After two hours of applying coat after coat of paint stripper, scraping off layers and inhaling toxic fumes:
I estimate that it will take me 48 solid working hours and a lung transplant to finish the job. Keeping the gorgeous old staircase is no longer as appealing as it once was. It's mainly Slobodan's fault. Why he persisted in painting layer upon layer upon layer over everything in the house is a mystery to me.
For some reason Rahul reminds me of a Ghost Buster in his demolition outfit. Sunday was a big work day and by evening Rahul was completely covered in black dirt and dust and kind of resembled Black Peter. He is still coughing up dirt and despite our valiant efforts we cannot seem to rid the rest of the house of all the black dust.
This hole will be a doorway through to bedroom 3 once our extension is finished. I am not quite sure why we made the hole now but I'm not complaining because it feels like progress.
This is the bathroom-to-be now without a ceiling and a few bits of wall. The floors are being pulled up tomorrow so that waterproofing and and a new floor can be put down. We also have to build a new wall to seperate the bathroom from the hallway which will lead to the hold in the wall and eventually bedroom 3. This all sounds confusing. I really should post a set of plans.
Our old kitchen has been emptied out and is about to become a construction zone and eventually a laundry and bathroom. In the meantime it's been serving as a space to test paint colours, as has the ailing back door of the house and the metal on the back shed. 
Rahul has chopped down the frangipane tree in the backyard to make way for our extension. 
We finally had the blinds installed in our bedroom and spare room.
I'm very pleased with how they look (and with the additional darkness and therefore better quality sleep that now takes place in our bedroom!) 
Minus the 1098987 excess pillows and the frilly skirt, of course. In case you hadn't gathered from the lack of blog posts we've been away to the land of Martha Stewart and Bed Bath & Beyond. Things have been happening on the house front though, good things, so expect some proper updates soon.
