Day 11. 9.30am. Housemate Marie sets to work grouting the tiles while Housemate John finishes off the tiling that was left from yesterday.
12pm. Housemate John finishes off the Belfast sink unit.
3.30pm. The Housemates finish grouting the tiles.
4.30pm. The Housemates get started on cutting the workbenches. Housemate John tries out his new toy – an industrial strength router. It makes a lot of noise and sawdust.
6pm. The Housemates call it a night as they need to go to Morrisons for more food supplies. Then it’s off to find a cheep vacuum cleaner to hoover up the sawdust (Housemate Marie said she was not allowing Housemate John to use the house vacuum cleaner) and then out for dinner.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Monday, September 01, 2008
New kitchen – day 10
Day 10. 9.30am. The Housemates are hard at it with the tiling.
7.20pm. The Housemates decided to call it a night. There’s still a little bit of tiling left but they are both knackered and don’t want to upset the neighbours as the electric tile cutter has been on the go since 9am and it is rather noisy…
Housemate Marie is about to go for a lovely relaxing bath while Housemate John goes and gets a pizza.
7.20pm. The Housemates decided to call it a night. There’s still a little bit of tiling left but they are both knackered and don’t want to upset the neighbours as the electric tile cutter has been on the go since 9am and it is rather noisy…
Housemate Marie is about to go for a lovely relaxing bath while Housemate John goes and gets a pizza.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
New kitchen – day nine
Day nine. 9.30am. The Housemates decide to have an extra hour in bed so are having breakfast.
10.30am. Housemate Marie is busy tiling while Housemate John is working on the Belfast sink unit.
12pm. Housemate Marie asks if electric sockets are really necessary as she is having real problems tiling round them. Housemate John replies yes.
1.30pm. Housemate John is finishing fastening the Belfast sink unit to the wall. He is a little perplexed as the installation manual appears to have the sink lower down than is required.
Housemate John checked the dimensions of the sink then the dimensions in the manual. It would seem that the manual has printed the dimensions of the sink as 2 ½ inches shorter than it really is . Housemate John expresses exactly what he thinks of the person who wrote the installation manual…
5pm. Housemate John has installed the dishwasher. Housemate Marie gives out a loud cheer…
6.30pm. The Housemate pack up for the night.
10.30am. Housemate Marie is busy tiling while Housemate John is working on the Belfast sink unit.
12pm. Housemate Marie asks if electric sockets are really necessary as she is having real problems tiling round them. Housemate John replies yes.
1.30pm. Housemate John is finishing fastening the Belfast sink unit to the wall. He is a little perplexed as the installation manual appears to have the sink lower down than is required.
Housemate John checked the dimensions of the sink then the dimensions in the manual. It would seem that the manual has printed the dimensions of the sink as 2 ½ inches shorter than it really is . Housemate John expresses exactly what he thinks of the person who wrote the installation manual…
5pm. Housemate John has installed the dishwasher. Housemate Marie gives out a loud cheer…
6.30pm. The Housemate pack up for the night.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
New kitchen – day eight
Day 8. 9.30am. The Housemates are nowhere to be seen. They have left the House to pay the newspapers, get the lottery, buy some sandwiches from the Deli and get some things from the DIY store.
10.30am. The Housemates start work building more base units.
1pm. Housemate John finishes off building the final two base units while Housemate Marie makes a start on the tiling.
Things are not going very well for Housemate Marie. She is making a very slow progress with the tiling due to there being a double electric socket to tile around on the very first row of tiles.
Housemate John was not aware that Housemate Marie knew so many swear words…
2.45pm. Housemate Marie has only managed to put on two rows of tiles. She is not a happy bunny.
4.30pm. Housemate John finishes attaching the base units to the walls. He now makes a start on attaching the workbench upstands.
6.pm. Housemate Marie has now completed eight rows of tiles so she is feeling a little more cheerful. The Housemates decide to call it a night.
10.30am. The Housemates start work building more base units.
1pm. Housemate John finishes off building the final two base units while Housemate Marie makes a start on the tiling.
Things are not going very well for Housemate Marie. She is making a very slow progress with the tiling due to there being a double electric socket to tile around on the very first row of tiles.
Housemate John was not aware that Housemate Marie knew so many swear words…
2.45pm. Housemate Marie has only managed to put on two rows of tiles. She is not a happy bunny.
4.30pm. Housemate John finishes attaching the base units to the walls. He now makes a start on attaching the workbench upstands.
6.pm. Housemate Marie has now completed eight rows of tiles so she is feeling a little more cheerful. The Housemates decide to call it a night.
Friday, August 29, 2008
New kitchen – day seven
Day 7. 9.30am. Housemate John sets to work on grouting the tiles above the wall units. Housemate Marie can only watch as she’s not good on ladders, and anyway she wouldn’t be able to reach as she’s not very tall…
Housemate Marie was though able to help Housemate John construct the Belfast sink unit. The Housemates have had to redesign the unit as they wanted a Belfast sink but Wicks didn’t do a Belfast sink unit in the range they chose.
1.30pm. Housemate John cleans the tiles as the grout has now dried.
3pm. The Housemates set to work attaching the corner base unit and the pulley-out cabinet base unit together and to the wall.
4pm. Housemate John starts work on the plumbing for the Belfast sink. He makes lots of noise and mess as he has to drill right though the kitchen wall to the yarden.
6.pm. The Housemates call it a night as they have to go shopping for food supplies at Morrisons then get the Chinese take-a-way.
Housemate Marie was though able to help Housemate John construct the Belfast sink unit. The Housemates have had to redesign the unit as they wanted a Belfast sink but Wicks didn’t do a Belfast sink unit in the range they chose.
1.30pm. Housemate John cleans the tiles as the grout has now dried.
3pm. The Housemates set to work attaching the corner base unit and the pulley-out cabinet base unit together and to the wall.
4pm. Housemate John starts work on the plumbing for the Belfast sink. He makes lots of noise and mess as he has to drill right though the kitchen wall to the yarden.
6.pm. The Housemates call it a night as they have to go shopping for food supplies at Morrisons then get the Chinese take-a-way.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New kitchen – day six
Day 6. 9.30am. Housemate John starts undercoating the ceiling edging the Housemates put up yesterday, while Housemate Marie heads off to pick up some tiles they had ordered.
Once the undercoat is dry Housemate John puts a coat of paint on the ceiling edge, while Housemate Marie paints the skirting boards.
2pm. Housemate Marie is very excited as the Housemates are ready to start tiling above the wall units and she gets to play with her new toy – an electric tile cutter.
Once the tiling is completed, the Housemates make a start on building the base units.
6.20pm. The Housemates finish for the night and look forward to a pizza and garlic bread.
Once the undercoat is dry Housemate John puts a coat of paint on the ceiling edge, while Housemate Marie paints the skirting boards.
2pm. Housemate Marie is very excited as the Housemates are ready to start tiling above the wall units and she gets to play with her new toy – an electric tile cutter.
Once the tiling is completed, the Housemates make a start on building the base units.
6.20pm. The Housemates finish for the night and look forward to a pizza and garlic bread.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
New kitchen – day five
Day 5. 9.30am. This morning the Housemates are feeling much better following their yummy morale boosting meal last night. They get to work on the remaining wall units.
2pm. The Housemates finish putting up the last wall unit.
4.pm. After a trip to Wicks for Housemate John (Housemate Marie had to remain in the House as Housemate John was expecting a couple of parcels to be delivered today for the Birthday bunny), the Housemates make a start putting up the ceiling edging.
6.45pm. The Housemates put the last bit of ceiling edging then finish for the night.
2pm. The Housemates finish putting up the last wall unit.
4.pm. After a trip to Wicks for Housemate John (Housemate Marie had to remain in the House as Housemate John was expecting a couple of parcels to be delivered today for the Birthday bunny), the Housemates make a start putting up the ceiling edging.
6.45pm. The Housemates put the last bit of ceiling edging then finish for the night.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
New kitchen – day four
Day 4. 9.30am. The Housemates continue building the wall units.
2pm. The Housemates start putting up the extractor fan.
3.15pm. Housemate John notices that the wall units haven’t ended where they should. He does some measuring and they are out by 10mm. He can’t figure out why then it suddenly hits him. The corner unit has to be moved out from the wall by 10mm.
All the wall units that they have put up have to be moved 10mm. We apologise for the use of bad language from Housemate John.
4.45pm. The Housemates have successfully moved the wall units by 10mm. Housemate Marie then says she thinks that the extractor fan isn’t in the right position. Housemate John checked the fitting instructions and confirms to Housemate Marie that it is indeed in the right position.
Housemate Marie still isn’t convinced and get out the plans drawn up by Wicks. Housemate Marie shows the plans to Housemate John and it show a different fitting position to that on the instructions.
The Housemates have a discussion and decide to follow the original plans so the extractor fan is removed and repositioned.
5.54pm. The Housemates are a little deflated with their progress on day four so decided to go out for a morale boosting meal.
2pm. The Housemates start putting up the extractor fan.
3.15pm. Housemate John notices that the wall units haven’t ended where they should. He does some measuring and they are out by 10mm. He can’t figure out why then it suddenly hits him. The corner unit has to be moved out from the wall by 10mm.
All the wall units that they have put up have to be moved 10mm. We apologise for the use of bad language from Housemate John.
4.45pm. The Housemates have successfully moved the wall units by 10mm. Housemate Marie then says she thinks that the extractor fan isn’t in the right position. Housemate John checked the fitting instructions and confirms to Housemate Marie that it is indeed in the right position.
Housemate Marie still isn’t convinced and get out the plans drawn up by Wicks. Housemate Marie shows the plans to Housemate John and it show a different fitting position to that on the instructions.
The Housemates have a discussion and decide to follow the original plans so the extractor fan is removed and repositioned.
5.54pm. The Housemates are a little deflated with their progress on day four so decided to go out for a morale boosting meal.
Monday, August 25, 2008
New kitchen – day three
Day three. 9.30am. Housemate John is still stiff and a little painful this morning. The medicinal last night helped so did a rub on his aching back with deep heat just before the Housemates retired for the evening.
Housemate John set to work seeing to some plumbing while Housemate Marie did some more filling of holes. Housemate Marie lost her temper when the bits she was trying to fill the holes with kept falling out. As it is before the nine o’clock watershed we do apologise for the use of bad language.
2pm. The Housemates make a start putting up the wall units.
6.10pm. The Housemates down tools and finish for the night having successfully put up four wall units.
Housemate John set to work seeing to some plumbing while Housemate Marie did some more filling of holes. Housemate Marie lost her temper when the bits she was trying to fill the holes with kept falling out. As it is before the nine o’clock watershed we do apologise for the use of bad language.
2pm. The Housemates make a start putting up the wall units.
6.10pm. The Housemates down tools and finish for the night having successfully put up four wall units.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
New kitchen - day two
Day 2 9.30am. The Housemates are feeling a little stiff and painful. Housemate John tries to jolly up Housemate Marie by getting her to chant ‘dishwasher, dishwasher’ over and over again.
Housemate John finishes off removing the tiles that Housemate Marie couldn’t reach yesterday.
Housemate Marie starts filling in holes in the walls that the tiles have made when they were removed, while Housemate John starts removing the cladding from the wall.
2pm. Housemate John makes lots of noise and mess with his wizbang drill. Housemate Marie is surplus to requirements but keeps Housemate John company in the kitchen.
6pm. The Housemates pack up for the night. Housemate John is very stiff and aching so Housemate Marie recommends that this evening he has a drop or two of medicinal.
Housemate John finishes off removing the tiles that Housemate Marie couldn’t reach yesterday.
Housemate Marie starts filling in holes in the walls that the tiles have made when they were removed, while Housemate John starts removing the cladding from the wall.
2pm. Housemate John makes lots of noise and mess with his wizbang drill. Housemate Marie is surplus to requirements but keeps Housemate John company in the kitchen.
6pm. The Housemates pack up for the night. Housemate John is very stiff and aching so Housemate Marie recommends that this evening he has a drop or two of medicinal.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
New kitchen – day one
In a Geordie male voice “Welcome to a brand new series of the BOFOF household… …fits a new kitchen.
It’s day one 9.30am and the Housemates get to work dismantling the old kitchen. The old freezer has been put in the yarden and the dresser dragged into the hall way.
The Housemates then rip up the old carpet.
10am. The Housemates have already made a start removing the cupboard doors and units. The workbenches are removed and Housemate Marie tries her hand for the very first time at sawing wood – or rather workbench.
After lunch Housemate John sets to work removing the kitchen radiator. Housemate Marie, with her hammer and chisel, starts removing the tiles.
Housemate John, having removed the radiator, then sees to the pluming for the new kitchen towel rail. Housemate Marie is still plodding on removing the tiles.
6pm. Housemate John has fitted the towel rail and is now switching the water back on. Housemate Marie checks for any water leaks.
6.20pm. The Housemates down their tools and look forward to a well earned bottle of wine later in the evening.”
It’s day one 9.30am and the Housemates get to work dismantling the old kitchen. The old freezer has been put in the yarden and the dresser dragged into the hall way.
The Housemates then rip up the old carpet.
10am. The Housemates have already made a start removing the cupboard doors and units. The workbenches are removed and Housemate Marie tries her hand for the very first time at sawing wood – or rather workbench.
After lunch Housemate John sets to work removing the kitchen radiator. Housemate Marie, with her hammer and chisel, starts removing the tiles.
Housemate John, having removed the radiator, then sees to the pluming for the new kitchen towel rail. Housemate Marie is still plodding on removing the tiles.
6pm. Housemate John has fitted the towel rail and is now switching the water back on. Housemate Marie checks for any water leaks.
6.20pm. The Housemates down their tools and look forward to a well earned bottle of wine later in the evening.”
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
T-10 days….
…. till we start ripping out the old kitchen and installing the new one. We’ve done some workings out and we think it should take us about seven days to do it.
Last Tuesday we took delivery of the kitchen units and the dishwasher, and today the new fridge and freezer arrived. As you can see our dining room has become temporary storage…
This morning I picked up the new tiles. Thankfully the new shed has come in useful so they’re living there for the time being.
As we’ll be without the AGA during the installation we have to make do with the microwave and the slow cooker so I’ve started batch cooking some meals ready to pop in the microwave.
It’s going to get a little crowded in the dining room, as it also has to be our kitchen for the duration…
Marie
Last Tuesday we took delivery of the kitchen units and the dishwasher, and today the new fridge and freezer arrived. As you can see our dining room has become temporary storage…
This morning I picked up the new tiles. Thankfully the new shed has come in useful so they’re living there for the time being.
As we’ll be without the AGA during the installation we have to make do with the microwave and the slow cooker so I’ve started batch cooking some meals ready to pop in the microwave.
It’s going to get a little crowded in the dining room, as it also has to be our kitchen for the duration…
Marie
Monday, August 04, 2008
Finished
I’ve finished my first novel ! ! ! It’s been a long time in the writing but the first draft is finally done.
I’m going to give myself a break then I’ll start work on draft number two.
It would be wonderful to eventually have it published but I’m under no illusions. There are more unpublished writers than there are out-of-work actors…
Marie
I’m going to give myself a break then I’ll start work on draft number two.
It would be wonderful to eventually have it published but I’m under no illusions. There are more unpublished writers than there are out-of-work actors…
Marie
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Reporting in
Just noticed it’s been ages since the last blog so thought I’d better put something together. Don’t want Jan telling us that we’re boring old farts again….
Monday 21st: nothing exciting to report.
Tuesday 22nd: nothing exciting to report .
Wednesday 23rd: can you see a pattern forming….
Thursday 24th: yippee something exciting to report. John’s birthday ! ! ! Sadly we weren’t able to go to the Chinese for lunch as John couldn’t get the day off work. Still I made him a lovely calorific birthday dinner.
Friday 25th: nothing exciting to report.
Saturday 26th and 27th: the air show. Couldn’t go any where due to the local roads being closed all weekend. Re-potted Bruce, Ernie and Ethel.
Monday 28th: again nothing exciting to report.
Tuesday 29th: Yep, you guessed it…
Marie
Monday 21st: nothing exciting to report.
Tuesday 22nd: nothing exciting to report .
Wednesday 23rd: can you see a pattern forming….
Thursday 24th: yippee something exciting to report. John’s birthday ! ! ! Sadly we weren’t able to go to the Chinese for lunch as John couldn’t get the day off work. Still I made him a lovely calorific birthday dinner.
Friday 25th: nothing exciting to report.
Saturday 26th and 27th: the air show. Couldn’t go any where due to the local roads being closed all weekend. Re-potted Bruce, Ernie and Ethel.
Monday 28th: again nothing exciting to report.
Tuesday 29th: Yep, you guessed it…
Marie
Sunday, July 20, 2008
We’ve built a monster
This afternoon we built a shed. We ordered it last Sunday from Tesco’s website - they were much cheaper than anywhere else.
The delivery date was between five and ten days which suited us fine as we can’t go anyway next weekend because it’s the air show, so that seemed like an ideal time to build it.
I got a phone call from Tesco’s on Monday to say the shed would be delivered the following day… The little delivery man drove all the way up from Newark just to deliver us the shed.
Rather than wait until next weekend we decided to build it sometime this weekend. The weather was awful yesterday so we put it up this afternoon.
It’s HUGE ! ! !
The shed is six feet by four feet. Our yarden is 10 feet by 10 feet. There isn’t a lot of space left...
Just enough room though for Bruce, Eric, Ernie and Ethel.
Marie
The delivery date was between five and ten days which suited us fine as we can’t go anyway next weekend because it’s the air show, so that seemed like an ideal time to build it.
I got a phone call from Tesco’s on Monday to say the shed would be delivered the following day… The little delivery man drove all the way up from Newark just to deliver us the shed.
Rather than wait until next weekend we decided to build it sometime this weekend. The weather was awful yesterday so we put it up this afternoon.
It’s HUGE ! ! !
The shed is six feet by four feet. Our yarden is 10 feet by 10 feet. There isn’t a lot of space left...
Just enough room though for Bruce, Eric, Ernie and Ethel.
Marie
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A painless way to give blood
Drop frozen chicken on your foot ! ! !
Late last night I was getting out some chicken out of the freezer for tonight’s stirfry. Somehow the chicken fell out of my hand and hit my bare foot.
I barely felt a thing which is unusual as frozen chicken falling on a foot hurts like hell….
The next thing I knew I had six pools of blood on the kitchen carpet and a rather bloody toe. Boy was it bleeding.
So if you need to give a blood sample, drop frozen chicken on your foot…
Marie
Late last night I was getting out some chicken out of the freezer for tonight’s stirfry. Somehow the chicken fell out of my hand and hit my bare foot.
I barely felt a thing which is unusual as frozen chicken falling on a foot hurts like hell….
The next thing I knew I had six pools of blood on the kitchen carpet and a rather bloody toe. Boy was it bleeding.
So if you need to give a blood sample, drop frozen chicken on your foot…
Marie
Thursday, July 17, 2008
BT
Yesterday afternoon I received a telephone call from BT wanting to speak to John. I explained that he was at work but as I was his wife could I help.
The little man explained rather quickly that BT were offering us free weekend and evening calls. In order to receive this we must remain with BT for 12 months and that every 12 months the contract would be renewed. Should we decide to leave BT then we would be liable for a fine.
He asked if I would say yes to agree to this offer. I refused and asked if he could send something in writing to our home address regarding this offer.
He again asked if I would say yes to agree to this offer. Again I refused and said that I would not agree to anything without having first discussed it with my husband. He then became disinterested and quickly ended the call.
I think it is holey unacceptable for BT to cold call a customer and pressurise them into agreeing to something which they know nothing about. Other than being offered free weekend and evening calls I was not told anything else about the service they were offering. What were the Terms and Conditions of this offer? What was the cost of the fine should we decided to leave BT? How would we be told when the 12 months contract was up?
I also find it quite disturbing that BT are allowed to make changes to a customers account without the knowledge of the account holder. John is the account holder and therefore I should not have been asked to agree to any changes to the account.
As you an imaging I am not intimidated by cold callers, however I found the little man’s manner quite abrupt and somewhat bulling.
A complaint has been made to BT…
Marie
The little man explained rather quickly that BT were offering us free weekend and evening calls. In order to receive this we must remain with BT for 12 months and that every 12 months the contract would be renewed. Should we decide to leave BT then we would be liable for a fine.
He asked if I would say yes to agree to this offer. I refused and asked if he could send something in writing to our home address regarding this offer.
He again asked if I would say yes to agree to this offer. Again I refused and said that I would not agree to anything without having first discussed it with my husband. He then became disinterested and quickly ended the call.
I think it is holey unacceptable for BT to cold call a customer and pressurise them into agreeing to something which they know nothing about. Other than being offered free weekend and evening calls I was not told anything else about the service they were offering. What were the Terms and Conditions of this offer? What was the cost of the fine should we decided to leave BT? How would we be told when the 12 months contract was up?
I also find it quite disturbing that BT are allowed to make changes to a customers account without the knowledge of the account holder. John is the account holder and therefore I should not have been asked to agree to any changes to the account.
As you an imaging I am not intimidated by cold callers, however I found the little man’s manner quite abrupt and somewhat bulling.
A complaint has been made to BT…
Marie
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Flown the nest
The family of Seagulls which made their home on one of the chimney pots have gone to pastures new.
One of the young birds had already began flying around for a couple of day. It then decided that the nest was too small so took to living on the next chimney pot, with mum/dad keeping it company.
Look forward to seeing them back next year.
Marie
One of the young birds had already began flying around for a couple of day. It then decided that the nest was too small so took to living on the next chimney pot, with mum/dad keeping it company.
Look forward to seeing them back next year.
Marie
Saturday, July 12, 2008
At last something to report
I’m afraid things have been very quiet in the BOGOF household which is why there hasn’t been any blogs.
However we do have something to report. We spent this afternoon in the yarden* preparing the way for a shed to be erected in the next couple of weeks.
As the need for a shed is greater than need of plants some of them had to go. So we decided to get rid of the four large holy bushes, the large tub which sat in-between them and the tubs that were outside the kitchen and dinning room window.
We’ve kept Bruce (the Christmas tree), Eric and Ernie (the hosa - not sure if that’s the right spelling) and the newly named Ethel (not sure what plant she is as it was a gift…).
To give Bruce a bit more room we’re going to re-pot him into one of the holy boxes, then re-pot Ernie and Ethel into larger tubs to give them a bit more room as well.
Having never re-potted anything it should be fun…
Marie
However we do have something to report. We spent this afternoon in the yarden* preparing the way for a shed to be erected in the next couple of weeks.
As the need for a shed is greater than need of plants some of them had to go. So we decided to get rid of the four large holy bushes, the large tub which sat in-between them and the tubs that were outside the kitchen and dinning room window.
We’ve kept Bruce (the Christmas tree), Eric and Ernie (the hosa - not sure if that’s the right spelling) and the newly named Ethel (not sure what plant she is as it was a gift…).
To give Bruce a bit more room we’re going to re-pot him into one of the holy boxes, then re-pot Ernie and Ethel into larger tubs to give them a bit more room as well.
Having never re-potted anything it should be fun…
Marie
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
For the chop
Our local post office:
Is the busiest one in the area
Is the only place in the area where you can claim lottery winnings up to £5000
Is the only one where you can park your car outside
So the government have decided it has to close. Why, because there are five post offices in the area and ours is in the middle. It’s as simple as that.
I use that post office quite a bit for banking and for hospital radio business so the closure will affect me.
CAPOC (Communities Against Post Office Closures) action group suggest everyone campaigns to force the government to re-think the closures. I know our local post office are planning one.
The question is will it do any good. The government (or rather Brussels as that’s where it’s come from) have made up it’s mind and there’s no way it’s going to put up it’s hands and say ‘sorry folks we got it wrong’.
Marie
Is the busiest one in the area
Is the only place in the area where you can claim lottery winnings up to £5000
Is the only one where you can park your car outside
So the government have decided it has to close. Why, because there are five post offices in the area and ours is in the middle. It’s as simple as that.
I use that post office quite a bit for banking and for hospital radio business so the closure will affect me.
CAPOC (Communities Against Post Office Closures) action group suggest everyone campaigns to force the government to re-think the closures. I know our local post office are planning one.
The question is will it do any good. The government (or rather Brussels as that’s where it’s come from) have made up it’s mind and there’s no way it’s going to put up it’s hands and say ‘sorry folks we got it wrong’.
Marie
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