Of rings and things

An odd and messy sort of day.  I am in the middle of sorting out the study to accommodate the new desk (that allows me to site down or stand up to work) and that means I have lost my old roll top desk with all of its storage.  Good news is that I can now look out to the beauty of the garden (for which I claim no credit that is all down to my wife Sheila's labours over the last two decade).  Either way it means that there are holes in the wall, and it needs repairing anyway so I cleared everything out and have spent the day with filler, sugar soap and sanders.  Tomorrow it will all get painted an off white to replace the yellow.  That will be tight as I have to get an evening flight to Vienna for a conference in Czechoslovakia and on to Hong Kong for the end of the week.  There is a satisfaction to decorating and a nice sense of completion when its done.

The other oddity of the day was collecting a new wedding ring after it had been made, and getting fitting for a signet ring.   Now this is not because I have got divorced and remarried it is a replacement for the original lost around 30 years ago on a hot sweaty day walking the Brecon Beacons.  Not only the wedding ring but also the signet ring (a bloodstone) which was a gift from my Grandmother.   In shall we say an active discussion some weeks ago it turned out my wife had assumed I had simply stopped wearing it and the resolution was to get a replacement.  So we selected it a few weeks ago and I collected it today – pictured.  I also selected the bloodstone and style for the new signet ring from the Jewellers in Lacock (of Harry Potter and Jane Austin filmset fame).  Its an outstanding place if you are ever in the area but not cheap.   

Net result I am now in paint spattered shorts and old IKM polo shirt (kept from the last decorating spate) but with a brand new gold band on my left had.   It's rather odd selecting a wedding ring within a week of being sixty with your wife of 36 years, but as I said it has been an odd messy sort of day.