Some more DIY (but that is the end of it)

I promise that this is it, no more decoration (this week) :). I started painting the guest room 3 days ago and thought it will take only a day to finish it all. However, as i worked i realized that more and more was needed. I finished it today and put the curtains up and put all the furniture back in place etc and I am very happy with the results. I have one of my friends visiting for the weekend and it was a good motivation to get the room ready for her, so it all worked out well. Here are some photos before and after. My promise is "no more decoration for now", I must start to focus on training for the charity run so brace yourselves!

BEFORE

AFTER

My Book

I got some information that my PhD thesis will be in the London University library now and available for people to have a look at and have for loans etc. I could not help thinking about what happened in Friends sitcom and I sincerely hope that this will not be the case for my book. Anyway, here it is.....Ross going mad about his book, so funny, enjoy.

"The staying at home" challenge

In the last few weeks I have been at home full time and against popular belief, it has been hard work. The common idea about staying at home is the endless coffee mornings, shopping trips and meeting friends or sitting in front of daytime TV all day. What I found in the last few weeks is that it is a challenge to stay at home and to stay focus and positive. There are endless jobs to be done, and things are not quite finished at all. At work it is hard and stressful, lots of deadlines to meet and projects to finish etc, but at home the measured achievements are not present all the time and so the need to stay focus is more important in my opinion. To keep praising God all day through the ironing, the washing, changing the water in the fish tank, doing the garden, removing tough stains from school uniforms, writing checks for various activities and organizing bags to take to charity shops...the list is endless and the work is endless. Finding the time to pray and to meet and support people is also hard even thought in theory you have all the time in the world. As Chekhov said: “Any idiot can face a crisis, it is the day to day living that wears you out”. It is a challenge, but so far so good.

To ebay or not ebay..that is the challenge :)

In the last few weeks, I have been affected by the "ebay bug" and I found this funny youtube clip about ebay, so enjoy :)

My baby fish

My baby fish had so much food last night and I found them dead this morning :( They ate so much and had big tums and I was so sad to see them dead today. Only one made it (I think it was the one on a diet). The water is good as I change the tank water every week and the other big fish in the tank are doing really well so it seems that "childhood obesity" is not only a problem in primary schools but also for the fish. I had a lot to do today clearing away the small dead baby fish and cleaning their small breading box. The good news is that one of my female guppies is pregnant and will soon have some more babies. Will put them on a strict food routine straight away.

The final result

Just few words to say that I am pleased with the results. So glad with the transformation of the room and more important my daughter is over the moon with it. We spent a long time decorating some photo frames to hang up. I must say that although this week has been tiring and exhausting but I kind of enjoyed this project and as we put everything back in its place, I feel that the hard work was worth it when I saw the smile on my daughter's face. As she went to sleep back in her bed she said: "thank you mama for all your hard work" that was the best thing for me. Thank God for all his blessings on us.

Praise God..the end is near

So glad that it is nearly over. We put some final touches today and my daughter enjoyed placing these wall stickers. They are the "Brats" stickers from kids TV which is a better choice than many other suggestions including "Dr Who" (image trying to sleep in peace surrounded by Dr Who monster characters). There are still few things to do in the room and let us not forget putting all the toys back in place and hanging picture frames and so on. However, it is all coming together and praise God it is going well.

No need to panic....we have the royal seal of approval!

Yes, the good news is that my daughter LOVES the new color thank God. So with her seal of approval and her help we both painted some more an it looks nice and fresh. We both really excited and I can not wait to put everything back in place again. So the end is near.

Day 6..hold on tight

OK, here we go, the first coat of the actual chosen color was applied. Can i just say that so much effort went on the choice of this color and after great discussion my daughter and I decided to go for a light color. However, as I opened the paint and started painting, I am not so sure any more. I am waiting for the verdict from my daughter too and hoping that she might be persuaded to live with it. I think the color will be different and lighter once it dries so I will wait and see and then decide. So I only painted one wall and here is the photo. Any ideas?

Day 5 and I need a break

So it is day 5 and I am very tired of decorating. The good thing is the second coat of paint has dried and everything is ready for the real colour to go on. However, there is a small change of plans as my daughter has changed her mind about what colour she wants now ! So, we are back to the drawing board looking into colour schemes and trying to come to a decision that will make both of us happy. In the mean time, I thought that taking a little break is actually a good idea and here are some nice fun photos about "revenge time". So forget painting and decoration and enjoy.

Day 4 ... do not loose the will to live just yet

OK, here we go...I started to apply the second coat on paint today. I also moved out the big bookcase to paint behind it so it felt like musical chairs a bit as it all has to stay in the middle of the room. My daughter was having so much fun helping me and we went a bit silly and covered each other with paint. Here are our hand prints behind the bookcase before we painted behind it. I am very tired and really want to get the job done. May be I will feel better in the morning.

Day 3...still going strong

Well..I know what you think, it is not day 3 it is day 4...right, but yesterday I was so tired to do anything really after (wait for it) applying the first coat of paint. I am glad with the progress but it seems that I will need to apply at least 2 under coats. When I worry about what it will look like and whether it is going to be a good job at the end, I just think that it will be better than it was and as I am not entering in the "best house competition" (not this year anyway :)), I have nothing to worry about.

Day 2 *restricted zone...do not enter*

That is how it feels as the process of redecoration continue, "a restricted zone". I must say that I am happy with the progress. And as the process of removing old wallpaper ends, the idea of starting to paint tomorrow is exciting but frightening as well. Last time i painted, my cat was running about with a magnolia tail for few days after i finished painting my kitchen, so you can imagine the how it was back then! however, i am very optimistic this time and trying to do things by the book, i.e. remove old wallpaper, fill the holes, sand the walls, paint first coat, paint second coat then collapse. will keep you updated.

DIY....bring it on!

After a lot of discussion, my daughter convinced me on redecorating her bedroom. I really wanted to do it for a long time, what put me off for so long not the actual decoration but the clear up before and after! (thank God for the guest bedroom that has all the toys now). But as we started taking down the wall paper I thought, I must put this on my blog so I can compare the before and after and share the whole journey with you. So here are some photos. I am hoping that each day you can see the progress of this project. Let us just say that I do not think I will be moving to property development just yet :)

Giving birth while everyone watching!

Few days ago, one of my guppy fish became the proud mother of some 25 or so new fish! it was amazing to watch. the first time she gave birth in the big tank, all the baby fish (or the fry as they are called) were eaten very quickly. So, i took the advice and got a breading box to make sure that as she gives birth, all the fry get in the bottom of the breading box and sepreat from the female. thank God that human do not have the same role, :"sorry we had to eat our kids as we had no space for them"!

I am glad to say that mum and babies doing very well.

as i was so excited by the whole thing, i did not film it. however, i found this you tube clip of a female guppy giving birth, have a look, it is nice.