Week 143: curtains

Monday 13 December 2021

• Took a slightly grubby curtain to be dry cleaned. The Timpsons man warned of possible shrinkage, and I said that was OK because they were too big anyway, and signed a waiver. Waited a whole week to collect them, which length of time wasn’t too upsetting because the other, less dirty curtain of the pair is just about wide enough to cover the whole bedroom window. They never did text as promised to say they’re ready, but that’s OK, maybe there was an error in transcribing my phone number.

  Rehung the curtain, knocking over a potted plant, to find that the lining had stuck together and is in much worse nick than before. Drat. Searching the web, I find some dunces like those on Mumsnet who had the same thing happen when they were stupid enough to try machine washing and even tumble drying their curtains, but I wasn’t that stupid, remember I’d heeded the label’s “dry clean only” warning. But sensible people’s curtains getting ruined by dry cleaning is a thing that happens too – apparently the curtains’ fault, not the dry cleaners’.

  So eventually I’ll buy some new curtains. It doesn’t feel urgent, cos the curtains’ excessive size means they can be arranged cleverly to hide the damage. It’d be nice to get some nice ones, certainly more appropriately sized ones, maybe even blinds, but like-for-like (cheap and nasty polyester monstrosities) is probably the way to go cos they’re the landlord’s curtains really, and it’ll probably be cheaper than/as cheap as the dry cleaning was in the first place.

• Experiencing a Lindt chcocolate advent calendar, which is the height of western decadence. Their supposed chocolate reindeers aren’t fooling anyone, they’re Easter bunnies in a thin disguise aren’t they.