chassis in excellent condition

pimped up to the nines.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300671341551&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1171

simon's erection

can't believe he got it up.

henry

couldn't have done it without him.

life without grant, aaron, piers and co

i thought i'd miss them.  I really did.  i even got abit emotional when i said goodbye.  they've been here since the end of june.  but it is so nice.  now when it get's to 8.15am i know there'll be no van  revving up the drive and at 8.30 there'll be no need for any cheery hello's or pleasantries.  i can just pad around in my grungey nightie and shout at the kids in peace.  bliss.  then after i come back from dropping them off i don't even have to pretend to do anything important.  i can just sit down and have a cup of coffee and listen to chris evans whittering on and maybe even stroke the cat.  heaven.

there is however a rather alarming patch of damp on the freshly painted ceiling.  please god don't let me have to get them back in.

eh voila

the new kitchen!

the good news is that pumpkin survived the extension (his tail is in shot) and sad news is I think the old kitchen units are being banished back to the basement.
right,  just got to get sink, cooker, taps, worktop, splashback, blinds, and a life.

no more the caravan ...

yup we're in the house.  with running water and electricity and heating.  it's amazing.  i can't tell you how nice it feels to have my own bath again.  obviously there are hitches - for example the bath tap is broken and the french door doesn't open and nobody really knows how the thermostat works but we're really nearly there.  on sunday we even ate our lunch in the new kitchen.  i took some photos to prove it.

so what of the dark month?  october 2011.  it was so bleak i couldn't face posting any updates.  not that there were any really.   my builder crush disappeared onto another job - the two timer - and then when he came back for a day i burst into tears.  meanwhile the whole family developed whooping cough in the caravan - coco's still coughing - and my pelvic floor hasn't been the same since . . .

in out

The bathroom was supposed to be up and running by the weekend.  It wasn't of course.  But we'd got the bit between our teeth so decided to move back in anyway.  I even hoovered.  Needless to say it's Monday and we're back in the caravan.  No loo, no sink, no electricity and tons of dust - what were we thinking?  anyway it's going to be a heatwave this week.   

Never again.  

for sarah

here he is mr tiggywinkle caught in the act

two and a half weeks

And the bathroom will be operational.  In theory.

mr tiggywinkle

i thought hedgehogs belonged to the 70's but i've been proved wrong.  there's one living under the caravan.    he's surprisingly noisy.  pumpkin and him have been fighting it out for the expensive lams catfood.

meanwhile my favourite builder is holidaying in scotland.  i miss him.

awning's up

It's already blown down once.   Now got guy ropes.  Hoping it'll survive the september storms.  According to country file they're heading this way ....

big hands

i think i might have a crush on our builder.  it's not appropriate.  

have been instructed to find a bathroom suite asap.   i'm dutifully visiting bath showrooms and and nodding approvingly at trad white sinks and steel baths though if i had any balls i'd get a dusty-pink suite with gold taps.

agasaga

we decided against an aga and not just because someone said 'they're for old people'.   but we're housesitting and they've got an aga and having found the oven gloves i'm really enjoying it.  it's like they say ... so much more than a cooker.

i'll probably break it now.

new residence

bought a sofa last week.  it's the one thing people keep telling me is really important in a kitchen which is good because i haven't bought anything useful like a sink or a cooker yet.  it's black and white dog tooth check.  simon said it made his eyes go funny.  

we're house-sitting in brownshill.  it's totally idyllic and they are going to have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming.  the cat is in the caravan.  he's grounded.  I can't face having to pick him up from yet another disapproving vet after he's been brought in as a stray.   

green bidet

anyone want a green bidet and matching sink with brass fittings?   i think they're about to become very fashionable again - if not already.  

the bathroom tiles are staying though.

outside the annexe

flirty but firm

that's the advice of a friend who's project managed alot of jobs.  i think she's right,  though it's hard to be flirty at 8am when you're heading to the portaloo. . .

beer and cakes was another tip - so i gave the builders the second tea cake (baked by Shirley from across the road) and produced three cold beers on friday afternoon.

we're still behind schedule.

that's when good neighbours become good friends

Someone has left two loafs of tea bread in a bag outside the caravan.   On the bag they've written "will freeze".  I have no idea who they're from.  I don't think it's sheila butt from next door because she's got my sheets in her washing machine and would have mentioned it.   Anyway the Swift Challenger fridge doesn't stretch to a freezer compartment so will have to eat them this week.

vin rouge and comments

Kids had a bath in the vicarage and trooped back across the road to the caravan where they watched me eat my supper washed down with half a bottle of red wine.  i've now got a warm fuzzy glow which means i'm one glass away from being drunk.

here we are in the 'van - it's nearly a live link.

talking of which i think i've sorted out the comments setting so you can leave comments now if you feel so inclined.

i notice i haven't mentioned much about the building work that's because there doesn't seem to be much building work going on.  The slab is down but the spoil heap is still there, the AI's have been revised and the structural engineer is coming again (at £450 a time let's hope it's the last).   But at least the architect and builders are now on speaking terms.

i just hope it doesn't rain again.

sarah weal

a brilliant photographer with an eye for all things beautiful and the woman who taught me how to do a blog!

here's some of her pics of pool cottage last year including pumpkin who looks ridiculously young!

tales through a lens

and if that link works then i've come along way  . . .