PAINTING

This weekend is devoted to painting (plus sport-watching, Tour de France and Wimbledon). The local cinema renovation project started on Monday with the the removal of all of the existing chairs, not an easy job since they had been bolted into the concrete floor back in 1982 and some of the bolts were stuck fast. Still, my neighbour and I managed to get them all out eventually, even if it did involve a fair amount of sweat.

While I was in London, the builder rendered the existing bare brickwork. So yesterday I was able to prime it with an undercoat, and then today I and two others painted it all black. It didn't take as long as I expected, since we were finished by 3pm, just in time for the Ladies' singles final.

Tomorrow we give it a second coat, so the auditorium is ready for the next stage on Monday. A carpenter will come and start building a wooden structure that gives a bigger slope for the new seats. So far we are keeping to the timetable, but it's early days yet.

Walter Blotscher