17th June 2018

So we had last weekend off to go to Sarah’s wedding and it was a fabulous day. But back to it this weekend, seems like we’ve not been there for ages. Sharon only did the morning on Saturday as she was out on Laura’s hen party in Lincoln in the afternoon. Although there’s been some movement in the last couple of weeks, it’s not been full tilt as obviously John has had a few other bits to attend to such as his daughter getting married.

Saying that, the new glossy kitchen laminate floor is now in place and looks fabulous, all the window sill boards have been fitted, the bathroom suite has now had the waste connected and the false wall has been built in the downstairs loo. The kick boards have also been cut and put in place temporarily until the washer is in and the bathroom walls have been tiled, the loft hatch has also been built and is now in place.

Saturday was a Hive of activity, John and Rich spent most of the day building a cupboard in the bathroom to hide the boiler. They have done an outstanding job, nothing like I imagined, it’s so well made and looks tremendous. They also boxed the pipes in and clipped up the side of the bath in readiness for the side panel. I put loads of extra screws in the 2 bedroom floors to stop any squeaking in the future. But my biggest task of the day was to rub down an old bannister that one belonged to Aunty Linda over 30 years ago and we found in the attic. I took it to bits and took JB’s belt sanded to it. It took me about 3 hours but I managed to strip it right back to the bare wood, removing 30 odd years of paint. I the filled it, rubbed it down, fitted new brackets and refitted it. As Sharon was out, I stayed late and cracked on and fitted the shaver point in the bathroom and fixed the room stat in place for the central heating.

Sunday morning Sharon and I got there and tidied a few bits up. We’d decided to leave about 11 and just as we were getting in the car JB arrived. So I stayed whilst Sharon popped out to Tesco for some bits. I was the apprentice plasterer. I did the mixing and the transferring of plaster from bucket to hawk, John did all the clever stuff. That’s all the plastering in the house complete now. We’ve had one set back, the boiler will no longer fire up, so we need to get someone out to look at that, but I’m sure that will all get sorted. Aunty Linda snd Naomi called this morning, they were coming to clean but it would be a little pointless as yet as there are still quite a few bits of wood to saw up and the dust in the atmosphere will travel. All being well by the end of next weekend, we should be somewhere near inside.

It’s no secret we’re getting tired now, it’s been a long journey and work commitments for both of us are very busy and stressful at the minute. But, the end is now in site.Read more