Cleaning

One thing we’ve found since we’ve had the bathrooms done is that there seems to be an awful lot of cleaning to do afterwards! I seem to be cleaning every other day to make sure they stay looking good! Although I’m sure the novelty will wear off pretty soon......

And it really has been a week to get back to normal for us as DH was away for two nights, and we’re both back at normal hours at work. It doesn’t feel that long since we were both off work recovering, and yet it’s been a few months already. Both nights that DH was away were nights that I had things planned. Tuesday was line dancing as normal, which I really enjoy, and then Wednesday was the first time for me to attend a meeting of the volunteers for the Woodland Trust for a local Hall and estate. I wasn’t sure what to expect at all,  but I’ve now volunteered to go on a Task Day in a couple of weeks to familiarise myself with the site, then there’s a few other workshops coming up to do with plant identification on the site which sound good. Hopefully it will all help towards the conservation course I’m doing and I’ll be getting outside at the same time. 

I’m not sure if we’ll get outside much this weekend - Easter weekend and the weather forecast isn’t very good. Fingers crossed for a few hours out at least! 

Yes. I know. Another cute cat photo. But we only have the one cat now. And he’s very cute! 

#cutecat 

Calming down

Finally, after 3 weeks of having workmen round, it seems to be coming to an end......

It has been chaos at home for the last week as the plumber, his apprentice, the tiler, and then the electrician, all got on with the task of completing our main bathroom, en-suite, and downstairs cloakroom. And while DH went off to work on Tuesday, coming back Wednesday, that meant two days at home for me while the jobs got done. And finally we can see the end. By Friday afternoon almost everything had been done, with just little jobs left now and all the tools and rubbish to be removed from our garage and driveway. And I have to say that we’re very pleased with how they’ve turned out. Gone are the coloured bathroom suites which have been replaced by stylish white units and tiled walls. It’s still very strange walking in them as they look so different! 

So today, after spending yesterday shopping for accessories for the new bathrooms, we headed out to take advantage of the lovely weather. We ended up near Coniston which isn’t where we normally go walking for a day, but it was wonderful.

We went up on Blawith Common, away from the main Coniston fells, but with views across to them.... 

The weather was fabulous, and the walk was just what we needed after the last few weeks .... 

We stopped at Beacon Tarn for lunch..  

... then headed back to the car the same way... 

A fabulous relaxing day out. 

And then home to paint the downstairs cloakroom and get that finished off. And once that’s done it’s time to tackle the spare room/office! It never ends really does it?! 

#walking #sunshine #goodforthesoul #water

Week of Workmen!

Another week of workmen has finished. Finally. Not only have we had the plumber and his apprentice, plus the tiler here to sort the bathroom out, all week, but we have also had four additional lads working outside on the house, putting up new fascia boards and gutters for us. So we've had workmen going in and out of the house, along with scaffolding up around the house, three work vans parked outside the house, and a skip for the rubbish for the plumber on the drive!

Thankfully, by Friday afternoon we could say goodbye to the four lads who had been working on the outside of the house. They have done a fantastic job of replacing all the boards and gutters, and the outside of the house now looks pretty good.

Just the inside to go now. And at the moment it feels like we're living in a building site. Well, not quite, but with plastic and cardboard over the new carpet, and tools everywhere, and a garage full of stuff, it's quite frustrating not being able to tidy up at the end of the week yet. The main bathroom isn't quite finished as the plumber isn't able to fit the toilet and sink until the tiler has finished, which should be in the next day or two. Once the bathroom is usable the plumber can then rip out the en-suite and make a start on that finally.

On the plus side, the house will hopefully be more or less completely done on the inside once the plumber has finished. Just the garden to sort out then ........

So the last week has been filled with work and workmen. With DH off work last week, I went in to the office for three days, knowing that there would be someone at home for all the workmen. This week will be a bit different as DH will be away for work for a couple of days, so I'll have to be off work for those days.

And tonight I’ve made a loaf, without the bread maker. And it is delicious! It’s been months since I last made bread, and I’ve been saying for a while now that I really must make a loaf. The smell of freshly baked bread is fabulous in the house. And of course we had to cut it while it was still warm.......



#freshbread #homeimprovements

Busy week

It’s been one of those weeks from start to finish. 

After having the bathroom ripped out on Monday, leaving an empty shell, that’s been followed by more banging and toing and froing by the plumber, tiler, and then on Friday by the blokes who are replacing the gutters on the house. So our house is currently half surrounded by scaffolding, with the rest going up tomorrow. 

So the bathroom is no longer just an empty shell though. It now has a bath and some part finished tiles! 

It’s going to look very different to how it was. And hopefully much better too. 

We’ve had bits of snow during the week where we are, with DD having much more snow, causing her to turn back home after setting off to work as the roads were too bad. And she’s only about 8 miles away from us! It’s incredible how different the weather can be over such a short distance. 

Being off work all last week has given me chance to complete another lesson of my online course, and that’s now in the post to be marked. It’s really interesting and I’m finding I’m doing so much extra reading for each lesson that it’s probably taking me longer to complete the course than if I just used the notes they send me. Hopefully the enthusiasm will continue through the rest of the lessons! 

And today has been Mother’s Day. And after being taken to the cinema yesterday by DD (a very rare event for me as it’s years since I last went), she came with us while we visited DHs mum and then my mum. It’s been a lovely day, and a fairly relaxing day after the upheaval of last week. Ready to start all over again tomorrow! 

And a sleeping cat to finish. Can he get much cuter?! 

#mothersday #cutecat #bathroomrenovation

Lakes weekend

We made it! Despite all the weather warnings and the pictures of snow that were showing on social media, we made it to Coniston (well, Torver). All the advice seemed to be to not travel due to the bad weather. But, a phone call to the pub confirmed that the roads were fine where they were, so we set off on Friday afternoon. All the bad weather must have been further north as the road to Torver was absolutely fine. Yes, there was snow, but only a small amount. And, after a change of rooms due to a bit of a heating issue, we settled down in front of a roaring fire in the pub for the night.

Saturday morning was a bit different as we woke up to see it snowing lightly. After a hearty breakfast we made sure we had our warm walking gear on and set off for Coniston by the lake shore.

It was a bit breezy along the way, and the snow kept coming for a while, but it was lovely.

As we got near to Coniston the snow stopped coming down and we headed to a little cafe for a drink and a bite to eat to warm up. After a good rest in the cafe we wrapped up again to start the walk back. And in the space of an hour or so most of the snow had disappeared! 

It was the furthest we've walked since our accident, and even though we had a stop at Coniston and a bit of a rest, it was still tough going for DH. But he kept going. We had a couple of stops on the way back to have some hot chocolate that we'd made and break up the 4 mile walk (yes, 4 miles each way). But we did it! And we still had time for a rest before heading down the to bar again for a lovely meal next to the fire again.

So, after doing all that walking on Saturday, we didn't plan to do much walking yesterday, and after a good breakfast again, and checking out of the pub, we headed to Elterwater for a short, flat walk, just to get out in the fresh air for a little while before we had to head home. 

We found a bench where DH sat down and let me carry on a for a bit further, before the rain started coming down a bit heavier and we headed back to the car.

It has been a lovely weekend away, despite the weather. The walk to Coniston was amazing, and even though we haven't been able to get up on to the fells yet, just being able to get outside and walk that distance is great. We've still got some way to go yet, but at least we're a lot further on than we were 6 months ago.

And today is Day One of bathroom renovations month. We're having the bathroom and en-suite ripped out and completely redone. Eek! So, lots of banging and ripping out today, and an empty room ready to be completely transformed over the next couple of weeks.............

Snow!

What a week it's been so far! Parts of the UK have almost come to a standstill because of the snow. Yet close to where we live there's not been a great deal at all. And, thankfully, we haven't been snowed in or been disrupted much because of the weather (although DH made the decision not to travel and stay overnight for work this week, but that's the only change for us). It has been bitterly cold though with the wind, especially today.

Yesterday, however, as it was so nice, and as I managed to get home while the sun was still shining, we went for a lovely afternoon walk by the canal. Yes it was cold, but it was still good to get out.

Tonight, however, is sounding pretty awful outside. And, after hearing a crash at the back of the house, we no longer have a standing shed. It was in a bit of a state anyway, with hardly any roof, and leaning over. And we’d been meaning to get rid of it for a while but just haven’t been able to physically doing anything about it. It’s now in bits all over the garden, and there’s nothing we can do tonight but wait until the wind dies down tomorrow and see what tidying up needs doing.  That’s another job to do next week while we’re off work .......