Both the rewards and penalties of buying an old house like Le Presbytere can be summed up in the ceiling of our biggist bedroom, which we have started to call The Family Room.

When we bought the house there was a low ceiling in this room (which was actually two rooms which had been devided from its original about 100 years before)

In the course of removing the partition wall and turning it back to the size originally planned we discovered that the false hung ceiling concealed a beautiful classic ceiling with plastered moulded beams.

Some parts fairly damaged

And others rather pleasantly bockety.

The penalty has been happening over the last two days as Colm and I armed with scrapers and tons of Spackle (Pollyfilla) are attempting to achieve a surface to which some paint will adhere.

All this of course has to be done a la Michaelangelo on scaffolds and ladders with the arms always above the head.

There are moments I must confess that I wonder whether we shouldn’t have left well alone.