Loft

For once in these recent years a sense of achievement. A week of doing something. Making use of myself. Activity. I feel physically shattered by it but it really has given me a lift in spirits. It feels like I am gettting there. It was a little like a week of unpaid work rather than unpaid sitting on my backside and that has got to be good for self worth. I know this is the sort of thing people do week to week and take for granted but its a big thing for me.

When my wife decided to get the loft insulated all I could think about was how full that loft is. Not only that but to get to the loft you have to go through the only cupboard we have which in a small flat with 3 children is of course full to the brim. And to top it all off there is just a small square gap to transfer stuff. The prospect of clearing the loft this week was not one that filled me with joy. The thought of being up the loft for long spells in cramped space in the damp with all that wet itchy old insulation. It had to be done.

And now it is done. It took all week. There was no way we could clear everything out the loft and cupboard and put it somewhere else. It meant going through everything and being ruthless. In total this week we have been to the tip about 8 times. It says a lot that these trips brought no anxiety at all. They were routine and yet not so long ago I could not even get there.

It did not pass without incident either. On Tuesday I was carrying an old microwave oven down the stairs and stood on a cat litter bag which has been left lying. Apart from the pain I had a moment of panic. My left leg went straight forward down the stairs while my right leg buckled behind me. As my back hit the stairs the microwave landed with a bang on my chest. I lay there for a couple of seconds feeling nothing but the fear that something was broken and the pain would come. Luckily it never came. It was just fear. I was a bit battered and bruised and still sore but nothing to worry about. Not helped it must say by a second fall yesterday. More pain. This time my legs just went from under me going down the stairs and I fell forward banging a knee off the floor and my shoulder straight into the edge of the front door. It would appear all that hunching across joists in the loft which had my legs shaking allied with being unfit had used up all the strength in my legs and they just buckled. And to top it all off my wife also fell down the stairs. I couldn't believe it. Straight after my first time I was loading the car with bags when I heard a crash and a black bag came rolling out the front door. I thought she was just throwing stuff down the stairs but when I went to the door and looked up she was sprawled on the stairs. Thankfully like myself only a little sore.

So it was a long week but looking back a good week. I feel I have earned a cold beer tonight after a shower to sit and relax. The loft guys have come and gone leaving new insulation and lots of danger signs. I must say though I was not expecting them to just put the new stuff on top of the old rotten stuff. I thought they would have taken that away. As a result its sitting up much higher than it was before and in the process they have covered the joists with it so its impossible to see where to stand. But its done. Its the start of a few changes for the better around the home which include new windows, a new boiler and at some point flooring the loft.

A good week. A very good week. Off now for a shower while that beer chills.