Have you ever worked hard on a problem to find more problems? When do you stop the “keep going” attitude? How far is too far? It seems like every step forward costs an arm and a leg, emotionally and financially.

I feel like a letdown. Rent is too high. Outgoings leave less than 20% for disposable income. Decorating frantically, problematic historic piping, wiring, and plastering are amongst the catalogue of challenges. The list goes on and on. Dividing rooms by to-do-lists, coupling with preparations, or bits here and there, seem to be cutting some grass, but then new grasses grow.

Focusing on the bathroom, that’s in hand. Some floor tiling and wall tiling are needed. A panel beneath the bar and a few minor bits. In hand. Heating and piping ca. Be resolved later. And a new shower cubicle. An okay shower and bath are available. Separate toilet room, okay – again a few tiling and flooring bits. Skirting boards all need doing.

The kitchen. Argh! New cabinets and sink, with tiles, all in boxes. Legacy sink, hanging by a thread. Oven fitted. Fridge-freezer standing tall. Walls are a disaster. Ceiling, patchy. Loads to do. A major hurdle. Skirting boards all need doing.

Box bedroom, boxed off, less carpet and heating. Back bedroom, boxed off, less carpet and wardrobe, and, yes, the skirting boards all need doing. Front bedroom: no go zone – not a task for now. Forbidden to entry. Upstairs landing and attic completed, save skirting and door frames that need a lock of paint.

Stairway to heaven-ish? Needs full painting. Lobby and front door/porch: full attention needed. Lounge: skirting and window frames, with carpets needed. Garden: for another day. Greenhouse: overgrown, and certainly work for later. Hedges: is it Eve dry enough to cut them?!

So, little by little, slowly, slowly, and painfully, the improvements turn to movements, but it all seems impossible. It isn’t. I know that. It just feels like pissing into the wind. It’ll get there. Seemingly impossible tasks always do, if you don’t give up.