Manchester 2

Friday 30th March - Sunday 1st April
Some time over the weekend has been spent cleaning, and now one of the rooms is about ready to paint. However, it needs to have some power points put in, so painting will not start right away.

Various kitchen appliances were delivered during the previous week, so we now have a fridge (currently in the garage) and dishwasher, washing machine and cooker, though none of these useful appliances is connected. Our son collected the kitchen cabinets on Friday afternoon, ready to be built on Saturday. Electricians started work on Friday as well. The power was off quite a lot of the day, which made things difficult - cold lunch, no phone, no hot water, no vacuum cleaner and so on. Once the power went back on again, the central heating didn't! This was a bit of a disaster as the electricians had gone home by the time I discovered it and the weather was cold. I am only warm when under the duvet.

On Saturday our son's friend arrived, along with another friend, and kitchen cabinet building began. Unfortunately, it did not prove as easy as anticipated, and things progressed very slowly. Not as much progress as hoped had been made by the end of Saturday. We all repaired to my son's flat for dinner, where we stayed in the warm until about 10.30, then crept back to our cold dark room and bed. There is now no light in the room where we are sleeping. The previous owner came back on Saturday to take more of his belongings, including the chandelier in the room where we have been sleeping. What he has left us with is a few wires hanging out of the ceiling! As it was late when we got back on Saturday night, we just fell into bed in the dark anyway.

On Sunday, further problems were discovered, so once again, not as much progress was made as had been hoped. The power points put in on Friday proved to have been in slightly the wrong place, and one had to be moved, and some extra ones had to be put in for the huge number of electrical appliances our son had forgotten he owned. The new sink was put in place and plumbed in, so at least we have water. The cabinets were all put in place, but without doors or worktop. A man has to come and measure for the granite worktops, there is mdf there at present.

The cupboards all had to be moved on Sunday night so the electricians could modify what they had previously done. I am quite looking forward to having some cupboards to put things in, all our food supplies are in a series of plastic bags on the floor beside our bed and it is quite wearing finding the marmalade or the bananas. Milk and butter and so on live in the fridge in the garage, so one has to be dressed before preparing breakfast.

The house is very cold as the weather has turned cold. Our son bought a heater so we didn't freeze, and we can move it to wherever we need it. It seems very efficient and heats the room where we sleep quite quickly. On Sunday night I discovered that the heater gives out quite a lot of light, so we relied on that to see on Sunday night while we got into bed. There was even enough light for Paul to read in bed. I have books on the iPad, so don't need a bedside light.

The electricians come back tomorrow, so let's hope they can re-connect the heating; it is very cold in the house, and we need our ski jackets if we leave the one warm room.

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