Monday dawned, cold and damp, and I felt reluctant to face the freezing bathroom very early. However, the electricians were due to arrive, so I had to bite the bullet. Once I had showered, I paused to wonder why the bathroom radiator never worked during the time when we had central heating. So I had a look at it, to see if I could see anything wrong with it. There certainly was - it was nicely fixed to the wall, but not connected to anything! Every day, we find another problem with this house.
The electricians slaved away in the kitchen and basement. The kitchen cabinets are currently in the centre of the room, covered by dust sheets. The plasterer is coming late on Wednesday, and after that we have to wait until the plaster dries before we can put the cabinets in place. I am quite looking forward to having a cupboard or two for essential supplies. At present, our store cupboard food is stored in supermarket bags near the foot of our bed, along with the microwave, kettle and toaster, and our plates, bowls and cutlery. The kitchen is currently too dusty to keep anything there.
There is a fridge for food which needs to be kept cold; that's currently in the garage. You have to be dressed before you can make breakfast, as you have to go outside to collect the milk.
Apart from the fridge in the garage, the main difference between our current situation and camping is that the place seems watertight and and we don't have to stoop to get inside.
It isn't much warmer inside the house than it is outside, although the heater our son bought is very efficient and keeps one room warmer than anywhere else in the house.
Paul spent Monday trying to prepare rooms for painting, though he seemed to spend most of his time running up and down stairs answering questions from the electricians. My task for the day was to complete the form for my claim for US medical expenses, which was reasonably complicated and needed the assembling of lots of receipts. I did part of this in bed, and part at our son's house, which was a lot warmer. In the evening we couldn't face crawling on the floor to cook in the microwave, and had a curry carryout, which made a nice change.
Tuesday was even colder. The electricians arrived and started putting in power points in the bedrooms upstairs, which multiplied the mess and chaos everywhere. There seems to be no room without a heap of things of some sort.
I spent the morning researching the local power companies, and we are applying for ordinary electricity meters in our son's name so we can get rid of the prepayment ones. There are two different companies, one for gas and one for electricity, which makes things more complicated. I look forward to not having to get Paul to keep checking on the level of money on the meters, which are in the basement.
My task for the afternoon was to look after our grandson, as our daughter-in-law had a hospital appointment. Paul managed to do some painting preparation work in what will be our grandson's bedroom, but there seem to be so many other things to do as well. Carpets for two bedrooms were chosen in the late afternoon, and they are to be laid on Saturday, so there is some pressure to get the two bedrooms painted before then.
A plumber is coming late tomorrow, so it is hoped he can advise on the central heating, as well as looking at other matters such as fitting another sink to replace the cracked one in the bathroom, and stopping the bath running out onto the bathroom floor. I look forward to being warm again!
We spent the evening at our son's house, in the warm, and I cooked. It is easier to cook standing up! However, we are probably back to crawling on the floor on Wednesday, as we will have both the plumber and the plasterer here until late.
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