Monthly Archives: October 2008

The kitchen fitting – day 4

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A running tap in the kitchen

A running tap in the kitchen

The dresser area and fridge.

The dresser area and fridge.

Thursday has been and gone.  We now have water back in the kitchen, the dishwasher is connected, but still no cooker.  The worktops are all attached and treated.  The dresser area has been constructed.  There was a small design change in the dresser area, some of the filler planks were not inserted because it would have made the top unit too wide and obscured the light switch.  It’s all coming together.  Hopefully today we will have the dresser completed and some of the doors & drawer fronts attached. 

Still to do are the cooker hood and cooker splash back, along with the worktops upstand.  Then I will have to get out the paint brush and paint the walls.

Thursday evening was in the Plough and Anchor.  Splashed out on a steak, which was cooked how I asked it to be cooked – rare.

The kitchen fitting – day 3

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Work surface in position

Work surface in position

Work surface in position

Work surface in position

The work surfaces were cut to size, and the hole drilled for the tap.  The joins between the surfaces were also cut ready for assembly.  The cutting was made difficult because the walls are not square.  One time I went downstairs to see the progress and I was confronted by knee deep shavings from the router.  Luckily this was all swept away before Rosemary materialised.  Finally a top surface of stuff was placed on the work surface.  The work surface is wood (oak), and does require treatment every few months.  Sounds rather high maintenance to me, but damage can be repaired with sand paper.

Another meal at the Plough and Anchor, for me it was fish and chips with mushy peas, and for Rosemary a pasta.  I think I have a date with the waitress, she is interested in visiting Cambridge and seeing the Georgian artefacts in the Fitzwilliam museum.  She is Georgian.  It would have been nice to make it a threesome with the second Georgian waitress, but they can’t have the same day off.

The kitchen fitting – day 2

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Drying work surface

Drying work surface

The new dresser

The new dresser

Tuesday, another day working on the kitchen.  By the end of the day the place looked like total chaos.  The work surfaces where laid around the kitchen while their undersides dried.  The cardboard boxes were building up, will have to be going to the skip to get rid of those on Thursday.  The base units where the sideboard was, were also constructed, and the fridge moved to its new location.

Ate late, went to the pub at 20:45 for a meal, Rosemary had pie of the day, while I had a side of pork spare ribs in BBQ sauce.  Yummy.  At least the pub was warm, and we thawed out a bit.

The kitchen fitting – day 1

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Day one of fitting kitchen

Day one of fitting kitchen

The kitchen has been started, this is day one work. The kitchen fitter is not an early starter and arrived after 09:00 on Monday. First step was to find the units, amongst the 119 in the sitting-room, and place them in the area where they were to be fitted. The corner unit was elusive, turned out to be the only flat pack unit. After that we left him to it.

Interestingly the corner unit is designed with big gaps behind it, and a diagonal corner, making it easier to fit in places where the walls are not straight.  Explains my problems with its forerunner.

Today we were a meanie binge, so had a curry from the local Indian takeaway in Waddesdon, Rosemary had the usual Chicken Byriani while I wanted some chilli so ate a Vindaloo. Thankfully there was enough chilli so that I was able to taste it.

The wall replastered

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Walls replastered

Walls replastered

Plaster drying out

Plaster drying out

Friday evening and the walls had been re-plastered, Saturday morning and the coving had been stuck to the walls to cover up the cracks and missing plaster in the ceiling. It’s amazing the transformation achieved by the neat walls.

Sunday was spent by me applying two coats of white emulsion to the ceiling. Alas a third coat is required. I also had to apply a layer of gloss paint (oil based) in one area. This was to seal an area of ceiling where a pipe had once leaked. This, though dry for years, still stained when a coat of emulsion was painted over the area. Hopefully problem has been solved.

Cooking

Cooking

Eating has been a problem, mainly evening meals in a restaurant, but very kindly John and Carol took pity on us and invited us over for an evening meal on Sunday. We have set up the camp stove in the lean-to, and have treated ourselves to bacon and eggs for Sunday breakfast.