It has been a couple of weeks or so since I was last active on this site...
Last week I was sort of hibernating on account of me having a milestone birthday, which I had been feeling incredibly anxious about. I don't wish to explain why, but during the weeks leading up to my birthday I had been experiencing an overwhelming feeling of dread and foreboding, which I had been unable to shake off. Thankfully, the day itself turned out to be okay, although I remain less than thrilled about now officially being half-a-century old.
In recent days, I have been attempting to get on top of some long-overdue housework, in addition to undertaking some DIY. I have carpet in areas of my house that is a nightmare to vacuum and has certainly seen better days. When I moved into my (unfurnished) house 20+ years ago, my then-boyfriend had been working as a 'chippy' for a company that erected stages and laid flooring at indoor and outdoor national events. I believe my carpet had originally been used inside a marquee. I removed some of the carpet last weekend, which I replaced with self-adhesive vinyl plank flooring. In addition to being easier to clean, the vinyl planks look so much better than the carpet.
Next on my list of DIY jobs will be to lay vinyl floor planks on my landing, and also in my bathroom. However, as there are some sizeable gaps between my floorboards, I will first need to apply some expanding foam, and then go over the floorboards with a sander.
As a result of Storm Darragh, the strong winds caused a tall conifer at the bottom of my garden to crack and fall. In addition to obstructing a path the other side of my garden fence, the tree had caused damage to several council-owned garages. The bulk of the tree had actually landed on top of the garages, damaging the guttering and fascia boards. Fortunately, on the Monday following the storm, the council dealt with the fallen tree. The following day, the council then returned to repair and secure some minor damage that had been done to my fencing. According to my next-door neighbour who had witnessed the tree falling, it was a miracle that it had narrowly missed a lamp post.