STRESSFUL DAY

Still no sign of the newish gardener - it started so well, he was helpful and he turned up. August - as I was away for the first 2 weeks I paid him for his time in advance, now, 4 weeks later, he's only managed 5 hours in the whole month rather than the 4 days that I was expecting. We're working up to a biggish party in mid October - at this rate the curtains will be closed so that no-one can see the shambles of the garden!

The paver was here, bright and early, cheeky as ever, working hard - wonderful. He finished this afternoon and the paving looks great!

The electrician was here to create the power supply for the new water feature. Channels were created, cables were eventually threaded through tubing and finally the pump was turned on - to create a TRICKLE of water. I returned to the retailer of the pump, they were shirty until I mentioned mis-selling, then they became helpful, a new part is on order but I'm still sceptical that it will solve the problem.

The computer chappie arrived on time and was here (as expected) all afternoon. He's great and computer is behaving better, but now I have the stress of returning all of those 'non-savable' settings to the way I like them - the pig button to count words in Word etc!

Meantime the house is still a tip, T and I are battling boxes, Alice is trying to add to the chaos with unscheduled unpacking and the fridge is empty and we've run out of bread!

GARDEN CHANGES - TODAY!

What? Where? Why?

The herb bed and the large flower bed outside the kitchen have gone, they've been emptied, plants transplanted where possible and beds dug out.

In their place will be more paving and a water feature. Next to the shed (notice lovely shade of green, thanks T!) will (hopefully) be a playhouse for Alice (where the wheelbarrows and sand table are in the first photo). Where the large flower bed was will be more paving with a water feature by the stepping stone across to the grass, the paving will eventually be edged with a box hedge. The water feature will be a frothy plume of water that falls back onto pebbles, stone or slate (to be decided (like the playhouse) once I can get to a garden centre or 3!) I've wanted a water feature like this for nearly 10 years and it should be Alice-Safe as the only area of water is under a grill, as opposed to Alice-Proof - which hasn't been invented yet!!

The extra paving will make room for a table outside the kitchen and still allow space for the water and sand tables without blocking the path!!

All of this is completely dependent on the weather - the paver started 2 and a half weeks ago (the digging out and moving of plants had already been done, all the paving was done today because of the lousy weather we've had this August.

We've got a family celebration in early October - both the paver and the gardener have been warned and I'm hoping things will be finish and tidy well before then!

HOME IMPROVEMENTS - A CATALOGUE

(Warning - This is really a post to document for Alice, not really interesting unless you know the house and even then it's pretty boring!)

I inherited my home nearly 5 years ago. Before 2003 my parents had lived here (with me too sometimes) for almost 13 years since converting it from a barn and outbuildings during 1990.

In the 13 years that they owned it they did a few modifications, some big but mostly small. As I remember them:

• Redecorated the downstairs bathroom from Laura Ashley's sweetpeas to a cloud and hot-air balloon paper - it's not as bad as it sounds but I still prefer the original and my opinion matters on this one as it was my bathroom (and the downstairs loo) whilst I lived here!
• The reception rooms have all changed - the drawing room is smaller, the original sitting room is now a study, the original dining room is now a playroom, the dining room is now at the narrow end of the drawing room but was a sitting room at one stage too, confused?!
• The kitchen was enlarged and the utility room was moved into the dog room.
• Nothing changed upstairs. The only bedroom to have a change of colour scheme was mine (and that was downstairs).
  
• The garden was ripped out and replanted in 2002 - along with the kitchen this was Mum's project after Nick died.

In the past 5 years, I've had:

• an upgraded burglar alarm installed,
• a doorway created into the drawing room,
• totally redecorated the master bedroom and the nursery,
• refitted the main bathroom and put in a power shower (major improvement!)
• redecorated all the reception rooms and the hall,
• ripped out, shuffled and refitted the kitchen,
• had a lot of work done on the garden and more paving added,
• installed garage doors,
• had more cupboards built in the study, hall and kitchen lobby,
• replaced all (bar the kitchen) windows and doors in the house, upgraded to hard wood frames and double glazing (and still the gas bill rises, ugh!)

But all in all this house feels like the 4th Road Bridge!

AN APOLOGY AND AN UPDATE

. . . sorry for the unexpected blogging break . . . no real news . . . just life happening at warp speed . . . just the usual stuff.

So what's up at CBH? All the usual, nothing special - 'cept for herself of course!

Me? Getting better, on my third course of antibiotics, feeling much better but very tired. We're back to all our usual activities this week, some socialising too - exhausting but good.

Her? Wonderful but more tearful than normal - don't know why.

Dogs? Little ones are fine - eating, sleeping etc as usual, affectionate as ever. Daisy - ageing rapidly but still scrounging - I take that to be a good sign.

Home? Carpets - finished, thresholds down. Kitchen - waiting for snagging to be rectified. Curtains - kitchens ones have been dry-cleaned and rehung, playroom ones have been selected, ordered and measured up - should be up by next weekend.

Job? (Fingers crossed) News coming soon!

Holidays - 1's been planned since last August and a second's just been booked, phew!

CRYING AND KITCHENS!

Alice woke with a high temperature again (though she did manage to sleep through the night). She woke crying - unusual for her and also she has NO tolerance, crying ramps up quickly and even though she wants to be cuddled it doesn't reduce the crying episodes - not cuddling though exacerbates the situation.

So no J0 Jingles today - she probably would have been better for the distraction but I didn't want to share her bugs.

This morning the electrician returned. We now have under-unit lights and power on the island but he's coming back to check the sockets. The plumber arrived at lunchtime. The little dogs escaped - I chased Fusspot, running down the road in my slippers, not fun.

Alice woke from her nap crying. She cuddled in and continued to cry. She cried so hard that I couldn't even get the medicine into her. She wouldn't be consoled. After 45 minutes crying she vomited. She continued crying on and off for another half hour or so - asking to be picked up, snuggling in, getting down, crying as soon as her feet hit the floor - she repeated this over and over. She didn't know what to do with herself, she wanted Mummy, but cuddles didn't always help, she had to have a Pickles Bunny with her (and wasn't happy that I wouldn't let her have the vomit covered one back - she did have a choice of 3 others!)

It was an exhausting afternoon for both of us.

Suppertime was much better. French Toast - Alice ate, mostly unaided, feeding herself with a fork! She was happy and proud, she enjoyed her FT but was easily upset. She only ate 2 spoonfuls of fromage frais - extremely unusual.

Bedtime - she wouldn't drink ANY milk, again extremely unusual. An hour later she was screaming again, calm but hiccupy when picked up, I took her into my room for 45 minutes or so, but she cried again as soon as we entered her room, 10 minutes later she was asleep.

By this afternoon, when she was calm she didn't have a temperature but her behaviour is completely out of character - lack of appetite, lack of patience, being inconsolable, crying, crying, crying. Yesterday the doctor couldn't find evidence of illness, today I know that she's still poorly even though I don't know what's wrong. I'll see how she is overnight but I suspect we may be back at the GP's.

Poor baby.

HOME UPDATE!

The kitchen is missing just a few bits:

• the plumber has to come back and fit a radiator (I rejected the first one that they offered!)
• the electrician has to come back and tighten some light switches and test the sockets
• someone has to level some of the unit doors (they've been done once but need more!)

The playroom and study have been recarpeted but need new thresholds to the kitchen.

There are still LOTS of boxes to unpack, things to sort and papers to file.

We're getting there, slowly. But it's SO MUCH BETTER! I love it and I love being back at this end of the house (rather than camping in the hall and drawing room!)

I also need to pick the material for the new playroom curtains (to replace the originals that Mum picked in York in March 1990!!)

WHAT'S THE TIME?!

Spring forward . . . fall back . . . I know the rhyme . . . I understand the rhyme . . . it usually works for me . . . not this time!!

I woke up yesterday morning, remembered the time change, checked my time-signal clock, Alice woke, morning got off to the usual start - until the grandfather clock chimed the same time as clock indicated. Ooophs - time signal clock HADN'T automatically updated as it usually does . . . I started to get confused . . . the morning went to pot . . . got the planned jobs done (went to W@itrose) but was totally confused as to the correct time.

I'd planned to shift our routines by 30 minutes (just run a bit early) to get Alice half way to the 'new' time. My plan was in ruins before we'd managed to have lunch (late by new time!) Plans weren't helped by me fitting a bug - I feel rough, thinking's hard, coughing's harder, state of confusion is becoming my usual state.

So yesterday Alice didn't really adapt at all to the time shift. Today? She didn't nap at all at lunchtime and I managed to keep her awake all afternoon - she was shattered by bedtime and fell asleep very quickly, only to wake several times (so far) and scream for a couple of minutes each time, poor baby.

Me? I'm shattered too - late night last night and then an early morning parcel before 7.30am! My body-clock's confused - not helped by tiredness.

Home? Still in chaos. Kitchen progress? The units are all in place but without kick-boards, end panels, pelmets and cornice. The missing bits came in today (to the store) and I found out by accident - when I rang to check progress! Then I asked why I hadn't been told, they fudged an answer and didn't even apologise. Then they said they couldn't deliver for another 9 days, on checking they could get them to me in 2 days - relieved but not impressed. The tiling's finished but they still need a silicon seal to the worktops. The electrician was here all day - he's coming back tomorrow and hopes to get finished by the end of the day. The painter started today (back door hallway, kitchen and playroom) and should be finished by Thursday - if the kitchen skirting board is fitted in time to have been painted by then! Then next Monday the playroom and study will be recarpeted. Next Tuesday swimming classes start again - after lunch I'm going to lie down - on new carpet and stare at my beautiful newly arranged kitchen as I drift off to sleep in my quiet (but probably still dusty) home!! It's another step towards making this place my own but I may never eat toast again!

KITCHEN PROGRESS, NEW FRIDGE!

The difference a week makes!

I love this new part of the kitchen.

It used to be 2 double base units with the glazed units above it with shelves between them. Originally our old pine dresser was supposed to go here, but it was 3cm too long! So Mum ordered extra units at the last minute. It was a more decorative part of the kitchen - displays with photos and cookery books, room for the stereo and fruit bowl, double plug for charging various things such as my mobile, but also one of the 'general dumping ground' areas. The cupboards weren't much better - the base units held Mum's china and teasets that I couldn't bare to use or part with (they're now packed up for storage) and the wall units had glass doors so were only suitable for glass storage. The glass wall units now have opaque glass and are over by the sink. Some of the base units are on the wall with the cooker (details in a post that's still needing to be 'written'!)

Now - it's 'food central' for the whole kitchen, a fabulous storage cupboard on the left (still waiting for the spice racks on the inside of the doors), fridge and freezer in the middle (that dispenses chilled, filtered water and ice - hoorah, at last!) and a wider (than the one in the old layout) larder unit. The units for this bit of the kitchen were the only new ones that were needed - they're not identical but a really good match.

I'm very happy with this bit too, but haven't worked out where to charge my mobile yet - it worked over here as there was network coverage (just!)

KITCHEN PROGRESS, SINK END

3 photos - the first was last week, the second is tonight and the third is self-explanatory!

Progress is being made, but it's slow because things are coming from different places not because the company are dragging their heels.

What's happened at this end? The base units have hardly been changed from the old layout - one cupboard's been removed (the veggie basket one), the narrow cupboard now has a door and the corner unit now has 1 door that's hinged. The wall units are different (they came from where the fridge freezer is now). It's simpler and it's better. There's one part I don't like, I knew that I wouldn't, the microwave is a bit high for me (made worse from the rack that sits inside it) and it hinges on the wrong side for the layout - but it was the best option - looks fine but just doesn't work too well for me!

The tiler started today - he worked really hard (8am til nearly 7pm) and I really like the results. I was planning to have the same tiles as before (4 tiles making a sun), but when I went to order them I found a different tile from the same range. I'm really pleased with the new ones - the square echoes the squares on the curtains and with these tiles the navy is pulled into the colour scheme, fab! It's odd sitting in the study, the tiles are handmade, terracotta and they click with the moisture of the adhesive - very strange!

This bit of the kitchen is nearly finished - just a few tiles to add, grouting to do, some electrics to finish, end panels, pelmets, cornice and kick panels to do. I'm really pleased with how it looks.

MORE PICKLISHNESS!

On tiptoes in wellies, such determination, meddling!

(Note - Mummy's chaos in the background, that should be the kitchen table but it's in the hall!)

A BIT MORE EXPLANATION

What's happening at home?

We're having the kitchen rearranged! It started with the need for a new kitchen floor - the laminate flooring moves and creates gaps, in trying to fix it the problem it was made significantly worse, resulting in needing a new floor. Considering a new kitchen floor led to me considering the kitchen.

Mum had the kitchen and utility room knocked together and installed a new kitchen just over 5 years ago. I wasn't particularly involved in the plans as I was also in the process of gaining planning permission for several extensions to my house (including my own new kitchen). Mum and I used different companies. Whilst installing the new kitchen at Mum's the kitchen fitter panicked and for a time it looked like the major firm of kitchen fitters were going to fail. It was a stressful time, Mum was in direct contact with a board member of the company and threatening to sue them. Eventually they got more labour in to complete the work - it should never have been planned to be completed by a single fitter. More importantly the layout is atrocious - relatively the room is long and thin - they put the sink at one end, the oven at the other with the hob and fridge somewhere in the middle, all in a straight line. To cook a meal in the kitchen you can walk MILES

So in need of a new kitchen floor I decided to find out what my kitchen fitting company would do to improve the situation. Now they are ripping out and then reinstalling the kitchen - I'm keeping the units, having the same type of tiles and worktop and the floor (though not a laminate) will look very similar to the way it does now. The improvements?

• Bigger fridge freezer that dispenses ice and water.
• New range cooker - the old oven was a disaster from the day it was installed.
• A better layout, including moving the table to be by the garden windows.
• A complete floor with no gaps.

They're due to take 8 days - I hope that they can get the main bits done in this time even if it's not glossy and complete in that time!

GUESS WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HOME?!

Whoops! I meant to take 'before' photos but forgot!

The workmen arrived this morning - bright and early. This is what they've accomplished so far - the yard end of the kitchen (sink and dishwasher bit) is nearly finished already! They forgot to put in an extra 'filler' piece, they still have to arrange the electrics for the microwave (will go on wall between glazed units), replace the dishwasher and change the glass in the units. But I still think that they did a lot in one day.

The second photo is where the glazed units used to be - very soon they'll be replaced by tall cupboards and an American style fridge freezer in the middle.

The third photo is the long run of units running from the front to the back of the house - there's still an awful lot to do on this bit, but they've only been here 1 day.

Meanwhile we're living in the drawing room and cooking and eating in the hall - using a microwave, kettle and toaster. I'm already bored of toast!!