New door

Yesterday we had a new front door fitted.  I can hear you saying, in this weather?! Yes, we are obviously nuts. Lack of a door for much of the day meant that the house became bitterly cold. Trouble was, the old door had taken as much objection to the cold and wet as I have. Swollen joints, creaks and groans from both of us. What a tussle it had become to get the blasted thing to open, and then twice as hard to shut. It was a solid old door with handsome fittings. But it's goodbye to all of it because we've replaced it with (oh, wash my mouth out) plastic. And the plastic door comes with some very ordinary, modern furniture. There was a time when I would have objected strongly but now I've conceded defeat, I just want a door that doesn't sulk or fight back but one that opens, closes and locks with ease.
We had to clear the area ready for the workman. We moved from a farmhouse to this cottage twenty years ago and are still not quite accustomed to the lack of space. Don't mention the word, declutter. (I have a super friend who is an organising consultant. She worked in Japan for several years and her business is called taisei, the Japanese word for system and order. She's very sweet-natured so she doesn't look me in the eyes and tell me to get some control.) So, we took the pictures off the walls and moved the carvings from the floor. How strange it looked without them.
Today the new door is fitted. The surround needs to be painted but things have been put back, more or less, in position.

Phew, door sorted, just before the next deluge arrived.

It's Shrove Tuesday. I hope you're eating pancakes!