I guess that I am a bit of a true curmudgeon, because I enjoy reading books and I prefer hard bound editions with marbled paper, deckled edges and ridges on the spine; and if possible leather bindings with gold lettering – nothing too fancy. I don’t own a Kindle, but I do own books. I even use an old-fashioned dictionary that my Mother bought for me that I still consult and have it sitting on its own stand. I have cryptically mentioned a project that I have been working on, that started before My Week of Hell and has just recently been completed.

We had an arabesque carpet in our library that was starting to show its age, so that is what began the project. One has no idea how much material stuff is owned in such a small room until one starts to move it out, so that the carpet could be pulled up, and then again that meant a new paint job as well. The books and the bookcases, the electric piano, a desk, a table, a dictionary stand and a hat tree all had to be moved out. Not to mention the art work, a silk tapestry that my Grandmother had brought with her from the old country and the drapes and hardware, everything was removed. The three chromatic shades of paint were bought to complement the tapestry, so we were all set to start once we removed the carpeting, so that we could begin search for a replacement carpet too. I slowly and carefully removed the quarter-round shoe moldings from the baseboards to facilitate the removal of the carpeting and I figured that it would be one less expense, if I removed the carpet. The carpet was finally removed and the padding under the carpet was magnificent, I had never seen a padding that had a plastic moisture barrier before and the padding removed in one piece and had not disintegrated even after all of the steam cleanings and shampoos that the carpet had been subjected to over the years. There was an almost pristine hardwood floor underneath and we decided to go with it, instead of new carpeting. We rented a floor sander, bought some special respirators to save us from the fumes of the urethane that we had to apply three times with sanding in between to get a good finish. Yes, I guess I am a geek as well, as the first time I had the air respirator mask on, I looked at my Bride and said “Luke, I am your Father.” With the ceiling, walls and trim freshly painted and the floors finished to our satisfaction, we had to wait seventy-two hours before we could put everything back and we were working against the calendar, because we are having the usual crowd for Easter dinner here. The room is done.

If this hadn’t been Lent, and I am trying to be nice to my Bride who gave up wine for the season I would have opened up a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the completion. I have to be happy for the moment and produce a label from a bottle that may have been appropriate for the occasion. The label was from a split of Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut NV. Duval-Leroy was established in 1859 and is one of the few Champagne Houses that is still family owned and they are located in the Cotes des Blancs region. The Champagne is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay and this wine is their basic brand as they offer many other choices as well. If anyone asks: Colonel Mustard with the Candlestick in the Library. In a few more days, I can toast the room properly as well as the Season and I wish all that celebrate a wonderful Easter Sunday.