Twas the night before (the night before) Christmas,

 Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

The boxes were stacking back from the warehouse.

The clothes were all hung in the wardrobe with care,

In hope that some order soon would be there.

We both were nestled all snug in our bed,

While visions of treasures danced in our head.

And Ian in his old jeans and I in my dress,

Had made us so happy, despite needing a press.

When into the kitchen there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the front room I flew like a flash,

Tore open the cupboards and rescued the stash.

The joy of just knowing our things are now here

Means the hard work was worth it, and brings us good cheer.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But my beautiful Dobbin and cake baking gear.

With a little more work and if we are quick,

we’ll be settled for Christmas and welcome St Nick.

More boxes and furniture come in through the door,

And we wonder how full we will be with much more!

We’ve fixed the TV up and opened the gin

Defrosted the turkey and filled up the bin!

We’re really not sure where our things will all go

But we’re thankful and happy that we don’t have snow.

We’ve plastered and painted and filled all the walls.

We’ve built our own kitchen and bandaged our sores.

But we’re happy and healthy, and our home’s not a fright   

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" 

It’s starting to come together

This is what Ian has been saying for a few weeks, but to be honest, I think it has. I think we are there. Not finished, and not moved in, but as ready as we can be for all our things to arrive, and it feels good. I think we are possibly too exhausted to fully feel it, but now, we spend evenings in the house, just looking, admiring, and smiling! We have nowhere to sit and it usually takes 2 hours of sorting and clearing out to get a space to sit as the boxes kept coming and the holes kept needing to be created in walls, but today, I think we can say we are ready. 

The final kitchen cupboards are now in situ , Ian noticed my arms aren’t long enough to get to the back of the cupboards, so ordered these fantastic pull out baskets, 

the oven has had it’s first bake (the best jacket potatoes I’ve had, possibly because we haven’t had them in a very long time!) and the microwave has warmed it’s first baked beans. The dishwasher has saved me from washing up and the freezer is full. 

Ian has also re plastered and tidied up the kitchen wall where it will show at the end of the cupboards.

The carpet is down in the living room and Ian has fitted the kitchen flooring. The washing machine won’t be with us for a few days, but everything else is here now. 

To get to this point took another loft trip of discovery. We found a TV cable in the loft, one in the wall, a satellite dish and a TV ariel outside, but none appeared to be connected to anything. As you know Ian isn’t a fan of the loft, and I really don’t mind, so up I went. We had another, “can you see me wiggling this wire?” moment with the cable, unfortunately I could, way over in the hard to reach bit at the edge of the roof (the size of my hips and the gap between the webs/struts holding the rafters up is not to be mentioned in this blog!). I did however get through the gap and full stretch on my tummy, arms out, found the wire. A tiny, teeny little length, just hiding behind the flue from the boiler. This tiny hard to reach cable apparently needed cutting even further as it was raggedy ended, and a new connection added so it could be linked to the rest of the cable. After a quick lesson what was required and some specialist tools instruction I was sent to the loft.

Most nurses and doctors will know the ‘see one, do one, teach one’ method (if you have ever had a complex procedure in hospital you may not want to have heard this, but sorry, it’s out there now!).  I skipped the see one and went straight to do one, and am ready to teach one. Somehow it worked out OK, I was warned if I didn’t do this correctly, and with precision and attention to detail, (attributes I am NOT known to possess) we will forever have a terrible TV signal! No pressure then.  There are no photos of this complex operation. I am not a miracle worker and the resident photographer was busy….  

Next we had a poke it down, pull it up moment, with Ian outside in the rain, me in the same corner as the newly connected cable and a long bit of cable that I did manage to snap a picture of as proof of my ability to successfully cable our audio visual masterpiece. Next, all of this needed to reach the hole in the living room wall, as we have no intention of positioning the TV in the loft, although at one point it did cross my mind!

Our straw walls have channels in them that have been there since it was constructed. Fortunately there was one where we needed the cable to go and a bit of cable that was old and needed replacing threaded through it from the living room to the loft. Having lifted several boards and loads of old itchy scratchy insulation I found the cable and associated hole loft side. All we have to do is thread the new cable up the side of the old one it’s a big channel, it should go….. we pushed from the bottom, pushed from the top, said a few expletives, made the hole bigger, and swore again. And then ta da! It’s like threading elastic! If you have a bit already there, attach your new bit to it and pull…… Why, oh why did I not think of that earlier? Before we knew it, our cabling is complete. When the TV arrives we can connect it up and we will be functioning in style, following the installation of a new TV ariel which Ian promptly did.  

Our final piece of furniture that needed constructing is the one that will house all the TV boxes of kit, satellite box, speakers etc. Ian had another genius idea to try and keep our clean lines theme so we have been breaking glass. We really want everything hidden away and by replacing the glass in the doors with speaker fabric, the remote should work, but look great. We have yet to discover if it will work, but the look is good. Breaking the glass, not so easy. I can tell you, no accidental breakage could occur with IKEA glass doors. A full force whack with a heavy hammer just about cracked it.. on the 3rd attempt by Ian. My job was then to get all the little bits, right in the gap where it is glued in, out.. not the easiest job, but essential. 

The final job was to try and find a way for some privacy until the blinds arrive, so this is a start. 

The neighbour has saved us his newspapers so we can put that up in the bedroom. I’m slightly anxious as it turns out to be The Sun, but we are just going to have to plaster it on the window for a few weeks and hope Agy works as camouflage.  

There’s lots more to do, and it turns out that old wall that will have the patio doors eventually did get noticed by Ian so he painted for while we live with it  , we will work on the conservatory, breeze-way, and a few other bits once we are in, but there we have it.

 It has come together and we have a few days before our house becomes our home. We can’t wait!

Have you heard the story? The story about a stick?

 Well, not exactly a story about a stick, but a story-stick. I’d never heard of a story-stick until we were researching all things renovation, building, woodworking. A story-stick saves time and maintains consistency. This is ours.

OK it’s not a stick, but it does tell a story. The story of where the kitchen cupboard handles go. None of this measuring each one individually, oh no, this little bit of plastic from the random spares you get in every IKEA pack tell us exactly where it goes just by putting on the edge of the door. Honestly, it is so much quicker and easier than measuring each one and you know it is correct each time. Brilliant.

We really need things that save time as there is so much to do. In a rash and rather enthusiastic (not the word Ian used!) moment I booked the removal/storage company to return our belongings. Everything we own will return just before Christmas, and I mean just, so we need a functioning home!

It won’t be completely finished, there is no news on when the patio doors will arrive, but somehow we don’t see that dodgy wall any more and the bathroom isn’t being started until the New Year, but the rest needs to be finished….

Ian is working huge long days and I join him after work. The kitchen is now almost done (we are still waiting for a few cupboards and doors). 

There is something very special about making a Sunday morning cup of coffee in your own new kitchen, that you built, for the first time! It may be a very wet, windy December day, but I can’t stop smiling.

Taking the kitchen from where you last saw it to functioning was a challenge. I would suggest if you ever install a kitchen, work on strength and grip in advance. I’m talking worktops. The first challenge was picking them up; they are soooooo heavy! Then we had to get them from the bedroom to the living room. This requires a little stroll out the front door turning them round then back in to the hall; don’t damage the wall Ian worked so hard on, on the way in (maybe that one didn’t get as much attention as it should have), through the doorway and onto the boarding we use to cut anything with the track saw. It sounds so simple doesn’t it… only it is slippery, with nothing to grip onto, heavy and we can’t afford to mess it up or chip it…. But we did it, twice.

As well as being heavy, as you will know kitchen worktops are really thick too and even our trusty track saw took a couple of goes to cut right through, but Ian is now a master at accurate cuts and it’s perfect. Smiles all round, as well as relief. Mind you, I wasn’t smiling (and good job I wasn’t) when I was wedged in a cupboard, on my back, holding up the worktop as Ian got the Jigsaw out to cut the holes for the sink and hob. Eyes shut, arms up, hope your assessment of where the saw will cut is correct and brace! It’s not a quick easy cut and by the time we get to the last bit, my arms are killing me and the weight is about the become all mine for this little bit of counter… (yes, he started without me, but I was there soon after this!) Ha little bit, not so little when it has the potential to knock you out. I have never seen so much sawdust on one person; it’s in my undies. Bras are perfect for catching so many things, food is a speciality of mine, but I am now a master of sawdust gathering, and then my hair…. oh my hair. I had just washed it the day before to for our big trip to the bar (still a big thing with no hairdryer and an average 4 hr drying time) and now it seems I have wood dandruff. I am still getting sawdust out of my hair a week later! Installing worktops is interesting. However, it is done and they look fabulous.

Ian has also been busy in our bedroom, as I’ve said before storage space is important, so he got creative again and started building…. I am amazed at what he comes up with and to be honest, how he does it all. Mind you this one was challenging with just 2 of us to install it. Picture the scene. I head into the house after work and there is Ian with the cupboards built, screwed together for rigidity and clean lines. Now all we have to do is lift it up between the end pillars. All we have to do! Ian needs 2 spare hands to screw it together once it’s up and I may have arms full of metal, but they are not strong! Up it goes, not too bad, and then I need to hold it there while Ian lines it up and screw it. We could have done it the other way round, but the chances of it being level and staying up are small, so I hold, Ian screws. Hold… I wedge it on my shoulder (the good one), stretch the other arm out to try and balance it. Ian tries to level it up, tilt it to the right angle, as this is the wall that gave so much grief previously. It is nowhere near a flat, horizontal or vertical wall, and he needs to screw it together so it looks right. It felt like a lifetime, but we did it! A bit more fixing to the wall and it’s up.

 Only one more layer to go, but at least this can be supported by something other than me. Now, as Ian built it became clear the original design wouldn’t quite work, so different cupboards are on order to finish it off, but once again, we love it.

The Kitchen has had a few more additions, the plumbing and electrics all connected and we do a big clean up. The house is clean, most of the dust has gone, and we shouldn’t have too much more created now. We no longer have a saw in the living room, and piles of wood, and filler, and screws, tools. and general building supplies in the house. They have been banished to the garage and garden, ready for future projects, or the skip that is on order.

Luckily the bin men were kind and took all our boxes.. we need to plant a whole forest to pay this back.

Next step the loft, to try and sort out the connections for when we get a TV, more carpet to fit and something to give us a bit of privacy as window dressings are a way off yet, and the world isn’t ready for us moving in with no blinds or curtains.

Boxes and beer

We are drowning in boxes, they are everywhere, every room, the garage, the little walkway between the house and the garage that my friend in the USA says is a breezeway ahhhhh! The recycling men have discussed bringing a lorry just for us (at least they should!).

This week our new bathroom arrived in a box (carefully checked over by Ian). I thought there was a lot in this one, and then….. the BIG one came. The driver happily informed us the delivery was basically a tonne and it took 15 mins to unload. So here it is in all its glory…..

Of course it’s exciting, but also a bit scary. I’m working full time, Ian is doing the work alone and there is so much to do. This is a kitchen, and it needs building.

By the end of day 1 it looks a bit like a kitchen. Day 1 finished at 10pm for both of us because there was so much to do, as did day 2 (by then we were exhausted and starving as all we had eaten all day was a pot noodle for Ian and a porridge pot for me). At 9.59pm I rang the Chinese take away, not really realising the time... they shut at 10pm and I wanted a delivery, but in true Island style, she asked how the renovation was going (they all know us as the campervan people) and said, “you must be exhausted, for you, I’ll cook”… and she did! It was yummy. No photo too busy eating and to be honest, you don’t want that image of us after an 11 hour day building the kitchen, it’s not a pretty sight.

On Saturday we got going again, forgetting to eat and only stopping when the alarm went off on my phone to remind us to shower and go out.  Yes out! We had booked into the local microbrewery that had only just opened the week before the first lockdown and can now open again. We love craft beer and it’s 10 minutes walk from home, so off we went to Boojum and Snark; all based around Lewis Carroll’s poem, The Hunting of the Snark, that he wrote in Sandown. We loved every moment while we were there and luckily, as they aren’t yet doing food, said we could go to the chip shop and bring it in. Beer and chips a perfect way to celebrate an almost kitchen. 

By the end of Sunday we have a functioning kitchen! No plumbing yet, and plenty more to do, but it works, and we can’t stop smiling.