DIY....

 Isn't as easy as it looks!

The other week, we bought some paper to replace the covering on the fusuma doors. These are the doors to the room we will use for teaching, the doors that the cats have destroyed. 

Fusuma doors

These doors are really bad; they were already bad before the cats got to them, but now they're even worse.

I thought it would just be a case of taking off the ripped part and putting on the new paper, but of course, it wasn't that easy.  David took the one door down, got the new paper, and then realised that there were some tools we needed. 

We ran out to the store where we had bought the paper, Nafco. I love this store, so many wonderful products for the home and garden, but no money to buy everything I want.

We found the tools alright, and we bought a new light for the room as well.

The old light.

The new light

Makes a lot of difference in the room, a lot brighter!

We also got lucky with a floor covering that I've been looking for. At the moment, we have an old green carpet over the tatami mats. That carpet is about 60 years old and, like me, is showing its age. I've tried to clean it, but it just doesn't look good. While we were in the store, we found a sale for a vinyl floor mat that will be a lot easier to keep clean! Once we have it laid, I'll take some photos. I'm really happy about that, as I was stressing about the old carpet!

When we got back, we had another go at changing the fusuma paper. I say we, but David did most of the work, with some help from the cats!

Frodo is making sure David is doing it tight

The edge of the door has a frame. That frame has to come off to put the new paper on. The frame was held in place with these long, thin nails. It took ages to get the frame off.

 

David finally got the frame off, took over 30 minutes. Putting the new paper on wasn't easy either! We ended up with all wrinkles on it. David said it matched my face!

Wrinkly door.

The paper isn't that expensive, and now that David knows what to do, he can try again! Or we could hire someone who knows what they are doing!

I had a lovely surprise yesterday. I received a package from a friend, a really lovely book on pilates!

My new book

I never thought of doing pilates, but just looking through this book, I think there are some exercises I can start with, as I get better, I can try some of the more difficult ones.

I've known this lady for years; she was one of the first foreigners I met here. Every day, she sends videos about exercise or healthy living. I try some of the exercises, and the videos on healthy living give me a lot to think about!

I'm glad that we are making some progress on the one room. It gives me hope that we can make this house nice and more livable!