The blind leading the blind......

I can't believe it's almost two weeks since my last post.  Fortunately nobody seems to have missed me and I've had no emails enquiring if I'm still alive, which I patently am, though only just.

We have almost succumbed to Death by DIY, which is an occupational hazard for those too miserly to pay for people to do it for them.   Although in our defence, if you've read my last post you will know why we're reluctant to have any more so-called experts traipsing through the house, making a mess and demanding money with menaces.

The focus of our recent DIY excesses has been redecorating our sitting room.  Yes, I know I said we didn't fancy it, but having had a few quotes for slapping on a coat of paint on three walls and putting two rolls of wallpaper onto one wall (HOW MUCH?!?) we decided to do it ourselves.  Needless to say it took us twice as long but we're pleased with the result and saved ourself a small fortune in the process.

Since then we've turned our attention to fitting blinds at the front of the house in the office, workroom and dining room, and at the back of the house in the kitchen.  Here again we got a quote to have them supplied and fitted (HOW MUCH?!?) and promptly decided to do it ourselves, our only concession to cost being to have them made to measure.

Apart, that is, from a basic roller blind in the kitchen, which came in a standard 'one size fits nowhere' and therefore required cutting.  According to the salesperson in the store, this was "very easy" to do.

Easy to do my a#se!

PP isn't called Perfectionist Partner for nothing.  She's a very competent DIY-er with decades of flatpack experience behind her.  Nothing much fazes her, so she set about installing our kitchen roller blind with the expectation of it taking an hour or so at most.

HA!

In the end it took an entire afternoon, with much cussing and swearing and threatening to throw the whole thing out the window.  I can't say I blame her.... I'd have thrown it out the window after the first hour.  Whoever designed the damn thing needs his (and it will undoubtedly be a 'he') brains drawn out through his nostrils and re-inserted through whichever orifice presents itself first.  

I'm not usually driven to such heights of sadistic cruelty, but having been subjected to them by virtue of the blind I feel it's only fair.  What goes around comes around.

Fortunately, PP is nothing if not persistent and eventually, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it was fitted in place.  
 
We will not, EVER AGAIN be fitting a blind which requires cutting to size.

Thankfully, the fitting of the made-to-measure blinds today went much more smoothly and they look very posh and professional.  So, to celebrate our hard-won triumph over adversity we intend to crack open a bottle of something chilled, light up our little woodburner, and snuggle up in front of the fire for the evening.

Bliss.......