it seemed such a simple task!!!

I'd read the instructions, I'd checked to make sure I had all the fittings, I'd charged the drill, bought some pre-made polyfiller to fill the holes I knew there would be, measured and re-measured and generally prepared myself for the simplest of tasks - to remove the old pine curtain pole in my bedroom and to replace with a lovely new pewter/metal one and hang a lovely new pair of curtains to match the new bedding range I bought a few weeks ago.

So, at 10am, I removed the first of the screws holding the old pole to the wall...well...I say 'holding', it pretty much fell apart as soon as the first screw was removed, along with a rather large piece of plaster!

Now, to be fair, this wasn't wholly unexpected as this part of the curtain pole had been slowly sinking into the old paster wall over a few years! Not entirely sure the pre-made polyfiller will do the trick - the pot says its good for filling cracks upto 10mm deep - I'm guessing the hole the pole left behind was 1 - 2 inches deep!!! still...

With all remaining old brackets and subsequent holes removed and 'filled' I set about drilling the marked holes for the shiny new brackets.

Hole for bracket number one went a-ok... rawl plug inserted, bracket and screw inserted... wasn't 100% fixed but ok for the first one...

Problems arose for the second bracket.

Drilled the first hole for the rawl plug.  Was a little 'concerned' with the apparent ease in which the drill bit sank into the wall, but maybe I was just getting used to the pressure needed right?!?!?

Drilled the second hole...which suddenly turned into one BIG hole after the plaster crumbled around the drill bit and joined up with the first hole!

Tidied up said crater with a rather large amount of filler....again, I'm aiming to disprove the '10mm' limit on the pot!

Popped the kettle on for a cuppa and re-think.  Was at the point of no return - didn't want to drill more holes that would grow into unmanageable 'air ducts' to the outside world, but nor did I relish the thought of having no curtains at the bedroom window for the next who knew how long!

So, quick 'status update' on my FB page and 2 minutes later Dad was on the phone...and round my house with his industrial drill, drill bits, assorted rawl plugs, screws, measures, levels....and 60 minutes and 2 large cups of tea later - success!!! One new curtain pole with new curtains ironed and hung :-)

Dad even complimented me on my excellent measuring and re-assured me that I'd done everything right, it was just that the wall was out to get me (the house is over 150 years old and we don't think the walls in the bedroom have been re-plastered in all that time (the bits that fell out still had horse hair in them!!) and the fixings supplied with the pole weren't really up to the job (would have been if the plaster was in better condition or in a newer house).

It just goes to show...doesn't matter how much of a feminist with power tools I think I am (I did build my bed the other week single handedly after all!) there are still times when a girl needs her Dad! :-)

New shiny curtain pole and beautiful new curtains...now to find some time to re-paint the walls