Routine

Hey guys.

It’s dark. All my solar powered twinklies are shining through the window on our finished dog fence, and the three beasties having discovered my Alinea fleecy blanket, are all asleep on me as I type. The hubs is practising his guitar next door, and I’m getting a feel for what it’ll be like in a few weeks when the regular normal routine of him being away for work kicks in.

The gite is super cosy, we still have jobs to do, paint some woodwork, lay some flooring in the bedrooms, but none of that is a massive priority. The big house for the first time really, is finally getting some attention, spurred on by the fact that our kitchen will be delivered a week tomorrow.

When the wall was removed between the old kitchen and what was a downstairs bedroom, the floors were slightly different levels, one was tiled, the other was carpeted, but once removed had lovely wood floors. Trouble was they were coated liberally in latex adhesive. We persevered with flat-bed sanders but to no avail, this stuff was like trying to remove a massive jar label, it just moved around rather than coming up. We relented and hubs went to Leroy Merlin to hire a floor sander. Brilliant bit of kit! It dealt with 90% of the floor super fast, leaving us scraping adhesive out of low points and knotholes with chisels to finish off. So far it’s had a coat of wood stain, but a second coat on the newer wood we’ve had laid to replace the tiles has now taken it darker than the older original floor. Looks like I’ll be trying a second coat on the other half of the floor tomorrow and we’ll see where we end up. Then it’s two coats of varnish and we’re done. The wood is beautiful though, I love it. If we can’t get a match then it’s a rug over the join and it’ll be reyt!

After contacting several electricians we have one coming to see us next Sunday to look at rewiring where needed and about a gazillion different sockets. I feel poorer already. Safety has to be paramount though, and we can’t finish any room that needs plaster channeling out for wiring so it needs to be a priority job.

Our fosse is still grumpy, my makeshift shower drain stopper, the top from a can of hair mousse, while effective at stopping the smell in the house isn’t fixing the cause of the malcontent so I think we might need to make a call to “Fosse Man” who may or may not wear a little cape, but I hope that he does.

Also the lock on the front door is being a bit weird too, probably need to find a locksmith before I get locked out in the dead of winter with 3 dogs in tow.

Still, I am reminded that on day one of living in our old house, the oven broke,within a few months the patio came up, then the render came off the outside wall. These issues here, with the exception of the door lock are known evils.

What I didn’t get in the old house was peace and quiet, mountain views at the bottom of our garden, and a night sky so clear and crammed full of stars that it almost doesn’t look real. The Plough was so vivid over our barn roof last night, and so big I’m sure you could have touched it if you stood on your toes.

Ps. Aldi tinned Dauphinoise Potatoes are a revelation. The right mix of slightly weird tasting tinned “caravan potatoes” – we always had these on holidays in Bridlington, and creamy goodness. Ace, and about 3p a tin. Or something. Probably.

TTFN xx