There are drunk Irish people wandering around our campus, I cannot park to go to uni (at least, I couldn’t today), there are girls from ladbrokes dressed as jockeys in town handing out flyers, everyone in the butcher’s today had Guinness breath, there are a lot of idiots wandering around in the middle of the road and there are a lot of chauffeurs around Pittville Park with smart suits and scruffy shoes!!  Welcome to race week.  I love the atmosphere around town in the day, but I do not much enjoy the early evenings of race week.

One thing surprises me…  Every year, people say, in astonished tones, “It took me an hour and a half to get past the racecourse today!!” as if this is news.  It happens every single year!!!

Yesterday, as part of our group project, Fab and I decided that we needed to do something fun!  So we decided to decorate a lampshade in the style of a FAB lolly (Yes this was actually part of our project!) in the middle of the computer room, much to Tim’s delight (Tim is the IT guy).

The bathroom is almost finished!!  It has been a stressful journey, but the end is in sight.  All that remains is to fit a door knob on the cupboard and to fit the new light.  The carpet is still pink (and now splattered with paint – to be replaced asap), the toilet and sink are still green and the tiles are still a vile shade of peach, but it all looks better than it did.  PHEW!  Now for the rest of the house….

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Paint: Natural Hessian (Dulux) vs. White Gloss (B&Q value!!)

Mirror/shelf: IKEA

Bathroom cabinet, shelves/towel rail: Argos

New bin, peculiar storage unit/toilet roll dispenser and toilet brush

New shower curtain with the correct number of rings on it

I was absolutely mortified, when I received this image from Dave Dorey.  He was chatting to me on Facebook and my status had said; “Naomi Turner is eating a GREAT BIG MUFFIN” (indeed, it was a delicious double chocolate chip one!!).  Unfortunately when you look at your list of online friends, Facebook abbreviates your status to make it fit.  The result was somewhat unfortunate!!! (Disastrous in fact…)

I do not like renting.  Especially when you are getting on with some work in the study with the window open and you jump out of your skin because someone is tramping up your garden.  You leap up ready to launch a water bomb that you have at the ready, for such occasions and realise that the landlady is in your garden, ‘doing things’.  What is she doing?!  She appears to be packing green bags full of tree cuttings from yesterday’s tree surgery exercise. Very kind, but why does she not tell us she is coming?!  You can’t just walk into people’s gardens?!  I could have been walking round the kitchen naked!!  As I do regularly…. haha only joking!

Landlady.  One black mark.

Why is it, that nobody can spell “definitely”?  Defernatly, definately etc….  D.E.F.I.N.I.T.E.L.Y.  </rant>

Today I have a migraine.  And frankly, I am not surprised!!  I have far too much on…  Here is the lowdown:

UNI:

This month I have the following to submit:

1.  I have to amend and print my design award entries, as my tutor would like me to enter both of my attempts.  These are approximately 15 sheets of A3 each.

2.  Fab, Annie and I have to produce a video for a concept for our graphics room for the degree show and also a concept for our stand at D&AD London and a further concept for our show in Soho.  (If any of these concepts win, we also have to go ahead and make them!)

3.  I have an entire module where we are supposed to come up with an identity for ourselves and cerate something to mail out to companies, a web site, a CV and portfolio.  My tutor has suggested, that, since I won’t be applyign for jobs, I should brand my company instead and come up with a mailer to send to businesses pitching for work instead of ‘a job with a deisgn agency’ (if that makes sense?)  Good idea, but REALLY difficult.

4.  Annie and I met with a great designer yesterday in HA! HA! bar, to discuss one of our portfolio projects, which we need to finish by the end of the month.  We are branding Cheltenham!!  No small task.  So I need to do some photoshoots and LOADS of design work.

I then have one month to produce two portfolios and prepare for four shows.  Arrgggghhhh!!

FREELANCE:

I have two web sites to finish and two more to make from scratch, along with some print work and other bits of design.  I am also trying to plan out how my business is going to work (God is good, it is all coming together which is very exciting!)

HOUSE:

Bomb site.  Let’s not talk about it!

Needless to say, I am a little stressed.

Well I am pleased to report that the bathroom is approximately half finished!  We had serious problems with the walls, which, upon removing the wallpaper, we discovered were about as level as a farm track!!  Instead of doing the sensible thing and getting a plasterer in, we decided to try to fix them ourselves!!  Ooops.  I spent AGES with polyfilla, plaster repair filler, crack covering paint, a power sander etc etc (then JT finished off with polyfilla) trying to make something vaguely level.  When we hang up the bathroom cabinet, a large mirror and some shelves, it might just about be passable.
Here we are at 50% completion…. We need another layer of paint, another layer of gloss, new flooring (eventually), to fit the new light fitting, to buy and hang a new bathroom cabinet (I cannot BELIEVE how much these cost?!!), re-hang the shelves, hang up a mirror, hang the new shower curtain and fit a new blind.  After this, it should look vaguely nicer apart from the green suite coupled with a white bath and peach tiles combo.