Week 1 - Christmas Countdown and the last few days

A second post from me today as I wanted to finish the countdown before Christmas (and I've only got hours left!).
Spoiler: we didn't get it all finished but here's an update of where we've got to. We only managed to get Dad over one night during the week as he was pulling some serious overtime.

While he and SBB were working in the kitchen I started the gloss work in the bathroom. Remember how it last looked all the way back in week seven?

Painted on the left, unpainted on the right

It's getting there

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, SBB and Dad tackled the hole for the hob. This had to be done carefully - particularly when moving it after it had been cut as it could snap. They reinforced the thinner cut edge with another strip of wood and a couple of clamps.

However, when we slotted the hob into place there was a problem. We discovered that the support struts didn't allow the hob to sit neatly in the hole.

Area to be cut marked out

So we chopped out a segment and replaced the hob only to find that there was now a section on the left that was also in the way.

This was annoying to say the least and I wonder if everyone has this problem with B&Q kitchens and hob tops.

Once we got that sorted we moved on to the sink. There was a gap between the cabinet and the rim of the sink that, while not visible from standing, would be glaringly obvious when getting things out of the cupboard. Why, oh why, did B&Q design it this way? Anyway, our solution was to use an offcut of the leftover plinth and screw it onto the top of the cabinet.

There was one problem. The screws securing the center column sat proud of the wood so Dad used a little drillbit called a countersink to skim a little out of the top of the screw hole so that the screws sat flush to the wood. I was pretty impressed - I had no idea what that drillbit did!

We then screwed everything back together and I am so impressed with how it looks. It's really coming along don't you think?

For the rest of the week and the last few days I'm afraid life has gotten in the way of DIY.

Christmas buffet spread at work

Keeping warm at work - Sweet popcorn Options hot chocolate (couldn't really taste any popcorn)

Favourite steak meal at The Lifeboat - yum!

 All of which finally leads us up to tonight. Christmas Eve. All the presents are wrapped, I don't have to do any cooking until Boxing Day (when SBB and I have our own belated Christmas Day) and Midnight Mass is hours away unless I fall asleep first... :)

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas. x

The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars are a Million to One

Okay, quick confession - there is no week 2 to the Christmas Countdown. SBB was knackered from working 25 days straight and on the Thursday we went on a little trip.

SBB and I have always been big fans of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds so when I heard the stage show was coming so close I snapped up tickets ASAP. And it. Was. Amazing.

Here's how our trip went:

Breakfast. Toasted bagel with honey and a cup of tea. Lovely!

Red Funnel gets festive

We traveled up on Thursday lunchtime and headed straight to our hotel to check in. We stayed in Hotel Celebrity (although I don't have a picture of it).

Each of the rooms is named after a famous person (or people) and the halls have some really quirky artwork.

Erm... What goes on in THIS room?

It even has a ghost! Unfortunately the room seems to be an office and not available to book... But how cool would that be?!

 There's even leaflets/a poster about the ghost. I nabbed one to read later.

Our room was Keira Knightley. It was a nice room - clean and tidy.

View from the window - not quite as good as the last time I was in Bournemouth!

We trundled into Bournemouth and had a good wander round the Christmas market.

Those little black dots in the sea near the pier are surfers - very brave as it was freezing!

 After a quick trip back to the hotel to dump our shopping we heading out for some food. We settled on Prezzo.

There was so much on the menu I almost couldn't choose - I was drawn towards the lobster spaghetti but I've never had lobster so wasn't sure whether I should take the risk but then SBB asked:

'Well, how often do you get the opportunity to eat lobster?'

Good point.

Doesn't it look good?

It was so SO good but I couldn't eat it all. It was literally a mountain of spaghetti in a sauce that was so good I wanted to bury my face in it. But I didn't. Obviously.

We may have come on a particularly busy evening but as soon as we arrived we were asked, rather imperiously, 'Have you booked or just wandered in?' We were served very quickly which was both admirable and unexpected. To give you an idea of how quick it was - I've had longer waits at McDonalds! On one hand it was nice to be served quickly but we did feel a little rushed.

After dinner we wandered around a bit and then went into a place called 'Fun Station'. It had a load of arcade games but what drew us in was the counter in front of the window selling waffles and sundaes. A perfect place for pudding.

Looks bloomin' marvelous doesn't it?

I've forgotten what our sundaes were called but SBB had one with brownies and chocolate ice cream and I had one with banoffee and toffee. Oh my they were good.

After pudding it was time to head over to the BIC.

The stage

I took another picture during the intermission but I won't upload it because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. The show was great. The acting was a little poor (even Liam Neeson in the first half. For shame, Liam, for shame!) but the music more than made up for it. It was a great evening which finished to thunderous applause.

The next morning we were heading out so we heading down for the buffet breakfast which was lovely. I think it was an 'all you can eat' but I only managed the one plate.

I'm quite glad I picked Hotel Celebrity. It was friendly, clean and quiet at night (which is always a plus for me) and for £36 for the two of us for a night was an absolute bargain!

We took a rather bizarre detour back to Southampton because SBB turned left out of the hotel's carpark instead of right like I told him (sighs and rolls eyes).
Once in Southampton it was time to head to one place: Ikea!

It's strange but it's only after being in Ikea that I remember how much I dislike the place. I think what I dislike is the fact that you have to go through the how show room to get to the actual 'shop' area. But we were there to buy stuff for the flat and we managed to get everything on our list except the light fixture we wanted because they'd discontinued it (sad face).

Our trolley

Our trolley was filled with all white and clear items, except for a new storage box for my workout clothes.

*I wasn't paid to review Hotel Celebrity I just enjoyed my stay!*

Week 3 - DIY Christmas Countdown

Right! So this week we worked on the kitchen. SBB was at work at the weekend so it was just Dad and I which was a bit of a father/daughter bonding experience.

We needed to trim down the worksurfaces and the initial idea was to cut them down with the circular saw and then use the router to get it down to a perfect edge.

Action shot

 However, just look at this baby:

That cut is by the circular saw and look how gorgeous it is!

When it came to cutting the shorter piece of worktop we had to cut the edge next to the sink at an angle because, as with any wall, it wasn't exactly straight.


But when we put both bits of worktop in place we discovered that the shorter side didn't line up with the longer side and the longer side didn't line up exactly with the edge of the sink. The difference of measurements was about 3mm which doesn't sound a lot but it was noticeable.

Dad came up with two solutions to the problem. A: he could rout out a bit of the frame for the sink to angle it to meet the edge of the longer section or B: rout down the back of the longer worktop to make it shorter depth-wise.

We went for option A as it seemed the easiest thing to do but a cloud of sawdust and three minutes of wiggling-the-sink later and it was clear that it wasn't to work. Womp womp :(

If you look closely you can see the small overhang of worksurface compared to the sink edge

Option B it was then!

We took the worktop off and Dad went along the back edge with his router which sounds easier than it was. Because he needed a long flat surface to run against he initially thought we'd have to leave it for the day but I managed to find some long 2x4s that we had left in the bedroom. Victory! (I think I may actually have shouted that).
Dad put everything together with an assortment of clamps and I left the room because I didn't have my ear defenders (doh). After the first cut we tried it against the sink but it was still another mil too deep so we had to take it off again, but after the final cut it was perfect and it looks so awesome.

I think we must have gone back and forth with the two worksurfaces about 5 or 6 times and although it wasn't a great distance between the two rooms it was hard work for me. The problem was my arms weren't quite long enough to hold it comfortably upright so in the initial lift the arm gripping the bottom locked out (and that hurt) so I had to bend it slightly but then lean over at the waist so I could reach - all the while claiming 'Yes Dad I'm FINE' to his constant worries about straining my back.

I also bumbled around working on the windows while he was making piles of sawdust. I took the little bit of metal off the kitchen window that keeps it closed (I have no idea what this is supposed to be called) and filled the holes with caulk.

You'd think my caulk smoothing ability would have improved by now... (sigh)

 Then, in my wisdom, decided that as it had worked for the kitchen window it would also work for the windows in the living room and that there would be no issue at all with my removing said small metal pieces from all the windows. So, I happily removed them and filled them with caulk, glad that the windows were taking another step towards completion.

Can you spot the problem?

Yes. Without the small metal things and with the locks yet to be replaced I had no way of closing the windows. Major palm to forehead moment.

Dad was too kind to laugh at me for my mistake and after patiently listening to my attempts at offering options so that my work wouldn't go to waste then pointed out that the easiest and best thing to do would be to replace the metal bits and screw into the holes I'd just filled. A little crestfallen, I agreed.

But at least the worksurface is prepared for the hob to go in. Next step will be to attach the end caps to protect the cut ends, make any adjustments necessary with the 'added length' and then it will be time to put the hob in! I'm so excited to make this room look like a kitchen and I think a trip to Ikea may be needed to buy some accessories.