COLD AND COLD

I have had a heavy cold which as slowed down progress on the kitchen I have made three units and ripped out some more base units and wall units .I nearly messed up the electric wiring I disconnected a cable  I shouldn't have it was on a ring and taking it out meant no power was going to the fish tank I had to wire it back in to the original  socket .I have bought a junction box and will put all the wires in to that and do away with the plug and switch .

Helens parents are in their new home we went over to see them this afternoon it was very sunny but cold and it was a nice drive over . Alcaster Malbis is a small village close to York their new home looks good is ultra modern and a nice layout with a decent bedroom and  bathroom and ultra modern  kitchen , The living room is  big enough with a couple of bay windows  it all  looks new they should be happy there its in a great  location hopefully they will enjoy their remaining years there .

I have a week off on the 5th of March I need to crack on through the week get some wall units up and we can clear some of the kitchen stuff that is currently residing in the living room .
I can then do all the niggling little repairs and upgrades the ceiling coving changing the plug socket covers and some painting .

I need to go to the council rubbish tip and clear the garden again as the debris  is starting to build up again.

HECTIC

Its been a hectic week the van looks like we have had the worlds best rave , it looks one big mess .But we have made a lot of progress the radiators are in place the eight spot lights are fitted in to the kitchen dinner ceiling two usb 13 amp sockets are at the side of our bed the stud work is cladded the door is hanged and the architrave is on doing a few hours a day is not the best way of working

 With the kitchen coming  tomorrow time as been a issue I will be able to start assembling and fixing them in place which will start to clear the mess away need to buy a triple door wardrobe which will clear more of the stuff that is also out and in Ikea bags will be put away clearing more floor space , I am also starting with a massive head cold my nose is running and my eyes streaming not good .

We need to cut up the carpet and move the fridge freezer which will back on to the new wall preferably in the morning before the kitchen comes .

Bought some One Strike to fill in the old spot light cut outs if it does what it says on the can be wicked .

bought three whet stones of Ebay a fine med and course cost me only £6 fcuking awesome , my plane irons and chisels a new lease of life no grinding .

Helen's parents move out of their house in to their static home tomorrow which must be a big relief for them I hope they don't want their kitchen and bedroom extending .

PROGRESS MADE

Started ripping out the walls took out the old leg heating system the walls was ok the plywood paneling came of quite easy .took best part of five hours to get all the timber framing ripped out and dumped in the garden .

My good friend Ken helped me , we then went to Wicke"s in the Transit van and bought 16 lengths of timber for the stood work  and five eight by four  mdf panels to clad both of the sides .
The radiator is going back in situ this coming Monday  along with a radiator in the bathroom and the cooked being plumed in on the long wall the fridge is also moving . The electrician is coming back Thursday and the kitchen is getting delivered Friday .

Tomorrow we need to load the trailer pick up more mdf architrave and door casing I also need a wifi extender socket and usb sockets for the bedroom .

The pipe is the only evidence of a heating system for the leg gas 

least the tv is back on the wall be it temporary 

be warmer when it is cladded and the door is on 

The bedroom is now a few feet bigger 

A BUSY ME

Both the Plumber and Electrician turned up the rads are off and the electrics isolated we might need to get a new boiler which is a bit hefty price wise but the one we have we had to call the gas service engineer out to fix it very likely it will pack in sometime this year .We need it out and a new one in its place we might put it in the toilet and take the flu through the side of the van making the window we have in there useless .

Did not have much time to do anything started taking the cornice off and the mirrors and the mdf panels all the little jobs does save time .

As some of the radiators are now obsolete the van is a lot colder which is bearable I think Helen spent most of the day in bed when I had gone to work .

I need to take three walls down construct a new wall with door I need to take out a corner wardrobe and a chest of drawers I also need to take out the old heating system for the LGP gas heating system .
Plus go buy the wood take the rubbish to the tip and all the rest busy me.
Monday the radiator goes on to the wall I build plus a new rad goes into the bathroom which will make showering more enjoyable in winter months this is England its always cold .

BREAKFAST FOR 2

Valentines day went to Marks and Spencer's bought Helen some flowers then took her to Canon Hall Farm for breakfast had a full English with tea and coffee .Also bought her a Joules top that she saw and liked , coming out it started to snow which has now turned to rain .

Need to measure up and buy the wood I need for the bedroom wall that I need to construct over the weekend hopefully I can take down all the wall that need coming down and install the new wall in one day and hopefully get to the local tip and dump all the old timber and panels .

Ripped out a riding unit in the second bedroom six doors all screwed in situ took all of ten minutes took longer putting it in the car took it to the tip .Removed some bedding and clothes we have the electrician and plumber coming tomorrow at nine in the morning .

Saturday should be an interesting day I need to rip out and get some timber might even go tomorrow and get the enough wood for the stud framing and get the boards for the paneling Saturday .
I am looking at getting a second hand router of eBay and a cutter for jointing the worktops .

Helen's parents move w week this Friday the day my new kitchen gets delivered doubt we will have time to go over and visit them will have to leave it a week I guess got a week of starting the 5th of March .

COOKING WITH GAS

Woke up made a coffee the kitchen are is a mess cant do much about it seeing half the kitchen as been ripped out .

Filled the fridge and freezer compartments up with stuff from the old fridge which as been in the out building since Saturday .More space need more cider .

Connected the gas oven checked the joint was ok using washing up liquid and water mixture no bubbles , Helen cooked bacon and eggs no smell of gas everything seems fine fingers crossed .

I t is snowing again and it is coming down really heavy  atm don't have to leave for work until one in the afternoon hopefully it will have stopped by then the only issue then if it starts to snow again of course is  getting home it is  is always a worry that I will find the roads impassable ,  the weather can change a lot  in the hours I am at work .

By the time I was ready for work it was cold but fine not going to work was not and option .
Helen's son Liam called around whilst I was at work and cooked tea for his mum and me I had mine when I got in chicken and tarragon in a cream sauce brilliant an excellent meal .

DELIVERED

Woke up had a shower it was snowing we are waiting for the delivery  cleared the decking for the delivery of the range type cooker  which has a  double oven ,  five ring hob and grill plus the American style  fridge we was told  it would  be mid afternoon which ruins Sunday not giving us much time to do anything .
I ripped some more of the ceiling stud work got to be careful I don't put holes in the ceiling it is stapled from above its a pain part of it was even screwed not good .I also took some of the cornice down every little helps .

The delivery came just after two thought the fridge freezer would have been smaller than what it was it just went through the door any bigger we would have been in trouble .The cooker need the feet putting on will connect it tomorrow it is all gas both bits of kit look really good we are happy the fridge we had to leave four hours before turn it on after six hours we turned it on and set the temperature gotta say it is one of the best fridge freezer I have ever had there is four adjustable shelves and four adjustable door compartments with a water dispenser to be honest for the two of us it is over kill both on the fridge freezer and the cooker but what the heck .

Helen's son Liam came over with his girlfriend Nicola we went for dinner to the Hare and Hounds had a lamb shank Sunday dinner with extra Yorkshire pudding along with raspberry milkshake cheese cake with clotted cream and Helen had turkey and mixed  fruit crumble with ice cream .

Weekend over it work tomorrow roll on the 5th of March another week off work this evening is ice cold I had to go to the grit skip and rob some grit for my paths and decking it was that slippery .

Might have to call in at Ikea and getting a metal and wooden butchers block and some pear cider for the fridge already made some ice .

RIP OUT

Ripped out a partition wall in the kitchen  took out the extractor fan need to sort the ceiling out might have to rebound it . I also took out the fridge freezer and a couple of base and wall units it is already looking a lot bigger space in deceiving I took the ripped out panels doors to the local tip we are getting the new cooker and American style fridge freezer delivered tomorrow .

The kitchen units and work tops will follow next week we are moving radiators and electrical sockets I am also moving our bed room wall to increase the size of our bed room by a good three foot .

Went to my Daughter house for the very first time I have got to admit it is already looking like she has lived there longer than a few days she as everything that she needs her sofa looks brilliant and wa sonly £100 she as had Sky put in and has put up all the curtains and cleaned the wholee house top tp bottom and more or less she as done it all on her own.

Went to Asda bought some plastic storage baskets for the fridge and some storage containers for the new fridge .
Not eaten all day  at six o clock went to fish and chip shop for food and coffee .

Need to work out what timber and mdf sheeting I need to make one new wall and to do the ceiling I'am  limited unless I get it delivered as to what I can get in the car 1860 x 610 sheets  should be ok .

Got two 128 gb sd cards  from China for Helen's and mine Galaxy S8 ,  try doing that with a Apple I also got Gears Of war games 2&3 thank you Ebay all at great prices too.

LIGHT HEAD

Cleaned a lot of the leaves in the garden and bagged them ready for the bin collection this afternoon .
there is a light dusting of snow it is come down at the moment lie fallout from a bonfire if it stays like this it is easily managed .

Back at the garden centre bought another two large ceramic pots for the garden 50% off also bought a head band  Led torch and some batteries  not sure why made sense at the time was only  £2.99  a head torch for giving head haha
.
Did some food shopping bought some fried chicken and Nando's piri piri  mayo sauce .
My daughter is settled  in her new  house she is more or less unpacked and totally moved in we are visiting her this coming Saturday . She is living in  a two bedroom Kippax they are plenty of amenities close to hand .

Helen's parents have finally received a day for exchanging contracts the 26th of Feb a week this Friday unfortunately we are busy and won't be able to help them move be lucky if w have time to go and visit them .They are moving in to a static home a few miles from York they paid £125k for a home similar to ours which we paid quarter the price that they are forking out .

BACK TO WORK

MONDAY - It's back to work first day always sucks specially when it is doing it's damnedest to snow not a great start to the week .
My daughter moves into her new rented house I cant wait to see it with all her stuff in place it will be the first house which is solely hers she can do with it what ever she wishes up to a point.

The first house I bought had all the same five  four drawer cabinets down one wall in the bedroom everything went in the drawers and my stereo system on the top . I had a mattress on the floor and a radio alarm clock .
In the living room I had a two seater leather settee a wall unit and two black metal  trolley tables with castors my tv and video player was on one the other went in the other alcove  , and all the rooms walls and stair cases were painted white saved cutting in .

Went to Halfords  car centre depot  this morning as both of my windscreen wiper blades have ripped and are not wiping correctly . It was £16 for the smaller  blade on passenger side of the window and £20 for the drivers side of the window . They asked if I wanted them to fit them for  me at a cost of £4 of course I agreed they are Bosch blades and hopefully be a few years before they need replacing .

UP IN FLAMES

FRIDAY - Helped my daughter load her car up with her things she is dropping the little one off at nursery and she is working at the salon she left just after eight the van is quite she might be getting the keys for her new place Sunday not sure if it will be after dinner or late afternoon if it ids earlier we might help her move in .
Cleaned the fish tank we found a baby fish it is only 5mm in size and is lucky to be alive I guess all other fish that was born have been eaten , the fish is in a holding tank inside the main tank not sure what the chances are of it surviving hopefully it as made it this far fingers crossed .
Went to the Reindeer pub meet up with our neighbours Ken and Sharon we had some pub grub Helen hd scampi myself the chicken curry was ok.

SATURDAY - Chill out day did nothing major was he the car its been a few weeks it was cold but dry after I watched "Law Biding Citizen " great film went to a Tesco superstore in Batley bought a copper frying pan and thats about sums the day up .

SUNDAY - Went to Hampson's  garden centre and bought five 50 litre bags of compost also bought three bushes a lollipop bush a round bush and a spiral bush was quite expensive they had 50% off the full price .Arrived home decided to cut and burn the old Christmas tree its been stood in the front of the van since Christmas finished used firelighters and the fire basket that we have took about half an hour to get up in flames .
Cooked a Sunday dinner we had slow cooked roast pork and garlic roast potatoes with mashed carrot and swede and a giant Yorkshire pudding and gravy as good as it gets .

12 YEARS

Went back to Manchester Trafford centre picked up some more material from Laura Ashley and a cat calendar .Next we went to the Samsung store and picked the E tablets up they ok both in black .

Helen had a big thick coat on went in to a shop to get a carrier bag so she could take her coat of the nice lady at gave us one free of charge we then went for lunch Helen had fish and chips from Harry Ramsden.s I got her seated at a table left her with the bags and went off to get her lunch  after I sorted her food and drink out I went to Five Guys got the small burger spicy fries and peanut milk shake and joined her back at the table .

Also bought some copper pans from John Lewis they was reduced and there was only two boxes left .
bought two micro sd cards 128gb which will fit the tablets and phones I also ordered a black case .

TUESDAY - Bought an off the peg kitchen from Ikea sink and all not that many units there is a corner base with revolving carousel another two base units one with drawers the other doors  , wall units to match and a natural looking oak wood worktops the white porcelain sink black cast iron handles , the  hinges and all the fittings including the waste  and a black looking double tap .Ended up spending  more than I thought I be spending but it is  still a bargain .
We went this morning but could not see a planner until three in the afternoon its been a long day had meatballs in the restaurant went over to Pc World and Barker and Stonehouse to kill some time going home in the rush hour not fun .

WEDNESDAY - Received a call from my daughter her partner that she is leaving , wanted her out which is fair dues under the circumstances , She wanted  help moving her stuff over to her friends house less than a  mile away we drove over and loaded the car up with blue Ikea bags that I  bought the other that when  we went shopping they really are an ideal bag for gardening work , house moving and  storing items , as  they are strong and  I have never had one were the handles have come off or the bag split regardless of weight .
It took us the best part of five hours to move her belongings once done we headed for our home with my daughter and grandson following us in their car.
We went out to a local Italian restaurant Orlando's and we borrowed inflatable air beds of my good friend Ken  for them to sleep on .They slept on the floor in the living room .It must be nearer on twelve years plus that I Have slept under the same roof as my daughter it is nice having her stay.

THURSDAY - Went to Ikea spending most of my holiday in here took my daughter she bought some essentials for her house we bought a chopping board and a black board and tray cooked mince and dumpling mix topping with fresh veg and potatoes for tea .Helen bathed Jenson our grandson and we all watched the movie  "Goodbye Christopher Robin" Helen cried at the ending ,