Visitation

Only 16 weeks till my Mum is here.

You know what its like when a parent comes to visit for a day: you throw laundry in the oven, push everything under the bed etc etc... well imagine that but that the visit is for 6 weeks.  Im a little panicked.  A little overwhelmed.

As I sat in the big leather chair last night thinking about the upcoming visit I started to make a mental list of all the things I wanted to have perfect by the time she gets here...

1.  The Garden
I want tumbling vines, in full bloom roses, no weeds, bees buzzing - you know.  The uge.  This is similar to what I would like established within 16 weeks

this is what I have in side garden number one

There's a little work to do as you can see.
2.  The Mouldings
When we moved into Castle Allen it seemed pristine - every surface had been newly painted including all of the 100 year old framing and mouldings....I think that they must have done a quick job of the mouldings because for some reason they are all yellowing and so now its white and yellow strokes (... kind of makes it look like we are heavy smokers, that kind of yellow).  Not pretty.  These must be refreshed.
3.  The letterbox
A couple of weekends ago I was enjoying a quiet Saturday morning when there was a knock at the door
Me:  Good Morning!
Postman:  Im going to stop delivering your mail unless you get a bigger mailbox
Me:  Huh?
Postman:  Holds out a stack of 7 magazines, 4 letters and a card  This kind of volume of mail doesnt fit into your box points at beautiful vintage cast iron box
Me:   Snatches mail  Thank you  Slams door
How bout doing your job postman.  Anyways, Im on the lookout for a beautiful larger mail box - I was looking at google yesterday (google search was "huge oversized mail box") and look what showed up.  I dont think that the mail would fit in this either.


4.  The Den conversion to a bedroom


This is where it is kinda (actually this is a photo of the den before we moved in, theres a desk in the place of the cube organizer but largely this is the den.  Somehow we have to put a queen sized bed in here and also something for them to store their clothes in...and in general make it a delightful place to stay.  Did I mention that this window looks out to the yard...the yard with no joie de vive?  Curse my black thumbs.

There are numerous other things to do...this is just the beginning dear reader.