Kitchen complete

I had a knock at the window this afternoon. I was sitting darning socks, having just returned from our daily walk in the woods. The girls were pretending to be exhausted. The sudden knock made me jump. It was Roger letting me know that he and Harald had finished for the week. The kitchen was ready for re-occupation. As planned.

“As planned?” I asked. “By whom?“

Roger didn’t know so I assumed it was some secret pact between Harald and Mirinda.

And, in the age-old tradition of before and after photography, here is how the kitchen looked at the beginning of the week:

Before I add the after photo, can I just say that I actually quite liked the wall paper.

Anyway, after a week of concerted effort, here is how it looked this afternoon:

The effect that Mirinda was going for was a sort of sunshiney room, lit by the walls. And I think she’s achieved it. Especially given that the day was particularly dull and grey.

Having taken this photo, I started returning everything from the various hiding places about the house. It took quite a few trips back and forth, with Freya tippy tapping behind me. Emma took up her place on the window sill in the lounge. She has clearly missed her street observation duties.

After Mirinda returned and expressed her delight with the paint job, I asked if she’d made a pact with Harald to be finished today, but she said no. It seems that Harald had a pact with himself. Pleased with this, I moved the ingredients for dinner from the stuga to the house.

As it turned out, I didn’t cook in the house. So I moved the ingredients back to the stuga and cooked in there. For the first time. All week I’ve had salads so this was the first time using the oven which, I am happy to say, worked well.

Before dinner, however, I heard all about Mirinda’s week away. (KSP asked me if she’d spent it in a tent. After I stopped laughing at the thought, I explained that she had stayed in an AirBnB.)

Her week had been very tiring, both from the daily wanderings around the dig and the nights spent playing board games. It was quite weird hearing her talk about the various aspects of the dig. I didn’t realise how much I miss the many Weasel outings to ancient sites armed with trowels, mattocks and barrows. It was a real Worlds Collide moment.

One thing she was amazed at, particularly given she was examining the site from an aural point of view, was the noise. And not pleasant noise, either. Not like Trosa where most noise comes from Emma and a rather persistent cuckoo.

Speaking of Emma, she found a rather lovely stick for me to throw for her today, at the top of Mount Trosa. I was sitting, getting over my ascent of the mountain when she appeared, delighted by her prize.

She didn’t carry it very far. Usually, she’ll bring sticks along with us for a while but not today. She would have had trouble getting between trees for a start.

It was a lovely day followed by an even lovelier night given my wife was back. Even if only for a couple of days before she ventures forth once more.