The dryer died for good and all last week. I have been nursing it for a year, gently coaxing it or shouting at it by turn, and it's been functional...until last week when it decided to stop on the airing cycle, but still run the motor. Recipe for a house fire that one.
Cue yesterday's trip to Hardly Normal for a replacement dryer, a couple of heaters that we can run all winter without breaking the bank (as in 9c a hour per heater....boo yah!), and a slightly impulsive purchase: a blue mat for the family room floor. More on the mat in a minute.
The grand unveiling of the mat was this morning and it actually worked.
After lunch, my poor sick other half unpacked the dryer and prepared to install it.
Ummmm, slight problem...new dryer is wider than old dryer and wouldn't fit in the space. Possible solution: put dryer higher up the wall. That was a non-starter as I am 5 foot nothing in bare feet and couldn't reach it. Only solution: empty big white cupboard, full of cleaning products and products not related to cleaning, currently in laundry and take to garage. Take box full of anything-but-cleaning-stuff out to the garage. Find a horizontal surface to store the multitude of cleaning products until I find another place to put them. Put the new dryer back on the wall. Move the freezer from the kitchen to the laundry. Accept that I can use the washing machine or the dryer, but not both at the same time until we can get another power point put in.
Every available surface in the kitchen is covered with bottles of all manner of cleaning stuff from detergents to disinfectants. It's a massive jobby to put them all *somewhere*. I think I'll have to fall back on the old, familiar 10 minutes at a time thing to conquer it.
Now for the mat story. We have a lovely mat in the family room that Mister Bear's mum and dad gave us for Christmas 10 years ago when we moved into this house. It has lived for the past 2 years or so in the family room. It is resolutely burgundy in an otherwise blue/yellow/green room. We've tossed around the idea of getting a coordinating mat for the family rooms for ages, but it's a big space and a suitably sized mat was waaaaay out of our budget. On a whim yesterday I suggested that we have a look at Hardly Normal to see what they had. What they had was a rug sale...30% off. Good start. Then we found a really, really great royal blue rug, with sea creature highlights in yellow for..............63% off its regular price making it very affordable. So, we have a new mat.
But what about the other mat I hear you ask. Well, have we got plans for it! The back room, formerly a craft room, or a toy room, or a spare room or usually a room where you can;t even get in the door, is being painted a lovely restful, neutral "Pearly Gates". In just 15 sleeps it's going to be a guest room for Maria. It is also going to be our library.
Once painted, all our books and bookshelves are going up to the back room...Maria won't mind sharing with the books...the mat is going in the middle of the floor - it matches the curtains in that room - the standard lamp is going in the corner and it will become a quiet and peaceful haven for reading. Can't wait for it to be finished and to be able to put a picture up here. A house with a library. Riches indeed.
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