Nearly six o'clock and I've less than half the house cleaned

[CelticRambler]

The Brother is coming tomorrow. I probably should have started the pre-visitation Spring Clean back in the Spring. Or, at the very least, not salvaged quite such a load of stuff that might come in useful and dumped it in my living space while I went to spend the summer in the garden ...

Fekkit, I'm not getting into discussions with the Spider's Union now: the cobwebs can stay. If nothing else, they go some way to screening the windows, so I don't need to clean those either.

Mind you, I must give some measure of thanks to Boris: wanting to keep up with the Westminster Panto has given me a good reason to stay indoors today, despite the great weather!

[isha]

Urgh. The summer tours of inspection. I've a big one coming up next month and I have started painting at weekends! And I have taken on some DIY repairs that are turning out to be really ill-advised. I doubt I will ever get over the time long ago when my tiny nephew asked my brother in law about a particularly huge cobweb I'd missed and the BIL informing the child that his aunty probably really, really LOVES Halloween.

[CelticRambler]

Well, I don't (usually) mind having visitors, as I usually use their arrival as a deadline to get something done, or even several somethings. It's just that last year, I took advantage of the pandemic and lack of visitors to embarked on a few major, seriously transformative projects that ran behind schedule (mostly due to the return of a Prodigal Son - the worst kind of visitor).

Since I was able to palm the Prodigal Son off onto his mother for a while, and opt out of gainful employment, I've been making good (sometimes great) progress ... at the expense of the banal side of life, like housekeeping! I only need 10m² for myself, but the Brother is bringing a wife and three children with him, so they'll want luxuries like a table to eat off, and chairs to sit on, and maybe straight-line access to various doors ...

Ah, jeeez. They'll probably want to use the other bathroom too. That's still full of decorating materials.

I wonder if I can fob them off with a nice plastic basin instead of a proper sink?

[knownunknown]

Well, I don't (usually) mind having visitors, as I usually use their arrival as a deadline to get something done, or even several somethings. It's just that last year, I took advantage of the pandemic and lack of visitors to embarked on a few major, seriously transformative projects that ran behind schedule (mostly due to the return of a Prodigal Son - the worst kind of visitor).

Since I was able to palm the Prodigal Son off onto his mother for a while, and opt out of gainful employment, I've been making good (sometimes great) progress ... at the expense of the banal side of life, like housekeeping! I only need 10m² for myself, but the Brother is bringing a wife and three children with him, so they'll want luxuries like a table to eat off, and chairs to sit on, and maybe straight-line access to various doors ...

Ah, jeeez. They'll probably want to use the other bathroom too. That's still full of decorating materials.

I wonder if I can fob them off with a nice plastic basin instead of a proper sink?

Is there anything to be said for another lockdown… just a small one..

[isha]

In fairness the lockdowns were very relaxing that way. I love a certain amount of visitors but I'm plagued in summer and to be honest a lot of work goes into it. People should just camp somewhere nearby

[765489]

There is a couple of relations I have that would be a bit on the pass remarkable end of the spectrum about the state of my house. I couldn't give a hoot about them anymore. The cobwebs are staying until I'm ready to remove them. I think I end up forming bonds with some cobwebs and spiders 🕷

[CelticRambler]

Is there anything to be said for another lockdown… just a small one..

Too late - they're only four hours up the road, so closer to me now than to home.

There is a couple of relations I have that would be a bit on the pass remarkable end of the spectrum about the state of my house. I couldn't give a hoot about them anymore. The cobwebs are staying until I'm ready to remove them. I think I end up forming bonds with some cobwebs and spiders 🕷

Well you see that's the thing: I know that certain corners of the room/house are in a "stable" state because the cobwebs trap the dust and the spiders eat the flies. Oh, and the lizards: I have about half a dozen lizards living behind the curtains in the main room who skitter across the windows catching flies all day long, and they're the cleanest windows in the house (I've been trying to persuade them to come and play around the cooker and the sink, where there are plenty more flies, but they say it's too gloomy on that side of the room )

[CelticRambler]

Ah Janey, he's on the road and ahead of schedule!

And of course I'm behind schedule, as my strimmer decided to follow the example of Isha's pressure washer and have a bit of a sulk this morning when I asked it to clear him a parking space. Would have been better off sharpening the scythe!

For info (should anyone care): The Brother's visit lasts right up until I switch to my hard-core festival routine next week, so chances are I won't be posting till some time after the 19th. If ye notice, don't be thinking that I've flounced off in a huff over something.