I am a messy painter. The fumes bother me and once I have a project on the go, I become manically obsessed to complete it as soon as possible.

So, after preparing the surface (of the wheelhouse roof – see our ‘rain-catcher’ blog for more details), I had sore knees (I’m not twenty any more, oh okay, I’m not thirty any more either . . . !), I was covered in a fine coating of ‘dust’ and have earned my stiff muscles.

It was time to settle down to paint . . .  the fumes hit me . . . and so did the memories.

I’ve renovated my parents’ house, working with my dad. I’ve renovated a few houses with Noel, our own, and for others. The most interesting was some apartments in Puerto Rico for some friends. The most memorable was my parents’ house, the place I grew up in.

My Positives: The paint fumes carried memories of past projects and cherished times. I loved working with my dad, on the house I grew up in. For several weeks my dad and I worked in harmony and I ‘gave something back’, to a house that seemed to look after me and provide me with incredible memories. It was a very special time, for a many different reasons and I’m grateful for those memories.