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.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

Last week was the week that Christmas decorations went up - both at home and at work.

The Christmas tree at work

The star on top

 It's not really my taste - I'm not really fond of tinsel - but putting the tree together from the measly amount of decorations that we have was an excuse to get away from my desk and to play Christmas music!

Decorating at home was a whole lot easier. Mainly because I was in charge but also because I only have four items that I regularly put up!

Anduril gets festive!

My decorations are all that you can see in the picture - with the exception of the advent calendar that Mum sewed for me when I was young - that goes up in the hall.

Instead of a full size tree I've opted for the small wooden one for the mantelpiece. It saves space and is much more eco friendly than a full size artificial one!

Plus it can't be nibbled by a certain pair of rabbits :)

Week 4 - DIY Christmas Coundown... Oh this is so shameful...

Okay, I have a confession to make. We didn't do a single thing to the flat this week. Not. One. Thing.

I'm a little bit ashamed of this, mainly because I made a huge announcement a few weeks ago about how we were going to finish the flat before Christmas and yet week-by-week, enthusiasm has waned and this week stuttered and died.

Well. Maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. SBB was working 12 hour days and my Dad was pretty wiped out from a weekend of helping my brother redo his central heating. So it would have just been me on my Todd doing... painting... I suppose.

Oh, and I've missed out one very important point - I broke my car window. I've made that sound very dramatic but there wasn't any broken glass it just got... stuck... inside the door. While winding down the passenger window, it made a clunk and didn't come back up when I pressed the button. So, naturally, I spent the next five minutes wanging the button up and down trying to 'fix' it.

Mistake.

Turns out the window had fallen out of the little plastic clips that hold onto it and I'd made rather a mess of the wires. My brother told my Dad what parts to order and he then had to put it all to rights. Now, because I have a Skoda that involved taking the entire inside of the door off. So that took time. Add to that the fact that it was getting cold and dark by the time my Dad finished work and, understandably, it took him a while to work up the enthusiasm. He eventually fixed it. In the rain. (My Dad's a hero!)

So week 4 was a complete let-down as far as DIY was concerned but I did get to catch up on unwatched episodes of Silent Witness. What? That doesn't count as work or progress? Darn.

Week 5 - DIY Christmas Countdown

Well. Best laid plans... I said last week that week 5 would have lots of updates but... that didn't quite work out. Saturday was supposed to be The Day To Do Stuff.
Then Saturday came, I uploaded week 6's update and then SBB stumbled out of the bedroom and suggested we stay on the sofa in our PJs. We hadn't got in til gone 1am that morning after heading to Portsmouth. I tried to work up the enthusiasm for going out. In the rain. To a cold flat to work. I teetered for a moment and then plunged directly into the need to stay in my pajamas. So we did.

Week 5 my focus was mainly on the living room windows. I've never been keen on the latches and you can see why:

They're an unattractive dirty shade of gold and someone way-back-when wasn't too careful with the brown stain/varnish so, now that we're giving the room a makeover, it was time for them to go.
I removed the locks as it's still possible to keep the window shut with just the arm, then I sanded the frame and filled in the screw holes with caulk.

When that dried I sanded it down but it had shrunk a little as it dried so I went over it again...

And that was the last thing I did. Pretty pathetic, really.

But I was joined by this little guy:

I set him free on the window sill.

SBB and Dad spent their time in the kitchen preparing the worksurface before they can cut out the hole for the hob. Dad had to buy a new tool to cut the hole out (I know, I know, technical huh?) so the back of the worksurface is currently just an interesting collection of lines.

The new sockets/light switches arrived. They're gorgeous. I was a little disappointed that the isolation switches both have 'cooker' written on them. The picture on the ebay had no writing on it at all which was ideal as one of them is for the washing machine/dishwasher sockets. Oh well.

Excuse the fingermarks. SBB ignored my cries of 'fingers!'

So SHINY....

Must make more of an effort to get down there more next week.

A Musical Interlude

Last Friday we went to The Pyramids in Portsmouth to see The Rifles. We ended up taking the car as the passenger ferries didn't have any return crossings after half past ten (thanks Wightlink and Hovertravel...).

As it happens this was probably a good thing because A: we didn't have to walk around in the cold and B: it meant we could park near Gunwarf when we arrived and go to Burger King. Now, it's important to note at this stage the love that SBB and I have for Burger King. We don't have one on the Island so whenever we visit the Mainland we make our mission to eat there!

Happily filled up on Burger King we drove to Southsea and bagged a parking space practically outside the venue with free parking! I know, simple things...

We were the first ones in the queue and stood making idle chat with one of the door-staff, mainly along the lines of 'Ooh, isn't it cold!'

When we got inside we headed straight for the bar and bought a couple of bottled waters and the barman told us he had to keep the lids adding, at the puzzled look on my face, that it was company policy.

'What can you do with a bottle lid?' I asked in wonderment.

He shrugged. 'I don't know. Throw them at people? The management assumes everyone's fourteen.'

We laughed and went away with our drinks to find a convenient wall to lean against next to the lighting/sound area and SBB pointed out that a filled water bottle with a lid acts as a solid weapon. I looked at my water a little distrustfully.

'To think,' I joked, 'I've always assumed water to be a refreshing beverage when actually it's a lethal weapon!'

The stage

 The place was almost empty and that's pretty much how it stayed all night.

Only joking.

People started filtering in as the warm-up acts were playing.

I've never been to The Pyramids before and the room was smaller than I expected but it filled quite nicely.

The Rifles were supported by The Novatones and The Incredible Magpies. SBB said he could see influences by The Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys in The Novatones and as I speak write is downloading some of their music. But to me the aim of their music seemed to be 'thrash the instruments and sing as loudly and as bolshy as possible'.
The Incredible Magpies (as well as having an awesome name) seemed to have better control of their instruments and their singing.
I do have to point out that it all wasn't really my type of music so it's not really fair to 'review' these bands. SBB had bought two tickets, intending to be joined by a friend but he wasn't available. I hadn't known that SBB had been intending on going alone and, although he would have been fine, I couldn't bear the thought of him being on his own so happily agreed to go along with him.

Although I'm not really a fan of The Rifles I don't mind listening to them in the background as we're driving along, for example, so while I wasn't jiggling around like the rest of the crowd I was content to listen and tap my toe every now and again. My enjoyment was hampered somewhat by two things 1: I couldn't keep my eyes open I was so tired, 2: My shoulders and back were aching from my week at work. At one point though a couple of  'crowd control' staff popped up near me and started making 'I can see them' movements with their hands - do you know the ones I mean? - so I watched with interest, assuming someone was about to be yanked out of the crowd.
However, to my disappointment, they decided whoever it was wasn't as much of an issue as they'd thought and so they went away.

As the gig wore on I became increasingly grateful for being stood at the back against the wall as the semi-empty beer cups started flying. Perhaps it's just me but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS. What is the entertainment factor of throwing your drink dregs over the people in front of you and, likely, hitting someone on the head with your cup?


Anyway, SBB really enjoyed himself and the music so that's what really counts.

Week 6 - DIY Christmas Countdown

Okay, so this is a little late and it's closer to the end of week 5 than week 6 but that's because we've been doing the work for the week 5 update! (Which has a bit more to it than week 6 - yay!)

Weekends have been taken up with other things: SBB has been working Saturdays and I've been trying to do the things I haven't been able to do in the week... Laundry mainly.

This week saw me finally start to tackle the living room window alcoves. SBB was rained off one day so he put a first coat on the smaller window and I did the larger window. The previous colour on the walls - a pale blue - seems to be quite reluctant to be painted over and it's taken three coats to cover it up.

SBB also did a first coat of primer around the skirting board

The kitchen is still coming along too and measurements have been taken to put the worktop on and the rest of the lights have gone in! Look how pretty they are:

SBB also managed to plaster the hallway ceiling! This makes me more happy than I can say.

Yucky stippled ceiling

I'm not a great fan of artex - especially the stippled kind - so I was glad to see this go. We'd had the kitchen ceiling done by a professional as the ceiling was such a large area SBB was worried he wouldn't get it flat (and would injure himself in the process). However, while the guy did a good job I felt myself a little underwhelmed. Some of the edges close to the ceiling weren't straight and in a couple of patches near the window I could still make out the pattern. To be fair, I could only see it if I stood right underneath it and stared straight up at it and how many people actually do this on a daily basis? My Dad came round and I pointed out all my little niggles and he was a bit disappointed - the plasterer has done several ceilings at my parents' house and they've all been very good. Dad suggested that I call the plasterer and give him the opportunity to correct the mistakes but SBB and I decided that we needed to crack on with the painting as the vinyl was on it's way (and I had no intention of trying to paint with my lovely new flooring down!).
As it happens, we painted the room and the 'problem areas' weren't that obvious, unless you knew where to look. It doesn't help that SBB, Dad and I are all perfectionists. SBB and Dad most of all because of their jobs. So, I'm not going to mention the plasterer's name because he did an okay job and we didn't give him the opportunity to sort out our issues so it's not fair to 'name and shame' the poor man.

Right, back to the hallway ceiling. After our experience with the kitchen SBB was a little reluctant to get the plasterer back in to do the job, but also didn't really want to do it himself. He ummmed and ahhhed over it for a while and even, at one point, suggested that we leave the ceiling as it was.

'How important is it to have a flat ceiling?' he asked.

I scowled at him and reminded him that I'd bought lovely new spotlights and didn't want them ruined but having them put into a crappy ceiling. Spotlights and stippling? I don't think so.

My knowledge of plastering is fairly limited - being only what I happen to see when I pause from whatever I'm doing to wander in see what SBB's up to - but I think the process is this:

1. Prepare the surface. In this case that meant scraping off the stipples - or 'blunting' them. This was SBB's job - I don't have the arm muscles for that sort of thing! Essentially you just have to wear down the worst of the 'bump' to get the ceiling as flat as possible. (The first time that SBB did this, in our hallway at home, he scraped off almost ALL of the artex which we later learnt wasn't necessary!) Then it's time to glue. This is always my job and I always end up with glue splodges on my glasses. In this case I only did one coat of glue but previously it's been two. We waited for the first one to go off, then applied another coat and when it's reached the correct amount of 'tackiness' SBB moves on to...

2. Apply the first coat. This coat seems a little thicker than the subsequent coat and when it's on the board it looks like chocolate mousse to me - a really think luxurious one. At this point I don't think it's too important to get it mirror flat but it is important to get it level. Wait for it to go off a bit then...

3. Apply the second coat. As I said, this one is a little thinner than the first coat and, if I remember correctly, looks a bit like chocolate yoghurt. This is skimmed over the first coat and worked together to make it smooth.

4. After waiting for the plaster to go off for a while, it's time to spray with water and smooth off with the finishing trowel any bits that need attention. This is the bit that takes a while because this you don't want a bumpy wall/ceiling and you have to make sure you don't over soak the plaster otherwise you get dribbles and it looks bad. This is the bit that I really enjoy watching (and not just because I get to 'help' by pointing out bits SBB misses) because with each go over with the finishing trowel the wall gets smoother and smoother - like magic. (Although I'm sure SBB would prefer me to think of it as his hard work, rather than magic...)

5. After the plaster is dry any remaining bumps - usually at the edges of the adjoining wall/ceiling - can be sanded down.

I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, an expert and I've never picked up a trowel in my life other than when SBB asks 'Can you pass me the...' so this is definitely not a 'how to' (!)
Luckily for me though I have a man who does know how to plaster and -

SHAZZAM

A plastered hallway ceiling. It's so pretty that if I could reach, I would stroke it.

One of those days....

This morning started off so well.

I got up before my alarm went off, which meant I was washed and dressed a whole 15 minutes early which, in turn, meant I actually got to sit down and eat my breakfast AND I had a cup of coffee. I NEVER have time to drink a hot drink in the mornings! I was quite chuffed, feeling sure that today - ah yes - TODAY would be a good day.

When we got into the truck to leave I realised I'd forgotten my water bottle so I ran back to the house to grab it.

In the meantime my mum had phoned and SBB was just hanging up when I got back to the truck. Turns out she'd forgotten her ID badge so we had to drive over to her house to grab it - she works in the same place as me but in a different department so I could easily drop it off. I gave Dad a quick kiss and ran back to the truck - aware that every extra minute meant SBB would be late for work. I stepped up into the truck - forgoing the step to hop in quicker and....

RIIIIIPPPPPP.....

I froze in horror. I'd ripped my trousers. I poked at the seam and, believing it to be a small hole, told SBB to drive as I thought I could get away with hiding at my desk all day.

Then a thought struck me. What if the hole got bigger?

OR - what if it was bigger than I thought? I checked again.

It was bigger than I'd thought.

Putting my hand through the hole

 Luckily I had my painting clothes with me as I'd planned to go to the flat. I changed into the trousers in the truck which must have been a sight for passing motorists! You may well laugh (everyone in my office did!) but I had to spend the rest of the day in my paint splattered baggy jogging trousers.

However, what I should really take away from this is how I lucky it was that I had a spare pair of trousers. If I hadn't... Well. If I hadn't SBB would have driven me home to change and we'd both have been late for work.


I went up to the flat after work and painted some mould treatment around the windows in the living room. With the flat empty for so long it wasn't ventilated or heated so we discovered a bit of a problem around the windows. SBB had been up there at the weekend while I was getting wet trying to put out and then frantically take back in the laundry (good times!). He put up the kitchen wall cabinets...

(You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos - I took them on my phone.)

He also took up the floor in the living room, which makes the room look so much bigger. (It's almost carpet time :) So exciting!)

We also realised last week that we hadn't bought a kitchen hood so during my lunch break I had a quick scout about and we picked up this little baby from B&Q (on sale!):

I also ordered some switches and sockets for the kitchen - they should be here this week and I can't wait to show them - they look so swish.

It's all coming together.

When we got home SBB cleaned out the rabbits and there was a poo explosion. Turns out Cillian had some wet poo in his fur. He paused just long enough for SBB to notice and then ran away - flicking it over the door, the skirting board, the coffee table, my dinner tray and the carpet. Ah, the pitfalls of having indoor rabbits... We had to put the poor baby in the bath and I cuddled him until he was dry. So maybe the day wasn't so bad that some cuddles couldn't fix it.