Panels and pictures

We've had another wet, windy spell with unseasonably low temperatures. So, what's new, you ask? Sadly, I have to agree. It's getting very old news now, isn't it? The photo above shows our rain-spattered window and a new wave of clouds scudding in from the south-west. Once again, my ambitions to smarten up the boats with fresh paint are being scuppered. Since it has rained for some time almost every day since my previous post, there's simply no point. I'm seriously thinking up schemes of how to erect a huge tent over the Vereeniging and Hennie H so we can get on with things. 

That aside, I've had to release my pent-up fidgets indoors, so I embarked on the big kitchen wainscoting project (Thanks to Dale Foster for reminding me of the correct word. I'd forgotten it through lack of use). In truth, it's not such a huge project as the length of the wall is only three metres, but ideas about putting it in our living room as well have emerged, so it could well grow.

Anyway, I digress as usual. I'd ordered the wood a couple of weeks ago and it's been waiting for me to get going, so my first job was to fix battens to the wall so I could then attach the tongue-and-groove planks to them. This process took me a few days because, as usual, I didn't have the right plugs and screws for the drill bit I had. A few trips to the DIY shop in the village sorted me out, though. For some reason, the owner of the shop was convinced Koos had sent me to buy things for him and that I didn't have a clue, which floored me for a moment, but so be it. I'll show him what I've done one of these days.

The photo below is of Stage One: the battening and the tongue-and-groove planks in place. 

The next step was to finish it with a small shelf on top, a supporting length below it and a plinth (skirting board) at the bottom. Apart from a couple of screws, I used panel pins to fix them, so I hope they hold. I like panel pins because they're so discreet and you barely see them. Voilà Stage Two.

        

I really liked the look of the natural wood and was suddenly in doubt about painting it, which had always been my intention.  But after dithering for a few days, I decided paint was still the way to go. I need to sand and re-varnish the floor, which is warm-hued old pine and I felt the contrast between the new pine and the old wouldn't look good. So today, I bit the bullet and gave it a coat of primer. 

Next step: another visit to the DIY shop for paint to match my other cupboards. In South Africa and England, we called the colour Magnolia. Here in the Netherlands it's just cream, but the colour code is the same. I'm looking forward to finishing it now and getting on with renovating the floor, which has suffered from the work I've been doing and the leaky wall problems before that.

In other news, we had a village festival this weekend, which included an art fair. Koos was invited to display some of his photos and Jodie, my daughter, was also asked to show some of her art. Unfortunately, we failed to take photos at the exhibition, which I'm kicking myself for. There was some excellent work there of all sorts of art, including sculpture, jewellery, painting, photography and children's art. The picture below is of the photos Koos took along to display all laid out on our kitchen table. He has some beautiful sets among them, but they were a terrific weight. Now it's all over, we have to put them away again. 😅

The festival also held a vintage car rally and this beauty below was among them. It's a beautifully preserved Karmann Ghia, which is my favourite car ever. I had one back in the early eighties and in fact, I brought daughter two home from hospital in mine. It was a cabriolet and I absolutely loved it, so I was charmed to see this one today. Isn't it gorgeous?

And lastly, in a modest but happy development, I've finally managed to keep the promise I made to myself when I published my book about our beloved Sindy in 2020. For some years now, I've been following a group called the Oldies Club on Facebook. They focus on finding homes for senior dogs that few people want especially if the dogs have medical issues, which is often the case as they age. I've donated to their group from time to time, as I have a special fondness for oldies, and when I released Living With My Sin, I promised that any royalties I earned from the book would go to the Oldies Club. 

Well, I'm not much good at promotion, so those royalties have been painfully slow in accumulating, but two weeks ago, I checked my Amazon account and found I'd earned enough to make a significant donation to the Oldies for the constant medicines' and vets' bills they carry. It's a meagre amount in the greater scheme of things, but I was really so pleased I could send something after all this time. The Oldies Club do such good work. If you're on Facebook, look them up!

So that's it for this first post in June, allemaal. The year is speeding by, isn't it? I'm just praying we get some warm weather and sunshine before autumn strikes again in our northern hemisphere. Have a lovely week and I'll be back soon.