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Day 19, the lowdown:
- TVs arrived by courier, ready for UEFA Champion's League Final on Saturday: 1
- LNBs for satellite dish retrieved from unknown box ready to be installed tomorrow: 0
- Lofts cleared of all the previous owners' belongings (including a dozen or so beheaded Barbie dolls – WTF?): 1
- Times taken the washing back inside because of rain: 5 (or more - I lost count after 3...)
- Gas fitters visited to look at job: 1
- Gas fitters who previously visited having quoted for job: 0
- Door handles in place: 4
- Rooms skirted out: 2
- Plasterers lined up for week after next: 1 1/2
- Appliances killed: 0
- Husbands back at the fort and instructed to babysit tomorrow night: 1
Pretty good for one day, don't you think? The lost LNB bugs me, though. That must have ended up in storage accidentally. B***er!
Today feels like it has been half-way successful. Mainly because I kept myself out of harm's way and because Mark The Builder showed up for a flying visit and managed to arrange for a schedule of works that includes possibly (!!) having 2.5 rooms ready to decorate in about two weeks' time. Yayyyy! Can't wait!!! Painting a wall sounds like a day at a spa these days compared with peeling off flipping wallpaper that's been painted with gloss. And what's best is that this implies that we can begin to unpack our most-used belongings AND sleep in a house as soon as these rooms are done. Which is just as well, because last night was really freezing in the caravan! I kept waking up with icy feet trying to decide whether I can be bothered to go back into the kitchen to heat up my wheat cushion. Turns out I couldn't be bothered, which meant I just lay there getting more and more annoyed. So there, I am not the most rational of minds when in bed. Nothing new there then...
Hendrik came back from his NERC grant panel thing with hayfever and insect bites and suitably knackered, but duly agreed to deal with the kids-in-caravan-at-bedtime-drama on his own tomorrow night while I sit in my hopefully comfortable seat at the Royal Shakespeare Company watching stand-up comedy, followed by a lush meal and drinks with Mrs Simpson. Bliss! Which reminds me that my make-up bag is still AWOL. I REALLY cannot wait to unpack all these stupid boxes!! I have been running round like something the cat dragged in for weeks now and I don't even care anymore. But still, it would be nice to at least don some lippy tomorrow. Well, I guess I still have 20 hours to hope for a minor miracle...
By the way, this might be the one time that I am SERIOUSLY enthusiastic about a UEFA Champions League final*: I have been trying to wangle a TV for my planned sewing/craft corner out of our household budget for absolute ages to no avail. But as it happens the SKY man (or woman) is coming on Saturday morning to install SKY TV (for free. Long story. You really don't wanna know. Suffice it to say that we're way too tight ever to pay for subscription TV!). Which happens to coincide with the Champions League final. And our existing TV is in storage. I leave you to fill in the blanks :-)
*Those of you who know me well will know that I am an avid follower of Bundesliga football - but the delights of the Champions League - and worse: international friendlies!! - so far escape me.
Aaaaaaaaaargh, the dust everywhere is driving me insane!! Everything in the house is coated in a layer of orange masonry dust. It is literally everywhere. on our belongings, on my tongue, in my throat. It cakes up my hair and most of the day I run around with glasses I can't see anything through, because there's a thick coating of dust on the lenses. I can't wait for this first stage to be over! I know there'll be a second stage which'll probably get even dustier, once the walls come out - but at least that'll feel like such massive progress that I might not mind so much (??) or we might be able to contain the dust more, because it's going to happen in two very distinct areas which hopefully can be shut off from the rest of the house. But the bleeming wires are being channeled into the walls ALL OVER...
Right, I haven't dared confess, yet, that I plumbed in the washing machine the other day and - wait for it - nearly killed it in the process. That's what you get when you get über-confident. You become stupid. Just like me, when I forgot to check whether the transport bolts were still stuck in the machine before turning on the inaugural wash. Well, turns out they were. Darn! You have never ever heard such a racket and seen your washing machine positively skip across the kitchen floor, I bet! I ran to it and threw myself on top at the same time as pressing every single button the thing has in order to make it stop before it would tear off it's leash (aka electric cable!). It did stop with the cable still in one piece - but it didn't switch on again afterwards. So I faffed about helplessly, then did the typical woman thing of having a secret little cry, then tried to call Hendrik to confess that we'd have to find £1200 for a new washing machine. Thankfully, he didn't answer the phone. Turns out that all this trying to get the drum to spin has made the machine take out the RCD. Our friendly electrician Dave found me in the caravan about an hour later to tell me he'd reset it and did my internet work again :-) This is becoming a familiar theme. Maybe next time I "kill" an appliance I will remember to check the fuse board AND reset the RCD. Anyway, Hendrik is still blissfully unaware of the full extent of my stupidity and panic (I DID mention that plumbing the machine in hadn't been straightforward, but I somehow skimmed over the detail) and seems duly grateful that laundry can again be dealt with on site.
In other news, I am waiting for more quotes from gas fitters for the boiler move (ouch!! That's going to be more expensive than we've allowed for in the magic spreadsheet!) and apparently tomorrow is the big day when we can take possession of our attic sans previous owners' trash. Hurrah! I just need to make sure they ONLY take previous owners' trash and don't 'accidentally' manage to take any stuff of ours. I shall report tomorrow how that went. Night, night!
Apologies for not feeding you all a daily update yesterday: I was completely defeated! Although we did have a very nice afternoon. Katherine, Samuel and Jamie came to visit and to give us the thumbs-up on the new house. To be fair, the caravan seems to have been the main attraction. Much fun was had by all devouring pancakes for dinner in its kiddo corner. We also demolished a fair bit of cake and managed to exert ourselves kicking a football around on the little Common between our street and the school. Obviously the kids weren't nearly as knackered as us grown-ups...
After team Denby-Smith had left, I thought I better get on with stripping more wallpaper. Only the steamer stopped working after I'd not even finished the first wall. It took me ages until I realised that it had only tripped the RCD and by that time it was nearly half past eleven - far to late to get onto the staircase ceiling as previously instructed by Dave the electrician. We went to bed with everything looking like a complete mess. How Hendrik managed to clear most of it and empty our bedroom of stuff so Dave could work in it this morning is a mystery to me...
Still, Hendrik owes me one! No kidding! While I was dealing with two ratty boys at bedtime in a painted-cardboard-for-walls caravan within very easy earshot of all the new neighbours, he was having a meal out as a work do (AND he's going away overnight on Wednesday, again for work). I might be imagining things, but it did seem tonight like we're beginning to attract funny looks. Probably because so much of our lives is inevitably played out on our front lawn.
Anyway, as a kind of reward for managing to keep expletives to a minimum tonight (and I do hope those that did escape me were said under my breath!) I think I shall take myself to the Stratford Comedy Hullabaloo on Friday to see Ed Byrne. Anyone fancy joining me?
In other news: the staircase ceiling and our bedroom now have shiny new downlights (actually, shiny they ain't: they're brushed nickel). And the door handles have arrived. I can't wait for Thursday, when the carpenter is back to fit them. Some privacy in the bathroom will finally be restored!
It is amazing how much difference a little bit of friendly company makes when one has to get on with unpleasant tasks! Corinne and Tim helped us tackle the boys' bedroom (aka "the blue room") this afternoon. As a result, there is hardly any blue wallpaper left. Unfortunately, a lot of the plaster came off with it, so this one is going to be an expensive fix. Shame! But at least it's nearly done, despite being a real motivation killer. Tomorrow the staircase awaits. That's most probably going to be an even worse job. Thank goodness Katherine, Sammy and Jamie have promised to rescue us in the afternoon by distracting us with afternoon tea. Willem is so excited about showing them our new house that he made meticulous plans today, bless him!
Day 13, the lowdown:
- new door bells procured: zero
- loads of washing done and dried: two and a half (thank you so much T&C for letting us use your house as a launderette!! We shall endeavour to finally plumb in our own washing machine this weekend!)
- bird feeders filled and hung up: three
- new doors fitted (NOT by myself!): four
I am slightly tipsy writing this. In fact, both Hendrik and I are ever so slightly tipsy. I just learnt that that is by far the most pleasant state to be in while stripping wallpaper. Such a shame we had to stop so as not to annoy the neighbours at this hour. I could have gone on for hours without realising what a mindless task it is...
In other news, the previous owners have agreed to send someone to clear the loft and garage. Success! And Willem was back at nursery today which means my sanity has had a chance to recover. Only one child on hip for most of today. Very relaxing! (You guys must be beginning to think I am one of these Earth Mother types who are glued to their children 24/7. NOT THE CASE! The only reason I am carrying children around a lot of the day rather than letting them get on with their stuff on the floor is that there is no floor in large stretches of the house. Many of the floorboards are up or at least loose for Dave to do his wiring thing, and there are nails and screws EVERYWHERE which means that there just isn't anywhere safe for the kiddos to play. And as some of you may dimly remember I already have one tick against me with Social Services. I really don't fancy another conversation of 'that kind' with the Health Visitor...)
