Buckle down

So today I started a new project.  

A year or so ago I stripped wallpaper on the ground floor and on the long wall up to the second floor. The goal is to replace wallpaper painted the dreaded magnolia beige with bright yellow walls. Above is the wall from the top floor to the landing, below is the wall from the landing down to the second floor, where I've only started.

I have four days off and I'm making the most of it, tackling things I can't get to in a normal weekend (like catching up my blog). Today and over the next two days I've also replaced three burnt out light bulbs in chandeliers, painted the trim in the kitchen, cleaned the conservatory, changed my summer and winter clothes around and done three loads of laundry. That door on the left is the door into the crawl space, in and out of which I crawl many times with suits, pants and dresses. While bent over, I push the clothes into two garment boxes and two pieces of luggage. It is not my favourite chore.

Today's reward for all my hard work was a late stroll at Mount Stewart.

Which had an amazing, Easter-themed array of beehives.

And a gorgeous selection of rare rhododendrens.

I found a quiet, remote corner and read a book for an hour with a bird-song symphony as my sound track. Heaven.

April 20