10.12.2024 The Great Clearance.

 ~o~

 Tuesday 10th 35F/2C. The forecast is a battle between cloud and sun.

 Up at 6.30 after an unusually quiet night. 62F/16.7C in the room.

 7.00 I have a nosebleed. An official visitor is coming later this morning. Pride demands I make an effort to clear the decks. I doubt I have done very much since her last visit perhaps a year ago.

 9.00 Overcast. I am making good progress. The living room and hall carpets have been vacuumed. The  moraines of detritus in the living room have been cleared. The dining table freed of its overburden and a fresh tablecloth applied. I wonder if a lighter shade wouldn't bring more light. 

 9.15. 66F/19C in the room. The dining table windowsill is finally clear. Being north facing anything protruding upwards blocks what little light there is to be had. Which means that two large, aspidistras in huge, ceramic pots need a new home. Both have now gone upstairs. They might like the east facing windowsill up there.

The dark blue, art glass bottles have been moved away too. They always blocked the light. A coat of white paint in the cement, window reveal wouldn't go amiss. The [after] image [above] does absolutely no favours for Chez Hovel. WYSIWYG.  The L-shaped room is a useful 6.77m x 5.33m. Or 22' x 17' in olde money. You think this is bad? You should have seen it on any single day in the past 28 years. It's no wonder we lived upstairs!

 The ceiling was always meant to be boarded with pine. That was not allowed because the present ceiling tiles would be covered in decades of filth. On their upward facing surfaces. So taking them down would be a nightmare. Unless the room was completely cleared. So that was never going to happen. I did board the south side of the room but it was never good enough. It was only after my wife died that I finally painted the boards white. It all helps to lift the gloom on an overcast, winter's day.

 12.00 There is much more light in the room now. So I took another snap. The lovely lady from the council has just left after chatting for an hour and half. I even managed to get it warm enough at 68F/20C. She was full of helpful suggestions how I might enlarge my social circle. I always feel more cheerful and motivated after her visits. I followed her advice and joined a friendship app. Who knows where it might lead?

 I have managed to keep the temperature in the room around 68F/20C for most of the day. I do like this strangely tidy room. It feels spacious and relaxed. I just wish I had the willpower to keep it that way.

 Dinner was a salmon pasty. With organic Fettuccine pasta and tinned tomatoes. The latter drained of juice in a stainless steel sieve.

 ~o~