Getting on and getting better (the house and me)

Sorry there's been a bit of a break. Sadly I got more ill while away with Phil and Shelagh and we ended up coming back a bit early for me to go to the doctor and get pills for my bronchitis. Anyway, on the road to recovery after some time in bed and not doing much for a while.

As you will see from the photos, things have moved on quite a bit with the kitchen units installed in the kitchen and utility and we have a cloakroom with working toilet and running water - luxury even if the water isn't hot yet (the boiler says it should be but it's not so that's got to be sorted out). Tomorrow Mike the plumber moves to the bathroom and shower room so hopefully progress there soon.

We also have the new door from the lounge to the kitchen and the new radiators fitted in the kitchen making the house feel a bit warmer. Still no working radiators in the lounge so we are gobbling up electricity with the fan heater. In the meantime, I have come to realise that there is only one thing that makes more mess than taking down walls .... plastering (and that's not finished yet).

On y va (aka time out)

Well, a break away in France has just come at the right time. We lost another wall this week when Darren suggested rebuilding one which wasn't very straight. So yet more brick dust. As the photos show, the shower room and bathroom are one with a bath and basin, just not yet plumbed in! Also part of the floor is up again but one day, hopefully soon, they will be 2 beautiful rooms.

Then on Friday morning, Steve (the man in charge) had a call to say that the kitchen units had been dispatched. This was an error as we are not yet ready for them but nevertheless we took them so, as you will see above, we have a kitchen but it's still in boxes in the lounge. This has reduced our living space to a very cramped, extremely dusty dining room. So it is with great relief that I am sitting in Phil and Shelagh's lovely house in Boissy, nursing a sore throat and a hacking cough. But it's lovely - no dust, no work going on, hot water, central heating, a lovely view of the garden with a dusting of snow and peace. Don't get me wrong, I am delighted to be getting all the work done in the house and the builders are a great team of nice people. It's just lovely to be having a break away from it all.

Back home, everything is under sheets, hopefully the plasterers will be in soon and the door from the kitchen to the lounge will get knocked through while we are not there to experience yet more dust. In the meantime - Vive La France!

Minimalist living

Well, the bathroom and shower room got taken out last week. We probably reached our nadir (big word) on the day we had a bathroom with no floor and no door and the cold tap (see above) which didn't always have water in it! However things are moving along with lots of studwork and platerboard going up. Most of the first fix is done and there's been quite a lot of discussion about the position of stuff.

Ordering of various items continues. The internet is a wonderful think but it gives you almost limitless choice. When we did our lounge extension in the mid 90s, I don't think I gave any thought to the style of radiator or the design of the windows and doors. This time it's a case of deciding a style, looking at suppliers, comparing prices and delivery times ... then ordering. And talkng about choice, we finally settled on the work surface at the third sample stage. Again, a huge range of choices and a custom made sample which needed tweaking - just a sigh of relief that we've got there in the end.

Today I think Steve intends to knock out the door between the kitchen and the lounge so there are sheets everywhere and I'm probably going to have to take the curtains down. Did I mention the dust ......?

10cms

That's how far out two of the new walls were! It doesn't seem a lot but in the small cloakroom it makes quite a difference. However, it didn't take Steve and Sean long to shift everything into the right position.

Still making lots of decisions, particularly with all the electrics, and we are now on our 3rd sample for the worktops. These are coming from a firm near Biggin Hill and are made with recycled glass and shell set in coloured resin. There are so many variables that it's proving quite a job to get exactly what we want.

Oh, and there's still vast quantities of dust!