The Adventures of Marie . . .

 

One thing that Todd and I don't do very well together is big jobs like moving furniture around, putting furniture together, cleaning furniture, etc. If it involves furniture on any large scale, it can become a bit of a battleground very quickly.  

I am very methodical when it comes to anything like that.  I believe I get that from my father.  All the pieces need to be laid out and labeled and in order of need, sequentially . . . to make the transition as smoothly as possible. It just makes sense.  

For a while not Todd has wanted to move the sideboard into the lounge area to use as a television stand, and move the huge dish cabinet over to where the sideboard was, etc.  in an attempt to make our lounge a bit more aesthetically pleasing.  I've been putting it off because well  . . .  I hate confrontation and I knew it was sure to involve at least some.  

 

I got up on thursday morning and thought to myself  . . .  today's the day and so on Thursday we tackled it.  It was a horrendous job, which involved me totally emptying the sideboard, cupboards and drawers . . .  completely.  I thought however, it would be a good chance for me to go through everything again and get rid of any tat. These past months have found me relishing and enjoying the feeling of satisfaction I get when something has had a good clear out. 

It also involved moving no less than EIGHT, yes eight  . . .  electrical appliances. 

First the television . . .  and then the internet modem, NOW tv box, international dvd player, blue ray dvd player, Free-Sat box, printer and finally our Call Guardian telephone.  Eight. Eight. Eight. And because Todd (a man) had been put in charge of hooking all those things up, one at a time, the wires were a total and God-awful mess.  I had been wanting to fix all that for a very long time. It had been driving me crazy to put it mildly. 

Here is where it could have gone so wrong and almost did. We came "that close" to hating on each other, lol. 

 

We finally got it done however and no blows were exchanged and everything is working again.   It only took two days, Thursday and Friday.  Thursday was a bit iffy argument-wise. He just wouldn't listen to my directions.  He's half deaf anyways and I have noticed lately that even with his hearing aids in I need to talk at a rather loud level.  He also can't see close up without his glasses on and he is so damn proud that since his eye operation he only needs glasses for reading, he has become impossible at doing anything close up.  He will persist in trying to fumble  manage without them on.  

Finally however, he had to admit defeat and concede that the best way of doing it was my way, but getting the television working first and then methodically adding each appliance one at a time and getting it working one at a time, beginning with the internet because everything else hinged on that. (Where oh where would we be without the internet?  I dare not think about it!  Great Britain is very plugged in.) 

And I am happy about the results.  Everything is in its place, all are working (except oddly the telephone) and there is NO huge mass of tangled electrical cords to grate on my vision.  All is well.  The telephone will be sorted today.  For some reason it isn't charging and has gone dead.  

  

The next thing we need to tackle is moving this over.  But not just yet.  One huge job like that a week is more than enough.  I need a few days rest now!    

  

Happily however, Todd conceded in bed last night that I have a great skill for anything electronical and for organizing/sorting out puzzles.  I told him it comes from having a genius that way for a father, very organised and  methodical in his ways, and from having more or less been on my own raising a family for all those years while my ex was away from home and soldiering a great deal of the time. I had to be able to do a lot of things myself, like sort out vacuum cleaners, etc.  I can fix most electrical problems/puzzles and put together anything, and do it well.  I am just lacking somewhat in strength, so need a man to do the heavy stuff.  I enjoy challenges like that, I really do.  But people have to listen to me and do what I say. (I hope I didn't sound bossy, sorry if I did.) I know what I am doing when it comes to that kind of thing.  

 

This is what that corner looked like before.  The size of the television overwelms the tv table which is glass and showed dust like crazy . . . yuck, yuck, yuck.  Oh  . . .  and don't get me started on that cheap £4.99 guitar that Todd picked up at a charity shop and brought home because it was a good deal.  

 

I came down the morning after he bought it and discovered it hanging on our wall like an ornamental piece of art.  UH UH (insert "wrong!" buzzer noise here.)  Not happening.  He doesn't even play the guitar and had no aspirations to learn.   So then it had lived in the corner (as per two pics above). It is now gone back to the charity shop where it belongs.  I call that a silver lining.   

 

I've been working on an assemblage piece based on one of my favourite childhood novels, Alice in Wonderland.  This is the dress I have been working on . . .  composed from papers from the actual book. (I purchased two cheap copies to use that I could rip up.)  The plan is to paint it pale blue so that you can still see the writing, etc.  Not sure about the bodice. I think I will have to go back to square one with that . . . but it is an enjoyable exercise figuring it out.  Oh, I have big plans. I just need to figure out how to put them into action.  Curiouser and curiouser.  We're all mad here.  Creating things makes me very happy. 

 

Oh, I just have to tell you how rude people can be.  I posted my recipe for the Strawberry & Almond Cream Danish on my cooking facebook page the other morning, and this person from Denmark responded to it by saying it wasn't Danish, that a Dane would never use cream cheese in a filling, but pastry cream.   I responded that it was a very Western version of a Danish and meant to be a copycat recipe of something that I had enjoyed from my homeland, not a real Danish, that a real Danish pastry would not use puff pastry either, but a specific pastry to that exact bakery product, called Danish pastry.  She then responded by saying, perhaps I should call it a "Brexit Pastry."  I thought that was very rude and I told her so. 

 

Not sure what to do with that now  . . .  I want to respond, but I also want to be kind.  Perhaps I best leave sleeping dogs to lay  . . . .

And with that I will leave you with a thought for today  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *The most important thing about a journey

isn't what road you take, or where you go.

Its about who you are when you get back home.

~Unknown   •。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。  

 

Baking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Orange & Almond Muffins.  Yummy yum yum!

Have a wonderful Saturday.  It looks to be another fine day here today.  March is certainly going out like a lamb!  Don't forget! 

 

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And I do too!