Kitchen Warzone 5

Hurrah!

Paul is a complete DIY GOD - I kid you not!

I went out to work this morning and when I got home at 2.30 this afternoon, he had moved all of the pipework that had made him so grumpy before.

He is a marvel - an no girls you cannot have him - HE's MINE!!!

So now, it's all systems go and with any luck we can actually finish the next wall of kitchen units.

Bank Holiday Barbie

It's been ages since we had a BBQ, the last time was when Kel visited, so as the weather was so beautiful, and this was the last day of my holiday, but Bank Holiday weekend for the rest of Britain, we thought what the heck!

Jamie and Phill arrived on Friday night for the week, so we got everyone up here, including the dogs, and set about the serious business of eating.

before this however I made everyone work for their lunch - they had to erect the gazebo for me whilst I worked wonders on 2 foot of old work surface, with a salad and a bag of rice done in the microwave!

of course we all ate loads and then followed that with huge amounts of pudding - and I mean huge! chocolate eclairs, tiramisu and cookies and cream haagen daas ice cream, YUM!

Great to see you guys !

A Little Garden Pottering Does Wonders For The Soul

As a little respite from the horror that is my home at the moment, I decided to have a little 5 minute potter in my garden, digging over my new planter, and checking on my baby bedding plants.

Above is one of the gazinia's that Alison gave me - I had no idea what these looked like, and am amazed at how beautiful they are.....

The busy lizzy's are just starting to flower

and the petunia's are opening up and showing me what colours I have planted

and my beautiful daisy's are going from strength to strength...

Enough is enough...

At about 10pm last night, after all the plumbing was completed and we had tidied up all the rubbish, I pushed the dishwasher back into position ready for Paul to start the next unit today.

HORROR of horrors - major major problem. The plumbing for the cold and hot water pipes, fell to high for the back of the dishwasher and it could therefore not sit flush with the wall, therefore allowing for the door space in front to fit flush under the work surface when it comes!

Paul said a few choice words, Fred wondered what the heck was going on, all he wanted was his evening walk, which was an hour late, and I looked on in panic, wondering how to calm poor Paul down from his apoplectic rage!

and so, as I have already said, enough is enough . I banned Paul from doing any work at all on the kitchen today, and we would have some us time. (after all this is the last couple of days of our holiday).

We had a lazy morning watching a DVD that I had bought in the week (In her Shoes), which even Paul enjoyed, and then had a drive into Truro for a mooch around the shops.

I spent a fortune in M&S on new lingerie, and then we went to our favourite little bistro, The Lounge, at the back of Truro Catherdal, for lunch.

It was a lovely relaxing day, however, Paul could not shut him mind off from the task yet to come in the kitchen - a complete plumbing overhaul, dropping the pipes about 14 inches to sit below the pipe line on the dishwasher.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and we can start all over again!

Kitchen Warzone 4

So now that we know how everything is to be placed, it means that Paul needed to do some plumbing work to make everything fit.

Whilst he was doing this, I was painting the walls that I was able to get to, in the new soft olive colour that we had chosen. Now anyone that knows me even slightly, will be aware that I do not do green in houses! I was all greened out during my childhood and it put me off for life, or so I thought.


The funny thing is, that the whole time that this vision was forming in my head, the walls were always going to be green, all be it very pale and soft, but never-the-less green..... Go Figure!!!

Kitchen Warzone 3

Not so much a warzone now I'm glad to say.

The white goods arrived at lunchtime, just after the electrician had finished putting in our extra sockets.

Paul finished fixing the back wall of units to the wall, and then we had a break whilst Sally-Ann and Mike came over for a cuppa and a check up on how it's going.

I think Paul is a lot calmer now that Mike has talked his words of wisdom, and suddenly it starts to come together.

We unpacked the fridge and freezer from their boxes and placed everything where it will ultimately end up, just top get an idea of how it will all go.

The relief is tangible as we can see that my original master plan that worked so well in my head all those months ago (and years if I'm honest, since we moved in) will actually work how I imagined.

Phew - not much more now, and as we have a fixed wall in place I can used an old bit of work surface to produce our delightful microwave meals on, although, as you can see I have now progressed to being able to use my oven again - Woo Hoo!

Radon Survey

Back in January, we were contacted by the local council to see if we would be interested in taking part in a survey for them, to check on radon in the area.

When we moved here we were aware that Cornwall is very much affected by Radon, and had decided that we would have the test done - we just had not got around to it. So when we were asked if we could like it done for free we jumped at the chance.

The test units have now been up for 3 months and today I have posted them back for the scientific bit to see if our home is 'safe' or not. I have to say, I am now quite nervous as to what the outcome will be - not that it would make me ever want to move!

The results will be sent to us in about 4 weeks - fingers crossed we are all clear eh!

Kitchen Warzone 2

With units still in the living room, they were bound to get filled with all sorts of rubbish under the circumstances, but who knew that Fred would add himself to the list of items in the cupboard! Can you see him???

Today, after finally doing the last bit of sanding of some new bits of plaster, I was able to do the very last bit of painting in the base colour of white. Then Paul started to place the units into their rightful positions....

They then all needed a little cutting about to fit around the gas pipes....

but Fred was not daunted - he found the new living accommodation for his beloved 800mm unit! He soon jumped out when he saw that I'd spotted him!

Fairy Godmother

I'm so excited... I've just been asked if I would like to be Dylan's Godmother.

Of course - I promptly burst into tears! Then I was just overwhelmed at the honour of being asked!

I'm so excited and cannot wait to see my new little God Son and his lovely Mummy.

Luvya loads chick x

Holiday?

Our holiday started on Friday..... Somehow we have not managed to organise ourselves well enough to actually go away to our van in Somerset (Blue Anchor or BAH).

The kitchen, which we ordered 2 days before Paul was put onto short time, was delivered, and we are now in a situation where we can start to fit it.

And so, instead of heading off up the motorway on Friday afternoon, we started to pull out the old kitchen units.

For those of you that read regularly, you will already be aware that the wall cupboards and tiles came off last week (along with a trip to the hospital for Paul). Paul's stitches are now out, the electrician is booked for next Thursday the 21st and the integrated freezer and integrated fridge are due to delivered by Argos on the 21st also...... It's all systems go, so we may as well stay here and see it through.

Paul is laying the last bit of flooring today, he got a good start on it late yesterday, and then we shall sand and paint the walls before placing the units in a test before the fixing can begin.

Onwards and upwards....


I don't think Colin and Justin are very impressed by my decorating of the lounge at the moment!

Dinner with Friends

Sharon and Mike, our friends from the MX-5 owners club, asked us over to dinner tonight along with some other 5Er's.

We were both really looking forward to meeting up with everyone, as we have had to drastically curtail our club activities due to Paul's short hours at work, so it was a nice chance for us to catch up and have a good gossip.

We went over on the King Harry ferry and had a wonderful view of some of the large ships that are resting there.

Sharon and Mike live in a beautiful 19th century round house in Veryan on the Roseland Peninsular, quite possibly the most beautiful area you could visit in Cornwall, let alone live in.

Sharon has made their beautiful quirky cottage into an amazingly cosy and welcoming home, and along with these great surroundings, we had the bonus of spending time with friends, and not having to cook!

We had a fantastic night - thanks guys - I just hope that I have not inflicted the cold I have onto anyone!

Especially for Marg!

I hope that this little lot manages to keep you going for a few minutes Marg.... I feel well and truly told off - apologies for not updating sooner xx

Anyway not much gossip but....... I watched the latest episode of Greys Anatomy this morning (shown in the States on Thursday evening) - Episode 22 of Season 5!

There are only another 2 episodes to go and I don't know what i shall do when it ends.....

A marriage, a fatal illness, a death (possibly), Denny Duquet back again - Oh no.... not good not good (even though he is gorgeous), and love lorn glances from two total opposites!

Roll on next week for Episode 23 ! ! Where are you at in the saga - can I talk about it yet??

I expect and hope to receive some comments on here from you - and don't say you don't know how! I even created the account for you...... Love you loads Mom, J x

Mr Bodgetastic

Just after Paul's little incident we noticed something amiss with the wiring around the light fitting

The cheeky monkey who owned the house before us, did a real bodge job linking in another wire and sitting it just below the surface of the tiles....

down across the floor in front of the back door, just underneath the peel off kitchen floor tiles and back up the wall and through the connecting wall.

I think the electrician that we are getting in to add some more sockets is going to have a field day trying to fix this little botch up!

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Blood and Gore...

For those of you with a nervous disposition look away now...

For the rest of you ghouls, who are like me, check out what happened to Paul this avo when a rogue tile decided not to come away from the wall without a fight.

You will be pleased to know that I waited until the cleaning process had been completed and the blood had stopped flowing quite so freely before I took the first photo's...

A lovely deep gouge on his left hand above his thumb...

As steri strips would not last 5 minutes on Paul because of his job, John the chap who saw to Paul decided to go with the real deal - sutures - John reckoned on about 5

In went the anaesthetic...

Then the stitches started to go in

Very impressively it actually took 7 stitches to pull the gash together

and here endeth the story of the kitchen so far....

One more scar to add the the collection methinks Mr L

Ground Force 4....

Finishing touches were applied to my lovely planter, in the form of the shaping on the top, and it had its first coat of white paint before being refilled with soil.

and then it was a trip to the garden centers and Trago for a few nice shrubs - My friend Alison also supplied me with loads of lovely little bedding plants that she had grown from seed ...

in they all went...

My lilac - so that I can get some fairies back at the bottom of the garden - What do you mean you don't believe in fairies - sacralidge LOL. We had one of these in the front garden of the house I lived in as a small child, I always loved their scent.

pretty purple petunias, busy lizzies, gazinias....

and Escallonia Red Tide

and Cape Daisy's - I love these as my Dad gave us some when we moved into the house before the last one, not long before he passed away - I love their pretty violet colour and their eagerness to spread and reach the sun light.

Kitchen Warzone

Just as I put a chicken biriani on the stove top to simmer, Paul decided now was the time to start tearing apart the kitchen to make way for the new one. Firstly the wall cabinets came down...

Then the very badly fitted tiles came off...

He is working around the top half first then will pull the base units out at the last minute - at least I can keep my washing machine, cooker and sink intact for a few more hours!

despite everything being in boxes on the living room floor, not been able to get to the breakfast cereal, and hoping that the sugar tub does not empty before too long...


I think it will get a lot worse before it starts to look better - on a positive note though, I have chosen the paint for the wall colour - it's a Dulux, Softy Olive!