Chaos Reigns

 This is because we have the builders in, 

It was planned - sort of. Ages ago the OH's  office shelves  collapsed. Quite entertaining in its way. Anyway the reason they collapsed was that the plaster board to which they were affixed was crumbling to dust and there was nowhere to get any purchase on them to re-site the shelves. We reported this to the builder we always use and he'd been promising to come and replace the plasterboard, and  rip out all the pine cladding on a couple of the other walls as well for ages. Since before he came and did the byre last autumn really. Getting rid of the cladding incidentally  was a very pleasing prospect because the amount of pine cladding there was in this house when we bought it you wouldn't believe. The rest has all gone, but bits lingered in the OH's office - largely because of the home owners  conundrum; you don't make the rooms you use the most nice because, well, you're using them, Every day. So his office and my study are the only two rooms in the house that haven't been redecorated since we moved in, and perhaps the collapsing shelves were the universe's way of telling us it was about time we faced up to the horror of clearing stuff out of the way so we could let the decorators loose. 

Anyway the builder finally came yesterday but, rather than just replacing the plaster boarding, he is taking sown the whole wall. Lest you think he's done this just because he felt like it I hasten to add that he talked it through with us and we agreed to it, largely because there is a two foot gap behind the wall, and taking down the wall  will mace the room two feet wider. Which is quite a lot. It also means it will need a new carpet, but let's think about that when  we get to it. It will be a much nicer room with all the extra space, which is what I am holding onto as the work gets noisier, and the house fills up with sandstone dust. All worth it in the end.