It wasn’t so much tinsel and trimmings for the last couple of weeks, more finishing more jobs and settling into our beautiful new home. We did manage a yummy Christmas lunch and our first ever Zoom carol service, but we wanted to make good use of having both of us available for the 2 person jobs. The washing machine arrived just before Christmas
Strangely, one of the things I love most here is our Insinkerator, a waste disposal unit that means we don’t have any food waste to throw out. The vegetable peelings, egg shells, even turkey bones all go down, get crushed and washed away. I had no idea how fabulous it would be, but it is life changing!
We also managed a Boxing Day walk on the beach, one of the many joys of living on the Island.
We also needed to prep the bathroom ready for its refit in the New Year. At one time, this was our best room, the vague normality, the posh room. Now, it’s horrible, not ours and although it’s clean, it doesn’t feel comfy, it feels functional, and we are both ready for it to transform.
The first job was fitting the extractor fan tubing that had become a bit of an urgent job, the old one had more ups and downs than the Hulk roller-coaster (my favourite in Orlando) and had started to drip onto the ceiling. Fortunately it hadn’t leaked through, but it wouldn’t take long.
So on a very cold and wet day I went up to the loft while Ian directed from below and braved the inclement weather. For some reason the extractor had been fitted so the pipe crosses the loft to the opposite side of the house and exits in the eves. If I lie on my front, head wedged between the boarding with nasty old insulation poking in my face and the rapidly descending eves of the roof with my arms stretched as far as possible I can’t reach the edge and the hole where I need to attach the new pipe to the outside vent. The only way to do this is for Ian to go outside in the freezing cold rain and poke up the slinky like pipe up the hole. With a big of extra wriggling I finally managed to just grab the pipe with my fingertips and gradually pull it through; now to hoist it over to the other side of the house where the hole in the bathroom ceiling awaits. No problems there, before we know it’s ready to extract!
Next was to remove the strange gas fitting showerhead. Not too tricky to do with a spanner, pipe cutter and end cap (I can see potential for a new career as a plumber if required). I hate that showerhead, it’s ugly and just a bit sinister.
While I was up in the loft we decided to tackle one of the jobs our survey had recommended. We needed more ventilation up there, and it sounded a reasonably easy job. Cut a couple of holes in the soffits, add a pipe into the loft and done. Hmmm, those soffits are not wood, they appear to be the hardest substance around, and the new - specially purchased drill bits - didn’t touch it! So while Ian struggled to drill the holes in the rain, I froze sprawled on my tummy in the freezing loft.
While I was there I spotted a birds nest and lots of damage to the roof felt, so pulled out the straw and grass so I could inspect the damage and waited for Ian to drill his holes. Somehow, with a bit of ingenuity, he cut the hole and once again wiggled pipes up for me to grasp with my fingertips. We now have a dry, well-ventilated loft awaiting repair (fortunately not serious) from the over enthusiastic former nest building.
Having painted the bathroom ceiling following our repairs, we are ready for the plumber and the last big inside job.
So to the outside we go. Starting with a trip out in Agy, having had a spring clean we decided we really should take her out for a run. She hasn’t been driven since we moved and we could do with a walk, so instead of walking to our beach, we headed off to Ryde, just down the coast along a new route for us. It was a beautiful sunny day, freezing cold, but stunning. We hardly saw anyone, but Portsmouth looked good from afar. Most excitingly we found the big Tesco extra, we haven’t been in a supermarket since September, it did feel odd to be going shopping, but great to pick our own veg instead of what the delivery picker randomly decides (or is available) we would prefer to the item actually ordered.
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