I feel as though a great weight has been lifted, which I suppose technically it has.
It has been lifted fifteen feet in the air on a borrowed block and tackle through a not-quite-big-enough-hole in the roof of the conservatory.
It was a thrilling, if mildly scary, moment.
I did not realise how much the divorce solar panel had been bothering me until finally it was on the wall and out of my way.
Suddenly it is not just a clutter of old drainpipes in the back yard making dirty marks on the washing. It is almost, although not quite, a solar panel.
Actually it is a clutter of old drainpipes on the wall. The tubes are still in the shed.
The water tank which will be the hub of the whole project is still in the backyard. It is filling the space where the dustbin is supposed to go. The dustbin is in the alley, where it can irritate the neighbours and be a long way away when I want to empty the hoover in the rain.
Mark is going to do something to the water tank. He explained about it this morning but you might not be surprised to learn that I did not understand. He said that he had to put some threads on some pipes and add some more pipes and then fasten it to one of the heat exchangers. We have three heat exchangers. One is already attached to some pipes under the sink. The others are in Mark’s shed awaiting their opportunity for their strutting hour upon the stage. I suspect this might take a week or two.
Anyway we are another step closer to the sort of hot water that comes out of the taps, and also to having a proper wood store in the garden again, now that the space has been cleared.
Onwards and upwards.
I felt so cheerful and light of heart this morning that I thought I would invest some energy into making my world a happier place. It is always easier to do this when you are a bit happy already, frustratingly. How handy it would be if you felt gloomy and grim and thought that some tidying up jobs might help.
It was a wonderful, glorious, beautiful morning, with the smells of autumn dry and sharp in the air. I did not at all want to go back indoors after we had emptied the dogs, and when I had pegged the washing in the yard I cleaned out my taxi.
This is a tiresome job but entirely worth it when it has been done. It is very horrible to get into a taxi that smells of old sandwiches and stale tea, and lovely to get into one with a shining clean dashboard and amber perfume sprayed on the seats.
For me, I mean. I don’t care what the customers think. Mostly they don’t think anything because they have drunk fourteen pints of lager and eaten a curry, by which time thinking is not high on their list of things to do next. I do not want to think about the list of things they might like to do next, although sometimes they tell me. I usually pretend to be deaf.
I am reaping the benefits of my labours right now. I am sitting quietly in a nice space with a fresh smell and a cup of spicy chai. People keep getting in and telling me how lovely the taxi smells. I can’t smell it any more but the smug feeling of contented virtue remains.
Once the taxi was clean and the washing was pegged I started on the painting.
The very first stripe is in place, as you can see in the picture. It needs some shading, which I can’t do until I have bought some more paint. The paint is called Pink Pizazz, which sums it up splendidly.
The blue and yellow stripes will go underneath. I have stood and contemplated those a lot today, which is why only one stripe got actually painted before I had to rush off to work.
I am very, very excited. It is going to be a beautifully bright living room.
The water pipe in the corner will have a cupboard. Mark is going to build it when he gets round to it.
Maybe next week when he is not at work.
