Flat-pack frustration..............

The newly re-painted and carpeted office is still eerily silent.

Despite being ready for occupation since last Friday.

There are several reasons for this, primarily the fact that having possession of the 'big desk' with a lovely view of the garden there has been little or no incentive for PP to engage in the upheaval of moving lock, stock and barrel back into the office.

And I have to admit, that it has been much cosier and immeasurably more comfortable for me too, sitting on the sofa, by the fire, than hunched over a tiny tray table as I have been for the past 6 years.

However, it is impossible in the long term and I'm longing to get the house back into some semblance of order.

Over the past few days, the realisation has dawned on me that there is no way that PP and I could successfully share the 'big desk'.

I am too messy and PP is too territorial. It would only end in tears.

So I have come up with a compromise solution, and bowed to the inevitable, as a result of which I spent several hours this afternoon single-handedly tackling a flat-pack 'compact' corner desk. Needless to say, it came in parts 1-57, with a big bag of assorted cams and widgets, and a 10 page booklet of step-by-step instructions.

I only made two mistakes, but they each took half an hour to rectify, and after a total of 3 hours crawling around on the floor and hefting chunks of desk top and shelves etc, I am racked with aches and pains. However the new 'compact' desk is finished and is waiting lonelyly in the office.

It is not exactly a thing of beauty, but it is 'compact, and fits reasonably neatly into one corner of the room. More importantly it will give me my own desk space at long last, and I can be as messy as I like. Meanwhile PP will retain sole occupation of the 'big desk'.

The downside is that my lovely old wooden desk and matching filing cabinets will be consigned to the smallest spare bedroom, along with two bookcases which we can't fit in the newly re-jigged office. This in turn will mean getting rid of the single bed in the spare room, which admittedly has seen better days.

So every action has has an equal and opposite reaction, and for the next few weeks the house will remain in a state of untidy flux.

I'm too tired and worn out to feel any satisfaction at the progress made today. Perhaps tomorrow when I'm able to move back into the clean, bright, uncluttered office and get everything properly organised I will feel rejuvenated and inspired.

That would be so lovely.....