Friends and Contractors

An odd title, granted. All will be clear. Looking back at the weekend, two things stand out. First is my amazing friends. I visited Ann Friday morning after walking Paddy. I had dinner that night with Eddis after an exhausting day. Saturday a long convo by phone with my friend Dara in New York. I have the most amazing friends and time spent with them is like drinking from a rejuvenating fountain. If I were to describe my friends, I would say: big hearted, funny, smart, loyal. Two out of three of them work with refugees and asylum seekers and the third has travelled to developing countries to audit local charities on behalf of Irish charities that fund them. So when I say big hearted, I mean it. My only complaint about my friends is they make me feel like I really should be trying harder.

Saturday night I was at the golf club for a dinner and disco (after playing in a 12-hole competition). Here I am with some of my Shandon ladies who, good on them, were up for an all-night boogie.

The other stand-out memory is my Big Project. Here is my conservatory on Friday morning:

Friday afternoon Oxfam came to pick up the large pieces of furniture. I had emptied out the Dutch cupboard (paint cans, linens, Christmas china) and, eventually, the entire conservatory. By Monday morning, the conservatory looked like this:

By the end of Monday, here is how the conservatory looked:

The conservatory had an acrylic Perspex roof, which meant it was very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. About half the windows were single pane. The wood frames around the windows were rotting. The drainpipes are in the wrong place. Here is what was the door to the back garden:

And I really don't have much use for a room that size. So I hired an architect to redesign it. Monday, Gary the builder and his team tore it down. Tuesday they used REALLY LOUD power saws to begin cutting through the tile floor. Highlights from Tuesday:

No internet for two hours when they turned the electric off (makes it hard to work)

Couldn't find my bank card for more than two hours (eventually found under the laundry basket)

My mother went into hospital, due to dehydration

My dog was upset by the noise.

I had a massive headache.

I was trying to insert bullets above. That didn't work. Anyway, I had Paddy's walker keep him out for two walks, so he was out all afternoon. I went to work at the golf club then played in the weekly competition. Despite dings on six holes, I got 30 points. And really enjoyed playing with Paula Bleakley, 5 handicap.

The day ended much better than it began. Although mom stayed in hospital overnight, she seems to have found her own rejuvenating fountain, AKA electrolytes. Hopefully she'll be back home today (Wednesday). Like me, she has amazing friends, one of who took her to hospital Monday night and stayed with her all night in the emergency room, awaiting attention. Something like 9pm Monday to 6am Tuesday before mom was seen. Mom would agree we would be lost without our friends. And contractors are important too.

21-26 July