Snow and paint

Marianne's washing machine, dish washer and some other appliance (I forget which) arrived today. The delivery was late because, according to the driver, "the lorry went into a ditch." Might have had something to do with the three inches of snow that fell. It's the wet type of snow rather than the dry type, but still our walk this evening was spectacular. It's very, very quiet with so much snow, for some reason.

The good chaps from Orica (the company who sold us the site) have spent the day digging an enormous hole in an attempt to solve the mystery of Why The Basement Fills Up With Water. Marianne's basement, not mine. I don't have a basement, which means less space to store wine and less space to paddle in too. The contracts are yet to be formally exchanged, so Orica are footing the bill for half a dozen men and various earth moving equipment. I can't imagine that happening in England. The vendor would simply send various contractors to assess the situation, before announcing that none of them could start work before February in any case. Then, just to be doubly sure, he would go on holiday to Corfu for three weeks.

The bedroom walls are finished. I just need to paint the skirting boards (they're looking a little tired) and lay the carpet. The carpet may have to wait a bit though, I attempted to cut a square earlier and my marathon carpeting in the enormous living room appears to have dome something to my carpet cutting muscles (don't laugh). I'm sure I'll be in fine pile-slicing form in a few days though and it would be nice to have the bedroom completed by the time the gang return from England on Friday night.