Annoyed and upset me, having the painter messing about (2,1,6)
I believe the answer is:
in a temper
'annoyed and upset' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'me having the painter messing about' is the wordplay.
'having' says to put letters next to each other.
'messing about' indicates anagramming the letters.
'me'+'painter'='mepainter'
'mepainter' is an anagram of 'IN A TEMPER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for in a temper that I've seen is " cross".)