Time to say goodbye....

(Imagine that being sung by Andrea Bocelli)

Well, it was time to say goodbye to my beloved shower curtain. Yes, I said shower curtain. You see, our old shower curtain was specifically picked to match the red walls of our bathroom. (Love, love LOVE my bathroom so much! Ahem. Anyway...)

 

I loved it because it was bright and cheerful. Plus it really perked me up in the mornings. But years of use and washing meant that it was losing its waterproof coating and it had gone a a bit pink at the bottom. I tried to deny it but, alas, had to admit defeat and throw it away.

The one we bought to replace it was this one:

I thought I'd love it because I have a small obsession with rubber ducks but when we hung it up it just had too much white. We've had it for a couple of months now and I'm still not completely happy with it. I suppose at the end of the day it's JUST a shower curtain but I miss my old one.
Also, am I the only one that thinks there's something creepy about the light blue duck? It looks like it has teeth and that is scary on so many levels... Particularly when one is - ahem - vulnerable...

Plus it now doesn't match our bath mat.

 

If anyone hears of a place to buy brightly coloured stripey shower curtains let me know!

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