"Have you the Life of Nelson?" "I haven't the life of a dog and am getting the Hell out of here "

The kitchen is THIS CLOSE to being done. I mean, the renovations; the post-reno cleanup is going to be sort of epic. But the actual work: the wallpaper trim needs to go on, the first half of the floor needs another coat, the second half of the floor needs sanding and two coats, the drawers need a bit of touch-up paint, the light needs replacing, the pass-through window needs sanding and refinishing, and the curtain rod needs hanging.

(Oh God there's more than I thought. But the point is, it's all little stuff, and much of it can be done after the appliances are put back and the kitchen's back in use.)

And my motivation has buggered off. I have either a nasty headcold or a walloping reaction to getting sawdust in my sinuses. I feel as if somebody had tried to lobotomise me with a Dremel. Scratch that, I feel as if they succeeded. The cheese tasted of oilpaint last night. I want a nice soft bed and endless cups of tea and to spend the day placidly knitting my second sock between naps. Also I want some clothes not covered in a) paint b) sawdust c) wallpaper paste d) that ineffable sense that because they're your 'work pants' you've had them on for rather too many days in a row.

I want to take a damned day off. I want my kitchen back as soon as possible. I can't have both. Thank God Cat appears to have some ambition left.

Back to the wallpaper mines for me. Send love?

That mythical blue-and-red polka-dotted person from RaceFail...

... is currently in my bathroom, slathering herself with mineral spirits. I believe she will, when excavated, prove to be my wife.

So.

The wallpaper trim has been applied, the 1/4 round has been measured, cut, and painted, the floor has had its second coat of deep blue paint, and while my cold is slightly worse my spirits (mineral and otherwise) are much improved.

The kitchen looks about 1000 times closer to done, and the wallpaper plus trim over the clean wood looks amazing.

... anyone know how to get acrylic paint stains out of hair? After three days of heavy conditioner soaks the actual paint appears to be gone and I can FINALLY get a brush all the way through my mop, but a definite blue streak remains, and not the cute kind either.

And now we're going to have a drink. Thank you all for the love and cheer; it helped a lot.