In good order

Sources of Joy – Day 68

I have a table and chairs in my new kitchen. I achieved my goal of getting my new kitchen completely ready and everything clean by the end of the day. I did it while listening to fado all afternoon. Except for the fridge, everything is set to go. I am going to love sitting at that table. I love conversations – and meals – at a table. I have put a cloth hand-embroidered by João’s grandmother on for now, but intend to produce zany table coverings for day-to-day life.

I am enjoying the very specific, ordered approach I have adopted in this move. While it is not so much fun doing it all on my own, there is the advantage of not having to discuss trivia; I can simply just get on with doing it my way.

I have given a great deal of thought as to how I want my office arranged, and what I want in it. With the possible exception of a large custom-built teak cabinet housing a large CD players/tape deck and speakers, none of my furniture is my ideal. That is okay; I had a great office at home once; one day it will be again. What I do like is the idea of an area devoted to reading. The landlord has left a small leather lounge suite and sofa bed in the house.  I need to fit at least one chair and the sofa-bed in my office. I miss the corporate look (although not the corporate life). Getting both pieces of furniture in without making the room look like a furniture store will be a challenge indeed.

I unrolled the only carpet we have just to flatten it, and I will probably give it a good brush tomorrow. I am not sure that it will stay in my office, but it is there for the moment. The unusual patterned tiles are a feature of the house, and each room has a different colour tile and different pattern. Not something I go for, especially when it comes into direct contrast with a patterned carpet. The result was quite amusing:

The above scene prompted the thought that I would not mind if someone paid me just to sit and read books. That’s all. Or, just to sit and think, and then at the end of the day, tell that someone what I thought. All I would need for this kind of job would be an armchair, possibly with a carpet donated long ago contrasted against a sea of pink patterns, and a Crucifix on the wall for “first things first”. I think I could do this reading and thinking job very well. Could I sit still for long enough, I wonder? How long is enough? You see?  I could do this job!

Keyboard withdrawal symptoms are setting in. This is a source of joy. It means I shall soon be ready to return to work.

Allison