Modern Bathrooms

and loos and taps and sinks etc are utterly hopeless. Designed by some narcissistic idiot, the fittings are different (and usually expensive and nasty but cheaply made) for every type of loo, tap and bath and sink - and there are countless different types. So it is difficult to replace them. My sink is hopeless: it looks good but unless you are careful the water splashes all over the bathroom and the plug arrangement is so hopeless I have had to replace it with an ordinary plug. Ditto the bath plug. The bath connections are so bad that the bath has leaked into the guest bedroom on numerous occasions because things have become disconnected underneath, the large plate-like shower caked up and started spraying all over the bathroom so had to be replaced and now, for the final touch, I managed to get a new loo seat from Bathstore, only to discover that the old one is fixed in some modern way so it cannot be removed without two (very strong) people. I spent hours trying to do it yesterday, and despite using the right screwdriver, I suspect I have ruined the bits you unscrew. I finally had to ring the plumber who will charge a fortune and can't come for a week. All my (long) life until the last fifteen years or so, there were ordinary, fairly standard, baths, sinks, loos etc with fairly standard fittings. A loo seat took five minutes to replace. I suppose there was a reason for all this. It worked. Now, not only are things difficult to change and replace, but often they don't work very well in the first place. Rant over. Anyway my last very charming and easygoing guest has moved on and I now have a young guy here to work for a few weeks locally. So far he is also very pleasant and unobtrusive. However the photographers are coming on Friday. I looked at the place with new eyes and realised that gutting the place, buying new modern furniture and total redecoration was not an option. I proceeded to attempt to hide most of my stuff. So far I have tackled the bathroom and kitchen which are passable. The living room is a work in progress. I also had a bit of a go in the hopelessly mucky garden, as in the right season, this could be an asset, but has been untouched all winter so presents rather a challenge. On Saturday we went to Saatchi. Francesca and I decided to sketch in a rather unprepossing cafe until the rather officious staff became a bit bolshy, so we left and sketched outside for a bit, eventually decamping to Peter Jones to meet some of the others, and ending up in a pub for a chat. Found a bus (360) which comes all the way to Elephant & Castle. Must use this again because it is quicker than the tube, being more direct. Today is an open day at the Cinema Museum which I am looking forward to.