Have you ever painted your entire house?  Have you ever painted your entire house all at once?  You are probably thinking that doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend Thanksgiving weekend and you would be correct.  Oh how correct you are.

But.  When you have the electricians coming next week (allegedly), the appliances being delivered and the following week the carpets are going in, well painting has to be done.  In order for the final fix of electrical to go in the ceilings and wall need to be primed and, ideally, the ceilings painted.  That’s a lot of painting.  We (and when I say we I clearly mean mainly Stephen with a bit of Emmalina assistance and company keeping) went through 8 gallons of paint since yesterday.  Probably more by now as Stephen is still painting.  Oh and that doesn’t include the paint that Stephen used when working late all week.

To top it off the weather was stunning.  Amazing.  The best weather ever, and we were stuck inside painting, as were the children as they can’t be trusted near the still to be covered up septic bed without supervision and they seem drawn to it likes moths to a…well you can imagine.

It could have sucked.   It didn’t.

For lots of reasons really.   We were all together, we were all together for 3 days, we could see the good weather and enjoy it on brief trips outside and through the windows, we were painting the house we are going to live in for a really long time.  And we are moving in 3 weeks, let’s not forget that part.

Then Stephen had the genius idea of building an outdoor stove out of breeze blocks.   I’m telling you I don’t know how all of his brains fit in his head sometimes.  On a Value Village trip I bought plates and cutlery as well as a grill that fit our bbq perfectly.  I just love the zen of thrifting.  So on Saturday we had a mini bbq and yesterday I cooked tortellini over the flames (avidly watched by a certain 6 year old pyromaniac).

Last night, under the light of a gibbous moon, we cranked up the fire again and ate takeaway pizza and baked beans warmed over the flames.  In the darkness the debri of the building site disappeared, leaving instead our family circled around the glowing logs.  The boys were in heaven, sitting out there in the darkness with a real fire blazing away; Stephen and I shared a few moments of (relative) peace, our exhausted brains freshened up by the warm autumn winds and our hearts lifted by the knowledge that we are only weeks away from burning as many logs as we want whenever we want, outside or inside.

It’s amazing to me how something so simple can make all the difference in the world.  I hope I never forget our special little gathering.

Happy Thanksgiving to all xxx