Painting the ceiling

I'm working on getting the farmhouse tidy for May, when the first visitors arrive. Today, I was finishing off a ceiling. It seems to have been a special ceiling paint. Ordinary ceiling paint is designed not to drip, while this special one has dripped and run all over the place. Possible it was because I didn't stir it. Notrmal paints tell you, usually quite fiercely, that you either have to stir them (and stir them well), or alternatively that you should under no circumstances stir them at all. This B&Q product kept entirely schtum, though it did suggest that some older paints might constain lead, that a pamphlet was available describing the associated hazards of old lead paint, and that I should take great care if using sandpaper on an old surface.

The hazards I normally try to avoid include falling off the stepladder, so I prefer to use a (OK, yes, rickety) scaffolding arrangement:



That said (the "rickety" bit) the platform between the stepladders is very heavy, and difficult to move, so I tell myself it's unlikely to wobble over easily.

And here is a man at work:



A first attempt at this picture produced a man with a large glass head with flowers on.