Friday, August 22, 2014

House renovations never go smoothly.........

Now, if life would just work in a simple fashion.......

The interesting house renovation developments around here now revolve around disasters. Yesterday was an ordinary day, until the plumber announced that the new bathroom basin unit had arrived broken and that it would be late next week before it arrived. 

Then he discovered that one of my new tall radiators had a small rust hole and needed to be replaced immediately, so I had to track down the other plumber (a long story) and he finally called back to tell me that it would take a week or 10 days for that to arrive, and not to worry, it could be installed when it suited me. 

Well, no, because I do not want radiators full of water to be removed on top of my new carpets. Which will now have to be delayed. 

And then a lovely friend arrived to put up a couple of new lights. Well, one was new. The other was begin moved. And suddenly all the lights in the lounge and nook ceased functioning. That required a call to his brother-in-law, who arrived at 7pm and the two of them worked on it all until after 10 last night.

And as they were leaving, victorious, I tried to switch on the outside or entry light so they could see where they were going and neither worked. Cue corporate nervous breakdown. They are returning to continue work in the near future. 

And my lounge looks like this. I have 4/5ths of a bathroom in it. 

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In daylight, the front door looks rather pretty, with the hanging basket in full bloom. The rest of the garden is definitely showing many signs of autumn. Apart from the dahlias, of course. I am tempted to start emptying baskets. Diana's sunflowers are still climbing towards the sky - they will be stunning when out. There will be photos, of course. Photos are good. 

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Here you can see the Great Electrical Team Pondering the Mysteries of the Lights. These things have to be documented, don't they - the story of my life.......

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I was keeping well out of the way, believe me. David was manning the power switch. "Power Off" "Power On" repeated by all to ensure no-one was accidentally fried. 

And now for a little light relief. Those balloons I got up at dawn to chase across the valley. Here are a few photos. I am so glad I did go out when I did, because that was the last time over the festival weekend, that they were actually able to fly. They look so beautiful floating in the sky. I remember my flight 10 years ago perfectly, and the silence was what astonished me. I absolutely loved begin up there above the world. How many of you have flown in a balloon? Just fabulous!

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This red and black one landed in the field just beyond that hedge on the left. 

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Right time and right place. 

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So, I am sitting here, waiting for the bathroom plumber to arrive. The bathroom is empty of the old suite, (see above- that is the old bathroom in the skip) and has been plastered. The plaster is almost dry and then I will need to paint it a zillion times so that it is all sorted before the bath etc goes in. 

He has done the marine ply on the floor, for the tiles, and the radiator is in place. And this is a bank holiday weekend. Things are going too slowly for me. I need it all to be done. The carpets are waiting. The lounge carpets need to be taken up too. Cut up. A weekend job, perhaps. 

Well, Mr Bathroom Plumber Man has arrived and is hard at work in the bathroom above my head again. I am on kettle duty. Tea. Coffee. 

I will be back.

7 comments:

lu said...

Your pictures remind me of our house some 15 years ago. It was like that game with dominoes where they each knock each other over. Building a new kitchen meant the old had to be knocked into the lounge. Dust over everything. Central heating had floor boards up in every room. At one point the contents of the airing cupboard were being stored in the bath. Decorating needed through the house, new carpets etc. We thought we had finished when a black patch appeared on the ceiling. The bathroom was feeling unloved and was now leaking into the newly decorated room below, yet another job to do. Just keep thinking how nice your house will look when it is finished.

Sandra said...

Oh goodness, I'm sure you're ready to see all the renovations over and done with.

Love the photos of the balloons, it's something I have always wanted to do but have never had the chance. I can just imagine how pretty it looks from way up there.

Wishing you a very good weekend :)

Linda said...

I have nothing useful to say except I'm so sorry it's taking such an awfully long time. Wish I could somehow transport you here and give you a well deserved rest.
The balloons are lovely. They have a festival not far from where our son and dil live near Dallas. We passed by one weekend and were dazzled by the beauty of all those balloons floating in the sky above us.

Susan said...

Hello Linds! My heart goes out to you, but when it is all finished you will have a great reason to throw a big party! Hang onto the vision of how great it will look :-)

Edith said...

Love your back ground photo (I'm probably late to the party on that)!

Sorry on the bathroom/plumbing/lighting issues. it will be lovely when finished I'm sure.

So glad you are writing here again! Have a blessed day.

Kathryn said...

Just keep repeating "it will be worth it in the end" to yourself like a mantra. Alternatively, maybe you could hibernate, sleep for a month or so, and wake up to find it all finished?

I went on a balloon flight 20 years ago. Yes, it was wonderful, and the silence was extraordinary.

Pam said...

That all sounds ghastly but think how posh it'll all be when it's finished. Mind you, it looked lovely to me before...

Nothing on this earth would get me up in a balloon. I am a wimp.