Mothballs to a flame....

This weekend has had a lovely gentle rhythm to it.. not the usual frenetic pace that we find ourselves in at the end of each week.. fitting in all the little chores and jobs that we couldn't fit in to the week..
This Saturday had a different feel about it altogether.
No small mountains of muddy rugby kit to wash nor school uniform, retrieved from the bedroom floor to be pieced together for Monday morning..
No chewed pencils and frazzled nerves .. trying to assist with homework projects..
No mad supermarket dash.. more of an amble down the aisles.. nodding to friends and stopping to chat and catch up on our respective lives.
The slower tempo has been most welcome and heralds the start of Master Custard's school hols..Hurrah!!!
We have however had a small hit list of jobs that could no longer be put off ..
Sorting out the accumulated mess in the laughingly called..'Spare Bedroom'..is a job that has been pressing on my mind for the last two years and might explain why there has been a dearth of house guests in our home. We could hardly invite them to sleep in cardboard city now could we!
So we sprang in to action after a fortifying bowl of porridge.. to rummage through the numerous boxes and bags that have bred in this messy room.
I had one of those rare cathartic moments when I felt.. 'Just chuck it'..if it hasn't been missed or thought of for the last two years then it can't be important'.. so we loaded the car and headed off for our local recycling depot to liberate ourselves of all the rubbish.. and left feeling at least 3 bin bags and several boxes lighter! I was for one incy wincy moment tempted to reach in to the clothes recycling bin to retrieve a pair of vintage textile curtains.. but then in that split second I came to my senses and remembering  that I couldn't sew and I was likely to be lynched by the attendants for pilfering.. I left empty handed.
Home again.. home again.. and next task was to sort out the linen cupboard that resembled the aftermath of a jumble sale..As I folded the piles of linen sheets, pillow cases and quilts.. there was the faint smell of mothballs.. This smell is instantly associated with the memory of the huge walnut wardrobe that was installed in my childhood bedroom, that I would climb inside and sit in the dark corner willing myself to enter Narnia. Alas it never happened.

The final job on my list was one that I have looked forward to all week.

We inherited a rather imposing fireplace in the living room and on removing the hideous gas fire we made do with a new fire surround and grate that have been propped up for the last two years.So it has been my wish ever since to reinstate our dysfunctional fireplace and to restore it to it's former glory..
With the threat of colder weather on the horizon we found a lovely local gentleman who came to restore the chimney breast and finally.. our elegant fireplace. We were told not to light a fire for at least a week whilst the bricks and cement had a chance to dry out. This wait has been agonising for me as each evening gets colder and Mr C has forbidden the central heating to be switched on. All part of the cursed economy drive!I could wait no longer and started the enjoyable ritual of building our first fire.. newspaper, kindling and smokeless coal. Then as the light faded outside.. I struck a match !
I have always found it immensely satisfying building a fire and then sitting back to warm the toes and cockles. One of life's greatest pleasures..
I was totally mesmerised by the dancing and flickering flames when Mr Custard entered the room exclaiming that it was "far too tropical in here".. and threw the windows open wide! Flaming nuisance!