lamp examinations.
I’ve just come out of a tutorial on youth inequality and I am sitting on the sofa with Mochi, waiting for Mr Heavenly to return from visiting a friend who he is doing a retro computer build with. I’m hoping we will go and buy some paint for my office after lunch.
As most of you know, I was born with cataracts and have had surgery on both eyes, and I had no trouble at all (mind you, I'd been putting drops in my eyes most of my life).
My advice would be, try not to look at the dropper when you're putting them in; lean your head back a bit, roll your eyes so that you're looking away from the dropper, put in the drops and then blink until they disperse.
Madam Sacristan at Our Place has just had both cataracts removed (within a few weeks of each other IYSWIM). and is coping well with the drops, eye patches etc. etc.. She is not driving at present, but will get behind the wheel again once she's received her new glasses in a few weeks' time.
ION, it's another lovely day in Arkland the Calm, and I've been improving the Shining Hour by changing bedding (a strenuous task for one who is no longer very bendy, and whose berth is rather hemmed in by walls on three sides - a Dutch-style box bed ), and re-arranging/sorting out the sideboard. All this has been accompanied by the occasional period of Restage, and a glass of BEER, together with a short sojourn in the wheelhouse to pay homage to The Big Yellow Face.
LAMB CHOPS n'BAKED SPUD for tea/supper/whatever, with maybe a spot of PICKLED RED CABBAGE.
As it is February 1st wine will be drunk this evening.
I was going to drink wine this evening anyway but it's good to know there's a reason.
We've been out this afternoon to an event that included a cream tea. Consequently the food situation is slightly odd today - we had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast before we went and will probably have jacket potatoes with baked beans/spaghetti hoops and grated cheese for tea in a while. Mr Nen is catching up on the rugby.
Bright and cold here. It was nice to be walking home at nearly 5pm and for it not to be dark, but better still to be cosied up in the house with the heating on.
My meal planning ( ie having what I need in the fridge rather than in the shop or the freezer) has gone haywire, but for a good reason: I have been invited to eat a Sunday roast with my family. Short notice, so I had already started( now finished) defrosting something. The chances are I will be given a plated meal to bring home as well! Not complaining, just saying. As we won’t eat till about 2.30pm I needed a second breakfast when I got back from church at 10.30.
No. 3 in the series of "Things the Quine Has Learned Now That Her Husband Has Retired And Has Time To Explain Things To Her"
We were in a cafe yesterday, ordering breakfast. The NE Man wanted the full Scottish.
"But without the beans" I added.
"No, don't say that!" he said.
The waitress said "So you do want beans?
"No, I don't. But I didn't want my wife to say that I didn't. I could have offered my unwanted beans to her."
Waitress "Do you want his beans?"
I said that I didn't want his beans.
"So, no beans?" the waitress clarified and he agreed "No beans"
Apparently, my mistake was that I thought that if didn't want beans, and I didn't want his beans, that meant that "we" didn't want beans. Whereas "He doesn't want beans" and "I don't want beans" are two discrete statements which cannot be casually combined to form "We don't want beans."
Apparently, my tendency to make leaps like this, from "Neither of us want beans, therefore we don't want beans" would make it impossible to code ordering breakfast, because I confuse sequencing.
In future, the decision that "we" don't want beans is to happen after they've been served to him, and he'll leave them uneaten on his plate at the end of breakfast, to go into food waste.
I think.
He is just as confused that this sort of thing confuses me, as I am that this sort of thing makes sense to him.
But generally, retirement so far has been brilliant! The NE Man's bedroom has been emptied, the flooring has been fixed and the painter comes tomorrow. Full steam ahead towards Getting The House Finally Sorted. I am a very happy, though slightly baffled, Quine.
Beans are wonderful little things, but IMHO have no place anywhere near breakfast.
Not a bad day here; it's still Not Warm, but that's because it's Still Winter. It's dry (for the moment), and if we had groundhogs, they wouldn't have seen their shadows, so presumably the aforementioned Winter isn't going to last for another six weeks.
Laundry is drying, and LAMB SHANK is bubbling merrily in its tomatoey bath in the slow-cooker.
Beans are wonderful little things, but IMHO have no place anywhere near breakfast.
Not a bad day here; it's still Not Warm, but that's because it's Still Winter. It's dry (for the moment), and if we had groundhogs, they wouldn't have seen their shadows, so presumably the aforementioned Winter isn't going to last for another six weeks.
Laundry is drying, and LAMB SHANK is bubbling merrily in its tomatoey bath in the slow-cooker.
I've never been a beans on breakfast person but since I am now Trying To Lose Weight and have A Diet To Follow there ain't much left I can have at the all you can eat breakfast buffet, so beans it is.
Gammon joint today, littlest twanglet had a friend over so potatoe wedges and salad.
Had forgotten that it was bacon butty week at church when planning but hey-ho!!
Ironing this evening with beer and TV.
Managed some listening to records and reading today.
Might even stay up for MOTD2 as my team are taking a week off being embarrassingly bad....
My son (the one who lives near us) asked us to keep the weekend free and then proceeded to be a bit obscure about arrangements. We didn't think anything of it and awaited to see what the plans were.
On Friday he arrived, took us to his van and asked us to close our eyes. Opened the doors - and there was my son and granddaughter (from Germany)
What a surprise! So cleverly done!
We've had a great time and she's currently enjoying Frozen the movie on TV. They fly home tomorrow. 🙂
I'm out of hospital - came out on Tuesday. Off pain killers now, just have to inject myself with blood thinners daily, which is a bit of a trial given my needle phobia but that is currently under control having been bombarded with pointy bits of metal so much in hospital that it's sort of given up under the strain.
So I have a grabber, crutches (I can walk with just one now) and an exercise sheet which the nice but scary lady from Physio gave me and instructions not to attempt pirouettes.
Delighted to read of the Bean Saga @North East Quine and glad retirement is so far suiting you both so well!
In my book beans with breakfast are ok as long as they're contained in a small container on the plate to keep their juice from running all over everything else. Then I can choose what I might want to accompany them, perhaps a mouthful of hash brown, or a bite of mushroom. I did that very thing when Mr Nen and I went out for breakfast on Friday.
Sounds like good progress @KarlLB ; may it continue!
I did church this morning - Mr Nen being Otherwise Engaged - and had something of an unexpected coffee with someone I wouldn't usually spend time with... It turned out ok.
We've had our usual Sunday evening roast. One of the nicest moments of the week, now that neither of us is going out to work, is sitting down on a Sunday evening with a plate of roast and a glass of wine and knowing that there's No Work Tomorrow.
We are now winding down for bedtime. I guess we're getting old... we find ourselves saying to each other every evening from around 8pm, "Is it bedtime yet?"
I'm out of hospital - came out on Tuesday. Off pain killers now, just have to inject myself with blood thinners daily, which is a bit of a trial given my needle phobia but that is currently under control having been bombarded with pointy bits of metal so much in hospital that it's sort of given up under the strain.
So I have a grabber, crutches (I can walk with just one now) and an exercise sheet which the nice but scary lady from Physio gave me and instructions not to attempt pirouettes.
Good to hear that @KarlLB, hope the exercises get you needing no crutches very soon.
What a lovely surprise @Boogie. How nice to spend time with both your sons and your granddaughter. @North East Quine I do enjoy your stories, and I'm glad you are enjoying Mr NEQ's retirement.
A lazyish day, though I did manage to get to church this morning and cook a pearl barley risotto this evening.
Yawn. I have spent a tiring if enjoyable day in the company of Beethoven. Rehearsal ran from 10 am to 5 pm.
There being a dearth of places to eat near the rehearsal venue, lunch was a bring and share effort. Such beanfeasts are generally excellent in France. Homemade quiche, homemade paté, homemade cake. Baguette, which we never have at home because husband en rouge is supposed to eat a high fibre diet. I made biscotti for the coffee break, which turned out to be less difficult than I'd imagined. Wine was available (surprise surprise courtesy of the brass players) but I eschewed on the basis that it would make me even sleepier in the afternoon session than was already the case.
<snip>Wine was available (surprise surprise courtesy of the brass players) but <snip>
As a former and now very occasional brass player, it strikes me that the presence of wine may have been a surprise, but, that fact being given, the source is not a surprise to me at all.
My son (the one who lives near us) asked us to keep the weekend free and then proceeded to be a bit obscure about arrangements. We didn't think anything of it and awaited to see what the plans were.
On Friday he arrived, took us to his van and asked us to close our eyes. Opened the doors - and there was my son and granddaughter (from Germany)
What a surprise! So cleverly done!
We've had a great time and she's currently enjoying Frozen the movie on TV. They fly home tomorrow. 🙂
I'm out of hospital - came out on Tuesday. Off pain killers now, just have to inject myself with blood thinners daily, which is a bit of a trial given my needle phobia but that is currently under control having been bombarded with pointy bits of metal so much in hospital that it's sort of given up under the strain.
So I have a grabber, crutches (I can walk with just one now) and an exercise sheet which the nice but scary lady from Physio gave me and instructions not to attempt pirouettes.
Best wishes for your recovery @KarlLB
I have a friend who selfdescribes as a physio-terrorist sounds like she's not the only one!
Yawn. I have spent a tiring if enjoyable day in the company of Beethoven. Rehearsal ran from 10 am to 5 pm.
There being a dearth of places to eat near the rehearsal venue, lunch was a bring and share effort. Such beanfeasts are generally excellent in France. Homemade quiche, homemade paté, homemade cake. Baguette, which we never have at home because husband en rouge is supposed to eat a high fibre diet. I made biscotti for the coffee break, which turned out to be less difficult than I'd imagined. Wine was available (surprise surprise courtesy of the brass players) but I eschewed on the basis that it would make me even sleepier in the afternoon session than was already the case.
It's always the brass section
(Which is what worries me about the littlest twanglet having trombone lessons !!)
And trombone players in particular ... the daughter of a trombone player Has Spoken. 😂
I'm feeling tired just reading about playing the cello for that length of time - I'd imagine it's a very physically demanding instrument to play!
Glad to hear you're on the mend, Karl - take it easy and get well soon!
I managed to get through my first attempt at singing the Office at Evensong; there was only some of the choir there to hear me, but one of the ladies sent me a lovely email saying how well I'd done.
I think I sang the right notes in the right order and didn't leave anything out ...
And trombone players in particular ... the daughter of a trombone player Has Spoken. 😂
I'm feeling tired just reading about playing the cello for that length of time - I'd imagine it's a very physically demanding instrument to play!
Glad to hear you're on the mend, Karl - take it easy and get well soon!
I managed to get through my first attempt at singing the Office at Evensong; there was only some of the choir there to hear me, but one of the ladies sent me a lovely email saying how well I'd done.
I think I sang the right notes in the right order and didn't leave anything out ...
As Burns said, toothache is the hell o' a' diseases, @Baptist Trainfan
Fun times here. After the relief of discovering the hole in the bedroom floor was easily fixable, I thought it would be plain sailing. Yesterday we dismantled the old wardrobe and found, to our great surprise, that there had once been a door behind it. Said door had been roughly replaced with chipboard. Also a mystery electric switch with red light - it looks like the switch to an emersion heater. Fortunately nothing happens when we switch it on, so it must have been disconnected.
We had told the painter that the walls would need minimal prep, just a couple of holes from picture hooks, and where the curtain pole had been. Then we uncover a total mess.
The painter is here now and we've asked him to just skim over the lot with paint as the new wardrobe will be going where the old one was and it will all be hidden.
The NE Man has just returned from consigning the old wardrobe to the municipal tip.
You should have removed the chipboard to see what lay behind it: you might have uncovered a snowy landscape with a lamppost ... https://tinyurl.com/3dz4yjka.
Looking at it, it's pretty clear that there must at one time have been a built in wardrobe off the bedroom and a large hall cupboard, and that both were removed to widen the hallway. No idea why there would have been an immersion switch in the bedroom though.
If we had removed the chipboard we might have ended up with a hole between our bedroom and our hallway!
Ideally we should have got a plasterer to sort the wall, but that would have meant
a) un unbudgeted-for plasterer bill.
b) postponing both painter and new carpet, both of which had to be booked weeks in advance.
c) if we cancelled the painter with less than 24 hours notice, I think he'd have been justified in asking for a cancellation fee.
The NE Man is off to have his photo taken for his new work ID which will identify him as "retired".
Comments
* or not, if it's just you and the NE Man in the house. How about an Eva Three-Step?
Decently busy day at work, and both ends of the day are getting steadily lighter.
F&C for supper, because Friday.
A slow day today. I had a long walk this morning, then did the admin and marked a couple of essays. But I eventually gave in to the urgent attentions of Mochi, who doesn’t think I should be in the study past 4pm and plonks herself on my desk. I’m giving a lecture tomorrow anyway (youth and social inequality) so feel justified in the early finish.
Tea was last night’s green soup turned yellow and spicy with curry powder and served with fried wild garlic tofu fillets. I’m now drinking a British semi-sparkling wine, Chapel Down Bacchus 2021, which tastes weirdly like elderflower wine.
My other achievement of the day was selling my ski trousers on Vinted. I've only ever been skiing once, and I didn't really enjoy it, so I might as well monetise the kit.
Including the travelling - a bus ride in the rush hour was not fun - I found it all physically & mentally exhausting. Glad that bit is over!
Now I can concentrate on the blood test coming up next Friday to re-check the blood sugar results from last week's M.O.T. Am trying to keep to a very comfortless diet, omitting as much carb-rich food as possible in the hope of dropping it to a point where the medics are not concerned about it.
In addition, I am trying to combat the dizziness that has plagued me every day since the beginning of January. Dr & Physio seem to think it is an effect of the vertigo I have had on & off for years, so have given me instructions for Brandt-Daroff exercises to add to my daily schedule. They seem to consist of sitting on the side of the bed and hurling myself sideways to one side and then the other, 5 times.
Ah well, it's something to keep me occupied on rainy days.
Choir practice as usual today; I'm almost glad I'm serving tomorrow, as the choice of hymns certainly wouldn't have happened if I'd had anything to do with it. Two folk-song type things and a Kendrick out of five hymns is too many ...
[/rant]
I'm off now to get my trotters repainted.
This morning we trotted off to my church, not for a service but for a meeting about insulating homes that was being held in our church hall. It was rather more interesting than I feared it would be.
As it is February 1st wine will be drunk this evening.
I’ve just come out of a tutorial on youth inequality and I am sitting on the sofa with Mochi, waiting for Mr Heavenly to return from visiting a friend who he is doing a retro computer build with. I’m hoping we will go and buy some paint for my office after lunch.
My advice would be, try not to look at the dropper when you're putting them in; lean your head back a bit, roll your eyes so that you're looking away from the dropper, put in the drops and then blink until they disperse.
ION, it's another lovely day in Arkland the Calm, and I've been improving the Shining Hour by changing bedding (a strenuous task for one who is no longer very bendy, and whose berth is rather hemmed in by walls on three sides - a Dutch-style box bed
LAMB CHOPS n'BAKED SPUD for tea/supper/whatever, with maybe a spot of PICKLED RED CABBAGE.
We've been out this afternoon to an event that included a cream tea. Consequently the food situation is slightly odd today - we had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast before we went and will probably have jacket potatoes with baked beans/spaghetti hoops and grated cheese for tea in a while. Mr Nen is catching up on the rugby.
Bright and cold here. It was nice to be walking home at nearly 5pm and for it not to be dark, but better still to be cosied up in the house with the heating on.
Watched the Scotland v Italy match, which was a closer-run thing than the final score might suggest. Currently watching Ireland v England.
A change from Chinese - steak Diane - tonight, but back east tomorrow with General Tso's chicken.
Crepes sound like a very nice idea whatever the season.
Supper was cacio e pepe and just what I fancied.
I've taken a LAMB SHANK out of the freezer for tomorrow and plan to do something vaguely Moroccan with it in the slow-cooker.
We were in a cafe yesterday, ordering breakfast. The NE Man wanted the full Scottish.
"But without the beans" I added.
"No, don't say that!" he said.
The waitress said "So you do want beans?
"No, I don't. But I didn't want my wife to say that I didn't. I could have offered my unwanted beans to her."
Waitress "Do you want his beans?"
I said that I didn't want his beans.
"So, no beans?" the waitress clarified and he agreed "No beans"
Apparently, my mistake was that I thought that if didn't want beans, and I didn't want his beans, that meant that "we" didn't want beans. Whereas "He doesn't want beans" and "I don't want beans" are two discrete statements which cannot be casually combined to form "We don't want beans."
Apparently, my tendency to make leaps like this, from "Neither of us want beans, therefore we don't want beans" would make it impossible to code ordering breakfast, because I confuse sequencing.
In future, the decision that "we" don't want beans is to happen after they've been served to him, and he'll leave them uneaten on his plate at the end of breakfast, to go into food waste.
I think.
He is just as confused that this sort of thing confuses me, as I am that this sort of thing makes sense to him.
But generally, retirement so far has been brilliant! The NE Man's bedroom has been emptied, the flooring has been fixed and the painter comes tomorrow. Full steam ahead towards Getting The House Finally Sorted. I am a very happy, though slightly baffled, Quine.
Not a bad day here; it's still Not Warm, but that's because it's Still Winter. It's dry (for the moment), and if we had groundhogs, they wouldn't have seen their shadows, so presumably the aforementioned Winter isn't going to last for another six weeks.
Laundry is drying, and LAMB SHANK is bubbling merrily in its tomatoey bath in the slow-cooker.
SALMON FILLETS (with Lemon and Parsley) for lunch, with some nice CHIPS c/o Tess Coe.
I've never been a beans on breakfast person but since I am now Trying To Lose Weight and have A Diet To Follow there ain't much left I can have at the all you can eat breakfast buffet, so beans it is.
There may be more Fog later, but for the time being:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPlG5cOWcw
Had forgotten that it was bacon butty week at church when planning but hey-ho!!
Ironing this evening with beer and TV.
Managed some listening to records and reading today.
Might even stay up for MOTD2 as my team are taking a week off being embarrassingly bad....
My son (the one who lives near us) asked us to keep the weekend free and then proceeded to be a bit obscure about arrangements. We didn't think anything of it and awaited to see what the plans were.
On Friday he arrived, took us to his van and asked us to close our eyes. Opened the doors - and there was my son and granddaughter (from Germany)
What a surprise! So cleverly done!
We've had a great time and she's currently enjoying Frozen the movie on TV. They fly home tomorrow. 🙂
Indeed - I got lost quite early on in the Saga Of The Beans...
So I have a grabber, crutches (I can walk with just one now) and an exercise sheet which the nice but scary lady from Physio gave me and instructions not to attempt pirouettes.
Glad to hear you're on the mend, though - take care!
Delighted to read of the Bean Saga @North East Quine and glad retirement is so far suiting you both so well!
In my book beans with breakfast are ok as long as they're contained in a small container on the plate to keep their juice from running all over everything else. Then I can choose what I might want to accompany them, perhaps a mouthful of hash brown, or a bite of mushroom. I did that very thing when Mr Nen and I went out for breakfast on Friday.
Sounds like good progress @KarlLB ; may it continue!
I did church this morning - Mr Nen being Otherwise Engaged - and had something of an unexpected coffee with someone I wouldn't usually spend time with... It turned out ok.
We've had our usual Sunday evening roast. One of the nicest moments of the week, now that neither of us is going out to work, is sitting down on a Sunday evening with a plate of roast and a glass of wine and knowing that there's No Work Tomorrow.
We are now winding down for bedtime. I guess we're getting old... we find ourselves saying to each other every evening from around 8pm, "Is it bedtime yet?"
Congrats !
What a lovely surprise @Boogie. How nice to spend time with both your sons and your granddaughter. @North East Quine I do enjoy your stories, and I'm glad you are enjoying Mr NEQ's retirement.
A lazyish day, though I did manage to get to church this morning and cook a pearl barley risotto this evening.
There being a dearth of places to eat near the rehearsal venue, lunch was a bring and share effort. Such beanfeasts are generally excellent in France. Homemade quiche, homemade paté, homemade cake. Baguette, which we never have at home because husband en rouge is supposed to eat a high fibre diet. I made biscotti for the coffee break, which turned out to be less difficult than I'd imagined. Wine was available (surprise surprise courtesy of the brass players) but I eschewed on the basis that it would make me even sleepier in the afternoon session than was already the case.
Wonderful
Best wishes for your recovery @KarlLB
I have a friend who selfdescribes as a physio-terrorist sounds like she's not the only one!
It's always the brass section
(Which is what worries me about the littlest twanglet having trombone lessons !!)
I'm feeling tired just reading about playing the cello for that length of time - I'd imagine it's a very physically demanding instrument to play!
Glad to hear you're on the mend, Karl - take it easy and get well soon!
I managed to get through my first attempt at singing the Office at Evensong; there was only some of the choir there to hear me, but one of the ladies sent me a lovely email saying how well I'd done.
I think I sang the right notes in the right order and didn't leave anything out ...
Sounds like a result
Btw I'm really worried now!!
There are no trombones in Beethoven’s fourth Symphony, but French horn players seem to have a similar propensity to turn up with the booze
Fun times here. After the relief of discovering the hole in the bedroom floor was easily fixable, I thought it would be plain sailing. Yesterday we dismantled the old wardrobe and found, to our great surprise, that there had once been a door behind it. Said door had been roughly replaced with chipboard. Also a mystery electric switch with red light - it looks like the switch to an emersion heater. Fortunately nothing happens when we switch it on, so it must have been disconnected.
We had told the painter that the walls would need minimal prep, just a couple of holes from picture hooks, and where the curtain pole had been. Then we uncover a total mess.
The painter is here now and we've asked him to just skim over the lot with paint as the new wardrobe will be going where the old one was and it will all be hidden.
The NE Man has just returned from consigning the old wardrobe to the municipal tip.
What a kerfuffle, though!
If we had removed the chipboard we might have ended up with a hole between our bedroom and our hallway!
Ideally we should have got a plasterer to sort the wall, but that would have meant
a) un unbudgeted-for plasterer bill.
b) postponing both painter and new carpet, both of which had to be booked weeks in advance.
c) if we cancelled the painter with less than 24 hours notice, I think he'd have been justified in asking for a cancellation fee.
The NE Man is off to have his photo taken for his new work ID which will identify him as "retired".