Finishing Touches
This is where the women take over!
Paula's parents sent us a lovely Buddha that we installed over the fireplace. Its from Burma and is wonderfully crafted.
Paula and Elvira had the idea of putting the mother-of-pearl disc behind it, like they do in the Far East.
When Elvira came to visit, she also brought a painting made by Paula's father, Angel that used to be in her bedroom. We gave it a new home over the sofa.
The inspector is beginning to see the benefits of all the work we have done. He thinks we did it all for him!
Cosy!
It's been a while, but work has not stopped, only severely slowed down due to hefty work schedule. (Actually I think work will never stop...)Over the past weeks we have been fine-tuning the living room. After finally getting around to putting the second coat of sealant on the fireplace tiles, I had the great pleasure of lighting the first fire. What better fuel to use than the old floorboard remnants that I slaved so hard over! Bit it was also a little moving to think I was, in the space of a few moments, burning away the original wood that was over 70 years old. Actually to dwell on it a little that wood would be quite unobtainable today, as in those days the process of drying out the wood was done naturally and took a few years, whereas today its sped up in kilns, which reduces the quality and distorts the wood. 
Now we can actually live in the room! It's so nice to come home from work and have a place to sit and read. We finally unpacked all the boxes of books that have been stacked up since we moved in two years ago. It all feels so civilised!
Paula's mother Elvira cam to visit for a few days. She's very helpful and sorted out our curtain problem! Finally we have privacy too!
As always, the inspector had to approve the new addition. Actually he doesn't like the curtains very much (you can tell by his grumpy look) because he loves to stand watch at the window observing the neighbourhood. So we have to keep them open when he wants to roost in the windowsill!
