Week 41: Exterminate
I took out an old but familiar cardigan only to find some holes in the front. I wore it an awful lot over the past eighteen months, and it’s possible that I caught it on something, but it looks suspiciously like clothes moths to me.
In response, I immediately ordered a bumper pack of extermination supplies with next-day delivery. I washed all my jumpers, vacuumed and smoke bombed the bedroom, and placed anti-moth paraphernalia in all the sections of the wardrobe. In retrospect, fumigating the room before we moved in would have been a quick and easy prophylaxis in case the previous occupants had gifted us anything, but it’s easy to say that now.
I can’t see any moth damage to anything else, so I’m hoping I’ve caught it in time.
My blood test results came back and my iron levels are back within the normal range, so there doesn’t seem to be anything else wrong. That’s reassuring, but if I’m to keep giving blood I’ll have to find a way to replenish my iron.
I painted the last section of wall around the radiator in the living room. I hadn’t been able to do it originally because I needed a tiny brush, and even though it was just a small area, it took me until now to get around to it.
Unfortunately, it’s still not finished, because after painting it I noticed that the previous layers had been painted straight over some masking tape. I’ve removed the tape and cleaned the wall, but it will need a bit of work to flatten it out. Coloured paint – even very pale colours – really highlights the imperfections in a way that white doesn’t.
On Saturday evening, we went to see Billy Nomates live at the MOTH Club. This was another one of the gigs I had optimistically booked earlier in the year in the hope that there would be better days ahead. And there were! We were lucky enough to get into the venue in time to grab a place in one of the booths at the side, with a fine view of the stage, a place to rest our pints, and a seat to rest our agèd bones while watching the support act and main event.
It was an unusual kind of show: just her, on stage, with a microphone and prerecorded backing tracks. But if that makes it sound like karaoke, it wasn’t: she put a lot of energy into her performance, never even standing still for a moment. The arrangements were a bit different from the album, with more repetitive beats. So it was more than just a sing-through of the album, with arrangements suited to the context.
I bought a Christmas pudding because they were available and I had space to carry it home and they last forever and who knows what will run out this year.