The bathroom and the bike

The New Year is here and we have started the bathroom, well, we have someone doing it for us. Our lovely plumber Damian is able to work within the current restrictions. He lives alone and we are able to keep a clear distance between him and us with windows open, so he has started work.

As you know the bathroom was our best room, and we really didn’t think it had any smell, if it did it really didn’t have much. We occasionally thought we got a whiff, but rarely. However, clearly it was there!

As the tiles come off, the smell starts to emerge, once they have gone it’s really strong, even if we didn’t have the window’s open for Covid reasons, we would for smell reasons!   

Before we know it the bath and sink have gone and we are left with just a loo.

The plaster comes off, the floor comes up and the insulation is removed… oh, it stinks! And despite the doors being shut and dust sheets down, the whole house if covered in nasty dust that makes us sneeze and our eyes stream. It may be cold, but we have doors and windows open, desperate to remove as much dust and smell as possible. As the weekend arrives the nasty stuff is gone from the bathroom ready to start rebuilding and we spend a whole day scrubbing, wiping and cleaning everything. Somehow this is harder than having an empty house and living in the Agy. At least we could leave the mess at the end of the day.

While we do, we are back to washing in the kitchen sink and I am reminded of a moment in a Methodist church hall in Ireland during a BMYC choir tour. Many, many years ago! Some of you will know this moment well…. 

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom, as the bathroom begins to come together, we can see how lovely it will be and that one day we will be able to have a shower, or even a bath (what luxury!) in our bathroom, a room we want to be in… I can’t wait.

Another fabulous moment is when our new bike arrives, well new to us. She’s almost classed as a classic, but is perfect for pootling round the island (when that’s allowed again). I still had my beautiful jacket from when we had bikes before we moved to London, but this week my new helmet arrived. It will be fabulous to get back on the back (so to speak) and fortunately I have a flu jab booked and it’s not walkable, so we will have to try her out to 2 up (Ian riding, me as pillion) to get me there!

Here she is, she’s a Yamaha (Yammy) Fazer. So of course she is called Fanny….  

Discovering the garden

 We've been thinking about the garden for a while. Lots before we moved in,  as there hasn’t really been time since, but now much of the house is done we have had time to get back to sunny thoughts and how we might use the garden. 

It’s north facing, but actually really sunny however, it has a rotten shed and some of the ugliest plants you can imagine. The neighbours tell us the previous owner never went into the garden, and it shows. It’s tidy, but uninspiring. We have lots of ideas, things that mean we can leave and head off in Agy for long periods if we want to, but also somewhere we can spend the summer, have friends round (that will happen again we are convinced!)  and enjoy while we are here.

Before we can begin making it ours, just like the house, we need to strip it back, so the shed is our first target. Much of it is completely rotten, crumbling and unsafe. With a crow bar and hammer in hand, Ian sets to work. There are copious amounts of electrics in there that need disconnecting and despite being rotten it proves to be remarkably stubborn! While Ian battles the strong bits I fill the skip, it’s so cold we can’t do it in one go, so over 2 days it gradually goes and the garden looks so much bigger.

Having borrowed some loppers from a neighbour we then set to removing the buddleia. I know they are great for wildlife by I hate them, I’m not sure why, but mum did too, maybe it’s inherited!

This bush is enormous, we manage to break the loppers (probably as it is so cold the metal just snaps), so the axe comes out. Several hours later, and with fingertips numb from the cold, we have cleared it out, most of the roots included and have a pile of branches that need further chopping. It’s far too cold to carry on and we will need to order more loppers for the neighbours, so that’s it for now, the garden seems so much bigger and we can begin to properly plan what comes next. We’ve watched You Tube tutorials on decking, building a swimming pool, preparing for a jacuzzi, pool and jacuzzi maintenance and pouring your own patio slabs in concrete.  Who knows what we will end up with, but we’ve been entertained and have loads of ideas – none include plants! We may need some help on what will work in that way!      

Inside Out

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

we finished unpacking and more of the finishing touches arrived; blinds and curtains and the glass top for the TV unit adding the touches that make our mark. 

 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. 

        

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!