Helen English Artist
Work and renovations
Funny that I should be talking about procrastination last week because there’s always something that provides a challenge, even if you think that you have everything organised! This week’s challenge came in the form of our home renovations. The extension, which has mostly been the occupation of my husband in his spare time over the past 18 months, was in need of the project manager this week. That’s me, by the way.
The interior lining had the official sign off earlier this week. Cue shouts of excitement as I relayed the news over the phone to my other half, who goes into a deep state of stress before each of the checks. He says it’s like waiting for exam results. As the building inspector left the building, before the shouts of excitement, I was feeling relaxed about what we had to do.
Then I looked at the list:
1. Find a drainlayer.
2. Contact the contractors we have used for concrete pouring and roofing, and get their paperwork ready for when we eventually get to final sign off.
3. Call the floor polishers for our concrete floors to be finished.
That seemed to be it! Twenty-three phone calls later – no, I’m not kidding! – and I was getting there. I found the dream drainlayer, the contractors all sent through their paperwork and the floor polishers called back to say they’d had a cancellation meaning we had a four day wait rather than two weeks.
Then the people who are replacing our fireplace – the old one isn’t cutting it any longer – called to say they were coming to take away the old fireplace this week. This was great but also involves replacing the tiling under fire. I looked at my paintbrushes and threw them down!
So, this week was not going to be the one which I thought it was. But, looking on the bright side, it was exciting that suddenly we could get these things organised to get us closer to our house being the place that we dream of. So, what did I do with my planning?