It's nearly 5pm on a Saturday afternoon, and I am having a breather as I am halfway through a very tiring job.
And I was already tired as this morning I did Parkrun for the first time in over two years this morning. But during Lockdown we have been doing up the house, and minimising at the same time. We still have too much stuff, and I have flipping made it worse, haven't I?
Having saved up a bunch of money, last week we went armed with a list of wants to a warehouse clearance auction. We got loads of bargains of things we need to do the house up. Some of the things we got were for peanuts, others for just good prices.
Sometimes there were lots of things on a pallet, so if they could be separated at all, we would ask, and then the gathered crowd would bid on the items separately, but it wasn't possible with one of the things.
What was the thing?
What did we need?
Well, having had new windows, we will need to redecorate every room. Some of the rooms need re-plastering, so paint will do on those walls, but other rooms will need to be wallpapered.
Now, wallpaper can be expensive, can't it? And it can also be a bit fuddy-duddy if you don't choose carefully. What looks great on one wall might induce migraines if you have it everywhere. What looked good on the roll might look awful when spread across a big space. It can be a minefield!
Anyway, we came to a big, sagging, overloaded pallet of wallpaper. I could see lots of different colours. Who knew what was there, or whether there would be enough of one sort to do a room?
"Who wants to start a bid for this with a fiver?" said the auctioneer.
I laughed and said, "A pound."
"A pound? A POUND?!" he exclaimed. "Do I hear any offers for £2 then? Anyone...?" But no one else wanted to bid. I'm sure they would have if there weren't so flipping many rolls! "A pound it is then... this is... this is criminal!"
Another chap leaned towards me and said, "I bet some of them rolls are about £25, look them up and see."
Anyway, they got picked up on Tuesday and my husband posted them through the window.
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| Yikes! |
I estimate about 100 rolls. We sorted them out and paired them up, and there are definitely enough to do different rooms with.
And I did look them up, and some of them are not worth £25 a roll. No. You can buy them for flipping £42 a roll at John Lewis. No, I don't think we have Carrie Symonds' cast offs. But we definitely have a rich person's rejects.
So, yeah, I'm halfway through lugging these upstairs. Wish me luck!
