Monday 6 July 2020

Freedom


Well this Saturday marked the beginning of a new phase of 'lockdown', the biggest relaxation of the rules yet.  Pubs and restaurants allowed to reopen, hairdressers finally allowed to sharpen their scissors to tidy up the nation and people allowed inside your house and not just in the garden.  

We embraced one of these, can you guess which one?

Thanks to a daughter who used to be a qualified hairdresser, we'd had a hair cut last weekend so we weren't one of those waiting patiently outside the hairdressers and barbers waiting to be called in for their well overdue appointment.  Neither were we the ones first though the doors of the local pub or restaurant - in fact our local pub isn't reopening until tonight, I wonder if they wanted to avoid the chaos of the first night of freedom?

We were the ones who opened their doors to their grandchildren and welcomed them inside their home!  Leo couldn't believe it when we told him he could come in through the front door instead of having to nip down the side path and stay in the garden.  Honestly, you know the expression 'bouncing off the walls'?  Well that was him, on the sofa, on the armchairs, upstairs in the bedrooms, he had to check that everything was as he remembered it.  It was so sweet hearing his 'I remember this' and 'oh, this is still here'.  Little does he know that when he finishes nursery at lunchtime, grandad will be there to pick him up and bring him back here for lunch!

Sunday was really blustery and it was nice to just be home, cooking a roast lamb lunch, reading the Sunday papers ...


Honestly, you can't leave a newspaper laying around for five minutes without Coco thinking it's a new blanket for her to lay on!

I finally got round to starting a new project at the end of last week.  One which has been on the 'to do' list for quite a while.  Our dining room furniture is about 18 years old and the chair seats are looking a little worse for wear.  The fabric is quite faded and marked and I've been thinking for a while that I could recover them myself.  But then I've got cold feet and thought it could be quite a disaster if it all goes horribly wrong.  I've looked at videos on youtube and I've googled 'reupholstering dining room chairs' for weeks and last week I took a deep breath and decided to order some fabric and a staple gun.  I found a website which sells Multiyork fabric - I guess it is either discontinued lines or end of rolls but either way it is lovely quality fabric for half the price of anywhere else I found. 

So I took a deep breath, asked Paul to help unscrew the current seats from the chair frame and cautiously started to remove the old fabric.  It was a bit nerve wracking, especially when it came to pleating the fabric round the corners but all in all, I'm quite pleased with the end result!


One down and three to go ...


5 comments:

Ruth said...

We didn't go anywhere near the pub, but I did go to the hairdresser. :) How sweet of Leo to remind himself of everything he hasn't seen for a few months - the lockdown period must seem endless to small people (given that it seems endless to most adults!)

Great job on the dining chair re-upholstery!

Patio Postcards said...

I like that Leo needed to go through the whole house to ensure things were as they should be. We still don't have indoor dining allowed & one of the cities closest to us has shut down their downtown area Thursday to Sunday to car traffic to allow restaurants to make big outdoor patio areas. I am surprised how well behaved everyone seems to be. You are lucky to have a professional with scissors in the family. Maybe that's the new norm, every member of the family needs to develop a skill set for possible future lock downs!

Your first chair re-upholstering looks very good, professional!

♥ Liz ♥ said...

How lovely that Leo was pleased that everything was just as he left it. We've booked in for a Sunday lunch in a few weeks time (making up for a missed Mothers and Fathers day) but if we don't feel happy with the way things have gone we may not go. I hope we do as it's been so long since we all went out together.

onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com said...

You are so clever. Your first chair looks splendid. I imagine the others turned out as well or even better. That fabric is very pretty. Our chairs are about 12 years old...ha, didn't realize they were that old. I pull them out on the patio and spray the cushions with the hose! Ha!

So excited that Leo was able to come inside!! What a treat. I appreciate how dear your grandbabies are to you. Seeing them is infinitely better than an appointment at the hairdresser's or a drink at the pub.

Jean S said...

Thanks for thhe post