Dear me, a whole week since I wrote anything. This is because there have not really been any big changes, only cosmetic ones.
The kitchen cabinets are still a work in progress. The drawers have caused many problems, and fancy lighting in the two wall cabinets has been some sort of nightmare. It took a whole day's work and still isn't finished. It was hoped that moving in could begin over the Bank Holiday, but nothing in the kitchen was ready, so they haven't moved in yet, they are still in the flat and we are still in the house, living out of suitcases. I have forgotten what it feels like to have clothes in wardrobes and drawers, and I fear that Paul has become so used to suitcase living that he may insist on doing it for the rest of his life!
The kitchen floor is currently cardboard. Paul used various large boxes from equipment that has been delivered and covered up the wooden floor in case it was damaged by things being dragged about during kitchen building, or tools being dropped. The cupboards are all in place with no doors or drawers, and for some days we had a working sink. Today the man came to measure for the granite worktop and the prepared template which Jon had carefully measured and drawn and placed on the windowsill had completely disappeared! (Paul tidied up on Monday...) So the man took the sink away to make sure the worktop fits properly around it. So there will be no kitchen sink until Monday, when the worktop gets fitted.
We have a working hob and oven. However, we currently don't have any saucepans or utensils (all in storage) and still only our picnic set of two plates and bowls and 4 knives, forks and spoons. So it doesn't matter that the dishwasher isn't plumbed in yet, there is never much to wash up. There isn't a plumbed in washing machine either, though Paul keeps threatening to do it at any minute. He's become rather fond of dropping off a huge bag of washing at the Laundrette in the morning and getting it back at 5 pm washed, dried and folded. He thinks it beats having wet washing hanging about, but I'd like to wash the bathmats which look horrible. They need a cool wash and no drier; I could do them myself at the laundrette but every day he promises the washing machine will soon be working, then does something else which takes all day. Today, he said he thought this particular job is one for the plumber; it is something he has done in the past, but I understand this one is more complicated.
Various small jobs have also been done, like radiator painting, and many of the carpets have been covered in sticky plastic to protect them while this goes on. It seems interminable, they are all scabby and need painting and have to be switched off then rubbed down first. Then they are painted, and take 24 hours to dry. Then they get a second coat.... It goes on and on, and the house is cold because they have to be turned off.
Various bits of woodwork still seem to need painting, so periodically there are rooms to be avoided. A lot of work still needs to be done in the basement, where a ceiling fell down. This needs repair because the utility room will be down there, not to mention untold numbers of important things that need to be kept.
Various visits have been made to Ikea for further furniture and equipment, and doubtless more will be made after they move to the house and we move to the flat and discover what is missing. Wardrobes are being built today - very slowly, as the wardrobes are huge and heavy and the floors aren't level.
I am quite looking forward to moving in to the flat, just because we will no longer be camping. The flat is very nice, being carved out of a huge old Edwardian church. We stayed in the building before, from March to August last year, so as to give help over the birth of our grandson. The original flat we rented had a disaster, as the boiler blew up, and there was no heating or hot water. Fortunately, there was another empty flat and we moved there for a month. This was the open plan downstairs area, which was where the altar originally was in the church.
I would have preferred to stay there, it was such a beautiful flat, but it was already let for the following month, so we had to go back to the original flat once the boiler was replaced and the electrics fixed. The original flat was bigger but not nearly so light, and I found I got very tired of the gloom. Not only did the church windows not let in a lot of light, what light there was, was blocked by the huge and beautiful trees outside. Our son's flat is much smaller, though it does get a bit more light.
The church is very picturesque inside, with the corridor between the flats being what was originally the main aisle.
We will be quite close to the font, which has been kept, you can see it on the right of the photo. The pulpit has also been kept, but it a bit crowded out by bicycles at present, and the cleaners use it to store the mop and bucket.
Most of what I have done since my return from London has been cleaning, shopping, cooking and looking after the little drunk man - our grandson is walking. He had begun to take a step or two by his first birthday, and managed a few more steps by the time he came back from France. He has been climbing the stairs, both up and backwards down, and by now he can also walk a good deal, though still very unsteadily.
He is delighted by his progress, but it is a bit hampered by the fact that he wants to run, not walk. He also suffers because of the weather, as it is so cold he has to wear trousers most of he time, which trip him up. You can see his trousers in the picture have been rolled up. Also, we have to put socks on if his feet get too cold, then he slides on the wooden floors.
He's been a bit grizzly after his inoculations, and we think he's getting more teeth as well as his teeth seem to ache and he wants to bite things. This hasn't stopped him running about like a mad thing down the middle of the church shrieking with joy
though he still falls over when his feet get in a muddle.
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