I'm a tiny bit worried that the initial burst of enthusiasm - that has lasted 3 months - on the part of the builders etc is wearing off. There are definitely noticeably fewer people there each day, which is widely considered to be a sign that they've gone onto other sites. Still, so much progress has been made, I will hold on to my belief that they know what they are doing. All the bedrooms are ready for their final coat of paint and have the beginnings of polished floors (first round of sanding with a rough sand, then one more with a fine sand before being sealed up with some incredibly polluting and hardwearing varnish that would keep a boat buoyant on the high seas for a couple of years, so jolly well ought to withstand the abuse meted out by my three children). The Farrow and Ball, lugged back from London last week with only one casualty (yes, the paint might be good but the pots split open if you so much as tap them with your little toe. Luckily it was my dad not me spilled it over his hall carpet. and who then used a blue cloth to dab white spirit on, thus ensuring that a fairly innocuous patch of off white paint on an off white carpet that has seen better days turned electric blue and means they now have no choice but to replace the carpet).

I was at the house on Saturday morning, talking to Floor Polisher Guy. I said how pleased I am with how the work is going; FPG replied, 'Madame, everyone likes working for you, that's why everyone is working so hard. If they like you, they enjoy working. If they don't, you know it.' Quite simply, the nicest thing anyone has said to me for a very long time.