Things have moved forward

I’d like to say that everything has been so good I simply haven’t had the time to blog, but that would be a lie. Here’s the deal. We have fought with the builder, he has and hasn’t listened but for whatever reason he has started to move on with getting us complete. Don’t get me wrong, I am not holding my breath but if he does as he says then we will be finished except snagging in a months time.

The problem is that it has impacted my health, mental and physical. I finished the PhD and am awaiting the viva but I find that I am listless and unable to focus. Some of it is to do with the fact I still have a lot wrong with me, and there are no easy fixes. But it has left me having difficulty in writing anything, hence my absence.

The story so far is that the cladding is complete and the two flat roofs are now sealed so the rubber can not be ripped off by the wind. The outside taps are done and the electrics have all been signed off. We can water the vegetables and they are doing so much better for it.

A black sink with a brass and black tap. The tap has a 'shower' function and pops away from the stand so you can rinse off dishes. — The sink with its wonderful tape chosen by R. I love this so much – it is still a novelty to be able to wash up from the kitchen sink and to fill the kettle here. The dishcloth is hand made by my sister and yes, that is an awful lot of epi pens on the window (sill? but there is no sill yet), they are just expired. We need to take them down to the pharmacy so they can dispose of them.

I have a kitchen sink after not having one for over a year – it is so good to be able to cook without having to use the bathroom sink. The kitchen needs kick boards and such but it is almost complete and I need to decide on the splash back. I have started the upholstering and the floor in the extension is down. Honestly, we are so damn happy.

A section of the extension floor being laid in a vinyl tile that looks like sandstone. Each tile is square and about a foot wide. — The floor as it was going down. It is a sandstone effect vinyl tile and I think it looks lovely. We wanted something super hard wearing but it needed to be nonslip and without a visible pattern. My autism means I can’t ‘do’ patterns, they can give me vertigo and nausea. No one wants that in there kitchen. Instead this is beautiful and makes us feel like we are finally getting there. Goodbye concrete!

A bar stool with a new patterned fabric on green, cream and pink. It is a leaf pattern — I was given this old bar stool. We (R and I) stripped it back, I upholstered and got rid of the old leather for the colours I am using throughout the extension. I think it looks pretty swish.

A small foot stool newly upholstered in a dark pink fabric. — Remember my little stool? In my wisdom I had upholstered it in cream? Bad move. It is now the same pink an the bar stool. anything feet go onto ought to be a sold colour and definitely not cream…

Needed to do?
– The roof – yes we are still getting leaks and drips.
– The decking – at the moment due to the mobility issues I have I can’t get out through the bi-folds but I have to use the back door. Not a big issue but it would be nice to redesign the garden so we could use it.

Wish us luck and I will try to stay motivated enough to write at least the blog…