18 Aug 2012

More of the same old


As soon as I pulled up at the GP flat on Tuesday, Maurice who lives underneath our flat was out his new front gate to see me.  I wondered if there was a problem but not so, he said that when he came back from holiday he was so overjoyed at his garden makeover that he cried when he saw it.   Before he went on holiday he’d agreed to pay half the cost but I couldn’t get a chance to tell him the total cost and was a little worried that it may be more than he wanted to pay, especially as I didn’t use the contractor that he suggested I use.  But he was cool, he was eager to pay me his money, not as much as half the total cost but this was fine because the frontage belongs to our flat.  I think the price he paid was fair and I did paint his fences and I also cleaned his windows for him.  The whole garden area is looking so much better and I was pleased to see Maurice screwing a new house number on his new front gate. (rather unfortunate house number) It made me smile when I spotted him off load some new garden furniture from IKEA.  He is obviously taking pride in his new garden and long may it continue.  It’s nice to do something sometimes for other people that make them happy.



Phil worked on the boxing in the bathroom on Tuesday morning which was no easy feat.  I repainted the outside of the fence because I decided I couldn’t live with the red cedar.  It didn’t take long and I was pleased with the results.  Sue popped round on the way back from her dad’s and we went for a spot of lunch at The Nags Head in Great Linford.  We’d been a couple of weeks ago and thought the food was good.  It is nice to go somewhere different for a change and when we move in to the GP flat I think that we will enjoy walking across the canal and through the park to Great Linford.  After lunch we got back to the flat only to find Blue the plumber working which was fine except that this meant that Phil couldn’t continue with his boxing so we decided to head for home.

Once again we were back at the flat on Wednesday although I have to say there wasn’t much work for me, it is mostly Phil’s labour that is required and has been for all of this week. I left him to carry on building boxing with plywood and plasterboard and headed to Sue’s for tea and a catch-up.  Afterwards I went to Tesco’s at Kingston.  I went to get some new hospital visiting clothes as most of my stuff is ruined with paint.   On the first floor of Tesco’s I bumped into Vanessa who was a lovely bronze colour having just returned from a week in Greece, lucky girl.

Phil started the wall tiling in the bathroom in the afternoon.  He got on quite well considering there were a lot of cuts to do.   I left about 4pm and went back to Sue’s for a shower and a clean up but Phil had to stay to wait for the glazier to come and measure.   He eventually got back about 5’ish not much before Sue got home.   Sue once again volunteered to cook supper and also invited Jan so I went over to Westcroft to pick her up at least saving her one taxi drive.   It was our usual girlie evening which ended with a surprise visit by Dave, one of Sue’s neighbours on his way back from the pub.   Dave was accompanied by Scamp by his dog.  The evening ended with dancing in the kitchen and a bed time way past midnight.  This didn’t bode with work on Thursday morning.  But self induced and I wonder when we will ever learn. 


There wasn’t much for me to do aside from hovering up dust but Phil managed to finish the tiling off.  He was going to grout some of the wall but by 1.30pm we’d had enough and decided to head for home.  We stopped off at The Plough in Stoke Goldington for the beef and ale pie which was delicious.  The caravan, when we got back, was stifling hot.   Its worse when it’s been locked up for a couple of days.  I unpacked, put a wash on and it was very quiet evening catching with recordings.  Not very exciting I’m afraid but we didn’t have any energy for anything else more strenuous.

Unfortunately we had a disturbed night with toilet visits at 3am and then struggled to go back to sleep until it was virtually time to get up.  In the end we didn’t actually end up getting to the flat until 9.30am which put us under pressure from the start.  We had the carpet fitters coming to fit new carpet in the bedroom and hallway and had to clear the bedroom which was full of tools and all sorts.  We transferred the stuff into the lounge which is now looking like a bomb site.  The clearing didn’t take us that long and Phil was able to get on with the grouting before the new carpet arrived.



We were on a pm delivery but CarpetRight turned up before midday which was good.  The carpets look good but they are a little light and I am wondering whether we have had them fitted too soon.  Time will tell but we should be okay if put dust sheets down.  Lunch was a roast at the carvery at Peartree Bridge; it was alright, I don’t suppose you can really complain at £3.99 a head.  We hadn’t been back at the flat long when the electricians arrived to sort the shower pump and the hob and the oven.   There is still more work for them to do so they will be back again next week.

At the end of this week I was hoping that we would be a lot further forward than we are.  I am not sure why because Phil has been working his socks off. I guess I’m frustrated because I can’t get on with anything until all the tradesmen have finished.  But next week, we need the plumber, the electrician and the glazier back and we still need to find a carpenter to fit the internal doors and sort out the steps.  I am pleased with the look of the kitchen and the bathroom is coming along nicely. All the work will get done I know but its just taking its time.  I will be glad when it’s all finished.  Fingers crossed by the end of next week we could be talking about furniture removals.

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