December was mainly about painting (again!) for me. This time I was under the cosh to paint the bedroom walls and skirting boards before the carpet fitters came on Friday the 20th - known locally as “Black Eye Friday”. This is because many of the trades finish at lunchtime on the Friday before Christmas and all go down the pub. The subsequent inebriation leads to a number of fistfights and black eyes. Certainly our local bar was doing a roaring trade although I didn’t see any fisticuffs.
I had to paint the walls in two bedrooms, all the skirting boards in the bedrooms and landing and varnish the wood skirting down the stairwell. I lost a day because we had to move out while another layer of self levelling screed was laid down downstairs.
We adjourned to a local hotel for two nights while the cement dried. As a result two walls in the small bedroom had to wait until after the carpet laying.
Once the carpet was in I could also assemble the bunkbeds intended for the smallest bedroom.
Thank goodness for the power screwdriver, it was worse than IKEA furniture for the number of screws I had to drill.
In other news: the lino in the downstairs shower room has been laid, boards have been fitted to make the shower enclosure and the showerhead and taps are in. The loo still has to be installed.
The relocated kitchen door has been replaced with a brand-new UPVC door and is looking good (and secure). The new kitchen window has been installed but because of the raised floor the windowsill is now higher and there is some making good to be done on the outside including a new stone windowsill.
After all that we were able to relax and enjoy a local carol service and some live music in Fell Bar.
Christmas pop songs done as you have never heard them before, a rocking good evening.
The one room I hope not to have to paint is our bedroom where the walls and ceiling need a lot of prep. The ceiling is sorted as we had the whole thing re-skimmed but the walls would need a lot of work before it is ready to paint. We are waiting for a local painter to give us a quote.
The best news of all is that the challenge of matching the spray paint colour for the kitchen cabinet doors has been resolved. Instead of trying to match the colour to the spatula we matched it to a shelf from the carcasses (which had in their turn been matched to the spatula). Turns out we were matching to car paint colours and the best match was a classic Jaguar colour, so we were very happy with that.
Spraying will commence ASAP in the new year which means the fitter can install the carcasses. Then the work top can be templated followed by a final screed in the kitchen area after which the wooden floor can be fitted.
By the time we return in January 2020 we should have a working kitchen even if we don't yet have the floor laid.
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