Men’s work and Women’s

R snapped this beautiful photo over the Tay today.  He is lucky enough to be allowed out to enjoy himself going to Dundee, speaking to students, drinking beer and generally having a good time.

I have to stay in and get on with the woman’s work of decorating the dining room.    I got the Anaglypta on – this was a new experience for me as I have never used a very heavy embossed paper before.  Not only did I have to match the pattern, but it also has to be pasted and then left for 15 minutes for the paste to sink in.  I did not realize this with the first sheet and had to take it back off again for a second application of paste.  Following that I primed it and applied two coats of heritage Brunswick Green paint – in the daylight it looked fine, but in artificial light I can see that it definitely needs a third coat.

The next stage is to take the curtains down so that I can do the window sills and frames.  You would think that would be easy enough, but the ceilings are 16 feet tall, and the curtains are massively heavy, so that in order to lift the hooks out of the tops you (I say “you” but actually I mean “I”) have to use both hands.  The floor is a bit wonky under the window, so the ladder needs someone to hold it.  I got the first few hooks out, but the more I took out, the more the whole weight of the curtain fell on to the remaining hooks, making them even more difficult to get out than they were originally.  So it needs a third person to support the weight of the curtain.

Let’s face it, that third person is R.