No, this isn't a DIY blog...

...which might seem strange given the title. I wanted to write about the daily madness and new experiences that come from setting up a home on your own, sans partner, with two kids. Now though I fit into the bracket of  'single mother' I feel a bit old to hold such a title. I mean, I'm just about middle aged now, so my kids tell me.

No, the reason for the title, is that despite the fact I was always an independent kind of gal/wife, I have never, ever, picked up a drill. It just seemed to be one of those gadgets that categorically WAS. NOT. FOR. ME. I mean, I could wield a hammer, paint stripping gun, a lawnmower (actually, that's a lie. I promise, that was the only other thing in my previous incarnation I didn't use. Well, and an electric saw, but now we're talking very big boy toys so I think that's excused...) Anyway, you get the idea. But the time came when I realised if I could only get half of the things propped against walls UP on the walls I'd actually have a kind of unpacked and sorted new house.

Like any good grown up, I researched the best one, looking at power levels and number of attachments and in the end bought one that fitted my criteria perfectly - I could get in Argos on the way home and had enough Nectar points to pay for it. There was a slight anti-climax when I got home and slightly breathelessly plopped open the very professional looking box, only to find I had to charge the damn thing for hours before I could use it. Pah.

Anyway, I won't bore you with the intricate details of what I did (suffice to say my first job was to hang a hand carved wooden 'dove from above' that my lovely friend's hubby had made me for my birthday months and months ago and had just been sitting on the floor waiting to soar). Within about 3 minutes of taking aim and a deep breathe, my beautiful dove was flying high on my porch wall exactly as it should be. And I burst into tears. Such liberation and pride! Or silly bugger, whichever way you want to look at it.