Hello readers, guest blogger Rob here.
Siobhan has gone for a much deserved break this weekend, narrow boating on a canal near Oxford with lots of girls. It's probably a bit like the "Lynx Boat":
In Siobhan's absence, I asked my mates to come over to the slum and do unpaid hard labour in her place. All swiftly fabricated excuses, with the notable exception of Richard. He's probably angling for sympathetic coverage in the blog, with a view to endearing himself to our female fans.
I got to the slum at about 10:00, equipped with a second wallpaper steamer which I had acquired from Argos, new fine-quality wallpaper scrapers from Mr. Khan's (3 for £1), spare overalls and beer. Swiftly got to work on the remaining wallpaper in the main reception room (a room which an American might call a "den"). In the first hour I managed to remove about twenty square centimetres of wallpaper and break two of the three rubbish-quality scrapers I had bought from Mr. Khan.
Rich turned up at about 1pm. As the first of our friends to visit the Slum, I proudly / apologetically showed him round. I soon found myself giving a Foxtons-esque commentary and talking about "the potential" and "authentic, edgy feel". Then I caught Rich looking at me like I was deluded.
So, swiftly put him to work and we started hacking away at the ridiculous wallpaper. There are two, and in some places three, layers of woodchip wallpaper. In some places PVC appears to have been used rather than proper wallpaper paste. The underlying wall and the paper itself have been painted and repainted at various times, and working out the sequence and chronology might have made a good project for someone studying archaeology. Working out what possessed the former owners to paint different parts of different walls simultaneously pink, brown, blue, green, yellow and purple might make a good project for someone studying psychiatry. With two wallpaper steamers in operation, it swiftly became a sort of psychadelic sauna. Rich also made me listen to the Wurzels' Greatest Hits. Which was odd.
Anyway fans, after 15 man hours of work, (not counting the time Siobhan and I had already spent on this room last weekend), it's almost time for the big reveal. First, here's a reminder of how it looked before:
And here's how it looks now:
No carpets, no wallpaper, no ceiling tiles, no carpet grippers.
Because most of that's piled up at the other end of the room.
Readers will recall that, in an earlier post, Siobhan had referred to a new crowbar which I bought when my claw hammer proved inadequate. Some of you no-doubt felt a little cheated that no image was provided. Here, you can see said crowbar being held by Richard (having been threatening to beat him with it all day, I let him hold it as a treat).
Let's go back and have a slightly closer look at what our efforts had revealed....
Hmmm.... That doesn't look so good. And neither does this:
But it pales into insignificance beside this:
Great.
When you come round, make sure you don't jump up and down in that corner.
Normal blog service will resume tomorrow.
Rob out.
I would like to make it clear that the Wurzels (the kings of Scrumpy and Western) were actually Rob's request. Since they are from Somerset rather than Devon Rob thinks they count as "World Music"!
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