I have spent a week tidying up

this half term we had to clear up the hut after the flood last winter, and due to our other commitments and the bad weather it had been damp for a long time, so this meant tearing off wall paper which had been infested with black mould. People make a lot of fuss about black mould but I'm not sure it's really so serious that you have to wear all over body protective suits and masks. We didn't anyway.  We packed up the mouldy paper, (up to about 3 feet high, the rest was fine) and washed the walls. We painted over with anti-damp paint and then painted a top coat. That's where my contributions ended though next we are onto re-covering the floor with vinyl stuff and I will try to do some of that.

One day at the hut it was very cold and so we went out for sticks and wood and got the cast iron stove going. It was going well but the room filled up with smoke, and we had to lean out of the windows to stop our eyes from smarting. When we could see we found a huge great crack in the stovepipe! So husband bandaged it with a dustsheet.

We also had to clean up the caravan and sell it to my brother-in-law, who can keep it in his field in Sussex. So that was a whole day driving in a big strong truck to get the caravan, clean the caravan, which was filthy outside, not too bad inside, have a nice dinner with H & T and family, have one last sleep in the caravan bed (which was too hard: I won't miss it) and then rush home because I had a lunch date with my friend the vet, who told me she voted for UKIP. it doesn't surprise me at all. I belong to the social group who would vote for UKIP. But most voters for UKIP are in the 70+ age group. It's the older people who still believe that voting is a duty and a privilege, so all the parties angle for the grannie vote.

I have also tidied away piles of paper that were in the study, but I also have a bit more to do. I do feel that I can now see the wood of my desk again, which makes me feel as though I can think more clearly, but I am now re-writing a lesson plan, which makes me think I am more muddled than ever.

Today I went to help Helena, our friend who lives in Geneva and the man from the World Service, who were skiffing up the cut to clear up the rubbish - Helena's idea. We were pulling into the trees to pull off bits of plastic bag and other horrors. Very tricky skiffing, but just the sort of thing a skiff is good for. We got a huge blue tarpaulin out of the water that had been niggling Helena for weeks. So we actually tried to tidy up the Great Outdoors as well.

I also tidied up the garden today which was great. Very tired now.