Finishing the floor at 208

There’s still lots of little things to do in the upstairs room – like fill small holes on floor and wall, put in the marble skirting, seal and protect the wood with a satin varnish that doesn’t spoil its appearance, paint walls and ceiling, clean up two window frames, fix marble fireback to the wall, add curtains and furniture, cushions and carpets… The main preparation’s been done with the hardest work yesterday and today. Aln helped us cart the floor sander hired in Corfu town upstairs and took over the sanding. (pic) What a pleasure to see the old varnish coming off to reveal the cypress. Three hours solid rumbling of the sander with several changes of paper and then the machine was hurried back to the rental shop. While Lin went shopping for a nitrose cellulose sealant recommended by Aln I used the angle grinder with sanding disk to finish all round the edges. Dusty. Next day, after collecting the marble skirting from the factory on the Paleocastritsa road north of Davros, we struggled with fitting the attic access frame. That job mainly done, I set about final sanding of the floor – a few bits still needed it – smoothing the ceiling where old leaks had raised plaster around cracks, and taking the roughness of Lambros’ rendering round the arch. Cement and wood dust everywhere and a plastic sheet blocking the stairwell. All windows opened to clear the air and dust swept up, then Lin set about the job of applying filler in and around cracks, screw holes and other blemishes – work that will take hours.
The other day Lin mentioned getting an ice box and we pondered the remote idea of picnics overlooking the sea or on beaches sipping wine and reading books - an eccentric idea but at least superficially attractive.
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The afternoon - Sunday - Thannassis Spigos, co-creator of the Ano Korakiana website is coming for tea. Good news, broken to us by Leftheris' daughter last night.
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In Birmingham Amy reports a suspect device in Bull Street that was assembled to look like a bomb - but wasn't. This is an area where many people gather to catch their buses. She also told us a car had driven at her on New Street, then proceeded to drive up the ramp where the driver surrendered to two of her colleagues.
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Our friend Jill arrives from England on a late flight tomorrow.